Legaia 2: Duel Saga Preview

Legend of Legaia was a solid entry in the massive PlayStation library of games when it was released three years ago. Developed by Contrail, the game told the story of a land plagued by a mysterious mist that disrupted nature. You took the role of a young man charged with banishing the mist and restoring order to the world. The game's appeal can be attributed to its solid graphics, engaging story, well-done cutscenes, and innovative combat system. The game's popularity in Japan spawned a sequel, Legaia 2: Duel Saga for the PlayStation 2, which was released there last year. However, US fans of the series looked to be out of luck when Sony of America opted to pass on bringing the game here. Fortunately, the game will finally see the light of day in the States nearly a year later, thanks to Eidos' fledgling Fresh Games label. We recently got a chance to check out a localized version of the game to see how it was coming along.

The game's story opens in Nohl, a village that has thrived in a lush land because of a magical water crystal that has supplied the residents with an inexhaustible source of water. You'll take the role of a rookie member of Nohl's militia named Lang. The militia is charged with protecting the crystal and the residents of the town. The arrangement works well--until the game starts. Not long after you begin your adventure, things go horribly awry when a mysterious stranger shows up and steals the crystal. The ensuing solar eclipse and the appearance of a sinister black light, along with the increase in the local monster population, obviously spell trouble for the locals. In true RPG fashion, Lang ends up heading out to set everything right before evil overruns the world.

If you've played the import version of the game that was released last year, or even the PlayStation predecessor, you should be familiar with how Duel Saga will play. You'll explore areas, interact with the locals to get clues on the whereabouts of the grabby mysterious stranger, shop, combine items to create new accessories and weapons, and, of course, fight evil. The game retains its predecessor's innovative tactical arts system that lets you input attack commands during a brawl. Unlike other RPGs, where you'll select from a menu of set attacks, the system in Duel Saga gives you a greater amount of control. You'll use the D-pad to specify where you'll attack an enemy: high, low, left, and right. You'll also be able to discover new attack combos, called arts, which will do some serious damage.

The arts each character will gain over the course of the game are broken up into five categories: normal, super, hyper, variable, and mystic. Normal is a basic attack that will charge your character's art-points meter up. Charging up the meter is necessary to perform the other arts, which require a certain number of art points. Super arts are powerful combos that should be familiar to those who played the Legend of Legaia. Hyper arts are combos you must learn from books or events during the game. Variable arts are combos you'll perform with other members of your party to do a hefty amount of damage. Finally, mystic arts are elemental attacks you'll gain access to once your characters are joined by mystical elemental guardians, called origins. The creatures appear to play the same role as the Seru in Legend of Legaia and will bond themselves to specific characters in your party. In addition, to allow your characters to perform elemental attacks in combat, the origins give each character a specific skill, such as the ability to destroy walls and boulders or raise vines you can climb. These abilities will be essential for navigating the dungeons you'll explore in the game.

In terms of the game's graphics, Legaia Duel Saga shows its age a bit more than most PlayStation 2 games. The characters are somewhat blocky but are balanced out by the game's environments, which are nicely detailed and quite large. While the game's polygon count may be a little modest by this year's standards, Duel Saga is still a solid-looking game. The frame rate is decent, and there's a nice assortment of eye candy during combat, especially when you use your party's origins to attack. Unfortunately, you can't rotate the camera.

Sound in the game is pretty low-key. Ambient noise is sparse but effective, and the game's soundtrack is in the same vein as that of the original Legaia on the PlayStation. The characters in the game are pretty silent for the most part, although they do speak a bit during combat. While it would be nice to get a little more out of the game's sound, Duel Saga's audio seems good enough so far.

From what we've seen, Legaia 2: Duel Saga is shaping up to be a solid game that should appeal to fans of the original. The unique combat system is fun and offers some depth for players eager to discover every art. A solid selection of minigames to play ensures that there will be plenty to do as you make your way through the main quest. The localization is coming along fine; the build of the game we checked out was easy to follow and didn't seem to have any translation weirdness. If you enjoyed the original Legaia or are looking for something a little different, you should keep an eye out for Legaia 2: Duel Saga when it ships this September for the PlayStation 2.