Untold Legends PSP review

It all begins fairly simply. Some previously peaceful spiders bubble up from the catacombs under the city (population 12), and as the champion you are called upon to exterminate them. However soon things are escalating in scale and taking on a more urgent tone as you battle to save everything. If this sounds sort of familiar, you’re right. There is not a lot about Untold Legends that you haven’t seen before. It seems an immediate shame that Sony didn’t put a licensed property behind this engine to add some much needed depth.

Untold Legends opens with a brief synopsis of the setting, that uses some fantasy art and scrolling text. Not exactly an auspicious beginning, but things pick up slightly once you start playing. The game looks great upon first impressions, and Sony has managed to cram a good number of functions into the buttons available on the PSP controller.

Setting the Scene

You can play as a Knight, a Berserker, an Alchemist or a Druid. Like most of Untold Legends, these aren’t anything new or innovative, but at least you get a choice between a fighting class and a spell using class. It’s probably worth playing as one of each, if you have the motivation to play through the game more than once.

The story in-between the action unfolds with some pretty bland conversations presented with text, and not speech. These speeches lay out your tasks in a fairly linear fashion, although it must be noted that the story does become a bit more interesting once you get stuck into it.

Can you hack and slash it?

The gameplay itself is quite fun and quite simple. You run around in a series of environments and hack and blast monsters to bits. You gain levels and get better equipment. It's basic by the numbers hack and slash fair, although it benefits from the novelty of being on the PSP. I suspect I’d be less forgiving of this game if it had come out on another platform.

The dungeons are all randomly generated, one assumes with the intention of letting you play through again without treading the same ground. The problem is that this means that the dungeons feel random, and are not particularly memorable. And that in itself makes this decision self-defeating, as I doubt you would notice if you played the game again and the dungeons were the same.

Graphically the game shines with good animations and nice effects. The biggest letdown with the game's visuals come from the design rather than any technical issues. Legends can cram a fair few enemies - some of which can be pretty large and intimidating – onto the screen without significant slow-down.

Another questionable decision by the developer was to use some dreadful midi music throughout the game. In the end I turned it down and contented myself with the fairly meaty – if somewhat repetitive – sounds of battle to keep me company.

Multiplayer Mayhem

The Legends experience is much improved by playing with a friend or two in ad-hoc mode. It's always fun battling side by side with a companion, especially if you are playing complementary character types. Legends help to keep things fair, by dividing up the gold, and allowing you to trade items that you’ve picked up.

You can easily pick up and play from your own saved game, with a friend accompanying you, or start a new fresh adventure together. The only regrettable oversight is the ability to play Online.

Final Thoughts

It is inevitable with any new platform that there are going to be a few games that feel like they were rushed out the door in order to bolster the opening line-up. And although, it is clearly obvious that Untold Legends is such a game, it is not to say it is without its own appeal. It's fun in short bursts, which ideally is exactly what I’m looking for in a handheld game. And it's great in multiplayer provided you have a friend who has a PSP too.