But what's in a name? Don't judge a book by its cover, right? Well in this case, you just might be wrong. Especially if you set yourself up for failure by establishing a scale where the top end includes games like Final Fantasy 3 (or six for the internationally inclined), FFVII or Secret of Mana. Don't get me wrong; there isn't anything technically wrong with this here game. It simply suffers from two really fundamental flaws. The first is bad translation, or as we like to refer to it, engrish. The second is that the story reminds me of so many cheese ball, formula anime stories that are pumped out with abandon by companies trying to cash in on the latest DVD trend. In this case two wrongs definitely don't make a right.

They don't make it a total stinker either, though. There are some good qualities to this game to be recognized if you can manage to wade through the poor translation and lackluster story. As a turn-based RPG with attacks, direct damage spells, healing spells, and status effects, this game has it all. They even have the bar that fills up after so much damage dealt and when full, lets you unleash a wickedly devastating attack. There is everything you could possibly want from a turn based RPG engine, and then some.

One example is how range affects battles. There are no grids or hexes on the ground for you to mark out distance, but range comes into play anyway. At first the absence of the grids made me doubt if range was actually being considered, but after trying to use a fire spell and realizing there were no targets available, lights started to go on. Each character can move a set distance to attack or cast a spell. Certain spells are very devastating but you have to be close in to target your enemies. Others are area effect spells that are centered on you, and have to be cast while you are virtually surrounded to be effective.

It can be annoying too though. There have been many a time where I've entered a battle not realizing that one of my fighters is in need of a little TLC. Well in these frustrating circumstances, the guy needing the healing is out of range of the healer in their standard starting formation. It's not a horrible situation though. At most you lose your first turn while you maneuver into position to get the heal spell off.

Legend of Heroes includes a new pet system that when you think about it would be a pretty cool concept. Unfortunately the way they implemented it doesn't have a significant practical effect on the gameplay. You have a pet that follows you around the map, wagging its tail. You feed it pet food, as well as praise and if you're so inclined you can even scold it. You can't command them in battle or do anything truly useful with them. They do follow you around and if happy they'll give you items like antidotes or health potions. After a while though, you can't carry anymore and you end up just throwing them away. It actually removes the need to be concerned with purchasing consumables at the store. Which in my opinion is a detractor. Why check your inventory for Stimulants to rouse party members from unconsciousness or Reibe Leaves to cure status effects if you have a dog that's a walking item dispenser. In the rare instances where I actually needed an item or two, I had the maximum quantity allowed. Then soon after using them, here comes Fido again with another three. There's nothing like the panic in a Final Fantasy game when you realize that your party's very existence hinges on the availability of a single Phoenix Down that you forgot to purchase the last time you were in town.

The other thing I've noticed with regard to the pets is that every once in a while, they'll jump into a match at the beginning and perform some action. My pet is always happy, so I get a defense boost periodically before a match starts. It's a nicety, for sure, but I wouldn't want to bet on it and it doesn't drastically affect the outcome of the battle anyway. The whole pet concept to me seems a horrible gimmick. Maybe there is some wonderful thing that you can do later in the game, but after several hours of gameplay, several cities traveled and several new character introductions, the pet just keeps giving me items I can't carry in my inventory and don't really need in the first place.

Graphically, the game is a mixture of 2D character sprites and 3D environments. The combination I have to say looks good. The characters have that old school Final Fantasy feel, with a sprite for each direction and icons for what the characters are feeling. The environments are well crafted with decent polygonal detail and artistic textures and lighting. Come to think of it, the lighting is excellent. As clouds move overhead shadows are cast on the ground. Trees give shade that actually affects the brightness of your character's sprites. It's like they developed a great looking 3D engine for doing a 2.5D fixed perspective game and decided to throw down old school and go with the sprites for the characters. It might have been for practical reasons though since the expressions on teeny tiny polygonal characters might be hard to make out. Regardless, the game looks top notch on the PSP.

The sound track is quite pleasant as well. You can expect exactly the kind of calming classical composition you'd get from any classic RPG while you are walking around peaceful towns and then the hard hitting hype classical music you're used to when you enter combat. The dialog is all done in text boxes, so there's no voiceover to critique. Not that there should be any. I haven't experienced a "true" role-playing game yet that had full voiceovers.

The real fact of the matter with this game is that it does achieve its main focus. Which is to waste time. The formula of whacking monsters to make my numbers go up and make my characters the uberist is there. The new items or spells that I can't use until later in the game are there. Everything's there, except a truly novel story concept that really grips you and sinks its teeth in. Is that a horrible thing? No. Will it keep me from playing it on the road if I get bored with Hot Shots Golf? Probably not. I'll lumber through the story trying to find dude's sister and fighting against the darkness. Will this game leave a permanent impression on me. Let's just say I'll remember Final Fantasy on the Super Nintendo far longer than I'll remember this game. I guess we can't all be Square.