It's story and characters rise above some of the game's less original aspects and create a truly worthwhile experience.
Tales of Legendia is somewhere between games like Tales of Destiny and Tales of Symphonia in terms of gameplay. It is not, however related to Symphonia or the game's ancestor Phantasia. It's story is it's own, and it's a considerably interesting one.
The story of Legendia begins when a young Marine named Senel and his frail sister, Shirley become stranded on a strange island during a powerful storm. Soon they find out that the massive island is not what it seems at all, but is actually an enormous ship known as the Legacy which was built centuries ago by the ancient civilization of Terises.
The plot begins to thicken quickly when Shirley is kidnapped and hunted down by several different groups of people. Senel joins forces with a sheriff on the island as well as female knight, and together they storm forward in hopes of saving Shirley and unraveling the mystery of the 'Marines' a powerful leader of the people known as Radiants.
I was quite impressed by the game's plot, but it's true strength falls on it's characters. While there are many archtype characters, they are fleshed out to the max with specific missions and conversations. All of your comrades have a story and a life, and this drastically effects your outlook during the game and how you precieve many things.
Speaking strictly gameplay wise, Tales of Legendia is no whimp. Battle is done on the traditional 3D, yet '2D' line. You'll run from side to side and attack foes in real time while your allies use thier comendable AI to assit you in numerous ways. Battle is well done, but doesn't quite reach the same depth as Symphonia.
How to actually get into a battle has changed drastically from Symphonia as you are now atatcked with random encounters. The random encounters vary from place to place, but expect to battle alot. Also, expect to level up steadily but slowly. Characters level evenly, which is a good thing, and you'll gain skills and attacks according to how many types of enemies you kill. (Characters use Eres and to learn new Eres skills, 'Eres stones' are needed. They are found during battle once you defeat creatures in a certain amount of time)
The game progresses rather slowly, and near the start of Chapter Five i was only level 20. This doesn't really effect gameplay much, but it does mean you'll battle often if you wish to level up. Also, I found Legendia's battle system to be quite easy most of the time. Some battles are rather difficult, but even on the Hard setting, a normally-skilled RPG gamer could pass with flying colors.
There are also puzzles and exploration in Ruins and the World Map of course. The puzzles take place in 'Puzzle Booths' and use the patented 'Sorcerer's Ring' to light up various crystals and open 'Ducts' which transport you places. The puzzles vary in difficulty, but nothing is incredibly interesting or hard and they come off as more annoying than anything.
Graphic wise, Legendia is nice and stylish but I was left wondering 'what if'. Unlike Symphonia, everything is 'smaller' if you will. There are no real cutscenes where you see close ups of characters or intense battles, it harkens back thoughts of when Sprites did all onscreen event sequences. Granted, everything in the game looks wonderful...but I just wish there had been more close ups and camera angles than the continuous 'over head' view of our pixelated heros.
The sound is quite good. The voice acting is strong and no one sticks out as annoying or out of place. The music ranges from ok to wonderful, and the sound of effects are decent.
Overall, Legendia is a rather common-place RPG with enough individuality and heart to gain the love of any gamer. It may not be quite on par with say, Symphonia...but I wouldn't truly say those two compare much at all. Legendia's story and characters rise above some of the game's less original aspects and create a truly worthwhile experience.