Every platform has games that fly under the radar. Whether it is a lack of marketing, a stealth release or simply being caught in the wake of higher profile titles, it is unavoidable. But even by those standards Legend is obscure. Legend was released during the height of the video game magazine era yet still saw few reviews. You could make the argument that there were too many games but that doesn’t fly. In reality it is probably because the game is bad. Legend is an insanely pretty game but fudges the fundamentals of the genre and is not fun to play.
For a game that isn’t well known Legend has a long history. The original SNES game released to obscurity in 1993. A few years later it would receive a 3d remake for the PlayStation by its original developers. The best that I can say is that they tried. This remake never left Europe, although it came close. THQ were set to publish the game as Knights of Carnage but dropped it for some reason. I’d like to imagine someone actually got around to playing it. For some reason I still don’t understand Legend was released on Steam in 2015. That is pretty incredible for a middling game eh?
If I had to sum up Legend it would be limited. The game is extremely similar to Golden Axe, from its setting to its action. You have a very limited move set; you have a three-hit combo attack and three variations on the jumping attack and that is it. There aren’t even temporary weapons to use either. Even by brawler standards this is sad. At least you can block attacks, something not common in the genre. You can collect magic potions to unleash screen clearing magic attacks as well, even though you cannot choose the spell used. It isn’t the same as kicking gnomes in Golden Axe but between levels you have the chance to pick up gold and earn extra lives depending on the number of keys collected.
Despite its surface similarity to Golden Axe the gameplay has problems. Your general attack speed is painfully slow, to a degree I can’t believe. In the time it takes to complete a simple combo the enemy has recovered and retaliated. There are lightning orbs that increase your attack speed but that basically makes the gam play the way it should have from the start. Taking it a step further the entire game is slow. Legend is practically begging for a run button. With your basic attack being practically useless the diving kick is your best to clear out waves. It is effective to an extent but dreadfully boring.
Legend isn’t so much difficult as it is frustrating. The enemies come in waves of three to five at all times. With a useless melee attack you will spend the majority of your time with the game dive kicking around the screen. Legend has so many enemy waves in each stage that it gets old fast. It is especially grating because the levels are excruciatingly long at times. Dive kicking works on regular fodder enemies but it goes out the window against the bosses. Every boss is a god damn nightmare, even the fricking minibosses. The first level features a pole wielding badass whose reach covers half the screen. Most will use up at least one continue just to get past him. The actual end level boss is even worse. And it only goes down from there.
Even in spite of its flaws Legend could have at least been decent if its balance weren’t so screwed up. Your life bar is very small and depletes fast. There aren’t barrels or other items to break for power-ups as in other brawlers. You have to rely on random drops from enemies. Life restoring food is sort of common and you’ll almost always have a full supply of magic potions. But when you hit a dry spell it is rough. These factors feel less like a gameplay feature and more of a band aid for the gameplay flaws.
The one area that I can’t complain about Legend is its visuals. Legend is an insanely pretty game and is a more impressive feat because it was made by two people. The aesthetic is decidedly Eastern European fantasy and while it covers a lot of the same locations as Capcom’s Knights of the Round it looks different. There is a lavish amount of detail in every environment and the game wouldn’t look out of place in an arcade with its large sprites. It favors foreground objects heavily which looks nice but has a habit of obscuring the action. They recycle certain environments a lot though; you’ll see that beginning forest multiple times in different shades. But it can be forgiven considering the small team.
In Closing
Top notch production values do not make a good game however. Legend is pretty to look at but a chore to play. There is a reason no one talks about this one. Let it be forgotten in history.
One thought on “Legend”