Does this card game have an ace up its sleeve?
The Eye Of Judgement: Legends features a brand new single-player story created exclusively for the PSP version, which challenges you to defeat rival characters while travelling around the magical Eye Of Judgement world. Battles take place using digital on-screen cards, and as the adventure progresses, players can acquire new abilities by building their digital card collection.
I missed out on the PS3 version of The Eye of Judgment, so Legends on PSP is my first game into the series. It doesn’t come with fancy cards or cameras; instead it’s all very basic. It tries to add a story that is meant to be motivating to carry on, but it’s all a little too cheesy for my liking. Eye of Judgment Legends fits the criteria for any other card-battle game, but is it enough?
The object is to place more cards on the board before the AI does. You can place cards (or spells and monsters as they are) on squares and rotate them to face the way you want, which is important for attacking/defending against the enemy’s moves. There is a good level of strategy to be found and you can only use certain cards when you build up enough power, which is earned over time. There’s also an advantage for placing cards on elements that they match to, so if you have a water-based monster and place it on a water square, it will get a health bonus. The game has a negative-effect if you put a card on an element that it doesn’t agree with like a fire monster on a water square.
If there’s a problem to be had with Legends, it’s that it all becomes familiar way too quickly. If you have ever played a card-battle game before, then this will be second nature to you already. It’s more simplistic and accessible, but also repetitive by nature. The ultimate goal is to obtain sufficient cards and special powers to confront and defeat Scion, Biolith Lord in a final showdown and after that; there isn’t a whole lot to do.
Fans of the PS3 version will be happy to learn that every card from that version is implemented digitally along with 30 new ones via PlayStation Store, while you can trade cards via Ad-Hoc Mode and Infrastructure Mode duels. So there is some new content for fans, but the main appeal of the first game is gone due to the lack of real cards and no camera support for the PSP. Not that I was expecting any, but that was what made the original stand out. This PSP version doesn’t have the same impact as a result.
The Verdict
The Eye of Judgment: Legends feels more like a standard battle-card game instead of a sequel/spin-off of The Eye of Judgment series. It becomes repetitive quickly and while there’s a good level of strategy to be found, it’s not enough to impress newcomers or fans alike.
