Legend of Legaia
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| Legend of Legaia | |
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| Developer(s) | Contrail |
| Publisher(s) | Sony Computer Entertainment (SCEE, SCEA, SCEI) |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation |
| Release date |  October 29, 1998 |
| Genre(s) | Role-playing game |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: Everyone (originally given a Teen rating, changed prior to release) |
| Media | 1 CD-ROM |
Legend of Legaia (レガイア伝説 Regaia Densetsu?), commonly abbreviated as LOL, is a Sony PlayStation role-playing game created by Contrail. The game features RPG gameplay, including Japanese character voices and a unique storyline. The game was followed by a 2001 sequel on the PlayStation 2, titled Legaia 2: Duel Saga.
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[edit] Synopsis
In the beginning, God created the skies and the earth and seas. To rule over this world, God created humankind in his own image. Though endowed with God's own spirit, humans were impulsive and physically weaker than the wild beasts of the world. Humanity reached a point where it was on the verge of extinction.
To aid his human children, God gifted them with the mystical Seru. The Seru were creatures with varying appearances who seemed to be made of some jewel like substance. When a human touched a Seru, the Seru and the human merged. The human then gained extraordinary powers, such as extreme strength, magical powers, or even the ability to fly. Humanity broke from its wild origins and founded a civilization where humans and Seru lived in close harmony.
However, one dark day, a mysterious Mist appeared as if from nowhere. When the Mist touched a Seru, the Seru was driven insane and began to attack all within reach. A human wearing a Seru inside of the Mist was transformed into a crazed and bloodthirsty monster. The Mist quickly spread from its origins in the region of Karisto to cover the entire planet. Human civilization collapsed almost instantly, and only a few isolated pockets of humanity survived the Mist.
Rim Elm is one such village. Its inhabitants hide from the Mist behind an immense wall, and emerge only to hunt for food, a dangerous and sometimes fatal endeavor. A young man named Vahn is soon to embark upon his first hunt when the hunters return, not with food, but with the body of his childhood friend's father. The tragedy is a forceful reminder of the village's precarious situation. During the night, the village is woken by a loud knocking at the gates; the culprit is a mysterious figure who reveals himself to be Zeto, a servant of the Mist. He calls upon the power of Juggernaut, an enormous beast, to demolish the wall, allowing the Mist and Seru into the village. Vahn is then forced to defend both himself and his village from the invading Seru. Just as all hope seems lost, he discovers an entity contained within the town's Genesis tree, which calls itself a "Ra-Seru." Upon the Ra-Seru's advice, Vahn gathers together the townspeople to pray to the Genesis tree; this causes the tree to activate, pulsing out an energy which apparently disintegrates the Seru and pushes back the Mist.
As Vahn, the player must venture into the Mist, not only to seek out the Genesis trees, but also to understand the origins of the Seru, and ultimately destroy the Mist and its progenitor.
[edit] Battle System
Combat in Legend of Legaia is conditional turn-based. At the beginning of each turn, the character inputs a command for each available character, selects appropriate targets, and confirms the selection. This initiates the action phase of the turn, during which each character and opponent perform their actions. The order of action is prescribed by each character's speed, status, and equipment.
Damage is instituted through the game's unique 'Tactical Arts' battle system. Instead of simply selecting a generic 'Fight' command in order to initiate a physical attack, the player specifies the location of each attack; 'Right' and 'Left' will strike with the right and left arms, respectively, and 'High' and 'Low' strike at their respective heights. Each direction has its own pros and cons, depending upon the opponent, weapons equipped, and level of the character's Ra-Seru. For example, 'Low' will not strike a Killer Bee, since it does not possess a hit box near the ground, while equipping boots will increase the power of kicks. To attack, the player creates a string of these directional strikes for each character; as the game progresses the length of this string or "action bar" increases, allowing the player to deal more damage each turn.
Certain strings of attacks initiate combos known as "Arts," which deal significantly more damage than would a non-combo string of comparable length. It is up to the player to uncover each character's Arts by experimentation; fortunately, once the player has determined the correct string, it is saved in a list which can be viewed during the character's turn. A quantity called "AP" is necessary to initiate Arts, which drain "AP" in quantities which are proportionate to the length of the combo. Inputting an Arts sequence without the requisite AP will cause the character to simply perform the string of attacks, without the Arts animation or damage bonus. AP can be earned in three ways; dealing physical damage without performing Arts, taking damage from opponents, or by using the Spirit command.
The Spirit command causes a character to defend for a turn, in lieu of attacking. This allows the character to take half-damage for the turn, while regaining AP, and boosting the length of his or her action bar for the next physical attack. Upon defeating certain Seru, a character may learn to use magic for use in combat. Once the magic has been learned, it can be used opponents (offensively) or allies (defensively) as an action during that character's turn, at the expense of Magic Points (MP).
[edit] Seru, Ra-Seru, and Sim-Seru
The interactions between the Seru, Ra-Seru, and Sim-Seru comprise an integral part of the plot of Legend of Legaia.
Seru were initially benevolent creatures designed by God to exist symbiotically with humans, and help them to survive. When worn by a human, they grant the wearer great powers. Depending on the type of Seru equipped, these powers can include greatly enhanced strength, control over the elements, and even the ability to fly. With the strength of Seru, humans were able to build civilization and thrive on the bounty of their combined efforts.
When a Seru comes into contact with the Mist, it acts aggressively and will attack any humans in its vicity. Furthermore, any Seru which comes into contact while already bound to a human will be able to take control of their host, effectively turning the human into a mindless monster. As long as the Mist pervades the air around them, the Seru and human cannot be separated without killing them both. Once the Mist has been removed, however, the Seru will return to its benign form, and the human will awaken unharmed. Humans freed from the influence of a controlling Seru often report that they feel as though they have awoken from a nightmare, and note that they have not aged in the time between enslavement and emancipation, an interval which can last anywhere from days to years.
Some Seru possess an elemental affinity which determines what type of attacks it will use in battle (noted by the icon displayed next to its name). This is useful in determining what abilities can be assimilated by a Ra-Seru (see below).
Ra-Seru are Seru which have chosen to align themselves with the humans against the Mist and its agents. Unlike most Seru encountered in the game, they are sentient and capable of thinking for themselves. They are born from Ra-Seru eggs found in the heart of Genesis trees, and hatch when activated by the energies of a Genesis tree. They are immune to the maddening effects of the Mist, although weakened by its presence, and apparently cannot survive prolonged exposure to high concentrations.
Each main character eventually partners him- or herself with a Ra-Seru, who lends its strength and wisdom to the human. As the storyline progresses, both the main characters and the Ra-Seru come to trust each other, and the deepening relationship between them is reflected by the visible growth of the Ra-Seru following the successful activation of a Genesis tree. Once bound, a Ra-Seru strengthens its partner's primary arm for use in combat. When a human wearing a Ra-Seru defeats a Seru in battle, the Ra-Seru can absorb the Seru's power and later use it when necessary. Consistently calling upon that Seru's power will level it up, making it more powerful and causing additional effects. In addition, the Ra-Seru are also very knowledgeable of both Seru and the Mist, and serve as indispensable authorities to the main characters who often have little understanding of either. They communicate with their partners and other Ra-Seru with what is apparently a telepathic link.
Like most Seru encountered in the game, the Ra-Seru possess their own elemental affinities. Meta, Terra, and Ozma are associated with fire, wind, and thunder, respectively; these affinities can be seen by the nature of hyper arts executed with their power. For example, Vahn is capable of learning Fire Tackle and Tornado Flame with Meta, while Noa can perform Tempest and Hurricane Kick. In addition, the Ra-Seru themselves can be summoned as magic of their elemental affinity by their human partners. This is possible when the Ra-Seru has reached its highest level of power, and is brought back to the Genesis tree which sired it.
Seru and Ra-Seru originate from Seru-Kai, the world of the Seru, and are consequently not of the human world. Sim-Seru, however, are Seru which have been artifically created by humans. Little is known about them, except that their creation involves sacrificing the life energy of humans.
[edit] Legaia locations
[edit] Legaia characters
[edit] Other aspects of Legaia
[edit] Genesis Trees
Genesis trees are distinctive trees scattered throughout the world, which possess the power to push away the Mist, once activated by the energy of a Ra-Seru or faith. A primary objective of the game is to locate and activate all of the world's Genesis trees, and conflicts between different parties of the game often revolve around their protection or destruction.
[edit] Seru Brides
Seru Brides are a form of human sacrifice performed in the town of Ratayu. Following a visit from Dohati, Lord Saryu is possessed by a Sim-Seru, and initiates the system of "Seru Brides". Women from Ratayu are taken to the basement of Saryu's palace, where they are fed to the Juggernaut via a large machine. Once Juggernaut has consumed enough women, it will be fully matured and ready to release upon the world. The Ra-Seru heroes put an end to this practice by storming Lord Saryu's Palace, but in the process, Noa almost becomes a "Seru Bride" herself. By defeating Saryu, they break the Sim-Seru's hold over him, and he regains his sanity and puts a stop to the sacrifices once and for all.
[edit] Ra-Seru
As with the Seru, Ra-Seru attach themselves to human hosts, but instead of turning them into violent monsters, Ra-Seru make them super-human and allow them to travel through the Mist without being taken over. The Ra-Seru were created in order to defeat the Mist, but only a chosen few can equip them. They have a mind of their own, as well as ethics, morals, and personalities. Also, a Ra-Seru can read and manipulate minds just as Seru do. However, due to their morals and values, such manipulation by Ra-Seru is rare.
[edit] Sim-Seru
Sim-Seru are powerful Seru that can control a persons mind. They are created solely for manipulation. Unlike regular Seru, they are not affected by the berserking power of the Mist and can be used outside of mist as well. The Sim-Seru are often controlling the person it is attached to, and the Sim-Seru is being controlled further by someone else. Sim-Seru are powerful indeed, but corrupt those who wear them for too long.
[edit] Soundtrack
| The Legaia Original Soundtrack tracklist | ||
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Disc 1 (66:31)
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[edit] External links
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