I like to think that I have solid radar for what games I back on Kickstarter. I weigh all sorts of factors before I throw money down, but one thing that usually draws me in is a sense of nostalgia. While this is far from the first coverage oprainfall has given Legrand Legacy, it’s the first coverage I was able to personally deliver, an opportunity I was glad for.
Once I got to the part of the Indie Megabooth it was situated at, I met with one of the developers and introduced myself. After explaining I was a backer and pretty familiar with the game, I was allowed to take a seat, put on the head phones and start playing. While I had many options for how to spend my time, such as exploring the hub town and doing various mini games, I was mostly interested in the battle system, since that feature was primarily what convinced me to back the project.
Loosely inspired by mechanics from games such as Super Mario RPG and the fantastic Shadow Hearts, the combat system is turn based mixed with time-based button presses to achieve better results. After selecting most combat actions (other than healing) a circle with a button inside it will appear, with a dash off in a random direction. By pressing that button right when it hits the dash, you’re rewarded with a perfect, resulting in better damage and I think even interrupting enemy attacks. I quickly got the timing down, and was usually getting multiple perfects per turn.
As I explored a swampy ruins in the demo, I experienced something I haven’t since Final Fantasy VII and Parasite Eve – massive hand drawn static backgrounds you must work your way through. This isn’t a complaint, other than to briefly moan about how slowly my avatar made their way through the marsh. Honestly, this approach has always been aesthetically pleasing while allowing less reliance on expensive graphics, and that’s perfectly fine.
I can say that I’m very pleased with how Legrand Legacy is shaping up thus far. It’s smooth, intuitive and easy to play. Swapping out members from my party during battle couldn’t be easier, and allocating bonus points to attributes after leveling up is both easy and well designed, as the game shows a preview of what your upgrades result in. I’m happy to see a game I backed in so complete a form, and can’t wait to play the final build soon.
