Rayman Legends is a game that we get when Ubisoft decides to take their heads out of the abyss and make something that has no microtransactions and is really fun to play. Sadly, this game is almost a decade old, and those days are pretty much over. This is the first Rayman game that I have actually played outside of the remake for the 3DS. I bought this game at least five years ago and decided to blow off that virtual dust to see what it had in store. I have to say, it’s probably one of the best platformers that I have ever played, getting so close to having zero flaws with the exception of one that is worth mentioning, but certainly not game-breaking.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Fun 2D side-scrolling platforming action
- Lots of collectibles to find
- Multiple characters to play as
- Really beautiful art style
Cons
- Movement with Murfy can cause you to fall off platforms
Story
The story takes place after the events of Rayman Origins. Rayman and his friends have been asleep for 100 years. The nightmares have multiplied during that time, and The Magician has also turned himself into five Dark Teensies. The Glade of Dreams is in danger and the Teensies with their royalty are captured. Murfy is sent to awaken the heroes and bring them on a new adventure to save the day and bring peace to the land again.
The story for Rayman Legends is simple, nothing too complex and that is completely fine. I think having a simple story is good sometimes and Rayman Legends does a fine job doing just that. This is assuming that the previous Rayman series has not included deep lore, as admittedly, I would not know with this entry being my first experience with the franchise.
Gameplay
Rayman Legends is a 2D side-scrolling platformer where your main objective is to find collectibles and get to the end of the level. You will be seeing these little blue creatures called Teensies that you collect, and you need to collect to progress to the other levels in the game. There are a total of 700 Teensies for you to collect in the game and there are a lot of levels for you to play that have them in them.
You can also find and collect Lums which unlock more characters to play as. These characters mostly play the same but do have slight differences, like Globox having a higher attack range. That is mostly it, as I mainly played Rayman and the other characters did not really have anything that I noticed but this is due to my inexperience with the series.
You will be graded on three things in the level: The number of Teensies you collect which will vary from level to level, the Lums you collect, and if you get the scratch ticket for that level. To get the scratch tickets, you need to also collect a certain amount of Lums.
Rayman Legends mixes the blend of simple platforming with some challenging segments that are perfect for anyone who enjoys these types of games. I myself really enjoyed the challenge that I was given and it did test my skills on a few occasions.
There will be some levels where you will be playing in with a character called Murfy, he will help move platforms and access areas that your character normally can’t get to. When moving platforms you will have to time it right or you may mess up so be careful.
One issue I should mention is that anytime you move your character while Murfy is moving certain platforms, you may fall to your death. Not every platform does this but it’s still annoying that it happens. The good thing is that you have unlimited lives so if you mess up you don’t have anything to worry about.
Graphics and Performance
The art style for Rayman Legends is really beautiful and I loved how they were implemented in the levels. The game runs great, even with the Uplay launcher, I tested the game on an AMD Ryzen 5 1500X Quad-Core Processor 3.50, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3GB, with 16 GB of RAM.
Final Verdict
If you are a fan of platformers or a fan of the Rayman games then I highly recommend picking this title up. There are tons of levels and collectibles for you to play through and collect, especially for those who like doing collectathons. I recommend this game to pretty much anyone, Rayman fan or not, it’s a fine simplistic game that I am really glad to have played and wished I did sooner since the enjoyment factor exceeded my initial expectations.
If you want to see a look into how the game is played, then check out the video I made.
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