Rayman Legends Retold

[RayGamer99]

Between that and all the levels being renamed, I feel for people who will have to read RayWiki and find out everything now has 3 different names or spellings - and which one is correct depends on the whims of the developers.

Umm, I think all of the levels have their same names. If you mean all of the worlds being renamed, then I understand what you mean; I fear some poor soul will be left wondering if the medieval world is called Teensies In Trouble, Medieval Mayhem, or the Old Teensie Kingdom now.

The fact that they're honoring the original spellings of the Teensies and Livingstones and what have you is actually really nice to me. Someone on the dev team cares about the history and the lore of Rayman.

I don't really care much for the names being reverted to their original spellings (except for Murphy's; hasn't it been spelled with an F ever since his first appearance? ), but I do appreciate the team continuing to go out of their way to subtly tie this game, and hopefully the franchise as a whole, back into the world of the older Rayman games. Never thought I'd see the day, much less that it'd be from a Rayman Legends remake, but here we are.

Side note and this might be a bit of a hot take: considering that Rayman's future relies on this game doing well, I think it was smart of them to do a Legends remake. As much as I personally don't care for remakes in general--this of course being an exception--they are made for a reason. In this case, Rayman needs to grab people's attention with what is most familiar/recent. Remaking Legends is the safe and smart idea if we want to see it do well enough to justify a true Rayman 4.

Honestly, I would agree with you. Despite it not being the game that most of the fans wanted, I think that remaking Legends was probably the best idea from the standpoint of the general audience, something that I feel we can sometimes forget about. While catering to longtime fans is still important, the one providing the bulk of the game's sales will be the average Joe who sees trailers and gameplay for a game, thinks that it's looks really cool, and pre-orders it or purchases it sometime after it's launched.

Rayman Legends is the best-selling game in the series to my knowledge, so most people are most familiar with that version of the franchise. Visually overhaul that game, add some new content, tie it back into the world of previous Rayman games, and pack in another UbiArt game not everyone may have played, and suddenly you have a game that will simultaneously attract new fans and convince older fans that this is worth buying. Add all of that to the fact that this seems to be setting a new standard for the future of the franchise - and say what you will about the game's tone or character designs, but this is a darn good ground floor from where I'm sitting - and I can't help but give the team their flowers.

[Sabertooth]

I'm not following this line of logic...Legends is the most recent game in the series, so it's the game that effectively killed it off for fifteen years. The game that didn't do well enough to justify any further sequels by Ubisoft's standards. Why would releasing the same game now bear a different result?

I don't really care much for the names being reverted to their original spellings (except for Murphy's; hasn't it been spelled with an F ever since his first appearance? ),

Yeah they need to fix that spelling before the game comes out or I'm going to have an anal retentive episode.

[Rsandee]

I'm not following this line of logic...Legends is the most recent game in the series, so it's the game that effectively killed it off for fifteen years. The game that didn't do well enough to justify any further sequels by Ubisoft's standards. Why would releasing the same game now bear a different result?

I'm glad I'm not the only one who's completely befuddled why they're doing this.

[RayGamer99]

Looks like the official Rayman Twitter account has released a new bio for Rayman!

It's not breaking new ground by any means, but it's still nice to have, I guess.

[TeensieKing]

Hi everyone! Time to share some thoughts at last.

First of all, I am over the moon that Rayman is finally getting something new, even if it's just an expanded version of the last game. I have already preordered my physical copy with the map, I'll get the deluxe version expansion pack from the PlayStore, and I'm going to play the heck out of it. It's been like 8 years since the last time I played through Legends, so I'm going to have fun regarless of it being basically the same game again.

I'll preface this by stating that I was never the biggest fan of the UbiArt games, not even when they first came out. Already when Origins released, I had been waiting for Rayman 4 since 2003. Getting a new entry in the series that basically flushed all previously-established lore down the toilet was bittersweet. Rayman 2 was my first Rayman game, followed by Rayman 3. So I find it baffling that, to some, the lore and story of a Rayman game is not an important factor. For me, it's what I like the most about the franchise: the characters, the story, the sense of discovery... And that brings me to the exploration. What I've always liked the most about Rayman games is not the platforming or the speed, it's the exploration. As Hunch was saying earlier, getting to explore and mysterious world full of outladish, yet lovable creatures. I enjoy the UbiArt games for what they are, fun 2D platformers with an impressive hand-drawn artstyle. But as Rayman games, they leave a lot to be desired.

The fact that the team at Ubisoft decided that, from a lore standpoint, Rayman Legends was the most diverse version of the Glade of Dreams is, to put it bluntly, laughable. Rayman Legends introduces, as previously stated by Hunch and some others, quite a few world themes oddly connected to real-life humans: Medieval castles, Greek temples, the Fiesta de los Muertos... All of them so lazy and uninspired compared to what came before. And Barbara. Oh, Barbara. Don't even get me started. She sticks out like a sore thumb. How the hell did a human Viking princess spawn in the middle of the Glade of Dreams? I could never imagine her being in the same cutscene as Ly the Fairy.

Now, Retold promises to at least alleviate some of these issues. I like the new 3D look for the game. Specifically there is a night-time level that takes place in a forest, which reminded me of the first stage of The Fairy Council from Rayman 3. Even in the first level, the castle bridge section after the big jump reminds me somehow of Clearleaf Forest, might be the colours and lighting. I feel like it sets a nice middle ground between the older 3D games and the UbiArt games. And "Don't Touch This" looks stunning, with those colours and the disco lights.

But what I'm most excited about is the brand new story. Yes, the only good thing about the original game having no story at all is that we're now getting a 100% original Rayman story. Who knows, maybe that will make me come round. Could we get some background as to who Barbara is and where she came from? Or who all those random pricesses even are? I don't want to set unrealistic expectations. But I am hoping for some nods to events from previous games, or some long-absent characters being mentioned (Clark, Ly, are you still alive?). Oh, also, is this a good moment to bring up the skins? The Hoodmonger Globox and Heavy Metal Fist Rayman skins look incredible! They're the number 1 reason why I rushed to preorder the game immediately after it was announced. And what about Betilla Barbara, the original Rayman, Hunter Globox and Electoon Teensie? They knocked it out of the park with those. Probably the only reason I'd even pick Barbara.

So, yeah, it's a mixed bag but I'm predominantly hopeful about Rayman's future and ready to enjoy this game for what it is. I won't even complain about that suspicious, definitely not AI-generated Betilla the Fairy.

P. S. Did no one think of the new villain being the original Magician from R1? I definitely think it's a new character, but that would be cool too.

[Hunchman801]

I share your exact opinion on the UbiArt games. Great games, but not really Rayman games. The uninspired, generic locations and the presence of actual humans in Legends have absolutely nothing in common with the otherworldly universe populated only by fantastical creatures from the earlier games.

Now, I appreciate the effort to actually add a story to the game, but as a firm believer that no story is still better than a bad story, I'm a bit scared of what they're going to come up with. I still remember the Origins fiasco vividly, after all. But there's no point in being overly pessimistic right out of the gate, so I'm willing to give them a chance.

Did no one think of the new villain being the original Magician from R1? I definitely think it's a new character, but that would be cool too.

This would be the worst possible choice in my opinion. The good old Magician doesn't really do much in the original game, but for someone like me who discovered the series through the educational games, he's a lot more than that, guiding Rayman throughout the entire journey and acting as a genuine fatherly figure. There was even some charm in those corny lines he delivered when you finished a level.

There are countless other options for a new antagonist that don't involve ruining a perfectly good character. Let's hope they go with one of them. After all, making the original Magician the bad guy makes about as much sense as having Luigi suddenly stab Mario in the back...

[Haruka]

Some cool screenshots from the official Rayman account:

I've been thinking about how I'm quite certain these dragon flight segments are going to be the Moskitos from Origins: you'll play at least one of these per Glade region. I fear about the possibility of these being both repetitive and a headache to get the golden cups in the levels...

I'm not following this line of logic...Legends is the most recent game in the series, so it's the game that effectively killed it off for fifteen years. The game that didn't do well enough to justify any further sequels by Ubisoft's standards. Why would releasing the same game now bear a different result?

I'm almost sure it's all about budget and going through the cheapest route to make something with Rayman, especially if the engine they're using transforms 2D UbiArt assets into 3D. They're trying to be sure if people are still even interested in the franchise but honestly, requests of an actual new 3D platforming game go on for over 20 years.

[RayGamer99]

I've been thinking about how I'm quite certain these dragon flight segments are going to be the Moskitos from Origins: you'll play at least one of these per Glade region. I fear about the possibility of these being both repetitive and a headache to get the golden cups in the levels...

You're correct about them being a successor to the mosquito rides in Origins; they serve as a transition from one world to the other, and I'm pretty sure there will be one per world. Hope the dragons can breathe underwater, then...

I don't think they'll get too repetitive - the two we've seen so far already feel pretty distinct with the events that happens in each one - but I do worry about getting all of the Teensies in each of them. Just getting hit once will mean you have to restart the entire level if you want them all; naturally some folks just won't care and will take as many Teensies as they can get, but I can already feel that it's gonna be a real struggle for sickos like myself...

Did no one think of the new villain being the original Magician from R1? I definitely think it's a new character, but that would be cool too.

Not a fan of this idea either. The design of this new guy looks far too different from the R1 Magician to be him, and like Hunchman said, his relationship with Rayman in the older games would make it feel completely out of character for him to just be evil now.

On a random note, is it just me or does the new villain kind of look like the Egg Thieves from the Spyro games?