"A great start to a great series...with a few flaws, of course."

I first played the Final Fantasy Legend games while spending summer vacation with a few of my cousins. Unfortunately, I lacked a Game Boy at the time. I vowed to own one however, and as soon after that as I could, I resolved to own the Final Fantasy Legend games. Back then I didn't know there were three. In this review, I'll talk about the first game in the series.
Gameplay 9-10. Traditional RPG style turn-based battles are a part of this game. You buy and equip weapons and spells, find items, talk to people and defeat monsters. FFL's one big flaw in this department is its weaponry system. You could only use a weapon a limited number of times before it would lose its powers. The magic system was also a bit messed up. Only certain characters were capable of effective spellcasting, and those are called Mutants. Unfortunately, Mutants have an annoying habit of changing one set of abilities for another, usually with absolutely no warning. You might find a set of abilities you like only to have the character switch on you. Sometimes you might get lucky and get an ability that is just as good as the one you lost, but you weren't usually that lucky.
Control 10-10. It's pretty much the same as most RPG's. You have your confirm and cancel buttons and your D-pad. Simple and straightforward.
Audio 9-10. The music in Final Fantasy Legend, while not incredibly varied, is good. Battle themes are fitting, as are the few dungeon themes. The town themes (there are just two), can get a little annoying after a while. My favorite is the ending theme, which is basically a composite of all the major themes in the game (sans the battle themes of course).
Sound Effect wise, FFL isn't great, but it gets the job done. It might have been better if each spell had had a unique sound effect to it, but oh well.
Story 9-10. The game's story revolves around a mysterious tower in your home town. According to legend, the tower is a gateway to Paradise. Dreaming of a life in Paradise, many mortals challenged the tower's secret. No one knows what became of them, for none have ever returned. Now you, as the leader of a party of four adventurers, are up for the challenge...once you've sorted out the troubles here at home of course.
Overall 10-10. It's fefinitely a game that's worth at least a few hours of your time. I know i sure wouldn't sell my copy for anything.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10 | Originally Posted: 03/03/01, Updated 03/17/03


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