Developer: Magnus Games Studio
Publisher: 505 Games
Platform: PC, Switch, PS4, Xbox One
Tested on: PC
Re:Legend – Review
Re:Legend is the first game by indie developer Magnus Games Studio. If we had to describe it as anything, it’s a combination of Stardew Valley and Pokémon. It’s a game that allows you the typical farming sim gameplay of farming, crafting, and living your life in a small town with the local residents, that also has mechanics involving taming fantasy creatures and evolving them. This may sound pretty fun, though we’ll quickly explain that a lot of small issues and bugs make the resulting game less than enjoyable.
Story
After creating your own custom character, you’re immediately thrust into a cutscene where you’re pushed off a cliff. Your character ends up in the sea but washes ashore on a small island with their memories gone, after which they’re found by a strange penguin creature called Papa Pia. The island you’ve ended up on is Vokka Island which is home to a small town with local residents. They agree to let your character stay and build their own life on the island. As you farm, explore, and build friendships, you might figure out the reason for your amnesia and what you’re forgetting.
There’s not a ton of story value, though all the NPCs living in the story have their own backstories and personalities you can learn more about by becoming their friends. You can even romance one of them if you want. Beyond that, a lot of the story relies on your decisions and the pace at which you play the game.
Graphics
Graphically, Re:Legend doesn’t exactly hold up to comparable titles in the genre. We won’t go as far as saying it looks bad, as there’s some real potential in the character and monster designs, and it’s nice that you have different environments to explore, ranging from mountains and deserts to the beach. The graphics just don’t look great. They’re rough around the edges and the user interface of the inventory and stuff is extremely clunky and hard to look at. This makes it a pain to organize items too.
Sound
The game has a nice soundtrack that fits the game’s vibe. There are lots of upbeat and slightly tropical tracks to complement island life and these tunes accompany you as your run around mining, crafting, and farming. There’s some more intense music for the combat too. The little monsters themselves come with their own assortment of cute vocalizations that breathe some life into them and the other sound effects are also really great. The game doesn’t have any voice acting, and thus you’ll need to read all the dialogue in text form.
Gameplay
Re:Legend calls itself a simulation RPG game, offering a lot of different mechanics in an appealing mix that will make the game suitable for many different players to enjoy. You’ll have to master all of them to play successfully though. On the farming sim end of things, all the usual mechanics are present: you can farm, fish, mine, and craft. Almost all of these activities come with their own unique minigame. They also require stamina, which we’ll get into later. The other major feature is combat. The island of Vokka is inhabited by creatures known as Magnus. Magnus can be fought with via melee or ranged combat, but it’s even better to tame them and make them work for you by offering them food. Magnus come in many different shapes and sizes, and they all have their own skills. They can also evolve if you treat them well, which is mainly done by feeding and bonding with them. As you progress in the game you can build your farm and home, and customize it at will.
Vokka town is the highlight of the game, with plenty of NPCs to befriend, who will gladly buy or sell wares. As you give them gifts and help them with quests, you get to know more about them and perhaps even find a partner if you’re into that sort of thing. The town throws festivals all throughout the year, which offer special events for you to partake in and unique items to gather. Aside from the town, there are plenty of locations across the island to discover. A lot of them have their own unique biome and Magnus to fight or tame. Some might even end up with you discovering a boss battle or two.
If you think that’s a lot of content, you’re certainly not mistaken. And that’s where the first issues with the game start to creep in. Having a lot of content would normally be a good thing, but the stamina system of Re:Legend leaves something to be desired. Doing one or two small activities can drain your stamina immediately because it’s not very balanced. If you don’t plan your days meticulously in advance, making progress feels like a slog. The number of festivals might also be a little too much, often making it hard to visit shopkeepers since they close for the day. The game also suffers from a lot of bugs and very finicky controls, despite having been in Early Access for years and only recently getting a full release. Sometimes opening certain menus can crash the game, and the loading screens between areas are slow and laggy. The game tries to advertise online co-op as one of its main assets, but these bugs only get worse when trying to play with multiple people. It’s a real shame for a game that otherwise shows a lot of potential.
Conclusion
Re:Legend is one of those games that we really wish we could give a higher score. There’s definitely the seed for something great here, with lots of good ideas from the devs and a solid foundation that could turn this game into an enjoyable simulation RPG. Sadly, the bugs and balancing issues really make the game a chore for players. Hopefully, future updates will make it easier to recommend this title.
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