Platform: PSP

Genre: RPG

Number of Players: 1
 

There certainly have been quite a few role-playing games getting released for the PSP, though that’s not something that most of us are against. I can remember a time when finding a new RPG was something of a rarity, but not these days. In fact, it was only six months ago that The Legend of Heroes II was released, and already The Legend of Heroes III: Song of the Ocean is upon with what might be one of the fastest turn around times and RPG genre has ever seen.

For those who don’t already know, The Legend of Heroes on the PSP has been a means to bring back the franchise which was originally seen on the PC in Japan, and the intention has been for three games, at least for the portable market, and the franchise has actually seen six games since 1989. Song of the Ocean brings new characters into the world of The Legend of Heroes, though if you’ve played the previous games and still have your save data, you can import them and have the access to well over one hundred different characters that you are familiar with. If you don’t have these saves through, there are plenty of places to find them online, one of the many things that makes the PSP the best handheld gaming system on the market.

The Legend of Heroes III: Song of the Ocean is set in the same world as the previous two games have been, but of course with an all-new story. The tale begins in Weltluna where we learn about the existence of twenty-four verses that are scattered throughout the world. These verse are songs of tremendous power, but have been lost for ages, though one of our main characters, the elderly McBain, has an interested in finding them and has decided to embark on one final voyage to seek them out. McBain’s family however is concerned about his plan and insists that his nephew Forte accompany him. Tagging along on the journey as well are Jan, McBain’s dog, and Una, a friend of Forte’s who has a crush on him but is far too shy to confess her love to him. And thus, the three leave to discover the verses which, as legend tells, will unlock the Water Melody.

The difference between this third version of The Legend of Heroes and the previous games is . . . . very little. The overworld is identical to what has been found before, though one of the things that I have liked about these games is that instead of taking a few steps and having an encounter out of nowhere, you can see the monsters and their reaction to your party. Monsters with a green icon above them will leave you alone but those that are red are on the attack. During battle, there are some familiar RPG elements found such as the ability to attack, use magic or items, but LoH as you may know, has some other skills that you can utilize. As you fight, your characters will increase their finishing move gauge and once it’s full, pressing the square button will unleash a powerful attack capable of dealing out some heavy damage.

The switch option comes in quite handy and will allow you to swap out characters during battle. Maybe you’re in combat with a monster that has a weakness that your current party can’t exploit, but you can always bring in someone who can. At the end of battle you will gain experience, collect money and occasionally items, and as your characters begin to increase in level, they will also unlock new spells, skills and finishing moves for themselves.

However, while the battles are turn based, they aren’t the style where your characters can attack each and every enemy. The field will allow your characters to move only so far, so if any enemy is out of range, you won’t be able to strike, though characters with bows and other ranged weapons do have an advantage. Also, any successful attack will move the target back, so you feasibly could push a foe out of range, though being moved yourself could be advantageous to avoid further damage.

When you officially start your journey, you will gain a pet, a hamster in this case. Okay, it looks more like a rabbit, but the story says it’s a hamster, so I’m going with that. Your pet is always outside of your group and will find items along the way for you. You can praise him, give him food, even scold him if you want, and ultimately it will effect how well your pet finds goodies for you on your journey. Keeping your pet happy is the best thing as it will save you money in the long run since you will be buying less items, and often selling them off due to lack of space.

McBain and Forte are musicians, so throughout the game you will find opportunities to have the pair participate in musical numbers. The bad thing about this is that if you choose to do so, there’s no way to suddenly stop them, and you will need to listen to them in their entirety. There are different songs that can be played however, and during the course of the story, you will begin finding new music.

The Legend of Heroes series has gone with a more classic approach instead of trying for the ultra-realism that is very common in today’s marketplace. Instead of following the current trend like all other developers, you will find the LoH has those stout characters that you’ve probably seen in other games over the years like the early Dragon Quest games, even the first six Final Fantasy titles, and a number of others. During the dialog though, the main characters will be displayed along side the text in an anime-inspired look. Every aspect of the game is done in an overhead view, just like the games of yesteryear, but the terrain is extremely well detailed and has the same anime type of look to match with the rest of the game.

The real problem with The Legend of Heroes III: Song of the Ocean comes down to the fact that aside from a new story, new characters, and new locations it’s really just the same game as before in terms of how it plays. There really isn’t much as far as innovations with the battles and adding just a few new elements into the game itself doesn’t make it something that stands out drastically from what fans of the series have played before. But, it really all comes down to how much you loved the game before. If you’re one who found near perfection with the pervious games, you’ll be pleased to know that not much has changed, but if you were looking for improvements that put The Legend of Heroes III: Song of the Ocean leaps and bounds beyond its predecessors, you’re not going to find much of that here. After a few hours, I had a feeling of “been there, done that,” and while the game is good, I think this may be the same sentiments that others have.
 

-mike-