History VideoGame / LegendOfLegaia

* WeaponOfChoice: Each character has a favored weapon. Some weapons can be used by all characters, but characters who aren't proficient with the weapon require more of their arts bar to use the "arms" command.

* TheJuggernaut: Very, very, very, very, ''very'' literally. It's a mountain-sized {{Kaiju}} that possesses the ability to teleport, has a BreathWeapon energy beam attack that can demolish a structure as big as itself, never takes any damage throughout the adventure (the game never even pretends that you could so much as scratch it), absorbs an entire town, and would continue to grow until it engulfed the entire planet unopposed. It is only stopped by the heroes, whose powers have surpassed even [[TheMaker Tieg]], attacking its weakest point: its heart. [[UpToEleven ITS HEART]] then proceeds to transform into a RealityWarping EldritchAbomination that can summon a planet down on its foes and attack with a NoKillLikeOverKill energy attack that is more powerful than the planet's collision damage. Even after it is defeated, it takes the combined might of the three beings who when combined with Vahn, Noa, and Gala surpassed TheMaker and a HeroicSacrifice to free the town it absorbed. Try and find a better example.

Both games are fairly standard turn based {{RPG}}s, but with some twists. Both games have the "Tactical Arts System", which revolves around selecting not just to make an attack but forming combinations of attacks for efficiency and maximum damage, using specific limbs and heights for attacks -- turning it into a similar feel as to a fighting game. By chaining together specific attacks, a character can use Arts -- by chaining Arts together, a player can find his characters doing impressive amounts of damage without resorting to magic. This is made more complex in the sequel by the multiple types of Arts one has -- Basic Arts build Art Points, allowing the character to use more powerful Super Arts, [[LimitBreak Hyper Arts]], [[CombinationAttack Variable Arts]], and [[DesperationAttack Mystic Arts]]. (In the original, Art Points were always consumed by any form of Art and replenished by a small amount at the end of each turn, by taking damage, and by using the Spirit command, which also granted a significant extension to the combo bar, plus a temporary guard status -- Spirit plus Miracle Art spam was ultimately the endgame tactic, with one party member relegated to healing.)

''Legend of Legaia'' (''Legaia Densetsu'' in Japan) is a two game {{RPG}} series commissioned by Sony Computer Entertainment. The first was developed by Contrail, with its follow-up, ''[[VideoGame/LegaiaIIDuelSaga Legaia II: Duel Saga]]'', moving to the [=PS2=] and developed by Prokion. Despite similarities in gameplay and some character designs, they have next to nothing to do with each other.

The first ''Legend of Legaia'' takes place in a world where a mysterious substance called "the Mist" has changed a good percentage of the population into monsters, caused by [[AndManGrewProud the symbiotic creatures (known as Seru) they were reliant upon fusing with them and hijacking their bodies]], and caused civilization to completely collapse. The game centers around Vahn, a blue haired KidHero from a small village, one of the few areas of the world not shrouded in Mist thanks to a giant wall, and also with no Seru there. After a servant of the Mist attacks his village, he ends up merging with a Ra-Seru (A sapient Seru that can also absorb the essence of other Seru, and is also immune to the effects of Mist) named Meta that was hidden/resting within a dying tree that lay in the center of his village, known as a Genesis Tree. Upon being prayed to and infused with power, the tree grows again, banishing the Mist from the immediate area, and Vahn leaves his home to attempt to find others, in order to remove the Mist from the land. Eventually, he meets up with two other heroes -- Noa, a feral girl raised by the Ra-Seru Terra, and Gala, a monk who eventually gains the service of the Ra-Seru Ozma.

Both games are fairly standard turn based {{RPG}}s, but with some twists. Both games have the "Tactical Arts System", which revolves around selecting not just to make an attack, but forming combinations of attacks for efficiency and maximum damage, using specific limbs and heights for attacks -- turning it into a similar feel as to a fighting game. By chaining together specific attacks, a character can use Arts -- by chaining Arts together, a player can find his characters doing impressive amounts of damage without resorting to magic. This is made more complex in the sequel by the multiple types of Arts one has -- Basic Arts build Art Points, allowing the character to use more powerful Super Arts, [[LimitBreak Hyper Arts]], [[CombinationAttack Variable Arts]], and [[DesperationAttack Mystic Arts]]. (In the original, Art Points were always consumed by any form of Art, and replenished by a small amount at the end of each turn, by taking damage, and by using the Spirit command, which also granted a significant extension to the combo bar, plus a temporary guard status -- Spirit plus Miracle Art spam was ultimately the endgame tactic, with one party member relegated to healing.)

* AdultFear: As shown with both Noa's and Vahn's parents, the Mist can completely remove any ability you have to protect your child. [[spoiler: Or a Rogue Seru can come along and attach itself to your child, possessing and slowly transforming him into a genocidal megalomaniac right beneath your nose.]]
** As you begin awakening the Genesis Trees and reviving towns, many children who survived have lost their parents to the Mist and are now orphans in a world that's pretty much been thrown back into the Stone Age.
** It's also mentioned that one of the main reasons why Gaza became an AxCrazy BloodKnight was because he was helpless to save his son and grandchildren from being killed by Seru.

* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: Vahn has this.

* BiggerBad: Kind of. [[spoiler:Cort]] is the more powerful and dangerous of the two but Rogue is both directly and indirectly responsible for everything that happens in the game. Take into account that [[spoiler:Cort's]] mind has possibly been corrupted by a rogue Ra-Seru[[note]] not Rogue himself but one of the Ra-Seru he led against Tieg[[/note]] and it becomes very muddled who the actual villain is.

* ALoadOfBull: The boss Xain, who appears to be a cross of a Minotaur and centaur.

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** Zeto and Dohati are the former Secretaries of State and the Interior of [[spoiler:Conkram]], respectively, and both serve as a combination of the General and the Guard
** Songi is the EvilCounterpart, specifically to Gala. As his loyalty is only to himself, he is not above [[TheStarscream stabbing the others in the back if it's to his own benefit]]
* StandardStatusEffects: Several:

* StatusBuff: The various elixirs, which raise a character's stats for a single battle.

* NintendoHard: The game is harder than its contemporary RPG's. There's a whole new battling system; it's not that simple to acquire magic spells; the player has to manage 2 different resource pools (MP and AP); in-game money comes in a slow pace while the equipment stores have way too expensive prices; ditto for experience, and the increasing enemy difficulty makes leveling-up a vital necessity; the bosses are completely merciless; and, if you want to get 100% of completion, get ready to grind a '''''lot''''' of tokens and fishing points.

** Curse -- Affected player cannot use magic. Basically the same effect as other RPGs' "mute" or "silence".

* NintendoHard: The game is harder than its contemporary RPG's. There's a whole new battling system; it's not that simple to acquire magic spells; the player has to manage 2 different resource pools; in-game money comes in a slow pace while the equipment stores have way too expensive prices; the bosses are completely merciless and, if you want to get 100% of completion, get ready to grind a lot of XP, tokens and fishing points.

* PeninsulaOfPowerLeveling: The most egregious example is at the point where you get the Fire Droplet at Uru Mais, just after [[spoiler: Juggernaut destroys the place,]] but before returning to Usha Research Center. Players can equip this to Vahn and go towards the Muscle Dome at Sol, compete at Beginner (and if players ''really'' did a lot of level grinding, the Expert course), keep using Fire Blow, and win every single time with a 100 AP. Grab 7 Soru Breads and sell them for 3000 per gold. Given that money is hard to come by in this game, it's well worth it.

*** It's strangely paced, though. You'll fight him in the first serious dungeon, and then a few dungeons later (where you've gotten through about 1/4 of the game at most), and then while he still continues to be part of the plot, you will not fight him again until the very end of the game, as he serves as the second to last boss. It's almost like there was a fourth encounter planned that ended up being cut.

** Curse -- Affected player cannot use magic.
** Rot -- Limits your ability to attack by blocking one or more of your up, down, left, or right attacks
** Stone -- (Petrifaction)
** Numb -- Similar to paralysis, but naturally wears off over time or if said enemy/ally is attacked

* HeroicMime: Vahn is this full-time. When you first get control of her, Noa is this way, too, but once Vahn is the party leader again, she starts talking and showing personality. A lot.

** The Juggernaut animation is a particularly JustForFun/{{egregious}} example, with an animation time rivaling [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII Sephiroth's Supernova]].

* AfterTheEnd: The concept of the first game; the bad guys have already won when the game begins.

** The Seru were given to humans by Tieg to fuse with them and give them great abilities (enhanced strength, speed, flight, ect.) But when under the influence of the Mist, they become parasitic monsters that force their way into people's skin and corrupt their minds, effectively turning them into moaning, limping zombies. The processes renders them ageless and some [=NCPs=] claim that they were just conscious enough to realize what was happening to them.

* BadassGrandpa: Gaza is one of these. He's [[AllThereInTheManual 61]] during the game, a feared warrior deemed nigh unstoppable by [[spoiler:soldiers in Conkram when you [[TimeTravel travel back in time]] 10 years]], and by far the strongest being in the game who isn't wearing a Seru[[note]]Or is one, in the case of Rogue or [[{{God}} Tieg]][[/note]]. As such, he doubles as a BadassNormal when compared to wearers of Seru.

->''"As if forsaken by God, human civilization collapsed. It was the twilight of humanity. Those who escaped the Mist inhabited desolate areas and protected each other. Now, their faint hope is their only source of inspiration."''
-->-- '''Opening Sequence'''

* MagikarpPower: Gala is TheLoad when he joins. When he catches up, he has a great damage output, the best healer of the team, and the best Seru user on the team. To put it simply, he has the most potential out of the three characters, but it take a long time to reach those potential..

* FightInTheNude: Averted -- each weapon and piece of armor is shown on the characters during battle, although not during cutscenes or on the map. Many of the different variations were [[PaletteSwap Palette Swaps]] of each other, but given when the game was produced, it's still quite impressive. Of course, the characters aren't actually shown fighting in the nude -- if you take off all of their armor, they'll just be wearing their default outfits.

* GenkiGirl: Noa.

* GuestStarPartyMember: [[spoiler:Gala]] starts off as this, but has a change of plans when [[spoiler:he]] gets a Ra-Seru.
** Terra plays it straight, though.

* HurricaneKick: Noa's third Hyper Art is called this. It's closer to a flurry of kicks than the better known examples from fighting games.

* KidHero: Vahn (who is 14) and Noa (who is ''12''). Ironically, their official graphics and battle images look like both characters are ''at least'' in their late teens or early twenties.
** Lampshaded hilariously in Sol Tower, where you're turned away by children running an item shop if you don't have enough money. They remark on how someone so young couldn't possibly pay; one of Vahn's possible responses is "I'm not a kid! I'm 14 years old!"

** Several items can only be found [[PixelHunt in the most random locations]].

* FogOfDoom: The Mist, [[CaptainObvious duh.]] Slightly subverted in that the Mist itself has no effect on humans. Instead, it turns the Seru that people use into insane, evil monsters that will either take control of your body and turn you into a mindless zombie, or simply kill you.

* BraggingRightsReward: The talisman you get from defeating Lapis, not to mention [[ThatOneSidequest the Juggernaut spell]].

* CutscenePowerToTheMax: Gala anyone? [[MemeticBadass He can Fly and Flex at once.]]

* DiskOneNuke: As soon as players have access to the second region, players can go to Vidna and play a lot of slot machines that allows players to get as many coins as possible and trade them in for a lot of rare items in the game. As long as the players know how to time the slots, players can get a lot of money especially if they obtain the bonus multipliers. Then start selling and buying as much as possible to fill up the Point Card and start using it on bosses to guarantee a ''lot'' of damage. It makes a lot of ThatOneBoss fights cathartic.

* TheLegendOfX

** It's also ThatOneLevel.

* NintendoHard: The first game is not someplace to forget level grinding and battle tactics.

* [[spoiler:WhereItAllBegan: TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon, the Bio Castle, is overlaid on Vahn's hometown during the ending arc of the game; the Seru Juggernaut engulfs Rim Elm.]]

* EndOfAnAge: You've defeated the BigBad, freed the world from the clutches of the Mist, and brought peace to Legaia. However, [[spoiler:the Seru-kai is dead, your Ra-Seru have given their lives to save Rim Elm, and according to Dr. Usha, most Seru will die off in the next year, possibly bringing Legaia back to the Stone Age. But human spirit is strong and there is hope with people to follow the heroes and carry out Tieg's will.]]
* EncounterRepellant: The Good Luck Bell and Evil Talisman serve as repellent, while the Bad Luck Bell and Nemesis Gem are bait. Sadly, the former two can't be found until pretty late in the game.
* EnemySummoner: A few different monsters.