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BATTLE SYSTEM
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INTERACTION
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ORIGINALITY
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STORY
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MUSIC & SOUND
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VISUALS
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CHALLENGE
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Easy
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COMPLETION TIME
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30 to 40 hrs.
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OVERALL
3.0/5
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Rating definitions
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Being a traditionally styled turn-based RPG released for a system with few RPGs,
The Legend of Heroes: a Tear of Vermilion may see a decent level of sales simply because it has
little or no competition in the RPG market. The game has a number of problems in interface and
plotting, but its most notable problem is a serious failure to capitalize on its combat system.
On the positive side, the game has a number of things going for it on the artistic front, but with
play mechanics straight out of Grandia and a limp character development scheme, it is a game which
will appeal almost exclusively to gamers who yearn for the old school.
The Legend of Heroes: a Tear of Vermilion is actually a remake of a title
in a relatively unknown series called Gagharv, a title which refers to the name of the world the
game is set on. Second of a trilogy within this series, The Legend of Heroes is highly derivative,
not of other games in the series but rather of RPGs in general. While this may not pose a problem
to fans of more elderly RPG design, the fact is that the game feels very well-worn in both play
mechanics and plotting.
The Legend of Heroes follows the travels of a young man named Avin as he tries
to locate his younger sister, Eimelle, who was kidnaped when they were both very young. The story
is split into three chapters, but the first, which chronicles the actual search for Eimelle, is
probably the most compelling. It introduces the game’s large cast of characters as well as doing a
reasonable job of showing off the setting as Avin travels from town to town. The second and third
parts are largely revisits of locations introduced in the first chapter, and so the game can feel a
bit tedious at times, but the characters go a long way towards relieving this. While the actual
storyline is more than just a little cliched, the characters in this story are likeable, well
designed and a lot of fun to interact with. Again, it isn’t anything new, but that isn’t the same
as saying it isn’t enjoyable.
Enemies may turn tail and run if you're too strong for 'em.
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Combat in The Legend of Heroes is turn-based, but set on an open playing field
that characters are free to move about on. Spells and certain skills have areas of effect, meaning
placement on the battlefield can have a huge effect on combat. However, the game makes effectively
placing characters a bit of a trial. Rather than allowing players to move and then attack as with
tactical RPGs, The Legend of Heroes will only allow players to select a target, and will select the
side that character attacks from and the path they will take to get there. It isn’t a huge problem as
the vast majority of the battles are ridiculously easy, but the lack of control can cause problems
with spell and skill ranges, as attacking a monster from the wrong side may knock it out of range.
Overall, the combat system isn’t poorly designed, it just doesn’t really go
anywhere. The system had potential in the wide variety of Skills and Magic, some of which have very
interesting effects. However, as the game progresses, it isn’t really necessary to use the vast
majority of the skills the characters learn, with a few basic elemental spells and perhaps one or two
Skills seeing use in about 90% of all battles.
The game's Deadly skills are very similar to FF7's Limit Break system.
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Control is something of a sticking point, and could have used a bit of work. The player can use either the
d-pad or the PSP’s tiny analog stick, but neither is particularly exact. The d-pad has trouble
traveling on the diagonal and the analog stick has a tendency to wander - release the stick and it
might decide to keep going on its own. Hit detection is also a bit off, due to the fact that the
game uses an odd sliding effect when the player runs into a wall, directing them along that wall
rather than simply stopping them. It can be irritating to have to run back and forth along a desk,
viciously stabbing the X button in order to find the hit area. Menus are a little overcomplicated,
but they get the point across.
Similarly, the game’s Pet system is a bit incomprehensible. At the beginning
of the game, the player is randomly assigned either a cat, a dog, or a rabbit to follow them around.
This animal can be fed or praised to make it happy, or scolded to make it unhappy. Based on its
emotion, the pet will provide the player with items, raise defense in battle, or even drop a rock on
the opposition. However, whatever system the pet uses to decide its current emotion is either so
complicated as to make understanding impossible or these animals are suffering from the
rabbit/cat/dog equivalent of mood swings. There just seems to be no clear link between what the player
does and how the animal responds.
The music is surprisingly good for a handheld, particularly in sound quality;
headphones are definitely recommended. The style of music is hardly inspired, being mostly a
collection of classical tunes that don’t always exactly fit their setting, but it also has some
subtle and interesting jazzy touches that give it a certain zing. Sound effects are more or less a
non-issue, though the 'ding!' noise played when selecting an action in combat certainly gets
irritating after a while, especially given the amount of menus there are to push through.
The visuals of The Legend of Heroes are comprised of a selection of sprites
moving across a fully polygonal background, and uses a variety of large, expressive character
portraits alongside dialogue. Consequently, the game’s style is very inconsistent, and although
none of it is particularly low in quality, the combination of elements just doesn’t work very well.
That said, Minako Iwasaki’s character designs and illustrations are without a doubt the high point
of the game. Ms. Iwasaki, who has also done work for Falcom’s Y’s series, brings a detailed, colorful
touch to the character designs which is refreshing.
The game is balanced fairly well, though it does tend towards being a little
too easy. The only problem balance-wise is that as characters level up in a given area, monsters
begin to dish out less and less EXP, a feature which makes leveling up extremely difficult and slow.
This, combined with the very straightforward nature of the plot, makes The Legend of Heroes extremely
linear. The game itself isn’t particularly long, topping out at around 30 to 40 hours.
The Legend of Heroes: A Tear of Vermillion is a game that is going to benefit
from having so little competition on the PSP. Though the game is cliched, somewhat uninspired, and
more than a little clunky in interface, Golden Sun for the Game Boy Advance suffered many of these
same problems and is still considered by many to be a classic GBA role-playing game. In the end, it
is perhaps more of a matter of taste. Gamers who enjoy the ways of older RPGs are going to eat The
Legend of Heroes up with a spoon, while those who prefer more innovative takes on the genre will
probably be less than enthused.
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