The Legend of Legacy - Nintendo 3DS

I've gotten pretty far in Legend of Legacy, I have yet to beat the game though. I'm gonna base this review off of what I've experienced already and know so far about the game. If you don't want to read my somewhat long review, feel free to scroll down to the Pros and Cons list. I do have one disclaimer though, something I mentioned in my review title, despite the deceiving graphics, this is not a clone of Bravely Default. This game is a spiritual sequel to the old SaGa RPGs, this game is not meant to have direction or a humongous story and you shouldn't buy and/or play this expecting anything different from that. A lot of people seem to bash the game for its lack of story and direction, for the fact that you have to grind a lot, THIS IS HOW IT WAS MEANT TO BE. My review of this game, is based off of how much I enjoyed it, keeping in mind what the game is supposed to be, and deciding for myself if it fulfilled this.Upon starting this game it's really enjoyable. At first I was with the many people that thought it looked like enough of a Bravely Default copycat, I figured I could just skip over this one(or at least buy it later on) and wait for Bravely Second to come out instead. After playing the demo though, I was hooked. I like to think I "made the mistake" of playing the demo because that made it one more game I just had to buy XD Graphics/art style in the game is about all that connects it to Bravely Default. That and the fact that it's turn based. Other than that, this is a totally different game and definitely worth a try, there is a demo in the eshop if you want to try the game for yourself before buying.The game is actually made by FuRyu, a company that doesn't often localize their games in NA. Atlus is only the localizer/publisher of this game. It's been described as the spiritual sequel to the older SaGa RPG games, even the same artist worked on Legend of Legacy. When the game starts you get to choose your main character out of 7 choices. This is nice being able to do, and not being forced to use a character you don't like much. Later in the game you also get to recruit the 6 other characters you didn't choose. A party consists of 3 characters, your main and two others. Your main character is mandatory in your party at all times and it's the character you'll see on screen when you walk around. The story also differs depending on who your main character is. Although, it's not a huge impact seeing as this game focuses more on exploration than story. It's a very minimal story, kinda like a classic Etrian Odyssey game(or classic mode on the Untold remakes). Exploring in this game is very fun though, there are all sorts of hidden bosses around, treasure chests to find, and filling out maps makes them worth more money when you sell it to the merchant in town. But before you go out to explore and fill up those maps, you can pay a fee in town at the docks, to send out a ship. Depending on the type you send out, it'll come back at varying times with some new equipment and items to use or sell. I highly recommend you send out ships before you go explore. Even if you turn off the game, the time will still pass so if you go to bed, turn on your game the next real life day and go to the docks after starting it up again. The NPC will let you know the ship is back and give you what it found.It's a turn based game but the mechanics are a little different than something like Bravely Default. In this game you don't level up traditional numbered levels. Your characters actually gain stat raises randomly after battles, so far I haven't seen a pattern, except for the fact that guarding will eventually raise your guard skill level and attacking will raise your attack on the weapon/skill you used. You learn new skills from weapon usage. Like if you attack enough with a bow, eventually new skills will unlock on just that character for any bow weapon you equip. This is fun and somewhat of a benefit because you'll never need to grind up to a specific level for the various enemies. On the downside, as I said, for the most part the stat raises seem to be random, so you might end up grinding a while if you feel a character is too weak in a certain stat, that hasn't raised very high. I also find sometimes my characters very rarely will learn new moves with their weapon, that also seems a bit random. Another thing about this game's battles, is you get to choose different stances. The starting stances are one that has a a character guard and protect your other two party members, and then lets the other two use attack. And the other starting stance is just an all out attack stance where everyone is in their regular attacking positions. The moves you learn from weapon usage are all physical attacks. Magic skills come from these various singing and whispering shards you find off big stones hidden among the various areas in the game. You equip them in your accessory slots. The big singing or whispering stones you get the shards off of, also seem to give you hints to the little story the game does have. It's sort of something to piece together for yourself.While the game does look the same as Bravely Default style wise, it's very fun to run around the various areas. In this game the scenery pops up when you get close and disappears behind you like a pop-up book. The music in this game is also very enjoyable for me so far. Masashi Hamauzu, a composer for past SaGa and Final Fantasy games, does the music for this game. One of his more recent games he did music for was Final Fantasy XIII which I personally really enjoyed, that's a plus for me. This game was definitely worked on by some great people in the video game industry, mainly people known for RPG games. Overall from what I've played so far, I find this game to be very enjoyable, fun and not at all a clone of Bravely Default. Almost identical graphics/in game art style but totally different gameplay. Another thing I forgot to note that makes it different, is the fact that this game has almost no voice acting, everything is in text minus a few key story parts being narrated. I definitely recommend you play this game, but if you're not sure, go check out the demo in the eshop first. FuRyu doesn't localize many games here though and I'm glad this one got a physical release and came over to NA.Pros:-Enjoyable music-Multiple characters to choose from for your main character and party-Awesome pop-up styled environment-Fun to explore the various areas-Battles aren't random, you can see the enemies on the screen-Somewhat different gameplay than other turn based RPGs though it's still fun. Definitely not a Bravely Default clone when it comes to gameplay and actual content, aside from the graphics.Cons:-The randomness of what stats you get raised from battle is somewhat annoying. Also the fact that you can go ages without a character learning new moves when you don't even have many to use as it is.

The Legend of Legacy (terrible title) is actually a rather under appreciated game in the US. The game brought together several Square Enix veterans: Composer Masashi Hamauzu (FFX, FFXIII), writer Masato Kato (Chrono Trigger, Chrono Cross), and designer Tomomi Kobayashi of the Saga series.The first few hours spent with this game were a bit of a confusing blur. The in game 'tutorial' was pretty basic, so one is pretty much thrown into the mix with very little preparation. The manual included digitally is actually pretty helpful - so I would recommend reading it first.*For best results take a tank (a high armor value character for defending) and give one of your other characters a short sword and the other a bow. This will make the early portion of the game MUCH easier. I had two characters that came with short swords, and I didn'tThere really isn't much story here, which is just fine, some JRPGs get a little too story driven and forget gameplay. So you have a handful of adventurers that go to this strange island in order to find... something. What they are looking for differs based on the character. In the beginning you have a choice of heroes. The game then populates your party accordingly. You can recruit the rest of the characters pretty early on. They start appearing in the village as you explore the early portion of the game.This is one tough game. Players will love or hate this depending on how much they enjoy grinding and complete exploration. The battles can be brutal depending on the choices you make or the attacks of the enemies. One unfortunate STUN can really throw off your battle plans. Luckily, you can almost always run from battles (the exception being a few bosses and notorious foes). But running will take you to the beginning of the current map. Also, there is a handy quick save. Use this feature OFTEN. I usually quick save after every few battles or whenever I get a nice random drop. Just because it sucks having to back track the last hour or two of the game - as I was forced to once... I quickly learned the merits of quick saving soon after.There is a grinding factor (as mentioned above). The leveling system is really similar to Chrono Cross. You gain small bonuses in HP, SP, and attack/ defense power. You also level up skills and unlock new skills on the skill chart. The more often you utilize a certain skill, the more that skill levels up - hence the stronger it becomes.The artwork and the music are pretty good, especially for 3DS standards; everything looks like a water color pop up book and the music is melodic and well suited to the style.Impression? A tough game with turn based combat that is pretty grind heavy. You will do a lot of exploring and back tracking. There are interesting game play devices to keep the game fresh however. Overall I highly recommend this game for old school JRPG fans. If you like games such as Bravely Default, Chrono Cross, and Etrian Odyssey, you'll likely enjoy this title.Pros:+ Punishingly difficult although auto escape and quick save features help.+ Gorgeous artwork.+ A beautiful score by the composer of FFXIII.+ Several characters to choose from and utilize.+ Interesting, challenging, and fun weapon / skill system.+ Non linear progression.Cons:- Very little story until very late in the game.- Difficulty can be frustrating, especially during boss battles.- Elemental system can be frustrating in battle

**TIPS INCLUDED/GAME DOES HAVE A STORY**I am not disappointed by this game. If you like the rogue like- rpg based game this is for you. Fighting style like Pokemon and Shiren the Wanderer Mystery Dungeon. Many reviews said it was a grind fest, but when I played the game I figured out what their problem was.The Way the maps are set up you have to figure out where you're going next, the dungeons went in order from Water -> Air -> Fire -> Etc But Each element has more than one stage giving you Cut scenes for certain things and your findings. But alot of people went the opposite way, going Water -> Fire -> Air. If you try to fight a hire boss when your already low, obviously its going to be a grind feast just to get him. This game is a puzzle and you need strategy and knowledge on RPG games to understand the flow. Theres a story in the game, and after you complete certain places, if you go back to the Inn to sleep (like in etrian odyssey fafnir knight) it will cut to a cutscene giving you background story on things about you and the kingdom which I thought was amazing. You have the ability (if you're struggling surviving) to change your weak party member out for someone who has better defense. There's also and option to create you own battle sequence, so you choose who attacks first, guards, heals, fight, etc. There's so many options in this game that it basically handicaps if you apply them. I enjoyed the game (though I'm not finished cause I'm trying to find everything) But I love it. :D