The Legend of Legacy was first released for the 3DS in 2015. Like many JRPGs released on the console, it made big swings at new mechanics that set it apart from the games to which it would be compared. Gaining a nice cult fandom, the game is commonly brought up in conversations about SaGa-likes. In a refreshed release, The Legend of Legacy HD Remastered presents the game well enough for modern consoles, but original points of frustration persist. Here’s our review for the Nintendo Switch!

In the Legend of Legacy HD Remastered, you control seven different characters across Avalon. By choosing one, you recruit the others as you explore areas of the island with a blank map. As you walk, you fill in the map and find treasure and items along the way. Upon completing an area, you can also turn the filled-in map in at a town for money. The game loop is quite satisfying, particularly if you like Dungeon Crawling. I personally love not having to trace the map like other Dungeon Crawlers; everything is done automatically as you explore.

Of course, exploring comes with combat encounters. Battles are turn-based and take place in grid-arranged formations. You can take stances, including attack and defense, to ensure each character’s class is best utilized. The strategy element here is wonderful, although it’s fairly difficult to be successful when you begin because this is a deep, rich system that takes time to learn. Unfortunately, by the time you learn the system, you’ve seen the gameplay loop and there’s not much offered to keep you coming back for more.

Playing through The Legend of Legacy HD Remastered is a bit inconsistent. While the battle system, including the use of summoning elemental spirits to assist in tough battles, is unique and well-developed, the overall experience is lacking. The story in this game is relatively nonexistent, despite an intro section and a hefty guidebook. The goal here, at least in my opinion, is to mimic the days of 8-bit and 16-bit RPGs where the action was the point. That was true of the original 3DS release and that’s true now.

If we’re judging it by those standards, which I’m comfortable with, then I’m still just not completely buying into what’s offered. The grid base only being 2×3 keeps things very limited as opposed to the intense strategy that comes with a Disgaea game. Even the simplified experience of a Fire Emblem game feels more engaging than this smaller-scale experience. I also much prefer the class system of other JRPGs like Bravery Default, which itself comes with enough unique combat aspects to rival what’s offered here.

Another element worth mentioning is that grinding is built into the way you progress through regions and The Legend of Legacy HD Remastered. Grinding is not absent from most JRPGs, but it’s also rarely ever this tedious. As you return to regions you’ve visited, taking paths you’ve already mapped means fewer enemy encounters, resulting in simply rehashing regions over and over. It’s just not a loop I find compelling enough to recommend this over another JRPG that might be sitting in your backlog.

The Legend of Legacy HD Remastered takes a solid 3DS game and updates it visually. Unfortunately, the flaws embedded in the unique combat structure of the original still persist here, resulting in a flat and sometimes frustrating experience. Rabid fans of JRPGs may want to pick this game up to revisit the days of role-playing crawlers past, but most will find a much better experience awaiting them in other JRPGs released recently. The Legend of Legacy HD Remastered is available now for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and PC.

A Switch review copy of The Legend of Legacy HD Remastered was provided by NIS America for the purposes of this review.

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The Legend of Legacy HD Remastered

$49.99

6

Score

6.0/10

Pros

• A unique set of combat systems
• A straightforward game loop
• Hardcore JRPG fans will likely enjoy revisiting the game

Cons

• Become tediously repetitive
• Difficulty spikes randomly make the game way harder than necessary
• After a few hours, you've seen it all