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»The Legend of Heroes III: Song of the Ocean
"Talk about your swan song..."
And so it comes to an end. Known in Japan as Eiyuu Densetsu V: Umi no Oriuta,
this is the last chapter of the “Garharv Trilogy”, and likely the last
of the Eiyuu Densetsu remakes that we’ll see on the PSP. Still it was a
pretty good ride, and up until this point the Legend of Heroes games are probably some of the best RPGs I’ve seen for the PSP currently. And who knows? Maybe we’ll see releases of Eiyuu Densetsu VI’s two chapters on the PSP in the future.
Despite taking place in the same universe as Prophecy of the Moonlight Witch and A Tear of Vermillion, Song of the Ocean
offers a storyline independent of the earlier entries of the Garharv
Trilogy, though it’s also filled with many treats for fans of the
earlier games. This, of course, makes it accessible to both newcomers
to the series and long-time fans of the LoH saga.
Song of the Ocean takes place in a realm known as Weltluna,
which was once the center of an ancient civilization known as the Water
Tribe. The tribe was extremely powerful, and wielded songs as easily as
a magician cast spells. Their shining achievement was a masterpiece
comprised of 24 separate verses which, while powerful on their own, was
said to have the ability to save the world. Unfortunately, the Water
Tribe and their mystical song vanished, becoming known as the Lost
Melody, until a legendary musician resurrected the lost verses, calling
the song the Water Melody. Fearful of the combined power the verses
had, he etched the verses on stones and scattered them throughout
Weltluna.
You take on the role of Forte, a young musician (and mediocre trumpet
player) from the coast town known as Racos Palma. Alongside him are his
best friend, Una and his accomplished troubadour grandfather, McBain.
One day, McBain receives a package from an old friend of his that
contains a book with some of the lost phrases of the Water Melody, and
the trio accidentally stumbles upon a magic map that shows the location
of the 24 magic stones. Eager to recover the entire Water Melody, the
trio, along with McBain's faithful dog Jan, set out across the world of
Weltluna in search of the stones and adventure.
Much of the gameplay is the same as it was in the previous two games.
The lack of random battles, the money trading system (this time, with
Rills [obtained from battles] and Gents [used to buy items]), the pet
system, pretty much the basic gameplay layout of SotO is the same RPG action you’d expect out of a game with the title Legend of Heroes.
Despite the initial feelings of anxiety over this game looking like
another retread, LoH3 does add a few things to the mix. For example,
the pet system gains a new layer, allowing you to use your pet as an
official party member, able to attack at will and even heal your party.
To be honest, at one point in the game, the only party member I had
left standing was Jan, the dog. Needless to say, this new advancement
is a life-saver, literally.
Next up, the magic system gets a bit of an upgrade as well, with the
new “Ensemble Magic” attacks, which allows two characters to join
elemental attacks in a single strike, which is a nifty new feature.
There are also the collectable resonance stones, which allows Forte,
Una, or McBain use resonant magic. These stones can be found throughout
the game, and each character can carry four at a time.
There’s also a new system for the battle mode which is a nice addition.
When you have more than 4 members in your party at a time (your party
can be up to 6 characters), you are given the ability to switch out
members with the new aptly-titled “Switch” function. The powerful
Deadly Moves have also gotten a bit of an overhaul, instead of simply
choosing them from the menu like in the last two games, you now select
a character and hit the square button to unleash these devastating
attacks.
There is also a new feature that strikes me as nice in this game. Though, as I mentioned earlier, SotO’s
storyline is autonomous from the previous games of the Garharv Trilogy,
there is a nifty little feature for those of you out there with data
from the previous two games: the ability to play extra scenes. Not only
do you get to play extra scenes but you get the ability to add the
protagonists of the two games to your party, which is a nice feature
and a huge improvement over the system from the Prophecy of the Moonlight Witch and A Tear of Vermillion, which simply involved adding the history from one game to the other.
The graphics are quite similar to those seen in the earlier two LoH
games. There are 2D character sprites in 3D environments, along with
hand-drawn character profiles, drawn in an anime-inspired style which
is typical of most Japanese-produced games of the genre. Needless to
say, graphically the games are pretty much of the same quality seen in
the earlier games. Nice to look at, but nothing that pushes the PSP to
its limit. However, it seems like this game utilizes this graphical
style nicely, with such effects as sun glare. So much that it makes me
able to score this game graphically on the same level as its
predecessors.
You’d expect that in a game starring a traveling band of minstrels, that music would be important. And in Song of the Ocean’s
case, it is. Perhaps it’s taken me some time to warm up to the charms
of the Legend of Heroes soundtracks, but this one seems to be the best
of all of them, which is fitting due to the aforementioned reasons. The
music always adds a nice atmosphere to the game, and the songs played
by the characters have a nice charm to them. However, I’m still bummed
out due to the lack of any and all voice acting.
Folks, ever since the first review, I’ve mentioned one thing about this series. It is a traditional
RPG; note the heavy emphasis on “traditional”. This can best be shown
in its replay value, which is typical of the genre. Basically, while
the game is still going on, you’ll be likely to keep on going on along
with it. But once it’s over, it’s over. Still,
the aforementioned extra scenes offer a bit of replay, though it’s only
for those of us who played the first two games. So, to sum it up, if
you like old-school RPGs and your PSP, buy Song of the Ocean. If you have no strong feelings toward the genre or system, then don’t.
Article by: Wolfdogg
Posted on: Feb. 3rd, 2007 |
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Review Recap |
| Gameplay |
| A retread of the last two for the most part, but the new “extra scenes” feature is an awesome addition. The lack of long load times is also a nice feature. |
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Graphics |
| The graphics are pretty much the same as those in the last two. Doesn’t mean they look much worse. |
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Sound |
| The music in this game is probably the best in the series. Sound effects, on the other hand, are average. |
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Replay Value |
| Fun to play, but it’s a typical RPG, when it’s over, it’s over. On the plus side, the extra scenes add a bit more replay to it. |
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