LogFAQs > #885483855

Origins has a level of progression to it, and it's cool how the difficulty ramps the fuck up near the end, but without some of the powers right away the game feels pretty stiff. There's a weird heaviness to the characters, you jump high without much distance which can leave your glide without a great deal of momentum to get started. The treasure levels are good fun, and real tests of your skill, but they can be fucking ridiculous with the lengths and the lack of checkpoints.

I'd also argue that the boss-fights aren't too hot. The sea serpent boss is jank personified, the dinosaur chef level is obnoxiously red and a bit repetitive and I wasn't hot on the plant boss. The Wizard chase was cool as shit, challenging as it was - but I'd argue that it was the best confrontation in the game.

Legends has a smooth, buttery flow to it from the first level - Rayman and co have a fucking delicious sense of weight to them, and it feels so good to throw them around at high speeds. There are a lot more Lums, as there are a lot more main collectables in lieu of the Electoons, but there's enough hidden stuff in each level to miss out on a gold trophy or two. Even then, it feels like you did pretty good even if you do miss out on the top spot - as long as you get most of the Teensies and the scratch ticket, completing a level feels good.

The addition of the princesses fills out the roster nicely. Rayman Origins' cast of four - Rayman, Globox and two Teensies - felt a bit rough? It had the same problem that New Super Mario Bros. had - two series mainstays, and two unremarkable mooks. One Toad? Awesome. It's Toad.You're unique. Two Toads? Feels a bit rushed, and why would you want to be one of two identical lackeys instead of Mario or Luigi? IMO, Teensies feel weird to play as, so having a handful of Rayman and Globox skins and having the rest of the characters as Teensies rubbed me the wrong way. But with the addition of Barbara and her palette swaps, there are four unique characters - and the princesses have very weighty animations that makes it satisfying to play as them. There's more character diversity, and more skins.

There are more levels, more collectables, basically the entirety of Origins' levels updated to play like Legends and new gimmicks like musical levels and platform manipulation. Combined with the new physics, the entire game comes across as a more finely tuned version of the first game, with at least double the levels and a lot more side content than the first game. It's the same style of gameplay, but everything has been tweaked a little and there's much more content.

Rayman Legends knocks Origins out of the park, and I think that's the mark of a great sequel - build upon the groundwork left by the first game and fucking crush it in every category you can. Ridge Racers 2 was a mission pack sequel to the first game, with a handful of new cars and tracks - but because it was essentially the same great game as the first one but with more content, it was just as good if not better than the first game. The gap between Jak and Daxter and Jak II is why I'm not so hot on Jak II, the gameplay felt a lot more restrictive and janky as opposed to how free-flowing and open JnD felt - and I like Jak 3 over Jak II because it built upon Jak II's features and improved them (better Hoverboard, better guns, better vehicle physics). Rayman Legends is one of those sequels that, at face level, falls in line with the first game and doesn't do much else to distinguish itself - but it feels better to play despite following the same conventions of its predecessor, it has a shit-ton more levels, collectibles and things to do in general, the art-style is gorgeous and the gimmicks and innovations of the game feel as fresh and bouncy as the gameplay itself.

I haven't been very active in this generation, I've been involved as far as Gen 7 ports of Gen 8 games have been involved. But that's why I ask - is Rayman Legends the best sequel of this decade?
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There was no money, it was money that you wanted. I went downtown, sold off most of what I owned.
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