VIDEO GAME REVIEWS

'TALES OF LEGENDIA'
Platform: PlayStation 2. Genre: Role-playing.
Publisher: Namco. Rating: T, for Teen.
Grade: C+
Role-playing games sometimes catch a lot of grief from gamers who either lament the emphasis on battle sequences or complain that there's too much time wasted on roaming around and developing the characters on your team.
"Tales of Legendia" seems to address all of these concerns and brings forth a game that allows you to enjoy the palatable RPG experience it provides. The story is not entirely creative: A team of four warriors must help one of its members save his sister, who has been captured by evil forces. But here you will quickly find yourself engaged in every nuance of the story and the characters that give it a robust plot.
The controls are easily learned, and "Legendia" teaches you to manipulate them through a trial by fire -- most of the game is spent in battles. Some RPG fans will hate this, of course, but in the realm of RPG it's difficult to please everyone.
The weapons and magic your characters cast are powerful, and they help show off the game's major strength, which is its graphics presentation. Both the environments and battle sequences are fantastic to look at, with colorful palettes and great detail.
"Legendia" also benefits from a long story mode and bonus content at the end, allowing you to play through the endings of each of the four characters' storylines. From beginning to end this game does not disappoint, and is certainly worthy to add to your library.
-- Chris Campbell, Scripps Howard