Rayman Legends is such a treat. Almost hearkens back to Ubisoft's glory days of the late '90s through to the mid '00s. Initially I'd written a way shorter review for this, but so much of the game is so excellent that I figured it warrants gushing about a bit.
Its standout feature to me is that it's constantly throwing new ideas at you with pretty much every level. If a level in Rayman Legends doesn't have a mechanic which is it unique to it, it'll without a doubt utilise mechanics that were established previously in ways that aren't replicated in the rest of the game. In this respect there's an easy comparison to be made with the similarly creative Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze, but in a roundabout sort of way, it actually also reminded me somewhat of Metroid Prime - Retro Studios once stated one of their goals with the Prime games' level design was to ensure that no rooms were ever repeated or reused. I've the suspicion that Legends' designers had a similar philosophy given how distinctive each of the levels feel from each other; if they did, they did a fantastic job of putting it into practice. It's got mad variety in terms of mechanics, visuals and music of all sorts, but at the same time it also has the self-restraint to not linger on any one theme or idea for long enough to wear out its welcome. The pacing's so brisk and efficient.
Speaking of restraint, Legends is also remarkably tasteful when it comes to the implementation of stuff another, lesser game could've easily monetised. The little creatures you unlock which give you extra lums every 24 hours has got to be one of the healthiest and least intrusive incentives to play a game daily out there; not just because you're not punished for not doing so, but also because anything you can unlock with those extra lums is purely cosmetic. Costumes are there for those who want them and people who don't really care about them aren't disadvantaged for it; everybody wins.
Really the only thing I would maybe change about Legends is that I found wallrunning to sometimes feel a bit too "artificial," for lack of a better word. When you run at a sloped wall, the game automatically gives you a set amount of momentum to get up it rather than requiring you to build momentum yourself (like in the classic Sonic games, for example). This avoids frustrations where you might not have had enough space to do so had it not been automatic, but the game otherwise controls so immaculately that this didn't really feel necessary to me, especially because you can easily get enough speed by just using the dash attack anyway.
That's totally a footnote in comparison all the things Legends does well, though. It's so well-considered in terms of design and it's got charm out the ass to boot, in large part thanks to its beautifully expressive art. It's a shame that we haven't yet seen Rayman 4 like Murfy told us we would 18 years ago(!), but if Legends does end up being the last mainline game in the franchise, it's as good a note to end on as anyone could hope for.
Its standout feature to me is that it's constantly throwing new ideas at you with pretty much every level. If a level in Rayman Legends doesn't have a mechanic which is it unique to it, it'll without a doubt utilise mechanics that were established previously in ways that aren't replicated in the rest of the game. In this respect there's an easy comparison to be made with the similarly creative Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze, but in a roundabout sort of way, it actually also reminded me somewhat of Metroid Prime - Retro Studios once stated one of their goals with the Prime games' level design was to ensure that no rooms were ever repeated or reused. I've the suspicion that Legends' designers had a similar philosophy given how distinctive each of the levels feel from each other; if they did, they did a fantastic job of putting it into practice. It's got mad variety in terms of mechanics, visuals and music of all sorts, but at the same time it also has the self-restraint to not linger on any one theme or idea for long enough to wear out its welcome. The pacing's so brisk and efficient.
Speaking of restraint, Legends is also remarkably tasteful when it comes to the implementation of stuff another, lesser game could've easily monetised. The little creatures you unlock which give you extra lums every 24 hours has got to be one of the healthiest and least intrusive incentives to play a game daily out there; not just because you're not punished for not doing so, but also because anything you can unlock with those extra lums is purely cosmetic. Costumes are there for those who want them and people who don't really care about them aren't disadvantaged for it; everybody wins.
Really the only thing I would maybe change about Legends is that I found wallrunning to sometimes feel a bit too "artificial," for lack of a better word. When you run at a sloped wall, the game automatically gives you a set amount of momentum to get up it rather than requiring you to build momentum yourself (like in the classic Sonic games, for example). This avoids frustrations where you might not have had enough space to do so had it not been automatic, but the game otherwise controls so immaculately that this didn't really feel necessary to me, especially because you can easily get enough speed by just using the dash attack anyway.
That's totally a footnote in comparison all the things Legends does well, though. It's so well-considered in terms of design and it's got charm out the ass to boot, in large part thanks to its beautifully expressive art. It's a shame that we haven't yet seen Rayman 4 like Murfy told us we would 18 years ago(!), but if Legends does end up being the last mainline game in the franchise, it's as good a note to end on as anyone could hope for.