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The PSP Legend of Heroes games have the most aggravating numbering scheme around. Consider that Legend of Heroes III here is actually the Japanese Legend of Heroes V. Legend of Heroes II, released in America late last summer, was the original Legend of Heroes III. Plain old Legend of Heroes, the first game in the series that made it to America, was the fourth in the Japanese reckoning of things – yes, the first two American games are out of order.

For more fun, take a look at the Japanese titles of these games. Depending on where it’s printed, the original title for Legend of Heroes III is occasionally given as Eiyuu Densetsu Gagharv Trilogy V. Yeah, you read that right, trilogy part five. In fact, the “Gagharv Trilogy” starts with Eiyuu Densetsu III, making this the long-awaited conclusion to the series, but you wouldn’t be able to tell by just looking at that name. (“Eiyuu Densetsu,” incidentally, just means “Legend of Heroes,” so at least we’re spared any confusion over the title’s translation.)

If your head doesn’t hurt yet, you’re not paying attention. The really funny part, though, is that none of this trivia matters. It seemed pretty likely after Legend of Heroes II, and the third game seals the deal -- all of these games are more or less the same. Legend of Heroes III is the best of the trilogy by some small margin, but the third game in a series ought to show a lot more progress than this one does. Ironically, that makes it the most disappointing of the set.

A Few Things In Common

In the last Legend of Heroes, two childhood friends left home in search of adventure. In this new Legend of Heroes, two childhood friends leave home in search of adventure with an elder mentor figure to guide them. So you see how the series is gradually evolving from game to game.

There are other examples of superficial evolution that you can pick out here and there. Legend of Heroes III has a musical theme to it (as the “Song of the Ocean” subtitle gives away), and so we get an “ensemble” overlay for the turn-based combat system. This lets multiple characters activate team-up spells, in addition to the solo charge attacks that were available in the earlier games. In addition, for a broader array of potential combinations, you can swap six party members in and out of the four slots for active combatants, even during an ongoing battle.

Beneath the little changes lies the same old core. The story is still a collection of console RPG clichés – collect all the bits of the MacGuffin and save the world! -- riddled with backtracking through repetitive areas. If you’re not yet intimately familiar with the “conversation chase” mechanic, this game will quickly fix that, as you trundle back and forth through a lot of the same locations in search of the one person who represents the next story trigger. The English script is a little better than Legend of Heroes II, which was riddled with typos and obvious technical foul-ups, but it doesn’t do anything special with its raw material.

Likewise, despite a few new gimmicks to fiddle with, in practice the combat scheme is more of the same, basic turn-based action that might have been innovative in a game made 15 years ago. Character movement is strictly automatic, and you’ll have to guess where a character will end up after attacking. Battles are so easy, though, and encounters are so repetitive, that there’s not much incentive to take advantage of what new tactical options there are. Avoiding monsters on the field map is easy enough, and the temptation to skip them becomes awfully strong, awfully quickly.

Arrange Version

This Legend of Heroes still looks and sounds good, and that’s the sad part. The artists and musicians working on the visuals and soundtrack are capable at worst, and occasionally they show some real flair.

Like most games originating from the Nihon Falcom development shop, Legend of Heroes III has a cracker of a soundtrack, delivering catchy background music across a range of different styles. Falcom does good business running its own record label in Japan, and given the quality of its output that’s no surprise. There are tunes here that would easily be worth listening to on their own. (One of the collection side-quests, in fact, involves hunting up new compositions to hear, a smart way of playing to the developer’s strengths.)

The graphics speak to a slightly more specific taste – the one for stumpy sprites and big-eyed Japanese cartoon character portraits – but they’re very well-done within those rather conventional confines. The character artwork in particular is colorful and detailed without getting too fiddly. Behind them there’s a decent enough 3D engine to make for interesting town and field map backgrounds. The world’s still mostly laid out on an obvious grid, but there’s plenty of set-dressing to give the areas a more organic feel.

The Legend Does Not Continue

There’s only so much a pretty picture can carry, though. Legend of Heroes needs more innovation in the areas that actually matter – scenario writing, game design, the tricky stuff like that – before it’ll spawn an installment worth playing. A sixth game is waiting in the wings in Japan, and reportedly it’s quite a departure for the franchise, so maybe we can expect better from a Legend of Heroes…er, probably IV.

Article by: D. F. Smith
Video produced by: Jonathan Solin