So going into Legrand Legacy I had no clue of what to expect at first I thought it would be a simple RPG game with a great story to it, however it did not seem to be just that, but a totally surprising hidden gem. From the beginning, you are thrown into the deep end with a visually stunning cutscene opening the game's story before beginning your quest across Legrand a world of magic, beasts and simple game mechanics.
*** Spoiler - click to reveal ***You start your adventure a slave fighting for his life in the arena in Tel Harran; the capital of slavers. This is when some unexpecting things happen that change the fate of your destiny forever. You are first introduced to a pure Norn gifted with the ability of healing but can only speak telepathically through the minds of others. You are then freed from your slave master by this norn and accompany him on his journey to save his daughter from dying a terrible illness.
The Journeys you fight lead to great disaster filled with a great plot and opening the lore of Legrand into a much deeper and richer world, where you learn new tactics, fighting styles and even patience when required. Many of your battles require cunning over pure brute force and sometimes playing defensively can decide life and death situations which end the game if you die. During these journeys, you do have safe zones to save, which are sometimes few and far between resulting in replaying large amounts of gameplay just to learn from your mistakes to overcome your battles.
Some Battles are scenario based and require certain conditions to complete, whereas others just require killing the enemy outright. Other than attack and defend, you also have the ability to move to different positions changing the battle and how it unfolds including change which allows swapping out reserved heroes for others in your group, which you acquire during your journey across Legrand. You also have the ability to use all kinds of items which can save you during a battle, grimoire; which is magical abilities that can be casted as you level up and your most powerful ability called Arcana, which you gain through your battles and once your AP is maxed out, you can use these abilities to unleash fury that devastates the enemy or supports your team.
*** Spoiler - click to reveal ***As you progress through the story you are presented with another unique battle scenario in style of a battlefield where you are able to control all your heroes and move across a map in aerial mode. This system requires you to use advanced tactics to ensure the survival of your team from flanking and defence attributes on certain tiles of the map, to capturing strategic locations that allow you to heal at a faster rate. Battles are automatic and only require you choose defence to attack or your special abilities and won't require you to bash w, a,s or d when initiating the combat scenario sequence. There is a hierarchy table that explains each generals strengths and weaknesses; this helps to determine which hero is suited to each attack on different class types.
Cities are mapped out in sectors, which have quests related to your journey, merchants to trade and upgrade your weapons or just a beautiful scenery worth watching in this game filled with some amazing art styles, as well as some graphically amazing cutscenes. The main cities in your journey are Tel Haran, where you begin, Shapur, an underground city to escape from your past, Dunabad - the city where merchants trade their wears from all across Legrand and Murias - the origin of magic and a myth to most in the world of Legrand.
Going into more depth of the world of Legrand it is a broken world, damaged by war and the heroes of old, leaving behind myths, legends and cryptic texts of days yet to pass, bringing the main character joining a quest of noble purpose to save the world from totally dominance from a force more devastating and dangerous than the armies of man that wage war in the north. This game is strong story base and less about the graphics and adds a unique art style creating a unique and visually interesting world to explore. Worlds are created in 3D, but have 2D backgrounds during battles and visiting cities, but also offer something to look at as the stationary sceneries are like paintings in museums in that they bring beauty to an all but dangerous world.
*** Spoiler - click to reveal ***The Characters that you encounter on your journey, all have unique skill sets for all kinds of battles making each fight unique and a challenge at times to find the best combination of characters to defeat each enemy fight. These Characters are:
Finn - The main character and the fighter who focuses on brute force and strength.
Aria - The priestess and Archer that is on a journey to end the Mugna feud.
Eris - The holy Divine, a pure norn with the ability to heal all wounds and support the group.
Kael - thief, skilled in daggers, a strong ally and always full of sarcasm.
Azzam - The Brawler of the group, focuses on heavy hits and strategy.
Scatia - Jack of all trades, with the ability to heal, damage and use effects on enemies, she is a dragoon; lived for hundreds of years and the guardian of the dathi tree.
These are not the only characters throughout your journey but are those that join your party through the course of the story and are all unique in their own way.
Overall my first impressions of this game, having never heard of the series before is outstanding in that someone who is not a fan of these genres was hooked from the beginning and the unique experiences that each fight/scenario offered kept me hooked. When looking for new games I like to look for playability and also engrossed me in playing until the journey is complete. Legrand Legacy deserves high praise for this and I can easily give this a cool 9/10 for how it delivers its amazing story and complex battle in such a unique and simple way. I would anyone intrigued by this review to give the game a go and join me on the journey that Legrand has to offer.
Developer: Semisoft
Publisher: Another Indie, Mayflower Entertainment (KR)
Release Date: 24th January 2018
Price: £19.49 - Digital
File Size: 16GB
Available on Steam.
Steam copy provided for review purposes.
Reviewed by Sam Haydon
4.5