With the demise of the Nintendo 3DS digital storefront and the predictable rise in the price of physical 3DS cartridges that followed, a whole catalog of fantastic RPGs have become that much harder to play. Of particular interest are a number of titles from FuRyu, a Japanese game publisher that started out making RPGs similar to past classics but has really been coming into their own in the past few years. With the success of games like Monark and Trinity Trigger and the hype around the upcoming Renaytis, Furyu’s back catalog of 3DS titles have come back into focus. The Legend of Legacy is the second release on the 3DS platform, a title not only inspired by the SaGa series, but also developed with long-time SaGa battle designer, Kyoji Koizumi. Despite the long-time reputation of SaGa being unapproachable, The Legend of Legacy is a fun dungeon exploration experience that RPG fans of all skill levels can enjoy.

The Story

The Legend of Legacy begins with the selection of one of seven characters as the main protagonist. Each character has a different back story and a set of skills that matches the typical class that you’d see in an RPG (Sorcerer, Rogue etc). The overall plot is that a mysterious island named Avalon has appeared out of nothing in the ocean of the game world. A hub town has been established on the coast of the island but it’s up to a steady influx of adventurers to map out and explore the island. Upon arriving, the main character is paired with 2 of the other character options to create a party of 3 adventurers. The goal: map out the island, and find the secrets that lie within.

The GamePlay

The majority of gameplay is split between exploring the island and battling the creatures that dwell on the island. Each region consists of several maps that are unlocked by simply walking in every section with a meter that tracks the percentage of the area that has been uncovered. It’s pretty simple, and the enemies are visible, so if at any point you’ve had enough of the battles, you can attempt to dodge enemies while unlocking the map. 

The battle system is a fairly neat turn-based combat that involves a decent amount of strategy in order to progress. The party can be setup in a formation where you have a tank that takes the brunt of the attack, an attacker, and a healer. Anyone with experience playing turn-based RPGs will immediately understand how it works, but the wrinkle comes in the form of the SaGa inspiration as leveling up your party is not a linear progression, but a semi-random one. Doing means learning, so if you want a character to have better attacks, then they have to keep doing until they randomly learn new move sets. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea. One moment, you could be selecting a specific attack, but instead the character learns a new attack and does that instead. Once learned, the move is now a permanent option, assuming that you survive the battle.

The Bottom Line

When it comes to how the game feels, it’s a pretty consistent gameplay loop that’s most enjoyable in shorter game sessions. Putting in a solid hour and bit typically led to a few new areas uncovered, and plenty of fun battles that are typically a decent difficulty without being frustratingly hard. Because this game is inspired by SaGa, accidentally walking into a battle that wipes out your party can happen more frequently than you’d expect, but a quick save option that can be used as often as you like prevents hair loss from frustration. The story beats don’t quite come around as often as I’d like, but I can see how someone who really just enjoys the loop of battling and exploring could have a lot of fun here.

The Legend of Legacy HD Remastered is a terrific title from FuRyu’s past. Those that already own the game on 3DS aren’t going to experience anything new, but it’s wonderful that this title that could have easily been lost is now on multiple platforms. Regardless on which platform you prefer, The Legend of Legacy looks great and is a terrific addition to any RPG enthusiasts catalog. 

For those that haven’t played a FuRyu title and are looking for something similar but with more story, it would be worth checking out The Alliance Alive, another 3DS game that was ported to major consoles and is the successor to Legend of Legacy.

A review copy of the game was sent to us from the publisher via #keymailer

Review Score