Rayman Legends Retold

[DocLoFer]

Honestly I'm probably getting the Deluxe Edition of Legends Retold to get the Origins EE as well in a bundle. I already have the og Origins on Steam, so I hope they don't delete that, but still would be nice to have a version of Origins with (I hope) trophies.

[Graystripe2000]

Grant Kirkhope is involved. https://bsky.app/profile/grantkirkhope. ... dsm4tws22p

[icesmile]

Oh my god, Betilla AI is real....

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can't believe it.. what do i even say. (it's a bit hard to see but she's there.)

[Steo]

This is disgusting...

[Droolie]

One thing I wonder while watching the unedited gameplay videos is why the voice acting by David Gasman and Billy West along with a script filled with forced humor is such a big selling point for fans now? Do people really need Rayman to say "Easy!" or "Cool!" every 10 seconds in gameplay, too? I remember people liking Rayman 3 less than Rayman 2 because it wasn't gibberish. I was one of those people, so it's very disappointing to me to see the series head back into that direction.

On a more positive note, the new music sounds good so far. I like them hiding secrets in the overworld, and it's very good to see a focus on making the levels feel more like actual environments.

[icesmile]

Ah fuck it, I'll probably buy it and have a good time.
What the hell.

NOW THATS WHAT IM TALKING ABOUT HELL YEAH DAWGGG

One thing I wonder while watching the unedited gameplay videos is why the voice acting by David Gasman and Billy West along with a script filled with forced humor is such a big selling point for fans now? Do people really need Rayman to say "Easy!" or "Cool!" every 10 seconds in gameplay, too? I remember people liking Rayman 3 less than Rayman 2 because it wasn't gibberish. I was one of those people, so it's very disappointing to me to see the series head back into that direction.

On a more positive note, the new music sounds good so far. I like them hiding secrets in the overworld, and it's very good to see a focus on making the levels feel more like actual environments.

Agreed, I absolutely adore new additions like the world map especially after how stellar origins map is. The disconnected paintings in legends made a lot of the levels and worlds feel less cohesive. Great addition!!

haven't heard any of the new music, do you guys have any links as to where i can listen to it?

(for context im a massive ubiart fan) yeah not sure how i feel about the constant catchphrases, or barbara's uncanny accent. really missing douglas rand right now, let's hope it isn't as bad as i think it is
afte

[RayGamer99]

Alright, it's about time I piped up about this. There's a solid amount of new stuff to unpack here, so let's not waste any more time!

First, let me go over my thoughts on the main cast.

• Rayman looks pretty true to form aside from the split eyeballs and barely-visible freckles on his face. The eyes will take some getting used to, but overall I think they did a great job with him! His voice sounds the same as David Gasman, the guy who most recently voiced him in the Rayman in the Phantom Show DLC, so I don't have much to say on that front.
• Globox looks more different than his limbless pal - probably because, to my knowledge, this is his first appearance in a Rayman game with 3D graphics since 2003 - but I think they did a solid job with him. The green eyes, visible teeth, and no-longer-purple tongue will take some getting used to, but I like how he looks. His new voice sounds pretty perfect too!
• The Grand Minimus and the rest of the Teensies look fine, but aside from their weirdly big, beady eyes, I don't have much to say about them.
• Barbara's made the jump to 3D in style! Her new look is pretty close to her original appearance, and I love how expressive she is in this remake. It sounds like she has a Scottish accent, which makes enough sense for her.
• Polokus looks and sounds pretty good here, but like the Teensies, I don't have much to say about him.
• I'm not a huge fan of Murf- sorry, MurPHy's design here, but I'm loving how he talks! Rayman 3 fans, rejoice - the snarky greenbottle is back!
• I have the same thoughts on Betilla as just about everyone else - she seems too realistic, looks like she came from a mobile game, yada yada - but at this point, it is what it is. Notably, it seems like she can turn into a bird now?

Now then, onto the game itself. It seems like the returning levels are exactly the same as before, but with a huge graphical facelift. Make of that what you will, but the way I see it, this is as good an excuse as any for me to replay my favorite 2D Rayman game (if not my favorite Rayman game period). Notably, the worlds seem to have new names too. Thanks to the gameplay clips we've seen, we know that Teensies in Trouble has become the Old Teensie Kingdom and Toad Story has become the Stinkbog. The map makes me think that Fiesta de los Muertos has become the "Mystic Mesa," 20,000 Lums Under the Sea is the "Iron Shell," and Olympus Maximus has become "Mount Elysium."

One of the biggest additions to the game are the dragon rides. They look pretty cool, but I'm not sure how to feel about the Teensy mechanic this time around. The way it works is that a bunch of Teensies will hop onto the dragon and each time you get hit, a Teensy falls off. This basically means that you can't take damage if you want to finish the level with all the Teensies in tow, something that will no doubt have me pulling my hair out at some point. Aside from that, though, they look like a fun evolution of the mosquito rides in previous games.
(On that note, I hope we'll get to ride mosquitoes like the dragons in this game...)

Additionally, I've seen that there will be new levels set in a "mysterious realm" (that is clearly the Land of the Livid Dead ) and four new music levels, so it's not just the old stuff. Then there's the fact that the enhanced edition of Rayman Origins comes bundled with every version of Retold, essentially making this two games for the price of the Definitive Edition of OG Legends!

On another note, it seems Grant Kirkhope is working with Christophe Héral for the game's soundtrack. I'm in favor of this decision since Kirkhope has lots of experience with orchestral soundtracks (he's worked on both of the Mario + Rabbids games previously, including the Rayman DLC!) and will no doubt bring that magic to the game's OST.

Finally, let me go over the different editions of the game:

• The base game comes with Retold and the enhanced edition of Origins for $40 USD. Pretty plain.
• The deluxe edition of the game is digital-exclusive, costs $50, and comes with everything in the base edition as well as a Rayman 1-themed costume for each character: Rayman in his classic form, Globox as a classic Hunter, an Electoon-themed Teensy, and Barbara as classic Betilla. It also comes with an in-game art gallery with concept arts. There will apparently be an upgrade pack that gets you the deluxe edition content if you don't already have it, so I'll take advantage of that whenever I get the game.
• The launch edition of the game (the version I got pre-ordered) is physical-exclusive, costs the same amount as the base game, and comes with everything in the base game along with a set of 3 lithographs (whatever that is), a slipcase, and a huge map of the Glade of Dreams. I love how many locations from previous games are present on there!
• Last but not least, pre-ordering the game gets you a costume for Rayman and Globox based on Rayman 3; Rayman in his Heavy Metal Fist outfit and Globox dressed as a Hoodmonger.

All-in-all, I'm loving what I'm seeing with Rayman Legends Retold. Say what you will about the game being Legends (and Origins) again, but I feel like they did enough with the remake to make it feel like a worthwhile purchase. I can't wait to get my hands on it on October 1st!

[Droolie]

I forgot to mention this but it's a huge misstep that they didn't remove or overhaul the Murfy mechanic. This was never particularly fun in the original game as it slowed down the gameplay, and a lot of people who do not like Legends named this as their primary issue for not liking it - including many who are now praising Retold for solving "every issue they had". The only reason this existed is because this was meant to be a Wii U exclusive at one point. Of course, changing this would have required changing some of the level design - but if they were changing the graphics completely anyway, surely there was never a better opportunity?

Additionally, I've seen that there will be new levels set in a "mysterious realm" (that is clearly the Land of the Livid Dead )

On the map shown a few posts back it seems all locations that appear in this game are put in a larger font:

• The Tree of Tranquility (Snoring Tree)
• Kung Foot Island (Kung Foot)
• The Old Teensie Kingdom (wait it's suddenly not "Teensy" anymore? I guess new writers will do that.) (Teensies in Trouble)
• The Stinkbog (Toad Story)
• The Iron Shell (20,000 Lums)
• Mystic Mesa (Fiesta de los Muertos)
• Mount Elysium (Olympus Maximus)
• The Land of the Livid Dead
• The Cave of Bad Dreams

Based on this, there are 2 candidates left for that mysterious realm. Obviously from the trailer and footage on the Steam page it's indeed The Land of the Livid Dead, but then why is that other one in a bigger font?

[CosmicStrider]

Okay now that I've actually seen some stuff, I am SOLD on this. They got me good with that retro Rayman, and WOW that map is HUGE. (always felt like there was something to the left of the OG Rayman map...)

Definitely hype for this!

[Elite Piranha]

I've been watching one of ProsafiaGaming's videos. I have some thoughts:

- I love the Hoodlum Globox and Betilla Barbara costumes.
- I think my graphic card Intel(R) Iris(R) Xe Graphics (128 MB) is not good enough to run the game .
- I like Polokus' redesign, I'm not sure how I feel about the other redesigns, but I can see myself getting used to them.
- I like that Grant Kirkhope is involved.
- As a Rayman 3 fan, I enjoy hearing Billy West vocing Murfy (even if at times he was a little bit annoying in R3).
- The graphics look impressive to me, but I wonder how it would feel to actually play it. "Readibility is important in a game".

Edit: I wonder who is that mysterious villain.

[MakaryGlobsky]

ew

[Pirez]

Love me some Rayman, not against a remake of Rayman Legends but I have to say that I'm not a fan of the overall design. The screen feels cluttered. There's too much on the screen.

Otherwise I like the idea of local coop, but give me some online kung foot please.

[RayWizard]

So they made a new map for the game... of course it doesn't add up with the others LOL.

Retold map.webp

Wait I see Jibberish Jungle and Desert of Dijiridoos on the map. What does that mean?

[HazBlackSlick]

I don't quite know how to describe the character designs to say, But it gives a bit of a stop motion animation style to it I think, Something like Aardman and Laika, The Teensie look a little like Wallace & Gromit with the teeth and eyes, And with Rayman and Barbara with Laika films or maybe something like that

[Krith99z]

Now that we've finally seen it in motion, I have to say I'm still feeling pretty torn on the whole thing.

I am still really struggling with these character designs. Seeing it in action didn't help. Rayman's separated eyes just look bizarre to me, and I am totally with Steo and icesmile on Betilla. Going for a realistic mobile game goddess look instead of her classic cartoon style is such a weird choice for this series.

Droolie is also spot on about the voice acting. Having David Gasman and Billy West back is cool on paper, but I really don't need Rayman shouting catchphrases like "Cool!" every ten seconds while I am trying to platform. It feels like they are trying way too hard to force the humor.

That being said, the environments really do look stunning. The 3D dragon rides and the fully explorable hub worlds are definitely a step up from a basic remaster. I am still disappointed that the core levels are just the exact same 1:1 layouts from 2013 with a tilted camera, but at least the expanded Land of the Livid Dead and the new rhythm stages add some actual new platforming content.

Honestly though, the pricing and the bundle are what completely save this for me. 50 bucks for the digital Deluxe edition to get Retold, all those awesome retro skins (that Rayman 3 Heavy Metal Fist suit is sick), and the Origins Enhanced Edition is a surprisingly great deal. Having Origins finally playable on modern hardware in 4K and 60fps is still the main draw for me here. I'll definitely be picking up the bundle, even if I end up spending way more time replaying Origins than the actual remake.

[Hunchman801]

A great coverage of Legends Retold at the Montpellier Studio by vnheard

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EQxfwQPtK0

Great coverage! I wish I could have gone too but I was on a business trip abroad that day.

Wait I see Jibberish Jungle and Desert of Dijiridoos on the map. What does that mean?

As far as Retold is concerned, nothing. They put a very small selection of locations from the previous games on the map to signal that they acknowledge them, but their placements are seemingly random and inconsistent with the existing maps. I'll have more to say about this soon enough, I think.

[SuperSinge]

Well, the State of Play happened, and it is definitely not a 4chan hoax lol.

Seeing the game in motion just confirms all the fears I had about the art direction. The sterilizing effect of this remake is real. Rayman's separated eyes, Globox's weird textured skin, and that hyper-realistic mobile game Betilla design look completely devoid of the classic charm. It is exactly the kind of generic glossy look I was worried about.

But I have to give credit where it is due. It looks like they actually listened to the complaints about the original game's progression. Ripping out the random gallery of disconnected paintings and replacing it with a fully explorable 3D hub world is a huge step up. Tying the 1:1 level layouts together with an actual map and voiced story cutscenes gives everything the context that the 2013 game completely lacked.

I am still super happy David Gasman is back, and hearing Billy West again is a nice treat for us Rayman 3 fans. I just hope the forced humor and constant catchphrases during gameplay aren't as annoying as they seem in the footage.

Overall, I still think throwing a big budget at a Legends remake instead of Rayman 2 or 3 is a baffling corporate choice. But packing in the Origins remaster for 40 bucks makes it a lot easier to justify buying. Let's just hope this actually does well enough to prove there is a modern audience for Rayman, without convincing Ubisoft that we only ever want to play Legends over and over again until the end of time.

[RayWizard]

Also I updated the RayWiki page. I definitely need to add more images but now I'm busy https://raymanpc.com/wiki/en/Rayman_Legends_Retold

[MasterHero]

There is a short Interview with with Loïc Gounon on polygon.

Why legends was remade?

“What can we do within a certain timing that could be qualitative, manage to please part of our fans, hopefully also introduce the franchise to a new audience?” Gounon said. “That's why it led us naturally to Legends, because of how complete it is as a game. It's the richest version of the world, the widest set of characters. And as we wanted to relaunch a brand, we felt we didn't want Rayman 1. We want Rayman plus Globox, plus Grand Minimus, plus Barbara, plus Bubble Dreamer as a narrator. That's how it led us to that proposition of Rayman Legends Retold.”

https://www.polygon.com/rayman-legends- ... interview/

[Hunchman801]

First comment on that article:

Hmmmm…yeah, I still don’t get it!