Untold Legends Brotherhood of the Blade

Graphics 8.0
Lush landscapes and memorable creatures across a wildly varied world that will take you through dank dungeons, haunted forests, ancient factories, and even billowing hell-yards.

Sound 3.0
The tinkling Casio synthesizer music has to go, right away, before it loops you into unconsciousness. The slashes and crashes are strong, but not particularly varied.

Gameplay 8.0
Tight gameplay in the vein of Champions of Norrath and Dark Alliance. A loose balance of charcter classes and item dispersion may turn off veterans, but new explorers will like the lighter challenge.

Lasting Appeal 8.0
Great wireless gameplay and a massive set of worlds to explore. There just isn't a lot to find if you set out, although the action remains compelling.

This game has been very satisfying to play as an RPG. I was a little skeptical at first because the opening Prologue is reminiscent of the 1985 Nintendo era with still sketches, poor music, and mediocre scrolling text. After you get through a laughable Prologue the game play is quite good. Even though I've found games like Diablo II quite enjoyable, I usually stop 25% through because the job of finishing the game seems daunting due to missions being overly challenging, repetitive, or just too long.

Untold Legend focuses on things I like to do best; fight, improve my character, discover some unique items, complete missions in a reasonable amount of time, and I don't get lost or confused (too often). Unlike Diablo II, if you die in Untold Legends, you don't lose everything. You simply restart the level minus the experience, gold, and possessions you picked up between begining the level and being killed. You play from an overhead view (like Diablo II) and can zoom in on your character (although I rarely do).

I've been playing as a Knight, and am having so much fun that once I finish the game, I think I'll restart as a Berserker or alternate character class. I don't know if the story changes any dependant on character class but I believe your possessions change.

I also recommend playing with headphones on because the sound is quite decent and the PSP's internal speakers don't do it justice. Specifically, the sound of the "thwaps" as you run your blade through some nasties adds to the enjoyment and there's some good L/R panning depending on where characters are approaching from.

Untold Legends doesn't have the most stellar story, but the missions still satisfy and I'm committed to seeing it all the way through.

As a PSP title this game really shines due to the PSP's portability. I find I carry it with me, and if I'm waiting for something or someone, I'll flick it on and play a bit. Untold Legends let's you save wherever you are in the game, and because the PSP will power down into standby mode, the game goes "instant on" right where you last were once you turn it on again.

My one wish would have been to see some nice cut-scenes when you complete certain missions (Final Fantasy Style) but I guess there's only so much you can stick on those little UMD disks. I haven't tried Multiplayer Mode so I'm afraid I can't comment on playing as a team. My other beef is that sometimes when I restart the level, the Map orientation changes, and I'm left wondering which way is up. A compass that you could toggle on/off would be helpful in getting reoriented.

Very happy with the game. My recommendation is buy it!

Kevin