Rayman Legends

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Rayman Legends

Make Your Life Legendary!
Protagonist(s): Rayman
Genre(s): Platform
Platform(s): Microsoft Windows
PlayStation 3
Wii U
Xbox 360
PlayStation Vita
PlayStation 4
Xbox One
Nintendo Switch
Stadia
Release Date: Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Wii U, Xbox 360
AU: August 29, 2013
EU: August 30, 2013
NA: September 3, 2013
JP: October 17, 2013

PlayStation Vita
NA: September 3, 2013
AU: September 12, 2013
EU: September 13, 2013

PlayStation 4, Xbox One
NA: February 18, 2014
EU: February 21, 2014

Nintendo Switch
WW: September 12, 2017
JP: February 22, 2018

Stadia
WW: November 23, 2021
Engine: UbiArt Framework
Developer(s): Ubisoft Montpellier
Publisher(s): WW: Ubisoft
JP: Nintendo (Wii U)
Country: France
Series: Rayman
Predecessor: Rayman Origins


Rayman Legends is a 2013 platform video game developed by Ubisoft Montpellier and published by Ubisoft. It is the fifth main title in the Rayman series and the direct sequel to the 2011 game Rayman Origins. The game was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Wii U, Xbox 360, PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and Stadia.

Plot

Rayman and his friends fell into a hundred-year long nap. During that time, the nightmares took control of the Glade of Dreams and imprisoned the Teensies, while the Magician splitted into 5 beings known as the Dark Teensies. Murphy awakens the legendary heroes who, along with their new ally Barbara the barbarian, must rescue the Teensies and defeat the Dark Teensies.

Why It's Legendary

  1. This game is a massive improvement over Rayman Origins (on itself a great game), with extremely updated graphics, more levels, purple lums that give you double lums and improved controls, which still has the same charm and a perfect return.
  2. The controls are improved in almost every way while remaining identical. Momentum is no longer halted when attacking in the air, momentum and distance from small attacks are increased, you can hit while walking without stopping, and you no longer plummet after attacking more than once. You can crush on the spot without jumping first, the super punch winds up MUCH faster, and the turnaround speed is quicker. The swimming controls remain identical, but you can now attack without a speed boost if you want, making it less difficult to avoid hazards. Finally, enemies no longer bubbilise, meaning the pace is faster and you can't lose lums unfairly. Even the mosquito controls are more responsive in the origins levels.
  3. The graphics and art-style are still absolutely beautiful, on par with Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Kirby: Triple Deluxe, Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time, or even Hollow Knight. The color palette is very vivid and quite appealing to look at. Also, the character designs were improved, as you see them you will notice that they look extremely stylish and polished. You would even want to look at them for so long by just playing the game for a long hours, or even watching videos and stopping them on YouTube just to look at them, to the point that this game is often considered one of the best-looking games for consoles.
  4. Incredible and fun gameplay, Each world includes unique gimmicks to make them different from the rest. For example, two levels in Fiesta de los Muertos have the players literally become ducks (which make the characters look very hilarious) through the duration of the level, which would make you want to invite your friends to your house to see how you play this game.
  5. The amount of levels is insanely good, unlike other modern platform games like Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time. That game had 100 levels, while Rayman Legends has 28 levels, 28 invasions mode, 2 levels to have Barbara costumes in 6 worlds (that in total there are 10 levels to have Barbara skins), 6 music levels (including in the 8-bit version that in total are 12 music levels), which in total is 122 levels if you count the 72 platform levels, 40 levels of Rayman Origins and 10 bosses. All this means that you will complete the game in less than 15 hours.
  6. Great and fantastic soundtrack composed by Christophe Héral. It would make you want to try to get it to your head or play the levels longer to listen to the music, or even go to YouTube and download the music on your computer, phone or tablet.
  7. 700 Teensies (826 Teensies in the Nintendo Switch version) to rescue, the latter of this could give you a character.
  8. At the end of each level, if the player finds enough Lums they obtain Lucky Tickets, which give the player more lums, teensies, creatures, and unlock Rayman Origins levels.
  9. All the power ups from the previous game are unlocked from the start.
  10. Just like with the previous game, the game has unlimited lives and frequent checkpoints to balance its difficulty.
  11. The introduction of Barbara effectively gives 4 different playable characters (not counting alternate skins), making it easier for players to tell their characters from the rest in co-op mode.
  12. The level designs are unbelievably fantastic, very stylized, but also unimaginably beautiful; that have excellent use, and at worst it looks like it was designed by 5 college students skilled in designing in 5 weeks, there are a lot of details that you can see in the game, which are both here for the standards of this genre. The best is Fiesta de los Muertos, which is so creatively impressively-designed.
  13. Murphy can interact with switches and obstacles to assist the player in many levels. In the Wii U, PS Vita, and Nintendo Switch versions an additional player can take control of Murphy with the Gamepad allowing a total of 5 players at once. The other versions control Murphy with a specified button which makes the Murphy mechanic quick-reflex based.
  14. Like Grand Theft Auto IV, There is a famous glitch called "Murphy Reset Glitch"[1], and not only that, it also works for the daily and weekly challenges in "The Endless Pit: As Far As You Can!" and you can easily win a diamond cup, which glitch is really useful for some people and players.
    • Better yet, the glitch has never been patched, which is worth it and also using this glitch in challenges is not banned.
  15. Lots of secrets within the levels, including two puzzle minigames in every level which reward the player with teensies when completed.
  16. Surprisingly good and awesome 2.5D boss battles.
  17. Invasion stages have you complete alternate versions of regular levels with enemies from other worlds within 40 seconds, what it does is to rescue tiny ones before they fly so as not to be late.
    • Also, many players beat quite challenging world records, just like Challenges.
  18. The addition of Rhythm based levels, which are unlocked by defeating the main bosses. Rhythm Levels also have harder version where special effects affect your view so you must guide yourself with the music's tempo to navigate the level.
    • Observant players will also notice that some of the music used in the rhythm stages are loosely (some more obviously) based off of well known real life songs, including "Black Betty", "Antisocial", and a mariachi rendition of "Eye of the Tiger" (That partially music is a movie from the 80s called Rocky III) of all songs.
  19. The Kung Foot minigame offers a fun multiplayer game.
    • Also, in the Nintendo Switch version, you can play a new Kung-Foot and CPU to practice, which makes it very enjoyable to play.
  20. Great replay value: You can play many times you want and that you will never be bored for many years, the fun and entertaining experience and the great content that this game has and even better, for the first time, it has an online challenge mode (see # 22).
  21. Large amount of unlockable character skins.
    • Or also Champion Ray that you can unlock if you play every day and get a ton of diamond cups and most importantly you can be VIP!.
  22. Weekly and Daily online challenges, which adds more replay value.
    • Speaking of which, Daily and Weekly Challenges are a perfect addiction to winning too many cups the next day, and sometimes players will challenge you to a challenge for a record, and to this day, players continue to play these fun and addictive challenges.
    • Like Dragon's Dogma, Resident Evil: Revelations 1 & 2, and Apex Legends, an online subscription service is not required to play the challenges online.
  23. On the Nintendo Switch version, the WiiU style levels where you control Murphy are made into alternate versions on a new world, "Murphy's Touch", allowing those levels to also be played regularly.
    • Also exclusive to the Nintendo Switch version, all the characters that were once exclusive to each platform like the Assassin's Creed and Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell skins now all come together on the Switch. Making it the only version to include every single character skin ever in the game.
  24. The character designs in the game are very unique and eye-candy and are varied in color scheme. Examples include Raymesis (being the most popular skin), Selena, Raybox, and Golden Teensy. These designs help make the game stand out from other Platform games and give the game a different feel.
  25. The PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions have no loading times, for example, if you enter any level or invasion or to enter to put a skin, it will not load immediately.
  26. 40 levels from Origins are included for nothing on top of the base game, which is 2/3 of the original game, fully updated with the new artstyle, exclusive features, and teensies. Most of the main levels are there, including all bosses and mosquito levels, and half the tricky treasure stages.

Bad Qualities

  1. The plot is dull, unappealing, and close-to-nonexistent. What it's basically about is that 5 Dark Teensies invade the Glade of Dreams. Although it may be somewhat flashy, there are many flaws, for example:
    • Repetitive pacing, since in the levels there is the Dark Teensie trying to capture the female Teensie, what makes her a "damsel-in-distress" and also another example is when the Dark Teensie is putting gasoline on the wings and then calling the monsters, however, its absolutely tiring, since it repeats the same time and again, since there are 12 times, more with 6 times capturing female Teensie and 6 times calling the monsters.
    • Compared to Origins there is a lack of cohesion and progressiveness. No abilities are unlocked this time, and the levels and worlds are ALL completely isolated with no linking segments like the mosquito or ending areas in origins. There are also no special rare items like the skull teeth that are hard to get but unlock a special level. This further enhances the lack of a plot.
    • Very disappointing ending: unlike other bosses when you defeat them, they show you a funny cinematic, since after defeating the final boss, it will not show you a cinematic after defeating him and also when you hit the last Dark Teensie everyone is stuck in space. The holes in the moon, while hilarious, this makes it unsatisfying and boring to watch.
  2. Sometimes, the effects used during the 8-bit Rhythm Levels can get eye-straining, especially Orchestral Chaos 8-bit Edition.
  3. The PlayStation Vita version is the record holder for the slowest loading times.
  4. The difficulty is more fun focused than origins, and as such tends to be too easy in places. Unlike origins the final reward is not an ultimate difficult level, but simply more music levels.
  5. additionally, all of the rayman origins levels that are included were made significantly easier, by removing most hazards and enemies, and adding platforms. This may upset those who desire a challenge.
  6. Nitpick: some Origins levels aren't 100% accurate, in that the level best original score has a secret area that's swapped out for a later one for no reason, and the levels freaking flipper and swimming with the stars are played in reverse order to their Origins appearances. Finally, nearly all level select areas use music taken directly from Origins, but the desert of dijiridoos one uses a brand new song exclusive to that area, which is strange that they gave it special treatment.
  7. Some of the level choices from rayman origins aren't the best options, while some of the better levels are left out. Also the music played when saving a cage in Origins is strangely removed from legends, instead being limited to the mosquito levels only.
  8. Nowadays, there may be some daily and extreme challenges are very frustrating and difficult, Although the "As far as you can!" they are not as difficult as the others.
    • Like Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, Diamond Cups are very hard, inconsistent and sometimes insufferable to obtain due to his reward of 50 points for awesomeness, and this makes obtaining Diamond Cups more difficult, as records increase further.
    • Grab them Quickly!, while not a terrible challenge, is considered really inferior and boring (except for The Dojo).
  9. Although the difficulty is balanced and a funny AI, The AI is extremely lazy, very delayed, mediocre, and it even feels unfinished. For example, in almost all levels, there are some enemies that are just standing and nothing else, and if you try to chase you, it will not move either, it will just hit you without moving, which becomes easier than balanced. Fortunately, the bosses have decent AI.
    • Also, the levels where you control Murphy can get frustrating because the AI controlling your character tends to be uncooperative and sometimes extremely unresponsive. This makes the Wii U/PS Vita/Switch (Handheld mode only) Murphy levels rather unfun compared to other editions. The Switch port of those levels can't be played in TV mode.
  10. The "Definitive Edition" was only released on the Switch, locking other platforms out of its extra content.
    • Also, despite said version being 'Definitive', it has issues. It does not have instant load times like the PS4/XBO/PC ports of the game, camera mode (despite the Switch and Xbox One allow to share the capture), and removed the ability to warp to the great hall for no reason at all, making it more annoying to retrace your steps.
  11. The amount of grinding required to get the final characters and trophies is ridiculous and not fun.
  12. The music, while really good, is somewhat lacking compared to Origins.

Reception

Ratings

Aggregate score Score
Metacritic 87/100 (PSVITA)[2]
91/100 (PS3)[3]
90/100 (PS4)[4]
90/100 (X360)[5]
91/100 (XO)[6]
89/100 (PC)[7]
84/100 (NS)[8]
92/100 (WU)[9]
OpenCritic 90/100 [10]
Publication Score
God is a Geek: 9/10
Eurogamer: 10/10
PlayStation LifeStyle: 8/10
Nintendo Life: 9/10
Edge Magazine: 9/10

Critical reception

Rayman Legends was met with an overwhelmingly positive reception from critics and users alike. The game has been widely praised for its level design, graphics, controls, gameplay, soundtrack, and character design were highly praised.

On OpenCritic, the game received a rating of "Mighty" an average score of 90/100 and a 97% critics recommend, based on 62 reviews.[10]

This game along with prequel are frequently praised as being "some of the best 2D platformers ever made that aren't Mario or Sonic" and were very well received by the fans for having Rayman return to its platforming roots.

Trivia

  • The game was originally going to be a Wii U exclusive title but due to the console's poor sales, Ubisoft decided to delay the game and release the game with the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions simultaneously. It did infuriate some fans because the Wii U version was already finished.
  • This game was announced at Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) 2012 for Wii U and was planned for release during the console's launch window. However, the game was delayed to February 2013 in order to finish the game on time, and due to the financial failure of ZombiU, the release was delayed again by six months and the game was made multi-platform.
  • Mysteriously, they were planning an other world called "Chateau Dracula", which is Dracula's castle, but. Michel Ancel, the responsible from the creator of Rayman, revealed the design he was in, but it was eventually scrapped due to time constraints.

Game Tips

  1. If you want to learn to do "Ybyups", this guide will explain it to you.
  2. If you want to have a diamond cup you have to see that it is the distance of Endless Pit, but it has to be ONLY daily and weekly challenge, you just have to do this glitch.
  3. The rewards of the cups will give you almost during the day as the normal and daily challenge at 5:15 a.m. and in the extreme challenge and extreme daily like 5:30 a.m.

Videos

Longplay

Reviews

Soundtrack

References

Comments

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