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Tales of Legendia is often considered the black sheep of its era of Tales games, but it’s still a great story that needs a modern update.
The sixth console generation was something of a renaissance for Bandai Namco’s Tales series. The games finally began to hit their stride as a more introspective RPG franchise, with games like Tales of the Abyss and Symphonia offering more complex stories and villains than many of their competitors with actionized gameplay that was better than ever before. Despite this era resulting in many great titles, Tales of Legendia is rarely counted among them.
Legendia has a reputation as the black sheep of the Tales family, often being overlooked in favor of its more popular siblings. Although its story and cast are every bit as strong as other games of its era, its simplistic combat and uneven art direction have resulted in it being largely forgotten by both general RPG players and the series’ devoted fans. While the game was infamously overlooked in its own generation, its unique oceanpunk setting and resonant story make it an excellent candidate for a modern remake, ideally in the same engine as the upcoming Tales of Arise.
Tales of Legendia has arguably one of the PlayStation 2’s best war stories. Taking place in the world of Shining Blue, the plot concerns a young marine named Senel and his adopted sister Shirley washing up on an ancient, continent-sized ship called the Legacy. Unbeknownst to them, this vessel is inhabited not just by various settlers and indigenous peoples, but also by the invading Crusand Empire’s soldiers.
With a dangerous enemy on the hunt for a super-weapon that could turn the tide of an ongoing war, Senel and his family are dragged into a conflict that brutally deconstructs the idea of teenage heroes. It’s a common trope in fantasy and science-fiction for the world to be saved by plucky children, and Legendia has a particularly cynical outlook on it. Its young heroes are selfish, hormonal and frankly deluded. This leads to many terrible decisions as the realities of war and bigotry clash with their incomplete perceptions of the world.
However, as in other Tales games, it’s because the cast is so flawed that their development feels so meaningful. It’s rewarding to watch Legendia‘s bratty teens grow into self-sacrificing heroes willing to throw away their own desires for those they love, not out of any hope of reward, but simply because it’s the right thing to do.
What makes this development even better is that Legendia is pretty grounded. For all its magic and mysticism, most characters have entirely relatable problems, from a father trying to connect with his estranged daughter to a scared boy struggling to escape an abusive upbringing. The game is deeply concerned with familial ties and how one’s childhood impacts their future development. It’s not as subversive or philosophical as games like Abyss and Berseria, but it’s still a fantastic tale that’s absolutely worthy of being told.
With all of these great story elements, it’s a shame that the game is so uninteresting to play. Legendia has a great narrative, a campaign full of content and a gorgeous world brought to life by arguably the franchise’s best musical score, but its practical mechanics are painfully outdated. Its combat was a step back from Symphonia, returning to a purely-linear 2D system, and most dungeons were a series of colorful rooms without interesting set-pieces to make them memorable. The chibi-style characters don’t help, turning even the most dramatic boss battle into an awkward little puppet show.
However, it’s this dull design and ill-fitting set of character models that make Legendia the perfect candidate for a modern remake. Despite its lackluster execution, the game’s combat design had a good guiding principle: emphasizing the series’ fighting game roots by organically developing unique combos. It didn’t work on the PS2, but a modern remake could learn from faster and more fluid modern Tales games. Modern graphics could also fulfill the promise of Legendia‘s unique setting, and the increased movement freedom of the upcoming Arise could be transplanted perfectly onto such a project.
Remaking successful games has always been popular, but there’s something to say about revisiting titles that didn’t quite reach their full potential. Games like Tales of the Abyss are already franchise classics that have proven their worth across generations, so trying to make their lightning strike twice would be redundant. Bandai Namco could make far bigger waves by diving back into Legendia and using the lessons learned from the games that followed to make this blue world shine like never before.
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