Version needed: 2.00
Players: 1
Wi-Fi Compatible: N/A
For RPG fans, the wait for a good, solid role-playing game has been a long one. The Japanese have had some great titles during the first year of the PSP’s launch, including Tales of Eternia and Astonishia Story, but up until recently the only one available to the US and UK was Untold Legends. Finally, after a few delays, The Legend of Heroes is one of the first traditional RPG’s to be released for the PSP in America, and just on first impressions alone, you can tell this was worth the wait.
The first thing you notice about The Legend of Heroes is the graphics. Even though this game is a port of the second game of the ‘Gagharv trilogy’, the graphics still hold up well and can easily compete with the Japanese designs that we still see in video games today. The detail that has gone into the scenery is very impressive, from the stones in the castle walls to the lush trees and the environments themselves: it really helps to bring the game to life.
Of course, the storyline is one of the most important parts of the game and although it may seem a little cliché, it is still very enjoyable and very interesting to play through. The camera is placed so that it is played in the birds-eye view of a character called Avin. Due to events that happened when he was young, he gets separated from his younger sister, Eimelle, and is sent to live with Sage Lemuras until he is old enough to be able to understand what happened. In the meantime, Eimelle is put into hiding away from Octum’s Apostles: a group of people who are after her for reasons unknown to Avin. Once he turns seventeen, he sets off on a journey with his best friend, Mile, and one of Sage Lemuras’ pets, to find his sister, learn the truth about her fate as ‘Durga’s Daughter’ and protect her, using the spells he learnt from Sage Lemuras and his skills as a young swordsman.
Some of the storylines deal with corruption within the two churches, which Avin and Mile must help to uncover so that they can begin to understand what’s really going on. There are several characters that they meet along the way, including Rouca, a young boy who’s also searching for his older sister, Rutice; Shannon, who follows Mile wherever he goes; and Douglas, a highly skilled adventurer and swordsman who often helps Avin and Mile during battles. Battling is really simple: because it is turn-based play, all you need to do is choose whether you’d like to attack with your weapon or use magic or use an item, select who you’re going to use it on, and repeat for each member of your party. Once you’ve chosen the actions for each character, the animation takes over so that you can see the effects of your actions and plan you next moves. Your pet may also decide to help at the beginning of the battle. Depending on how you treat it, it may decide to increase your defence, or attack your enemies before the battle has even started. Once you’ve beaten the monsters, you can use the money you gain to buy new weapons, armour and accessories from the shops in the villages and towns or stock up on potions ready for your next battle.
The soundtrack for this game doesn’t disappoint. The music is great to listen to while travelling across El Phildin: it is calm and peaceful when in the towns and villages, reflecting the simple life of the people; more exciting when going into battle, and quite intense when you’re moving into a more dramatic part of the storyline. The combination of music and sound effects can also be quite humorous at times, especially when a scene involving Shannon starts: it makes it easier to imagine the voices for the characters and therefore makes those scenes more amusing.
There doesn’t seem to be very much that brings this game down. The choice of controls is great but you may decide to stick with the directional buttons because the analogue stick can be awkward at times. Also, more time could have been spent on translation because there are sometimes missing words, or letters and occasionally the dialogue doesn’t quite make sense. Apart from that, the graphics are gorgeous, the gameplay is exciting and entertaining and the soundtrack is wonderful to listen to. And although The Legend of Heroes has yet to be announced in the UK, it should still be considered as a contender for your money: it is an excellent role-playing game that will easily consume all your free time, so it’s one that’s definitely worth tracking down.
Overall: 87%
Posted on 20/06/06 by Steph
Linear Mode
