"Legend of the Sword 3: Remastered Edition" review: 25 years ago cold rice, fried a new taste

In 1995, Square teamed up with Nintendo to release the highly anticipated ARPG game Legend of the Sword 3 on the then 16-bit home console SFC. Although the series originally existed as a spin-off of the "Final Fantasy" series, with its unique real-time action gameplay, and the interweaving of moving stories between the six main characters, it has been able to stand out from the many RPGS of the same period, as the top IP of the rising star.

Today, 25 years have passed since the release of the original game. These 25 years are enough for a babbling child to grow into a young man on his own. The Legend of the Sword 3 also chose to launch a remake of the game on the 25th anniversary of its release. In this way, the series that has been separated from the public for a long time can be revitalized again with a new appearance that is more in line with the aesthetic needs of contemporary players.

But in the end, "Legend of the Sword 3" is still an old game 25 years ago, even in today's powerful game development technology, whether it can be recognized by the market again, it is not just the word "feelings", you can easily assert.

In fact, for the majority of young players who are now accustomed to top 3A games, the appeal of the Legend of Sword 3: Remastered version may be long gone. So "Legend of the Sword 3: Remastered Edition", how to recall the old players at the same time, attract a certain number of new players? This is probably the core problem that this remake is trying to solve.

The first thing to say is that, as a remastered game, "Legend of the Sword 3: Remastered Edition" itself is positioned as a lightweight work featuring nostalgia. It does not have too complex gameplay, the cartoon style used, and the picture performance is also slightly flat. Therefore, if you want to compare it to the top IP of Final Fantasy 7 remake, and Resident Evil 3 Remake, which have just released, it is obviously not able to resist. "Legend of the Sword 3: Remastered Edition" against the opponent, should be similar to the "Legend" series, or "Isu" series, the sequel of the ancient RPG game, or a remake of the work.

If you can recognize this, perhaps you can make a general judgment in advance when considering whether to buy this game.

Secondly, the core selling point of "Legend of the Sword 3: Remastered Edition" is actually the comprehensive innovation of the picture. If you are an old player of the original, then you will be surprised by the excellent performance of the reset on the screen. The original "Legend of the Sword 3", as a work at the end of the SFC era, is almost drained of all the functions of SFC due to the use of real-time combat game mechanics, and detailed animation effects.

Now 25 years later, the continuous innovation of technology has made today's games, whether it is the richness of gameplay, or the performance effect of the screen, have achieved earth-shaking evolution. To present classic game content in a more detailed picture, it is naturally not difficult. The key is whether the production team is willing to take the time to completely tear down the old content, rather than simply make a high definition and material replacement.

In this regard, the Legend of the Sword 3: Remastered can be said to be full of sincerity, not only the original overlooking corner map was fully 3D, but also added a large number of new scenes and models. And each character's image, on the basis of retaining the original characteristics, has added a large number of rich details. The level of detail of character modeling is not even worse than that of another SE's own son, the "Dragon Quest" series. In addition, the perspective of the game has also been changed from the original high-altitude overlooking Angle to the third-person perspective that is more in line with today's players' preferences. For the first time contact with the "Legend of the sword" series of players, at least on the screen, they will not because this is an old game 25 years ago, and have a certain exclusion psychology

For older players, the picture performance of this game is undoubtedly excellent. Compared to some other remastered games, simply by changing the texture or model material, the practice of packaging and selling money. Legend of the Sword 3: Remastered is nothing short of heart-wrenching.

Another thing that will please veteran players is that the remake retains the original story of Legend of the Sword 3. More than 25 years ago, Legend of the Sword 3 was one of the first RPGS to use a multi-protagonist, multi-line narrative. The story design alone is groundbreaking enough to make it memorable for many veteran players.

In this remake, these stories have been kept intact, and the game has also added a large number of new dialogue stories, as well as cutscenes. These new content, so that originally only through a few paragraphs of text description, on a single stroke of the plot, the viewing has been significantly improved. At the same time, it also makes the portrayal of the character of the game more full and three-dimensional. Through these new episodes, veteran players will get to know the characters they once knew so well.

But not everyone will like it. After all, the RPG playwriting model that was popular 25 years ago, compared with today's mainstream works, naturally seems to be a little behind The Times. Specific to the "Legend of the Sword 3: Remastered version" this game, is once very popular multi-protagonist multi-line narrative mode, for today's players, has long been common.

These days, which game will not give itself a few more protagonists, a few story lines ah? "Legend of the Sword 3" this old timer, and today's new people stand together, has long since lost the absolute advantage of the original. Even its script, which now seems a little childish and cliche, has to some extent extinguished the idea of young players wanting to try it. Times really have changed.

Another factor that shows the game is not up to date is the combat design. Back in 1995, when the original game was released, almost all of the major Japanese RPGS at the time were still using turn-based combat gameplay. And like to engage in a special "legend of the sword" series, it is not surprising to take a different path, choosing a less mainstream real-time combat system. This was very attractive to players at the time. It means more variable battlefield situations, more freedom of battle play. Therefore, the use of real-time combat has become an important reason for the emergence of "Legend of the Sword 3" in that year.

This kind of play, in today's game market, is no longer special. Nowadays, in addition to a few manufacturers, still insist on doing turn-based RPGS, most works will choose to use more convenient operation and experience more refreshing real-time combat gameplay. Even the "Final Fantasy" series, one of the most classic Japanese national RPGS, is now a series of new games, in order to meet the needs of players, and switch to experience semi-real-time combat more inclined to action games. That includes the recently released Final Fantasy VII Remake.

Older players may not have much of a problem with this, but as a new player to the series, to be honest, when I first started playing Swordtale 3: Remastered, I didn't think it was a great game. For one thing, I didn't live through the era when the original game was released. Second, the real-time combat system of this game, in today's eyes, there is really nothing worthy of praise for the player. On the contrary, I even felt that the reworked combat design was a little rudimentary.

For example, the basic attack mode of the game, although there are light and light attacks and combination attacks, but the actual effect performance can only be said to be average. In addition to hitting higher damage, it does not trigger a gorgeous combo effect. Of course, as a non-ACT game, this is understandable.

But in addition to other special attacks, such as each character's must-kill skills, magic skills, presented the effect is also difficult to satisfy. In addition to additional close-up images, there is a lack of diversity in performance effects. The frequency of triggering battles in the game is very high, with the exception of A few BOSS battles, almost all of them can be leveled all the way to the past. As a result, after the first few rounds of combat, I quickly stopped expecting anything from the game's combat system.

So, if you're a younger gamer like me, you haven't experienced the wow that the original Swordsman 3 brought when it was released. Then, the only thing that can attract you to play "Sword Legend 3: Remastered" may be the beautiful posture of the female protagonists and the seemingly interesting RPG gameplay. Although the remastered graphics have been greatly reformed, other parts have also been more or less added to the original. But in today's great game market, the performance can only be mediocre. You wouldn't be hard-pressed to find a more well-crafted RPG.

But if you're an old player with a certain affection for the original, Swordtale 3: Remastered is definitely one of the best remastered games to experience this year. Just watching familiar characters and stories reappear in front of you after a reinvention is enough to make you feel worth the price of admission.

After 25 years, perhaps we should be glad that someone still remembers such a work.