The Legend of Korra

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The Legend of Korra (video game)
This game isn't going save the world any time soon, either....
Protagonist(s): Korra
Genre(s): Action
Beat 'em up
Rating(s): ESRB: T
PEGI: 12
ACB: PG
Platform(s): Microsoft Windows
PlayStation 3
PlayStation 4
Xbox 360
Xbox One
Release Date: Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4
October 21, 2014
Xbox 360, Xbox One
October 22, 2014
Discontinuation: December 21, 2017
Engine: Platinum Engine
Developer(s): PlatinumGames
Publisher(s): Activision
Country: Japan
Series: Avatar: The Last Airbender

The Legend of Korra is an action/hack-n-slash developed by PlatinumGames and published by Activision in October 2014.

Plot

The game takes place in the two weeks between the second and third seasons of the series, which aired in 2013 and 2014 respectively. Korra is opposed by a "chi-blocker" who, at the start of the game, strips Korra of her bending abilities, which she has to regain over the course of the game. The game's main villain, Hundun, is named after a chaotic entity in Chinese mythology. An ancient, evil being previously trapped in the spirit world, he was released into the physical world by Korra's opening of the spirit portals at the end of the second season. The game sees him sow chaos in the world and pursue his grudge against the Avatar

Development

The Legend of Korra, the animated drama TV series on which the game is based, aired on Nickelodeon and online from 2012 to 2014 as a sequel to the series Avatar: The Last Airbender. It received critical acclaim, and was commissioned to run for four seasons and a total of 52 episodes.

The game based on the series was announced in June 2014. It was developed by PlatinumGames, known for the Bayonetta series of action games among others, and published by Activision. The game is scripted by Tim Hedrick, a writer of the TV series, who collaborated with series creators Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino on the plot and main villain. The cutscenes are animated by Titmouse, Inc., and the cover art (chosen by public vote) is by series character designer Christie Tseng.[10] The game made use of the voice actors and the music of the TV series.

Robert Conkey of Activision explained that they chose Platinum on account of their record of developing action games, which he described as having a "very smooth, very flashy, and very cool" style. Platinum producer Atsushi Kurooka said that Platinum chose to adapt The Legend of Korra, a series unknown in Japan, after watching it with the aid of translated scripts, and being impressed by the series's blend of "interesting action, a really good story, comedy, and romance". According to Kurooka, the studio aimed to make the game emulate the look and feel of the television series as closely as possible, including its visual and sound direction: Kurooka said that screenshots of the game were indistinguishable from those of the series.

Bad Qualities

  1. For a game based on a TV show, the title of this game is forgettable as it suffers from the same problem as movie tie-in games that share the same name with the movie. This was most likely done for the 3DS version, which was called A New Era Begins and had completely different gameplay to this one.
  2. The game was supposed to be a sidestory set between seasons 2 and 3 of the show (Book 2: Spirits and Book 3: Change), but the story oftentimes feels very disjointed at times. While its trying to be more than the typical episode tie-in game (where most TV show/cartoon-based games incorporate a plot that follows the episode) via incorporating a new sidestory, it often feels like a filler story that would be considered non-canon to the original show. This is a common trait among most cartoon-based games that have plots that are instead non-canon sidestories, but aside from that; many of the plot's fundamental issues include;
    • The continuity jumps all over the place where in Chapter 6, the animated cutscene shows Hundun calling everyone including the Triads and Equalists, but in Chapter 7, the chapter opens up with just Hundun and Korra.
    • Korra is basically the only character who has any prominence in the game; any other characters from the show either show up for a few seconds and then never appear again, or are demoted to small roles. Mako and Bolin appear in the pro-bending match in the beginning, but are then put on a bus afterward as they are never to be seen again.
    • The main supposed villain, Hundun gets zero character development at all and has no real motivation. Allegedly he had some backstory in the original concept but it was cut. It should be noted that he doesn't appear in the show either.
    • The only reason for Korra heading to Air Temple Island was just to get waterbending back via spirit water, as she returns to the city in the following chapter, and after that Jinora basically gives the rest of Korra's bending back by doing tasks for her. If Jinora can give Korra her bending back, then she should've just given her all of her bending from the start.
  3. Early game hell: The first two chapters without bending, Powerless and Battle Through Air Temple Island are much more frustrating than the later chapters where you have bending. This is because your attacks are very limited and don't have very much range especially against multiple Equalist units at a time that can land bursts of punches at you and can throw cuffs at you that you have to wrestle the L-stick to get off (similar to Grand Chase's petrification/freeze for example). However, if you learn how to use the counter-attack which is incredibly easy to pull off and deals a ton of damage, you'll find out that spamming this move will easily defeat all of the enemies. While this mechanic may be based on Raiden's parry system from Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, the timing on this move is so easy to pull off that it renders most if not all of Korra's attacks basically useless until you get your first bending back in Chapter 3. This is made worse by the fact that the Equalists can block your attacks for an unlimited period of time.
    • Additionally, healthbar upgrades are tied to upgrading the bending which isn't unlocked until Chapter 3, which means if you don't know how to utilize the counterattack ability, you'll die very quickly as you're often pitted against 3 to 5 Equalist units per battle with some of them even ranged.
    • There's also an execution attack via the Circle button similar to what God of War and many inspired games including The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai and the later Granblue Fantasy Relink's Link Attack mechanic, but you rarely get to do it as it requires the target to be within a certain threshold of their healthbar and be stunned, because by the time you get max bending and easily defeat the enemies in seconds, the window of opportunity of doing this attack becomes very rare and only when the game calls for it.
  4. Awkward camera: The camera will at times randomly zoom in and out just to spawn more enemies during certain battles. Additionally, there are times where the game alternates to a side-scroller platformer jumping which clashes with the 3D action. Because of the wonky camera, the lock-on system which isn't even explained at all, is so unreliable to the point to where it could be easily forgotten by most players especially on enemies that are on higher ground in Chapters 3 and 4, especially on the parts where you have to use Waterbending against ranged Equalist units from a distance.
  5. Weak enemy variety, which boils down to three Equalist units (green, blue, and red), two Triads battles where the latter is a palette swap of the previous with the most notable difference is a change in dialogue, and a few spirit monsters.
  6. The game can be beaten in just 3 hours, as there are 8 chapters, with the first taking up to five minutes to finish, and the rest of the chapters taking 15 to 20 minutes (except for Chapter 5 as it is the longest), and the final boss taking around 10-12 minutes to finish all without deaths.
  7. The five main weapons, including the part where you fight without any bending, are very unbalanced.
    • Your standard hand-to-hand combat, which you begin on the first two stages, is incredibly weak compared to the enemies' fist combat and ranged whips, which explains the awkward difficulty curve of where this game is frustrating early on but gets way too easy later on.
    • Waterbending, while its a huge upgrade from your standard attacks, it's use on ranged enemies is made worse by the poor camera and lock-on system. Aside from extra damage, it gets around average benefits with the Full Charge Talisman, which is overpowered considering that chi drains over time and you must charge it up via holding down the Triangle button, but the benefits of the chi depend on the bending itself. The icicle attack that you can buy can deal mid-range damage, though.
    • Earthbending, while it does more damage than Waterbending, it works best on close enemies and those that can block your attacks, which most of the Chi Blockers can for example. It gets huge benefits with the Full Charge Talisman as it increases its range, where you can cast earth pillars and boulders that deal more damage.
    • Firebending is considered the worst out of the three bending, as aside from being used on the Mecha Tank Trio as that's your only method of attack, it barely does anything to stand out from the other three bending. Although Firebending is intended to be the melee-focused bending, the melee attacks aren't very effective especially against enemies that can block. It's made even worse when even the Full Charge talisman barely improves this bending as it gets no improvement in range & barely any damage increase. That is unless you use the double damage talisman which halves your HP where it can actually deal damage.
    • Airbending is incredibly overpowered, especially if you equip the Full Charge Talisman which raises your Chi Gauge to maximum, where you can spam tornados with every basic attack that blow up enemies with ease and the breakdance attack that annihilates everything around you. There's even an air ball mount that you can ride, but while riding the airball, Korra remains static, as if she's frozen in place.
  8. There's not much to toggle/change on the options menu, and with no way to rebind controls in the PC version and only two quality settings. On top of that, there's no captions/subtitles available.
  9. The combat in this game is very unbalanced, including the accessories and bending.
    • Waterbending is a big step up from the bare fists that hardly deal any damage, as you eventually gain ranged attacks and improved damage output.
    • Earthbending is a solid option for dealing heavy damage including Equalist units that easily block your attacks.
    • Firebending is the weakest out of the four bending due to its weak damage and poor range. It is however, your only method of attack during the Mecha Tank Trio boss fight aside from Naga's paw swipes, and even that runs on a cooldown as well.
    • Airbending is hilariously the most broken out out of the four bending, as it allows you to conjure tornados that destroy everything around you quickly due to how many hits they can do. This is where the infinite chi accessory breaks the game from here and there. At this point, on Chapters 6 and 7, you'll eventually realize that the game at the point becomes too easy because how broken Airbending is and how much health you have now that you have all four bending.
    • There's a Shadow Fist accessory that allows your attacks to deal more damage via a shadow without drawback, but to get it, along with two costumes, requires a secret code that requires you to read it up on the Internet to find out.
  10. Unlike other Platinum games or games similar to this genre, the game emphasizes on mobbing instead of taking on a few enemies at once. The problem with that type of combat is that when enemies outnumber you, it gives you very little room to fight and plan out your abilities, especially when they can clobber you around most of the time, especially during Chapter 2 when you have no bending and where you must fight against chi blockers in cramped spaces.
  11. Carelessly designed arenas and levels, alongside other factors like sadistic enemy placement. There's one point where you have to fight against Chi Blockers who are far away, which doesn't help with the unreliable camera. As a tease, a platform in Chapter 5 was placed way down a pitfall to imply an easter egg.
  12. The PC port is notably mediocre at best, with no remappable controls, and barely any way to easily toggle graphics. 
  13. The Naga running sections on Chapters 2, 4, and 5 are the game's pinnacle of bad game design where it can be best described as being somewhat similar to Turbo Tunnel & Clinger Winger from Battletoads. First off, instead of a healthbar, you have hits. You have to dodge obstacles, which most of the time, they are either 1 hit, or in some occasions, instant death. To top it off, the reason why these parts can cause many players' hearts to accelerate is because you're constantly going faster and have to turn 90 degrees, which also leads to cheap deaths when the instant-death obstacles are placed right after the turns, making it impossible to react. When you beat a chapter, you can replay the Naga running sections, but there is no purpose to doing that.
    • The Mecha Tank Trio in Chapter 5 (which is right after a wave of sadistically placed obstacles and slides) is extremely frustrating, as you have to manage your health, which is represented by hits (1 hit on Extreme) against three mecha tanks which can alternate between attacks that can take one hit from you, or kill you instantly. Your only method of attack is fireballs which recharge over time, and you have to constantly manage and rely on luck hoping to dodge attacks that don't kill you in one hit. And to rub salt in the wound, the next chapter afterward is much easier now that you have all four bending and that the spirit monsters are less of a threat than the chi blockers.
  14. There are only three different types of boss fights in total, four if you count the Mecha Tanks Trio in one of the polar dog sections, and all them (except for the final boss) are repeated throughout the rest of the game.
  15. Faulty targeting system. You have to press the left analog stick to lock onto an enemy and to unlock your attacks' sight off the enemy, and the right analog stick to cycle through targeted enemies. While some action games do in fact use the right analog stick to lock-on, strafe, and tilt it to switch targets, this mechanic is very impractical in situations such as the scene in Chapter 4 where you have to waterbend Equalist units from a distance in a weird side-scrolling fashion, and on top of that, the game practically explains nothing on how to utilize this mechanic to where most players playing through the game would forget it even existed to begin with. The only reason the lock-on mechanic becomes useful is the pro-bending mode where you to knock all three players at once for your team to advance forward and alternate which of the three to attack at times.
  16. There is even a hidden ability where you hold down the Circle button to taunt enemies. Not only is it completely pointless as it barely does anything aside from provoking the enemies, it is never explained in any part of the game except on the continue screen. Note however this system was used in Bayonetta as a way to deal more damage at the cost of enemies dealing more damage.
  17. The accessories you can buy, which shares the slots for consumable items, are either generic, overpowered, or useless;
    • The two talisman that doubles your XP/SP but halves your HP sounds like it was made just to shorten the grind. Plus, after you max out all of the bending and buy out everything, these two become useless.
    • Charge Armor is impossible to use without the Full Charge, as the knockback immunity requires you to have a full chi gauge which is impossible as it drains over time.
    • Charge Boost, which is unlocked by beating the chapters on Normal difficulty, is made obsolete by the broken Full Charge Talisman which is available via grinding before you unlock the Charge Boost Talisman.
    • Counter Dodge is literally just for bragging rights for beating Pro-Bending on Ace difficulty, as it makes you jump behind your enemy, but it's extremely unreliable.
  18. Collectibles serve no purpose in the game whatsoever and only exist because of achievements.
  19. In a similar manner to R.I.P.D. The Game, the game was digital only, and was delisted from all digital storefronts (possibly due to the license expiring), meaning there is nearly no way to actually play the game unless you bought it before, or pirate the game.

Good Qualities

  1. If excluding the Naga running sequences and its Mecha Tank Trio battle, this game can be pretty solid to play at times. There are no glitches or bugs that can ruin the game whatsoever.
  2. This game actually makes the most of out of four bending styles in comparison to all of the Avatar: The Last Airbender games. Aang's airball makes an appearance as a special move you can activate by pressing dodge twice.
  3. Korra's finisher against Hundun, including the flurry of fists and ground crash is awesome to watch.
  4. The "Thanks for playing!" from the cast in the ending is a nice touch.
  5. Very good graphics that faithfully capture the style of the show.
  6. The secret unlockable outfits are a nice touch.
  7. While repetitive, the bosses (with the exception of the Mecha Tank Trio) are still fun.
  8. The original voice actors reprise their roles.

Reception

The game received mixed to negative reviews at release, criticized for repetitive gameplay, bland story, dull combat, and poor control for PC port.

Following the negative reception of Avatar: The Last Airbender: Quest for Balance, this game appears to have gotten more attention and more favorable reception as it was considered superior to the other Avatar games.

Trivia

  • One of the achievements' names is "My Cabbages!!", a reference to the Cabbage Man meme referenced in Avatar: The Last Airbender: Quest for Balance.
  • During this game's announcement, fans voted for the cover art of the game on Facebook. Said cover art would end up being used in many newsfeeds and articles talking about The Legend of Korra and Avatar: The Last Airbender.
  • The animated cutscenes, contrary to popular belief, aren't actually by Nickelodeon Animation Studio/Studio Mir like with the original show, but were animated by Titmouse, who had previously animated the opening for Avatar: The Last Airbender.

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