Sacred Legends: monsters, magic, and evil villains – Review

Ah, yet another fantasy RPG has hit the app store. Is there anything better than venturing into an outlandish world rife with monsters, magic, and evil villains? Clearly the app store and the majority of its developers don’t seem to think so. The real question is diversity. Does the newest iteration in the Sacred series offer anything novel to a genre rampant with competition?

Upon booting up the game we are treated to a brief cinematic introducing us to the world’s lore, the subsequent narrative is kept to short text boxes, allowing us get right into the action with a tutorial level. This introduction to the gameplay feels somewhat unsatisfying. Our protagonist runs down a hallway on her own accord and even fights by herself. As the player we only intercede by commanding her to produce a host of special attacks indicated by a throng of tabs at the bottom of the screen.

After the initial level things start to become a little more interesting. We are given the opportunity to select our character. We can pick from a seraphim, a magic class, an archer, a range class, or a warrior, a melee class. After we make our choice the game’s rhythm becomes more apparent. Comparable to many of its counterparts, Sacred Legends delivers missions in bite-sized segments, allowing the player to drop-in and drop-out in under a minute. Also like many other RPGs on the market, Sacred users a three star rating system to score you on your performance in each outing. This is bad news for those interested in a unique experience. The capacity to summon and fight alongside a friend’s hero in your world is a saving grace in terms of distinguishing gameplay.

The looting and leveling systems are Sacred Legends most enjoyable and impressive features. As you progress, gaining experience points and currency, you are afforded the ability to outfit your chosen hero with new abilities and apparel. Seeing my character decked out in new amour was a pleasing feeling, thanks mostly to the game’s appearance. Graphically it’s not going to blow anyone’s socks off. Nevertheless, the character models look more than adequate despite their somewhat blocky facade. The environments are more appealing. Grand hallways shimmer underfoot, leaves descend from surrounding foliage, and flames crackle in the distance. This attention to detail adds a lot to the experience. However, the same levels are recycled again and again, making things redundant relatively quickly.

Sacred Legends can be both extremely satisfying and unsatisfying. Fans of the Diablo series will adore the looting system, while those same fans may swiftly grow weary of the lackluster gameplay. This RPG is designed for short bursts of fantasy action.