Legend of Heroes III - Sony PSP

by Namco

• Explore a vast world with beautifully illustrated characters
• Over 100 unique illustrated characters bring the adventure to life
• More than 50 hours of gameplay

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000L6OXUQ
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4 x 0.8 inches ; 4 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: January 23, 2007
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #30,721 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

The Legend of Heroes returns for a third showing on the PSP in which players take on the role of Forte a young musician living in the dark Numeros Empire who sets off on an adventure that could determine the fate of the world.Format: SONY PSP Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE UPC: 722674150255 Manufacturer No: 15025

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun, charming old school RPG... February 7, 2007

By Jeremy Reaban

Fun: 5.0 out of 5 stars   

Did you like the old console RPGs from the early 90s? Then you may like this, since it basically plays exactly like one, but with upgraded graphics (basically while the characters are still sprites, all the terrain is in 3d).

On the other hand, if you great up on PS2 style RPGs, with lots of cinematics, voice acting, and action based combat, then you will probably find this boring.

One nice thing is there are almost no loading times whatsoever, and if you have played the first two Legend of Heroes games and have savegames from it, you can access special stages in this.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars not bad September 17, 2007

By Steve J. Bell

Fun: 3.0 out of 5 stars   

i've been playing rpgs and mmorpgs for about fifteen years now, so i've seen alot of stuff come and go. i'm able to appreciate a simple game with a good story. i usually start to take a personal interest in the main character's development, and sometimes i'll get excited when he finally comes of age and starts to turn the tables around and kick some butt.
this is what has been the problem for me while i played through this game. the main character is too young, like fifteen, and he stays that way the entire story. i kept thinking that after the next significant plot advancement, there would be a time jump (like, 10 years later), and he and his female friend would be older/stronger/wiser. unfortunately i strung myself along all the way up to the end, and then was dissapointed that the game was ending and i didn't get what i wanted.
none of that stopped this from being a good game, and i recommend it to anybody looking for an enjoyable way to pass a few hours.

4.0 out of 5 stars Decent conclusion to the Gagharv trilogy. July 20, 2014

By J. Michael Gallen

Verified Purchase

When the first and second installment of the Legend of Heroes’ Gagharv trilogy came to North America thanks to Namco-Bandai, there arose some confusion in the numbering, with the second entry of the trilogy, A Tear of Vermillion, actually released outside Japan first and not given a Roman numeral, and the first of the trilogy localized under the title The Legend of Heroes II: Prophecy of the Moonlight Witch. In 2007, the third entry of the trilogy saw its North American release as The Legend of Heroes III: Song of the Ocean, which provides an experience on par with its predecessors.

Like its brethren in the Gagharv trilogy, Song of the Ocean features visible monsters on fields and dungeons between town that will charge the player’s party if their levels are lower than the enemy’s and run away if the player’s levels are higher than the enemy’s. Running into the enemy from behind will result in a surprise attack for the player’s party, although the enemy can do the same if they contact the player’s party from behind.

Combat itself is structurally similar to that in the previous two games, with the player’s four active characters and the enemy facing one another across the battlefield, with the commands to attack (with both sides moving around as they do so), wait (which allows a character to move across the field without executing a command), use MP-consuming magic (with some characters needing to equip Resonance Stones to use magic), use an item, switch with a reserve character (which will eat up the switching character’s turn), or escape, with this option working almost all the time.

Victory for the player’s party results in the acquisition of experience points for every character, active or reserve, even those that end the battle dead, and units that the player can exchange at any shop for money. Defeat of all four of the player’s active characters, however, results in a Game Over and a trip back to the title screen, although given the game’s save anywhere feature inherited from its predecessors, this isn’t too severe of a penalty.

The battle system works well for the most part, although levels seem to rise somewhat slowly, the character-swapping system is a step down from those in other RPGs such as Final Fantasy X, characters can only use limit breaks by interrupting a character or enemy’s turn, and the art of combining magic spells isn’t explained in detail in the game or instruction book, with some late-game fights necessitating the use of combo magic.

The interface is superficially clean with a convenient save-anywhere feature and easy menu system, but there are far too many times when the game gives the player poor direction on how to advance the main storyline and doesn’t keep them on track, not to mention a telling lack of automaps for the more complicated dungeons, a feature present even in 16-bit games such as The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past.

The poor direction on how to advance the main storyline is a mark off the narrative itself, which is otherwise fairly generic, focusing on a group of troubadours as they retrieve dozens of MacGuffins hidden around their world. The translation is also generally shoddy, with plenty of visible errors, inexcusable for a company such as Namco-Bandai. In the end, the plot and localization are perhaps the weakest areas of Song of the Ocean.

As is expectant of a game about a group of troubadours, however, the soundtrack definitely shines, with plenty of decent tracks such as one town theme, and a few central themes throughout the game, and the sound effects don’t detract, either; however, there are occasional musicless cutscenes.

The game also looks nice, with decent character and enemy sprites and scenery, although the sprites don’t show much emotion, with the anime portraits during cutscenes doing most of the work.

Finally, the game is longer than its predecessors, taking forty to fifty hours even with a straightforward playthrough, a New Game+ adding significant replayability, along with occasional sidequests that require data from the other two entries of the Gagharv trilogy.

In the end, The Legend of Heroes III: Song of the Ocean is a decent conclusion to the Gagharv trilogy, what especially with its simple but solid battle system, excellent soundtrack, and nice visuals, although it does definitely leave room for improvement in areas such as interaction, what in particular with the terrible direction at times on how to advance, not to mention the localization. Those that can look past these flaws and enjoyed the game’s predecessors, however, will likely have a decent experience, with developer Nihon Falcom’s track record being generally above average.

The Good:
+Solid yet simple battle system.
+Good music and graphics.
+Nice replay value.

The Bad:
-Often hard to advance without a guide.
-Narrative is generally weak.
-Localization could have been better.

The Bottom Line:
Decent conclusion to the Gagharv trilogy. Read more ›

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Legend of Heroes III is the awesome game! September 29, 2009

By Amazon Customer

Fun: 3.0 out of 5 stars   

I really enjoyed to play this game even though I am female. XD Anyway, I had played Legend of Heroes: 1 - 3... I really enjoyed them a lot even 3 is a bit different. For finishing attack, you have to press button whenever you want to...for example, when a monster's turn to attack, you have to press button the character you selected so he/she will go forward and finish attack. I had been played this game for 5 times...and I didn't get tired. I really liked the storyline even though some of them are funny...at least to me. =)

In the beginning, you'll meet a blue-haired guy Forte, his grandpa McBain, a childhood friend pink-haired girl Una (who has crush on Forte) and a dog Jan. They begins on the quest to seeking Leone's Resonance Stones because of McBain's dreaming to play the song when all Resonance Stones are collected. You'll meet variable characters in the games, and they'll join in with you for battle. =)

If you had played previous games, you should purchase it.
If you really enjoy the RPG, then you should try it.
If you are not interested, do not waste your money on that game unless you want to rent.

=D