I was one of the lead testers for the English translation of this game. I played a key part in the translation, reviewing it and suggesting alternatives. Thanks for this review. It had problems but could have been worse.
That's pretty cool you might be the first person on a team of developers or translators I've had comment on my videos. :) Thank you for stopping by and giving a watch.
Thankyou for your work. The english voice acting is a bit derpy at times but i found it endearing. The only think that ever really made me cringe was lang taking so long to say galea in some of the spells. It just feels delayed. Otherwise no conplaints here.
why didn't you stop them from changing the battle system? (asking a lot i know. its a joke.) its so much easier to manipulate that it takes all the fun out of it from the first game.
Legaia 2 really lacked the dark and mystical atmosphere of the first game and felt pretty underwhelming in general. I just hope this game's existence doesn't discourage anyone from trying the original Legend of Legaia, because it's honestly one of my absolute favorite JRPGs ever.
The algorithm gods have brought us together. I had almost completely forgotten about this game but as soon as I saw this video I remembered picking this game up off of some bargain bin at like a Sears or w/e. Sure the voice acting was goofy but damn did it have a good turn based combat system.
I personally like the sequel more than the first one. I love both of them but legaia 2 has so much replay ability. The sound track is awesome and graphically it still holds up pretty well. Monster designs are great and the battle system is far superior than most RPGs now days. Just an awesome game
I remember renting this game at the local video warehouse during the PS2 ero, with no prior knowledge of the original title. Took it home, and remember it being fairly difficult as a kid, but loved that it reminded me so much of that golden age of PS1-PS2 FF releases. Never made it very far, but remember enjoying the vibe of it. Just stumbled back on it today 22 years later.
Personally i prefered legaia 2. But i can respect that people would prefer the original. I found the battle system to be much better being able to accrue AP by doing normal artes. It left a lot more room for varied interesting combos. And having more characters was even more interesting. Though the story itself was definately stronger in the first game, i found the simplicity of second almost comforting. Kindof like how the Tales series doesnt often do anything to advanced in it'a writing, but is still very fun.
Also you CAN use the end of the hyper arte to combo. Just no the beginning. Much like in the first game. Late game in legaia 2 i would often use up to 2 hyper artes then finishing off the combo with normal artes to keep my AP up
I really enjoyed the games combat. I'd love to see a spiritual successor to this games combat system. I think in alot of ways especially in the gameplay. Legaia 2 was alot stronger because normal artes gave you AP.
@@GamingWithSpoons here's the thing. The reason why the storyline became more "mundane and typical" was because the game design became literally the same as other JRPG... Like a mixture of Final Fantasy Characters and Pokemon map puzzles. The game literally became another one of those games. Which made this game a forgettable game which erases the cult classic love from it. Character development became as typical as the final fantasy characters and the character designs are also similar to it throwing away the Ra-seru time line. Also. Her being held back for 4 dungeon was more harsh than with a Monk not being able to do 5 hits for a few battles. And throwing away the monster capture dynamic of the the first game made wasting your time on a monster seems less valuable as you gain only exp. And nothing else unlike the first that has the ability to maybe capture a seru OR level up the seru that was already captured by using it more. The Grinding part of Legend of Legaia was an Integral part as it makes you feel how "training" should actually feel. Like the monks in the game. The battle is not only for the exp to strengthen the character's based stats but also also to increase the level of those Abilities (leveling up the captured Seru) By Losing the Mist(dread) aspect, monster capture and grind aspect. The sound design was heavily focused on voice acting and interactions which was unnecessary and they focused on the soundtrack which pleased a few fans but losing the Mist aspect and the mystery of the story line. It lost the charm of the game which was that dread and horror of the unknown. This game was about vengeance and justice... While the first game was that of a higher moral which is fighting hopelessness and reclaiming the peace. Maya may be an integral character to this game. but the Ra-serus hold water on character Development better than main characters in the second game.
When the eclipse occurs and the second half of the game starts, you’re seriously under leveled. It’s like this game uses that too weak for the outside world trope like three times before the party becomes adequately adept at fighting. Also once you finally leave the home town, three of the first four dungeons was the castle. First was the escape from the prison. Then you go into the mountain come back sneak into the castle again for the Aqualith. Return to the home town, the eclipse sequence occurs, and then you need the passport to travel to that bazaar town which you get by SNEAKING INTO THE CASTLE AGAIN. It was like they ran out of ideas for what they could use as a dungeon so they recycled it three times.
I am NEVER under-leveled in ANY RPG. I am a power leveler. I love crushing enemies that are supposed to be stronger than your characters. I don't even feel bad about it, because I EARNED that power with all the sacrificed hours I put into achieve it. - In FF8 I was level 100 with all the current characters before I ever even went on the first mission (thanks T-Rex). - In Legend of Dragoon I had half of the additions completed for each character VERY EARLY in the game. - In Breath of Fire 3 I was so powerful that Balio and Sunder couldn't kill me when first encountering them (un-winnable and typically Non-survivable battle after just a few rounds). - In FF7 I had the Champions Belt after first getting to the Gold Saucer (One of the absolute best accessories in the game VERY EARLY ON). Don't even get me started with FF9, FFX and Xenogears (DAMN!!!). These are just a small handful of accomplishments. Power leveling is a blast!
@@TheKessi1000 Same, last time i played Legaia 2 i grinded to lvl 10 in hunters wood and to lvl 16 before attacking Elfin. I was lvl 20 before i went to defeat the Mighty Balken. I also grind the accessories and makes the best items i can early on and grind them to max lvl first before combining. I shredded every single boss my last playthrough.
I was surprised by the level of production for such a small channel. A bit more editing and retakes on the script and I would have easily thought this was another big channel that just evaded my recommends. Good stuff. Legaia 1 was my childhood but I never got around to playing Legaia 2, having had a Gamecube in that era. Nice to see it is not forgotten to the sands of time.
Thank you for the kind words. Scripting is something I absolutely need to get better at and unfortunately my editing is limited to what my poor PC will let me do lol. Until I can get a new one. Btw thank you for the feedback of where I need to improve on, constructive criticism helps out alot. Very much appreciated :) That said The GameCube had some killer RPGs as well I'd love to take a look at the Baten Kaitos games and Skies of Arcadia at some point.
@@GamingWithSpoons Paper Mario TTYD is one of my absolute favorites and Paper Maro 64 is my favorite game of all time. The Gamecube didn't have the *volume* of RPGs that the Playstation had, but the ones it had were fantastic. I wanna replay Skies of Arcadia. But you are welcome. You have all the makings to be an excellent channel and I wish you the best of luck. Not always easy these days to grow but you definitely got me rooting for you.
As a kid, I remember playing this game first, alongside my older brother and my dad, it was one of the few specific RPGs we *all* really fell in love with for one reason or another, so I have a huge emotional attachment to this game. I also specifically remember trying to go backwards to Legaia 1 later in life, and just not having as good a time, I think partly due to things like the partial arte blocks really getting frustrating. I think I got stuck at one boss after getting the 3rd party member, in like a east/west forest thing? Id love to go back one day and try again, but I definitely hold Legaia 2 in a high regard, one of the best soundtracks, worlds, and combat systems in any JRPG, and one that I would love to see be done again in the future.
This was the game that introduced me to JRPG’s and as such it’s impossible for me to look past the nostalgia, but interesting to hear your points about it! Replaying it now, the biggest thing I notice is how long a single combat encounter takes…I wish there was a native way to speed it up a bit more.
I was thinking when you make an art with lets say 3 art blocks, instead of hitting twice then go into the art, it should have gone straight into the art attack and just add the dmg the 2 first hits would have added. Making the art dmg higher and reducing the time combat takes.
great review and solid insight!! this game is an old favorite of mine and I’m curious as to how you played the game for your review. did you emulate it on pc or are you using any special set up on a PS2?
I liked a lot of things about the game, my favorite being all the optional cutscenes you'd find randomly in town, followed by the optional storyline and bosses in the Hunter's Guild quests. I thought the battle system took a step back in some ways though. Like even though Normal Arts gained AP so you didn't have to spirit and accumulate points like in the first game, the fact that every single normal art resulted in a zoomed slo-mo cam made the random battles often take even longer. The combos in the first game were a lot more fluid. Also, the world feels incredibly small with the reduction of the world map to point and click, and because they make you go through the same locations 2 or 3 times each with a difficulty spike after the eclipse it really feels like a slog the whole way through.
I can certainly understand some of the frustrations you had with Maya, though again maybe due to my own biases, I really didnt mind her not being able to attack for the early chunk. It isn't long at all before Kazan joins the party anyway, and is rightly a powerhouse as your mentor and master, and it leaves Maya comfortably able to use her turn to play healer as she likely would be anyway, whether it be with items or her spells, while the boys dish out the heavy damage. In the early sections, like the fight with Balkin, she can even still fight with certain attack-items in the citadel for some impressive numbers in those early hours alongside Lang to make short work of the big bad knight. I also gotta recommend trying more of the crafting menu if you ever give this game another go, as with the right materials found early, you can chain-upgrades to be multiple towns ahead in the early game. All in all, I found the game to be a wonderful and enjoyable time, and really enjoyed its cast even they are "tropey"(that doesnt necessarily make them bad!). Everyone has greater depth in the smaller moments, such as the campsites, or finding the characters located around towns like seeing Kazan and Galvan sharing a drink together when you make it back to Nohl. Its got so much charm and I think it still holds up alongside other games of its time such as Skies of Arcadia, and personally recommend people give it a shot and see where they lie
I appreciate you being so kind about your approach. I might revisit it at some point for fun. The crafting system wasn't elaborated much by the game, but it's definitely something I need to take a look at. Speaking of Arcadia I do want to take a look at that game to at some point.
I was lucky enough to both play the original on the ps1 when i was a teenager and then a few years later find legaia 2 (which at the time i didn't even know was coming out) randomly in a wal mart one day. Definitely not quite as good as the 1st story wise, but I still like the game. I will say, making the tireless ribbon later on made the game become a cakewalk. Spamming sleeping dragon on regular enemies made them a joke (and double sleeping dragon when you have enough attack slots).
The thing about legend of legaia 2 is that you have to play it 2 times at least to like it what I didn't like is that when you change equipment they don't show you the cloths changing which the first one had you change your pant and it will actually change during battle which made you feel like you were making progress
The OST's were definitely my favourite part of Legaia 2. To name a few that stick with me still to this day are Tanza, Avalon's theme and his final battle ost (Gods Fist) , Lost Forest, Knights of Kingdom, Paradise of Dreams (I'm convinced Parchoon was inspired from the Golden Saucer from FF7), Wasteland of Faraway Places and Difference of Social Status were incredibly unique and brought so much depth to the places you visited and through its flaws the game clearly has in other aspects this should be especially commended!
Hey man this is the best Legaia 2 review on the whole platform (: I've been attempting to find the "UnDub" version that replaces the battle voices from the English version with the original Japanese ones. Its not easy to find but for anyone struggling with the voice acting its worth the hassle. Since this was my biggest complaint with the game (well that and the slow opening section, though I have come to expect that in old JRPGs) playing this version should improve the game experience for me.
Thanks you for the kind words. The voice acting for sure wasn't great, but it wasn't a deal breaker I think in definitely overlooked it much more back in the day lol.
@@GamingWithSpoons You're very much welcome, I love stumbling across small but clearly passionate gaming channels. I did manage to find the UnDub an hour ago via reddit and it works on an actual console with FMCB. Testing it atm and I must say the Japanese battle voices are on par with the original games quality (so far at least lol). If you ever go to replay this I'd highly recommend it. Anyway keep up the good work, I'm off to browse your other videos (:
While I’m not a huge fan of this game I will say whenever I think of this game I get reminded of when Maya got her skills unlocked. How you were getting your ass kicked and she came to the rescue. It was probably the best part of the game. I hated the final boss more than any other final boss in a RPG.
Monster capturing in first Legaia was cool, the problem is that the majority of the magics are useless, and also they don't feel unique. A solution to this could be only allowing to capture monters with your Ra-Seru element and also improving the balance and effects.
I found the demo for legend of legaia 1 at a local store and enjoyed it so I went looking for the game and couldn’t find it. I picked this up instead and I was expecting it to be bad judging by what I’ve heard online. So far I’m really enjoying it. There’s something about this era of gaming that’s charming. I did notice how fleeing battles is pretty rough, I thought I was just unlucky lol.
@@GamingWithSpoons I forgot to mention that I think you did a great job analyzing the game. I totally agree about the voice acting lol, I love bad VO work. I think Maya is voiced by Misty from Pokémon, or at least it really sounds like it. Makes me wanna go get the first game so I can play more and compare them.
Something about this game just didn’t click with me like the first game. Never even finished it. Legaia 1 is one of my favorite games/RPGs of all time.
To me part 1 was the best because they took their time to change the character armor so you always look different everytime you change your weapon or clothes
Legaia 2 is good, actually. I wish they hadn’t made every character locked to one element. I strongly disagree with you about the Seru System and Maya situation. Maya is the perfect support character in the inital section of the game, and she becomes an absolute monster if you create a Bangle that gives you level-up gains. Her Arts are incredibly powerfull if you make the bangle, and her spells are some of the best in the game. Paired with Lang, she’s one of the best. Gotta be honest, Kazan is decent but is outclassed by Sharon. He’s awesome up to Sharon but falls off quick. Sharon’s main weakness is mp. Strong as heck, but her arts oddly are too long.
The pause between the normal arts is bad and i prefer seru over origins, the story isnt that bad its going back and fourth through the same places that kills for me. But the accessory system is an awesome improvement. But i do agree the 1st is better wish there was a third mixing the best aspect of both together legaia and grandia's battle systems are surely missed
Legaia 2 is definitely flawed, but I enjoyed and loved this game a lot. One of the reasons is the abundance of fun side quests (fck rice planting minigame tho). The crafting system is also one of the better ones. Other stuff tho, definitely a downgrade from Legaia. Less likeable characters and memorable characters, barebones storyline, and super easy aside from one early game boss. Still had a great time with it, but definitely one of the RPGs of all time.
they ruined the combat system. being able to use arts to increase AP made it so that you could use some of your most powerful moves every single turn. first, fill AP to max, you will only have to redo this step if the character dies. second pick an art that consumes AP. third just chain the rest of the attacks with arts that refill your AP COMPLEATLY. fourth use this combo over and over and over... they screwed up the physical combat system completely. i always thought they did this by accident until recent years tbh. they should have left it alone.
You know what also irritated me much very early on? The forest, the first area of the game, where you have way too many enemies advancing on Lang and get a tone of damage.. even after finding out I wasnt armorly prepared it was sloggish and unhealthly balanced, and as shown by yourself, the game has more where that came from in a negative way.
Oohhhh. This is one of the jrpg that's very fond in my memories. What I hated the most was the last character, a giant of some sort which is really the worst. I feel like they should've stayed with the three main characters. The other two seems like afterthought and I feel they never fit in.
While you make good points and I do agree with maybe half the points you make I largely disagree with your opinion and analysis. I feel that while the game takes a number of steps back it also takes a number of steps forward. I enjoyed it possibly more than legend of legaia (and I love that game). While I agree that Legaia 2 didn't do enough to make the series viable for a third game it was not a bad sequel (if we are talking about a sequel in the Final Fantasy sense of a sequel). I love this game. I enjoyed and like the voice acting.
I liked the 1st game more than you and liked this one less. Found this game just bland and lacking of character and charm the first one had. Found the battle system to be too much.
And another note to boot the fact that you did not utilize the building your own customization system and making your own customized weapons and accessories is what really made the game let me ask you a question why don't you replay the game again and create the tireless ribbon and there's another ribbon where you can spam without losing any AP at all which is kind of good for Maya but you can make that at the beginning of the game I guarantee you it'll change your entire gameplay and I guarantee you after making that tireless ribbon for laying and the other ribbon for Maya you'll never run from a battle either but I'm sorry man you got to utilize that customization system That's what it was meant for
Despite being on more powerful hardware with the PlayStation 2, it looks like some stuff was "lost" visually. Sure 'Legaia 2: Duel Saga' was a very early game for the PS2 but but the previous game had better aesthetics, popping colors, better detailed, and more dynamic to me. I've played the first game again recently (do often every few years since I was a kid) and now I realize there's certainly some potential lore bits the late *Hidenori Shibao* likely wanted to explore in another game. Him even saying as such in some interviews but sadly couldn't get another game off the ground, as he wasn't involved with Duel Saga due to some behind-the-scenes BS and refused to acknowledge it iirc. Even stating he'd outright ignore Duel Saga and explore the past history of Legend of Legaia about this Mist and Ra-Seru. That'd have been super interesting. A shame such a good game with a ton of love and care put into it, despite higher-ups interfering with Hidenori's vision, faded off into obscurity. Though nowadays, perhaps that's for the best. . . 🥹
Legaia 2 sucks, that all you need to know. BOOOOOORING and uninspired is the only way I could describe it, I remember how hard I was let down once I finally had it, the sequel to my favorite RPG of all time.... totally crushed my will to play once I realized how boring it was. I didn't even finish it, there was better stuff to play on PS2. Legaia 1 is the shizznits of the shizznits, BFVGE God level threat! IMO Its just as good as FF7 off topic but Mega Man Legends is as good as Ocarina of Time too.
Legend of Legaia and Legaia 2 are the only games really like it. Xenogears has a kinda similar system but it's still pretty different. I've heard Shiness The Lightning Kingdom incorporates fighting elements in it's battle system but I haven't played myself.
I'm sorry man I can't agree with you I just think the game teaches you that you have to rely on your skills as a player and I'm sorry you have died so many times to running but those type of games especially this one which I know pretty well you're level wasn't even up to par for it cuz there's no way you should have died or anything secondly the abilities they give you to counter attack and knock enemies back and paralyze enemies to do it with it makes the game that great of mechanic yeah it sucks that you couldn't use Maya but it forces you to master lane and his sword skills mastering multi-hit combos mastering stuff that knock enemy off their feet forcing you to use magic using the sparingly and therefore make sure you have a balanced part of you before you get Maya cuz when you get Maya she kind of helps but she doesn't make much of a difference to the party I think Lang's moves were like one of the best skill sets ever made which were never even really used again That's just my opinion but I've never had a problem once running from any enemy but I do agree with you at certain parts of story mode it does get dull but that's with any game
[spoilers of legend of legaia in this coment] I think it's kind of nonsense to complain about cliches and troupes on this game when the first one had three characters: The orphan from an small isolated town who is chosen to save the world and is a selfless hero, an amnesiac girl raised by wolves who is secretly a princess from a far way realm and the sister of the big bad and a secluted and serious monk who is friend/rival of a man corrupted by power. I mean, the series is basicaly "how many cliches can we stitch together?" So, yeah, the second game is as cliche as the first one. Why the surprise? But I do not think this is bad. It actually gets funnier and funnier as the game goes on. I mean, of course the big strong guy is the quiet one and does not have an origin, right?. About the game itself, I loved your review. I agree with almost everything. I totally agree with Maya's problem. It takes too long! She's the most interesting character to play and discover arts. It's a shame they did this to her! But I do think the combat system and the story (because it is so obvious!) helps people to go until the end of the game. I do not think people 100% the game or even replay it, but it still sustain itself as a good "I have a free weekend and a ps2" kind of game.
Maybe it is weird to complain about the tropes. I felt it had to many plot points borrowed from other games which isn't a bad thing but I think coming off of Legend of Legaia which had it's fair share of borrowed tropes for sure they were done in a way I still feel the story held up after all these years. Also I actually expected to go into this game fully intending to enjoy it more than I did the first because I always. But it wasn't the case. Thanks for watching though and the feedback.
I played Legend of Legaia when it first came out and was blown away by it. Then years later I see Legaia 2 in a Fred Meyer's and immediately bought it (I had NO IDEA that it was even coming out). My ps2 wasn't working at the time so I literally begged my cousin to borrow his. I was addicted to Legaia 2 so much that I wouldn't return the PS2 to my cousin until I beat it. He kept begging for it back after just 3 days. He didn't get it back till 9-10 days later. This game was a blast and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's a solid game, it just could have used more of a polish is all. Suggestion: STOP trying to enunciate and inflect your words so much. It's completely obnoxious and you come off like your just trying to sound more intelligent than you actually are. I know that's not your normal speech pattern, its obvious. Just talk normally, stop trying to sound so formal. Your reviews will sound much better.
I was one of the lead testers for the English translation of this game. I played a key part in the translation, reviewing it and suggesting alternatives.
Thanks for this review. It had problems but could have been worse.
That's pretty cool you might be the first person on a team of developers or translators I've had comment on my videos. :) Thank you for stopping by and giving a watch.
Thankyou for your work. The english voice acting is a bit derpy at times but i found it endearing. The only think that ever really made me cringe was lang taking so long to say galea in some of the spells. It just feels delayed. Otherwise no conplaints here.
Flag of retreat.
why didn't you stop them from changing the battle system? (asking a lot i know. its a joke.) its so much easier to manipulate that it takes all the fun out of it from the first game.
I hope you know sir some people really did love the game and characters
Legaia 2 really lacked the dark and mystical atmosphere of the first game and felt pretty underwhelming in general. I just hope this game's existence doesn't discourage anyone from trying the original Legend of Legaia, because it's honestly one of my absolute favorite JRPGs ever.
Yeah Legaia 2 was rough but legend of Legaia was really good
The algorithm gods have brought us together. I had almost completely forgotten about this game but as soon as I saw this video I remembered picking this game up off of some bargain bin at like a Sears or w/e. Sure the voice acting was goofy but damn did it have a good turn based combat system.
It's combat system was so underrated.
I personally like the sequel more than the first one. I love both of them but legaia 2 has so much replay ability. The sound track is awesome and graphically it still holds up pretty well. Monster designs are great and the battle system is far superior than most RPGs now days. Just an awesome game
I agree with all of those points, but the story and Maya are a really struggle for me personally.
I remember renting this game at the local video warehouse during the PS2 ero, with no prior knowledge of the original title. Took it home, and remember it being fairly difficult as a kid, but loved that it reminded me so much of that golden age of PS1-PS2 FF releases. Never made it very far, but remember enjoying the vibe of it. Just stumbled back on it today 22 years later.
Personally i prefered legaia 2. But i can respect that people would prefer the original. I found the battle system to be much better being able to accrue AP by doing normal artes. It left a lot more room for varied interesting combos. And having more characters was even more interesting. Though the story itself was definately stronger in the first game, i found the simplicity of second almost comforting. Kindof like how the Tales series doesnt often do anything to advanced in it'a writing, but is still very fun.
Also you CAN use the end of the hyper arte to combo. Just no the beginning. Much like in the first game. Late game in legaia 2 i would often use up to 2 hyper artes then finishing off the combo with normal artes to keep my AP up
I really enjoyed the games combat. I'd love to see a spiritual successor to this games combat system. I think in alot of ways especially in the gameplay. Legaia 2 was alot stronger because normal artes gave you AP.
@@GamingWithSpoons here's the thing. The reason why the storyline became more "mundane and typical" was because the game design became literally the same as other JRPG... Like a mixture of Final Fantasy Characters and Pokemon map puzzles.
The game literally became another one of those games. Which made this game a forgettable game which erases the cult classic love from it.
Character development became as typical as the final fantasy characters and the character designs are also similar to it throwing away the Ra-seru time line.
Also. Her being held back for 4 dungeon was more harsh than with a Monk not being able to do 5 hits for a few battles.
And throwing away the monster capture dynamic of the the first game made wasting your time on a monster seems less valuable as you gain only exp. And nothing else unlike the first that has the ability to maybe capture a seru OR level up the seru that was already captured by using it more. The Grinding part of Legend of Legaia was an Integral part as it makes you feel how "training" should actually feel. Like the monks in the game. The battle is not only for the exp to strengthen the character's based stats but also also to increase the level of those Abilities (leveling up the captured Seru)
By Losing the Mist(dread) aspect, monster capture and grind aspect.
The sound design was heavily focused on voice acting and interactions which was unnecessary and they focused on the soundtrack which pleased a few fans but losing the Mist aspect and the mystery of the story line. It lost the charm of the game which was that dread and horror of the unknown. This game was about vengeance and justice...
While the first game was that of a higher moral which is fighting hopelessness and reclaiming the peace.
Maya may be an integral character to this game. but the Ra-serus hold water on character Development better than main characters in the second game.
Your onto something there.
When the eclipse occurs and the second half of the game starts, you’re seriously under leveled. It’s like this game uses that too weak for the outside world trope like three times before the party becomes adequately adept at fighting.
Also once you finally leave the home town, three of the first four dungeons was the castle. First was the escape from the prison. Then you go into the mountain come back sneak into the castle again for the Aqualith. Return to the home town, the eclipse sequence occurs, and then you need the passport to travel to that bazaar town which you get by SNEAKING INTO THE CASTLE AGAIN. It was like they ran out of ideas for what they could use as a dungeon so they recycled it three times.
Right. They loved that castle.
Yo for real but those caves too….. and the puzzles Jesus
I am NEVER under-leveled in ANY RPG. I am a power leveler. I love crushing enemies that are supposed to be stronger than your characters. I don't even feel bad about it, because I EARNED that power with all the sacrificed hours I put into achieve it.
- In FF8 I was level 100 with all the current characters before I ever even went on the first mission (thanks T-Rex).
- In Legend of Dragoon I had half of the additions completed for each character VERY EARLY in the game.
- In Breath of Fire 3 I was so powerful that Balio and Sunder couldn't kill me when first encountering them (un-winnable and typically Non-survivable battle after just a few rounds).
- In FF7 I had the Champions Belt after first getting to the Gold Saucer (One of the absolute best accessories in the game VERY EARLY ON).
Don't even get me started with FF9, FFX and Xenogears (DAMN!!!).
These are just a small handful of accomplishments. Power leveling is a blast!
@@TheKessi1000 Same, last time i played Legaia 2 i grinded to lvl 10 in hunters wood and to lvl 16 before attacking Elfin. I was lvl 20 before i went to defeat the Mighty Balken. I also grind the accessories and makes the best items i can early on and grind them to max lvl first before combining. I shredded every single boss my last playthrough.
I was surprised by the level of production for such a small channel. A bit more editing and retakes on the script and I would have easily thought this was another big channel that just evaded my recommends. Good stuff. Legaia 1 was my childhood but I never got around to playing Legaia 2, having had a Gamecube in that era. Nice to see it is not forgotten to the sands of time.
Thank you for the kind words. Scripting is something I absolutely need to get better at and unfortunately my editing is limited to what my poor PC will let me do lol. Until I can get a new one.
Btw thank you for the feedback of where I need to improve on, constructive criticism helps out alot. Very much appreciated :)
That said The GameCube had some killer RPGs as well I'd love to take a look at the Baten Kaitos games and Skies of Arcadia at some point.
@@GamingWithSpoons Paper Mario TTYD is one of my absolute favorites and Paper Maro 64 is my favorite game of all time. The Gamecube didn't have the *volume* of RPGs that the Playstation had, but the ones it had were fantastic. I wanna replay Skies of Arcadia.
But you are welcome. You have all the makings to be an excellent channel and I wish you the best of luck. Not always easy these days to grow but you definitely got me rooting for you.
I need to play TTYD I played the original when it came to Wii vc
As a kid, I remember playing this game first, alongside my older brother and my dad, it was one of the few specific RPGs we *all* really fell in love with for one reason or another, so I have a huge emotional attachment to this game.
I also specifically remember trying to go backwards to Legaia 1 later in life, and just not having as good a time, I think partly due to things like the partial arte blocks really getting frustrating. I think I got stuck at one boss after getting the 3rd party member, in like a east/west forest thing? Id love to go back one day and try again, but I definitely hold Legaia 2 in a high regard, one of the best soundtracks, worlds, and combat systems in any JRPG, and one that I would love to see be done again in the future.
This was the game that introduced me to JRPG’s and as such it’s impossible for me to look past the nostalgia, but interesting to hear your points about it! Replaying it now, the biggest thing I notice is how long a single combat encounter takes…I wish there was a native way to speed it up a bit more.
I remember having quite a bit of fun with it back in the day. There are definitely some good elements
I was thinking when you make an art with lets say 3 art blocks, instead of hitting twice then go into the art, it should have gone straight into the art attack and just add the dmg the 2 first hits would have added. Making the art dmg higher and reducing the time combat takes.
@@Raffalius excellent suggestion. Maybe they’ll do that for the HD remaster one day ? Lol
great review and solid insight!! this game is an old favorite of mine and I’m curious as to how you played the game for your review. did you emulate it on pc or are you using any special set up on a PS2?
It was emulated on PC, but I did play the original back in the day.
I liked a lot of things about the game, my favorite being all the optional cutscenes you'd find randomly in town, followed by the optional storyline and bosses in the Hunter's Guild quests.
I thought the battle system took a step back in some ways though. Like even though Normal Arts gained AP so you didn't have to spirit and accumulate points like in the first game, the fact that every single normal art resulted in a zoomed slo-mo cam made the random battles often take even longer. The combos in the first game were a lot more fluid.
Also, the world feels incredibly small with the reduction of the world map to point and click, and because they make you go through the same locations 2 or 3 times each with a difficulty spike after the eclipse it really feels like a slog the whole way through.
It takes a brilliant mind to be amazed by the obvious.
10/10 game
I can certainly understand some of the frustrations you had with Maya, though again maybe due to my own biases, I really didnt mind her not being able to attack for the early chunk. It isn't long at all before Kazan joins the party anyway, and is rightly a powerhouse as your mentor and master, and it leaves Maya comfortably able to use her turn to play healer as she likely would be anyway, whether it be with items or her spells, while the boys dish out the heavy damage. In the early sections, like the fight with Balkin, she can even still fight with certain attack-items in the citadel for some impressive numbers in those early hours alongside Lang to make short work of the big bad knight.
I also gotta recommend trying more of the crafting menu if you ever give this game another go, as with the right materials found early, you can chain-upgrades to be multiple towns ahead in the early game. All in all, I found the game to be a wonderful and enjoyable time, and really enjoyed its cast even they are "tropey"(that doesnt necessarily make them bad!). Everyone has greater depth in the smaller moments, such as the campsites, or finding the characters located around towns like seeing Kazan and Galvan sharing a drink together when you make it back to Nohl. Its got so much charm and I think it still holds up alongside other games of its time such as Skies of Arcadia, and personally recommend people give it a shot and see where they lie
I appreciate you being so kind about your approach. I might revisit it at some point for fun. The crafting system wasn't elaborated much by the game, but it's definitely something I need to take a look at. Speaking of Arcadia I do want to take a look at that game to at some point.
I was lucky enough to both play the original on the ps1 when i was a teenager and then a few years later find legaia 2 (which at the time i didn't even know was coming out) randomly in a wal mart one day. Definitely not quite as good as the 1st story wise, but I still like the game.
I will say, making the tireless ribbon later on made the game become a cakewalk. Spamming sleeping dragon on regular enemies made them a joke (and double sleeping dragon when you have enough attack slots).
The thing about legend of legaia 2 is that you have to play it 2 times at least to like it what I didn't like is that when you change equipment they don't show you the cloths changing which the first one had you change your pant and it will actually change during battle which made you feel like you were making progress
Thanks for the review I appreciate it alot,
I loved legaia 2 duel saga, the combat system was soo good!
The OST's were definitely my favourite part of Legaia 2. To name a few that stick with me still to this day are Tanza, Avalon's theme and his final battle ost (Gods Fist) , Lost Forest, Knights of Kingdom, Paradise of Dreams (I'm convinced Parchoon was inspired from the Golden Saucer from FF7), Wasteland of Faraway Places and Difference of Social Status were incredibly unique and brought so much depth to the places you visited and through its flaws the game clearly has in other aspects this should be especially commended!
Hey man this is the best Legaia 2 review on the whole platform (:
I've been attempting to find the "UnDub" version that replaces the battle voices from the English version with the original Japanese ones. Its not easy to find but for anyone struggling with the voice acting its worth the hassle. Since this was my biggest complaint with the game (well that and the slow opening section, though I have come to expect that in old JRPGs) playing this version should improve the game experience for me.
Thanks you for the kind words. The voice acting for sure wasn't great, but it wasn't a deal breaker I think in definitely overlooked it much more back in the day lol.
@@GamingWithSpoons You're very much welcome, I love stumbling across small but clearly passionate gaming channels. I did manage to find the UnDub an hour ago via reddit and it works on an actual console with FMCB. Testing it atm and I must say the Japanese battle voices are on par with the original games quality (so far at least lol). If you ever go to replay this I'd highly recommend it.
Anyway keep up the good work, I'm off to browse your other videos (:
I'll have to check it out one of these days.
While I’m not a huge fan of this game I will say whenever I think of this game I get reminded of when Maya got her skills unlocked. How you were getting your ass kicked and she came to the rescue. It was probably the best part of the game. I hated the final boss more than any other final boss in a RPG.
I agree this game has literally left my brain fried lol I can't focus on another game right now I need something with voice acting and super chill lol
@@GamingWithSpoons LOL
Monster capturing in first Legaia was cool, the problem is that the majority of the magics are useless, and also they don't feel unique. A solution to this could be only allowing to capture monters with your Ra-Seru element and also improving the balance and effects.
I found the demo for legend of legaia 1 at a local store and enjoyed it so I went looking for the game and couldn’t find it. I picked this up instead and I was expecting it to be bad judging by what I’ve heard online. So far I’m really enjoying it. There’s something about this era of gaming that’s charming. I did notice how fleeing battles is pretty rough, I thought I was just unlucky lol.
I really did start to enjoy it when it opened up.
@@GamingWithSpoons I forgot to mention that I think you did a great job analyzing the game. I totally agree about the voice acting lol, I love bad VO work. I think Maya is voiced by Misty from Pokémon, or at least it really sounds like it. Makes me wanna go get the first game so I can play more and compare them.
Something about this game just didn’t click with me like the first game. Never even finished it. Legaia 1 is one of my favorite games/RPGs of all time.
It's a rough game.
I fucking loved this game as a kid man
I remember enjoying it back in the day.
I loved this game so much, the music is giving me the feels. I need to bust out the dusty old ps2.
The music was really good.
To me part 1 was the best because they took their time to change the character armor so you always look different everytime you change your weapon or clothes
That was a nice touch, I agree.
I enjoyed this game (And the original Legaia) a lot. The combat is on point, soundtrack is great, the story was just a little bit lackluster.
Agreed
Legaia 2 is good, actually. I wish they hadn’t made every character locked to one element.
I strongly disagree with you about the Seru System and Maya situation. Maya is the perfect support character in the inital section of the game, and she becomes an absolute monster if you create a Bangle that gives you level-up gains. Her Arts are incredibly powerfull if you make the bangle, and her spells are some of the best in the game. Paired with Lang, she’s one of the best.
Gotta be honest, Kazan is decent but is outclassed by Sharon. He’s awesome up to Sharon but falls off quick. Sharon’s main weakness is mp. Strong as heck, but her arts oddly are too long.
The pause between the normal arts is bad and i prefer seru over origins, the story isnt that bad its going back and fourth through the same places that kills for me. But the accessory system is an awesome improvement. But i do agree the 1st is better wish there was a third mixing the best aspect of both together legaia and grandia's battle systems are surely missed
Legaia 2 is definitely flawed, but I enjoyed and loved this game a lot. One of the reasons is the abundance of fun side quests (fck rice planting minigame tho).
The crafting system is also one of the better ones.
Other stuff tho, definitely a downgrade from Legaia. Less likeable characters and memorable characters, barebones storyline, and super easy aside from one early game boss. Still had a great time with it, but definitely one of the RPGs of all time.
I'm actually playing through this again right now. The first is way better. But I still love this game
I did enjoy the game once it let you explore the combat more.
what annoyed me is there are 5 party members but you can only use 3 of them leaving 2 unable to level up
Yeah I should have mentioned that. It was really in need of a leveling system for party members who were not active.
I hope they gonna make this game on ps5
Who play sharon in legia 2 the duel saga?
Who plays sharon blade in legia 2 the duel saga?
4:24 when a dumb guy is late doing magic
I feel like I wanna play along side this dude
they ruined the combat system. being able to use arts to increase AP made it so that you could use some of your most powerful moves every single turn. first, fill AP to max, you will only have to redo this step if the character dies. second pick an art that consumes AP. third just chain the rest of the attacks with arts that refill your AP COMPLEATLY. fourth use this combo over and over and over... they screwed up the physical combat system completely. i always thought they did this by accident until recent years tbh. they should have left it alone.
You know what also irritated me much very early on? The forest, the first area of the game, where you have way too many enemies advancing on Lang and get a tone of damage.. even after finding out I wasnt armorly prepared it was sloggish and unhealthly balanced, and as shown by yourself, the game has more where that came from in a negative way.
Yeah there was this area too where you go into the forest and the enemies b come stronger. They can become very irritating if your not prepared.
The indie game called Lisa kind of has the up down left right system, but it's not as good
I've heard of that game but I've never played it. Is it any good?
@GamingWithSpoons I've watched talked about it so I'm not sure but it looks interesting but I heard the story is depressing.
I've heard that too. It's why I haven't played it lol
I want a remake!
A remake of both games would be awesome.
@@GamingWithSpoons i never played the first one
It's worth it. It's quite a bit better in my opinion than number 2.
@@GamingWithSpoons i want to see a grandia 3 remake and chrono cross remake
Chrono Cross would be sweet it's my favorite game.
The worst part is how the game freezes every time you do an art for dramatic purposes, it’s very frustrating
Oohhhh. This is one of the jrpg that's very fond in my memories. What I hated the most was the last character, a giant of some sort which is really the worst. I feel like they should've stayed with the three main characters. The other two seems like afterthought and I feel they never fit in.
I agree
What about the difficulty spike It's so bad.
Idk why you trying to run away in the first place tho
While you make good points and I do agree with maybe half the points you make I largely disagree with your opinion and analysis. I feel that while the game takes a number of steps back it also takes a number of steps forward. I enjoyed it possibly more than legend of legaia (and I love that game). While I agree that Legaia 2 didn't do enough to make the series viable for a third game it was not a bad sequel (if we are talking about a sequel in the Final Fantasy sense of a sequel). I love this game. I enjoyed and like the voice acting.
I love the heck out of this game but my God the sewer section is the most annoying part of this game.
I agree once I got out of that Sewer I really started to enjoy it alot more.
Ps1 best series.
early ps2 games, I used to rent a ps2 to play this, played and finished the first one
I enjoyed the first game alot.
I liked the 1st game more than you and liked this one less. Found this game just bland and lacking of character and charm the first one had. Found the battle system to be too much.
Idk why But I liked Legaia 2 much better than 1, back in the day I put a great amount of hours on 2
Sooooo
Origins are jojo stands?
I've never seen Jojo before I heard it's good though.
And another note to boot the fact that you did not utilize the building your own customization system and making your own customized weapons and accessories is what really made the game let me ask you a question why don't you replay the game again and create the tireless ribbon and there's another ribbon where you can spam without losing any AP at all which is kind of good for Maya but you can make that at the beginning of the game I guarantee you it'll change your entire gameplay and I guarantee you after making that tireless ribbon for laying and the other ribbon for Maya you'll never run from a battle either but I'm sorry man you got to utilize that customization system That's what it was meant for
Despite being on more powerful hardware with the PlayStation 2, it looks like some stuff was "lost" visually. Sure 'Legaia 2: Duel Saga' was a very early game for the PS2 but but the previous game had better aesthetics, popping colors, better detailed, and more dynamic to me. I've played the first game again recently (do often every few years since I was a kid) and now I realize there's certainly some potential lore bits the late *Hidenori Shibao* likely wanted to explore in another game. Him even saying as such in some interviews but sadly couldn't get another game off the ground, as he wasn't involved with Duel Saga due to some behind-the-scenes BS and refused to acknowledge it iirc. Even stating he'd outright ignore Duel Saga and explore the past history of Legend of Legaia about this Mist and Ra-Seru.
That'd have been super interesting. A shame such a good game with a ton of love and care put into it, despite higher-ups interfering with Hidenori's vision, faded off into obscurity. Though nowadays, perhaps that's for the best. . . 🥹
Thanks for the dev history info. It's really interesting to always learn about it.
he didnt like the creature capture mechanic from legaia 1 he must hate pokemon then
I didn't like how spells were related to them, I also didn't like the RNG of it. Also not a big pokemon fan myself. I prefer Persona or SMT myself. :)
I have this game and its a japanese language. Anyone know how to change the language to english?
Wish I could help but I'm not sure.
@@GamingWithSpoons Help me bro i want to finish the game 😔
Grow a beard 🧔. your narration is pretty good.
Lol I've thought about it I can't get past the itch
Legaia 2 sucks, that all you need to know. BOOOOOORING and uninspired is the only way I could describe it, I remember how hard I was let down once I finally had it, the sequel to my favorite RPG of all time.... totally crushed my will to play once I realized how boring it was. I didn't even finish it, there was better stuff to play on PS2.
Legaia 1 is the shizznits of the shizznits, BFVGE God level threat! IMO Its just as good as FF7
off topic but Mega Man Legends is as good as Ocarina of Time too.
any game simular to this that i can play ?
Legend of Legaia and Legaia 2 are the only games really like it. Xenogears has a kinda similar system but it's still pretty different. I've heard Shiness The Lightning Kingdom incorporates fighting elements in it's battle system but I haven't played myself.
777 subscribers 50 likes
I'm sorry man I can't agree with you I just think the game teaches you that you have to rely on your skills as a player and I'm sorry you have died so many times to running but those type of games especially this one which I know pretty well you're level wasn't even up to par for it cuz there's no way you should have died or anything secondly the abilities they give you to counter attack and knock enemies back and paralyze enemies to do it with it makes the game that great of mechanic yeah it sucks that you couldn't use Maya but it forces you to master lane and his sword skills mastering multi-hit combos mastering stuff that knock enemy off their feet forcing you to use magic using the sparingly and therefore make sure you have a balanced part of you before you get Maya cuz when you get Maya she kind of helps but she doesn't make much of a difference to the party I think Lang's moves were like one of the best skill sets ever made which were never even really used again That's just my opinion but I've never had a problem once running from any enemy but I do agree with you at certain parts of story mode it does get dull but that's with any game
Legit on PS1 is so COOL but Legia 2 is a very STUPID GAME
Legaia 2 improved the combat but it's story was very weak IMO
[spoilers of legend of legaia in this coment]
I think it's kind of nonsense to complain about cliches and troupes on this game when the first one had three characters: The orphan from an small isolated town who is chosen to save the world and is a selfless hero, an amnesiac girl raised by wolves who is secretly a princess from a far way realm and the sister of the big bad and a secluted and serious monk who is friend/rival of a man corrupted by power. I mean, the series is basicaly "how many cliches can we stitch together?"
So, yeah, the second game is as cliche as the first one. Why the surprise? But I do not think this is bad. It actually gets funnier and funnier as the game goes on. I mean, of course the big strong guy is the quiet one and does not have an origin, right?.
About the game itself, I loved your review. I agree with almost everything. I totally agree with Maya's problem. It takes too long! She's the most interesting character to play and discover arts. It's a shame they did this to her! But I do think the combat system and the story (because it is so obvious!) helps people to go until the end of the game. I do not think people 100% the game or even replay it, but it still sustain itself as a good "I have a free weekend and a ps2" kind of game.
Maybe it is weird to complain about the tropes. I felt it had to many plot points borrowed from other games which isn't a bad thing but I think coming off of Legend of Legaia which had it's fair share of borrowed tropes for sure they were done in a way I still feel the story held up after all these years. Also I actually expected to go into this game fully intending to enjoy it more than I did the first because I always. But it wasn't the case. Thanks for watching though and the feedback.
I played Legend of Legaia when it first came out and was blown away by it. Then years later I see Legaia 2 in a Fred Meyer's and immediately bought it (I had NO IDEA that it was even coming out). My ps2 wasn't working at the time so I literally begged my cousin to borrow his. I was addicted to Legaia 2 so much that I wouldn't return the PS2 to my cousin until I beat it. He kept begging for it back after just 3 days. He didn't get it back till 9-10 days later.
This game was a blast and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's a solid game, it just could have used more of a polish is all.
Suggestion: STOP trying to enunciate and inflect your words so much. It's completely obnoxious and you come off like your just trying to sound more intelligent than you actually are. I know that's not your normal speech pattern, its obvious. Just talk normally, stop trying to sound so formal. Your reviews will sound much better.
Thank you for the feedback on how I can improve I appreciate it. :)