Official Website

Platform: PSP

Genre: RPG

Number of Players: 1
 

The face of role-playing games has been changing over the years, and little by little it seems that the classic turn based game is being replaced by the “action RPG.” The Zelda inspired games might be good for some, and while they aren’t necessarily bad, having been addicted to console role-playing since the early days, Dragon Warrior and the original Final Fantasy, there are times that I crave that style of gameplay, not to mention a story that doesn’t take four or five hours to get into, and this is the role that The Legend of Heroes II fills.

On the world of Tirasweel in the small village of Ragpick there exists a long standing tradition. When children reach the right age they are sent on a pilgrimage to five different shrines scattered across the continent. The coming of age tradition is the journey that Jurio and his childhood friend Chris must embark on, but they soon discover all is not well. The visions they have received from the shrines show terrible events striking the kingdoms of the world, and as they become clearer, they discover an old prophecy made by a mysterious woman known as the Moonlight Witch. But, can the two youth, with the help of some new friends, stop this terror before disaster falls, or is the prophecy meant to be with no hope of salvation?

The Legend of Heroes II first and foremost avoids one of the latest trappings of RPG’s, something that has been seen in titles like Xenosaga II and Kingdom Hearts II, and that is hours of cutscenes and story with little to no gameplay along the line. While I don’t think that either of the aforementioned games are bad in any way, they take quite some time to really get into before you can play with no worry of walking onto another screen and being hit with another fifteen minutes of dialog. Within minutes of starting you’ll find yourself faced with a novel concept: gameplay.

The game really goes back to the old school style of RPG. There aren’t any full, three dimensional areas and instead the game is simply an overhead view, just like the good old days of gaming. You also needn’t worry about finding things like treasure chests, you’ll be given a pet who finds items for you and when you see it with an icon, that means it’s found something. You can also feed your pet various types of food that can be purchased or found, and these will have a variety of battle effects, and your pet can also be praised or scolded if it does something bad. If you want to try and find points of interest yourself, you only need to look for exclamation points on the field, and those that are red are vital to the story (these will also be seen on NPC’s throughout the game.)

Random encounters are a thing of the past with The Legend of Heroes II, and these have always been something that can be an annoyance. There’s nothing more frustrating that being close to a city, in dire need to resurrecting characters or buying healing items, and getting attacks by a weak party of monsters that slaughters your already miserable party. On the playing field you will see the monsters, and they certainly see you as well. Should the icon above the monster turn red, they will attack, but if they realize that you are much stronger, the icon turns blue and the monster will leave you alone. This is a good way to also avoid unnecessary combat, especially if you’re trying to reach safety and live to fight another day.

Battles are played in something of a similar style such as Star Ocean: The Second Story, though minus the annoying, repetitive voice acting. While The Legend of Heroes is a turn based, you also need to move to the location of where your enemies are, but this is not done is a fashion like what is seen in many of the Tactics games. You have many of the usual menu options here including your usual options to fight, use magic, flee and such, but LOH2 does offer some other features. As you do battle, you will build up your Power Gauge, and when it’s full, you can chose to use your finishing move. These prove to be one of the best ways to make short work of just about any foe you might face. Each character also has a series of skills they can use, and just like with magic; more will become available to you as your level increases.

A few other tidbits about this RPG that I found interesting include the fact that as you learn more about the history of the world and as you progress on your journey, the game keeps track of the history so you can view what has happened at any point. It’s a good way at times to refresh yourself on events. I also really love the fact that if a character leaves your party for any reason, they also leave their items. There’s nothing more frustrating than spending your hard earned money on a new character only to see them go . . . along with everything that you’ve bought for them. Also, the game allows you to save at any time with the exception of battles, and this is necessary in this case because playing and RPG on the go may allow for needing to save quickly instead of finding the right spot to camp or an inn. Plus, seeing that battery light blinking on and off can be a horrible experience in itself, but when your in the middle of an RPG, you don’t want to see two or more hours suddenly become a black screen.

Like the RPG’s of old, most of the game itself is done in an overhead, two-dimensional fashion, so the characters don’t have the realism that many games do these days, but instead a sort of “super-deformed” look; stout characters in other words. However, during any dialog, the images take on an anime-inspired look, something quite common in many RPG’s. The graphics are done very well, in particular some of the magic effects that are seen during combat are great, and while wandering around you’ll find yourself emerged in lush forest or rocky crags, or perhaps even stare out over the brilliant blue ocean. There are a few cutscenes that are found during the game as well, and these are done even better, and the best part is that they are not terribly lengthy and allow you to get right back into playing the game.

I can’t think of anything about the game that I don’t necessarily like, and while some might complain that the depth of games like Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest can’t be found here, I don’t find that to be a deterrent from playing The Legend of Heroes II. I’m not alone in the mindset of an RPG really getting into allowing you to play instead of showing you an overly long presentation and the simple fact that you start game play immediately is probably one of the best features that is found here. The Legend of the Heroes II definitely brings back that “old school” feeling of the classic RPG, and it does it perfectly. This is an RPG that is sure to appease long time role-playing fans and appeal to the new crowd, and there aren’t any sacrifices made along the way. You can teach an old dog new tricks, but with The Legend of Heroes II, it doesn’t need any of those, just some good, old fashioned game play.
 

-mike-