Eternal Legacy Review
PROS
- Lengthy JRPG inspired gameplay and story.
- Detailed 3D environments and characters.
- Extensive voice-acting added to the entire world.
- Voice acting can be turned off.
CONS
- Generic storyline and characters.
- Heavily borrowed and conflicting influences.
- Poor gameplay feature designs.
VERDICT
Eternal Legacy tries to give JRPG fans exactly what they want, but obvious influences aside it fails to deliver an experience on par with titles that are already extremely outdated; definitely one for the fans.
- Full Review
- App Store Info
Eternal Legacy by Gameloft is, unlike the gestalt would imply, a greater game than the sum of its parts. What this JRPG (Japanese RPG) flavored title represents is the genre in its most generic form and while this isn't necessarily a bad thing, it never really manages to lift above this baseline level.
Most of the gameplay in Eternal Legacy takes the form of exploration and combat in the 3D realm of Algoad. Instead of random encounters, players engage in battles with roaming packs of creatures and combat takes the form of turn-based actions (or ATB for those familiar with the term). The touch based menus are large and actions can be quick sorted for easy selection, allowing you to queue up to three moves in advance. Items can be customized with gems, providing additional skills (yes, like THAT game) and super moves can be activated once a progress bar is filled in battle. The actions of your companions are automatically dictated by the mode you've set them to (offensive, defensive, etc.) however those after an authentic old-school experience can set the game to full player control.
This by itself is quite enjoyable as far as RPG experiences go and progressing through the otherwise bland storyline is kept afloat by the occasional challenging boss battle and side-quests. That said, there's no excuse for frustrating features like being unable to use spells outside of combat; the inability to 'unequip' an item or a gem without replacing it; or failing to show the actions/bars of your other members. Furthermore, the adherence to JRPG tropes results in realizing that enemies have health bars that are in an order of magnitude so much higher than yours that it hardly makes sense.
These and a handful of other minor, yet frustrating details highlight the developer's lack of familiarity with the genre, resulting in a game that's more of a pastiche than an homage. JRPG fans may still want to take a chance with this game, but you're not missing out on anything you haven't seen before if you don't.
Screenshots
$4.99
