You probably don’t need me to tell you (but I will anyway) that the PSP hasn’t exactly been an RPG gamer’s dream machine. Its mediocre lineup of pure RPGs has included titles such as PoPoLoCrois, Astonishia Story, and the original The Legend of Heroes. While the system hasn’t had any real stinkers yet, it also hasn’t had any standout RPGs that really define the system. Hopefully you’re used to the mediocrity by now, because The Legend of Heroes II: Prophecy of the Moonlight Witch only adds to it.
If you’ve played RPGs for any length of time, you’re likely to be familiar with how this game’s storyline plays out. Jurio and Chris are two teenagers (male and female respectively) growing up in the rural village of Ragpick. As is customary for residents of the village, the two have reached the age where they must make a coming of age pilgrimage to view the five magic mirrors scattered throughout the land. Along the way, they get caught up in larger conflicts, meet new allies and enemies, and learn a lot about themselves and the world around them.
Unfortunately, even as basic and generic as the story is, the game doesn’t do a good job of telling it. For the most part, dialog is very weak. Major story events and accomplishments by the duo are brushed off after the fact, NPCs offer to help with little explanation or motivation as to why, and the writing lacks sophistication or emotion. In short, it’s just not that good. It doesn’t help that the script is full of typos, incorrect grammar, and sentences that make very little sense. Take, for example, the following spoken fairly early on by a tour guide at the world’s largest bridge:
“The reason this bridge for its name is because Chanom, Ambisch, and Oldos all put out money to build it.”
Yes, that’s an actual quote, and it’s one of many examples of the terrible dialog that’s present throughout the game. Let me emphasize that this is not an uncommon occurrence, as it happens in virtually every major scene and in general dialog with many of the NPCs throughout the game. Story wise, the game’s only saving grace is that the playable characters are very likeable. The game’s full of humor, with plenty of playful interaction between the main characters, and in particular childhood friends Chris and Jurio. Even with the dialog as poorly written as it is, the game’s humor manages to stand out as one of its few highlights.
The gameplay, while solid, does nothing to prop up the weak storyline either. Battles are standard turn-based affairs, with options for using regular attacks, magic, and special skills as its meter fills up. Distance is taken into account as well, which leads to the common problem of turns being wasted on occasion (particularly with magic users) while you’re moving your characters into position. Exploration just takes moving around from place to place, with no real puzzles to solve or obstacles to overcome. If you’re not supposed to visit or leave an area yet, there’s always a guard waiting with some hackneyed reason why you can’t proceed.
As with most Japanese RPGs on the system to date, the game looks like a sharper version of an early original PlayStation RPG. Anime-style portraits accompany the dialog of important characters, with one of several different poses for each depending on that character’s mood. The environments are 2D and nicely detailed, although buildings in virtually every town look exactly the same. The occasional spell effect impresses, but that’s more than offset by a lack of animation in even the most basic actions.
The soundtrack is another one of the game’s highlights. Although similar areas share the same tracks, each is well-done and appropriate. While you can say that about the soundtrack for most Japanese RPGs, this particular one has that certain “something” that makes it catchy. There’s also a good variety in the sound effects used throughout the adventure.
The one truly impressive feature found in The Legend of Heroes II? The practically non-existent load times. While it’s a little easier to keep them short with a simplistic title such as this, in an era of 1+ minute (or longer) load times Falcom still deserves praise for how zippy everything moves along here. Transitioning between areas only takes a second or two, and even the initial loading of a saved game takes no more than a few seconds. There are virtually no pauses in the rest of the game, which is a problem that has plagued far too many other titles (such as the short load times found in the middle of battles in PoPoLoCrois) on the system.
Bottom Line:
The Legend of Heroes II: Prophecy of the Moonlight Witch is yet another mediocre PSP RPG. It’s not a horrible RPG by any means, but the weak storyline, stale and mistranslated dialog, average gameplay, and general lack of polish prevent it from being anything more than a 2nd or 3rd choice in one of the PSP’s weakest genres.
| Pros: | Cons: | Final Score: |
|---|---|---|
|
| 5.5 |
Posted: 2006-08-26 13:50:27 PST