The Legend of Legacy (Nintendo 3DS) Preview

From the gate, what's most noticeable about The Legend of Legacy is its reliance on old tropes and archetypes. Seven playable characters appear, ripe for the choosing: a swordsman, an alchemist, a girl with no memories, a… frog prince, and so on. The latter aside, there isn't much out of the ordinary. A lost kingdom called Avalon has recently reappeared and adventurers flock to it for many reasons - some less pure than others - but one thing is certain: adventure awaits.

Depending on what starting character is chosen, two others will join the party early on, while the rest can be found later. A tutorial will run through the battle system, which will be familiar to turn-based RPG fans, but there are a few curveballs here. Healing and reviving, for instance, aren't bound to specific consumable items. Healing can be done infinite times, and a simple heal will revive a collapsed teammate, although their total health points will lower with each collapse. Finishing a battle also fully heals all team members, yet the SP required to perform special attacks carries over between battles and, unlike health, it's affected by consumables.

Sleeping in an inn to replenish all party members seems to be free, and battles aren't random. Enemies appear as shadowy figures on the map, and should they notice the party, they will give chase, where touching them initiates a battle. The overworld map itself is reminiscent of that of Bravely Default, being 2D, painted-looking sceneries. The player character's field of view is shrouded by fog at its outer edges, and when the scenery comes into view, it pops out of the ground like a pop-up book, which is a very unique and fun graphical style. Moving around the map fills in a mini-map by percentage points, similar to Star Ocean: Till the End of Time, and once maps are completed, they can be sold to a vendor in town. The overworld music is lovely, but it doesn't seem to change much outside of battles.

Each map is given an element, most of which is simply Shadow early on. Players will eventually be able to interact with shrines that change the field's element and give them advantages in battle. Avalon is full of mysteries, although the early stages of the game are likely to be spent level grinding in the same two or three maps in order to beat the mini-bosses found within them. If The Legend of Legacy opens up, it doesn't seem to do it in its first few hours of play. Oddly missing are certain options like changing text speed, and the game's narrator sounds somewhat uninspired, but the experience is a solid one, if not a little too reminiscent of Bravely Default's visuals.