This review contains spoilers
[MAJOR SPOILERS FOR THE GAME]
i've gotta say as much as the legends series has a beloved spot in my heart, i think most of that spot is taken up by the 1st game! mml1 felt super cozy since it took place on one single island (though it was definitely because the team was testing the waters and didn't want to risk making the game too big). i always remember apple market's and uptown's themes because they were such a pleasing tonal difference from the janky tracks in the rest of the game, and the sprites had a nice charm to them.
that being said, i may be looking into it a little too much but i think legends (or maybe just mml2 in particular) draws quite a bit of influence from the tale of kaguya. i would argue that an underlying, unspoken theme of this series is that when there is joy, there is suffering, and vice versa. that suffering and loss is inevitable for humans, but that there is still joy in living. the master is a direct parallel to kaguya, as he felt miserable despite having no hardships on elysium and felt compassion for the carbons and finding joy amidst their hardships. i think volnutt himself is a more vague parallel to kaguya, seeing as he felt the same way as the master and worked hard to destroy the master system. he also gets trapped on elysium, so! actually when you think about it, legends 2 might be a subtly buddhist game. but then again, considering a church is in there for no reason, maybe i shouldn't be looking so deep into a megaman game, haha.
i've gotta say as much as the legends series has a beloved spot in my heart, i think most of that spot is taken up by the 1st game! mml1 felt super cozy since it took place on one single island (though it was definitely because the team was testing the waters and didn't want to risk making the game too big). i always remember apple market's and uptown's themes because they were such a pleasing tonal difference from the janky tracks in the rest of the game, and the sprites had a nice charm to them.
that being said, i may be looking into it a little too much but i think legends (or maybe just mml2 in particular) draws quite a bit of influence from the tale of kaguya. i would argue that an underlying, unspoken theme of this series is that when there is joy, there is suffering, and vice versa. that suffering and loss is inevitable for humans, but that there is still joy in living. the master is a direct parallel to kaguya, as he felt miserable despite having no hardships on elysium and felt compassion for the carbons and finding joy amidst their hardships. i think volnutt himself is a more vague parallel to kaguya, seeing as he felt the same way as the master and worked hard to destroy the master system. he also gets trapped on elysium, so! actually when you think about it, legends 2 might be a subtly buddhist game. but then again, considering a church is in there for no reason, maybe i shouldn't be looking so deep into a megaman game, haha.