Game Review #112: Legrand Legacy: Tale of the Fatebounds (Nintendo Switch)
Reviewer: Frankie W.
Developer: Semisoft
Publisher: Another Indie
Category: RPG
Release Date: 1.24.2019
Price (at time of review): $19.99
Buy Legrand Legacy from the Nintendo eShop here.
I love RPGs, heck I even collect them. I have shelves upon shelves of RPG games in my collection, spanning from Super Nintendo, PlayStation's 1-3, and I even have the very few that exist on the Nintendo 64! It's always been one of my favorite genres, and I’ve played enough to be able to point out some inspirations and tributes; and Legrand Legacy takes a lot of notes to one of my favorite PS1 RPGs, Legend of Dragoon. This game’s art style, score, and its rhythm battle system are all very reminiscent of Legend of Dragoon, but it does this while carving its own identity out of it. Therefore, it never just feels like a cheap copy or a tribute, but an epic tale that stands out on its own among the many many RPGs that have come out lately that are just that. Let's get into Legrand Legacy a little bit more!
You Weren’t Supposed To Win…
Legrand Legacy starts out STRONG, hitting you with FMV cutscenes and a bloody battle. Our main character, Finn, starts out amnesiac, fighting in a slave arena for the rich and well-endowed, fighting against huge odds as a massive giant—the current champion—approaches him. Put on the ropes, Finn’s eyes begin to glow with a fury, and in one blow, he downs the champion, much to everyone's surprise! Finn is thrown back into a cell after this, since he was never meant to win that fight, and everyone lost all of their bet money. An old man approaches the slave trader in charge of Finn, and offers to buy the boy for his own reasons! This old man is a Norn, an ancient race capable of communicating with thoughts. It turns out the old man needs your help to bring a cure to his daughter, Eris, which is why he chose a warrior like yourself to accompany him. This simple quest evolves into a spiraling tale of war between nations, and an encroaching threat that threatens the entire world of Legrand!
Audio & Visuals
Legrand Legacy features a GORGEOUS soundtrack that harkens back to the more serious tones of Legend of Dragoon, and it does so with great effect. The visuals also feature crisp 3-D models on top of oil-painted backgrounds, again looking very similar to Legend of Dragoon, which is not at all a bad thing. This mixed media approach is very iconic-looking and lends itself to a distinct visual style that really does wonders for the feel of this game. This game bleeds old school RPG, but not the low effort kind in the least. This game feels like a tribute to the Squaresoft blockbusters of yore; massive, impressive-looking games that will stick with you for years.
Let’s Talk Strategies
Now let’s get into the battle system a little! Each turn will have you choosing actions for each party member, which is mainly made of two kinds of attacks: your normal attack command, and your grimoire abilities, which function as your special attacks and spells. Upon selecting your moves, you will have to test your rhythm with a timed button press that will either give you a miss, a good or a great, with increasing levels of effectiveness. Your normal attackers will always get a turn before people using grimoires, and this is where speed comes in.
You have to plan which enemy’s attacks to try and interrupt with your normal attacks, without letting your own attacks be interrupted by enemies, all while paying attention to the various strengths and weaknesses the various enemies have. You will want to make sure your party is well-equipped with various element effects and attack types in order to most efficiently kill monsters! If your party members fill up an AP bar, they are also capable of an ultra-strong attack with a cool cutscene as well!
Wrapping Up
Legrand Legacy is a great game, but I honestly can feel a very distinct lack of polish over the whole package. I encountered multiple glitches at the start of battles that caused me to restart from my last save point, battles not even loading and just leading to a black screen, and things like the music cutting off during a boss battle, which really killed the epic-ness of the first real boss battle for me. Cutting down a giant multi-armed, flaming-sword-wielding dude to the sweet sweet sound of silence didn’t feel right sadly. I really wish this game had voice acting as well. Maybe I’m a little spoiled, but I really love being able to sit back and watch an RPG story play out now. I’m not sure if this was intentional or not, but I feel the experience’s narrative would have greatly benefited from that.
The animations feel a little stiff as well, and some story cues feel pretty stilted while they are playing out. This is a good game, but I truly believe given a few more months of development time to really polish things up it would be a great game! Any lover of PS1 JRPGs shouldn't miss out on this game. It will absolutely hit a few familiar notes, and have you enjoying the story to save the world! I give Legrand Legacy an above average 7/10!
Score: 7/10
Buy Legrand Legacy from the Nintendo eShop here.
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*Review Code Provided by SinglePlayer PR