The Lost Legacy is the latest installment of the Uncharted action-adventure video game series. Unlike all the other games, you follow Chloe Frazer who is joined by Nadine Ross. These are both characters that come from previous games. Chloe coming from Uncharted 2 and Nadine in Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End. This game takes place after the events of the previous game, where like all Uncharted games you solve puzzles, shot enemies, tackle platforms, and find treasure.
Now before I get into the review of the game, I have not physically played this game myself as I do not own a playstation. I have played Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End when I was dog sitting for a friend who happened to have the game. So all of my experience with this game comes from watching others play it on YouTube such as Deligracy and Jacksepticeye.
Also all images belong to Naughty Dog.
Okay disclaimer over, let’s hop into the actual review. But be warned spoilers are ahead!
As mentioned before, you follow Chloe Frazer and her partner Nadine Ross in the mountains of India searching for the Tusk of Ganesh. Similar to the previous games, you are allowed to explore free-worldbut unlike the other games you can do it in any order. Plus there are additional treasures along the way if you take time out of the plot. These are marked on the map that you can reference at any point. And you’ll spend time driving around the map to reach each point. Of course at all major areas, you will run into the main villain Asav’s mercenaries which you can take out either by doing the long game of stealth or shooting them all down. The main points being towers or ruins marked by symbols of the Hindu gods: Ganesh’s trident, Shiva’s bow, and the axe of Parashurama. The axe being the same one that removed the tusk. All leading to the smaller capital of Halebidu where the last Hoysala emperor used as a decoy for the conquering Persian army.
Along the way you learn more about both Nadine and Chloe who’s backstories were not fully fleshed out in the games they made appearances in. Those backstories being… Chloe, had a father that was obsessed with Hoysala history and hunted for the same artifact himself. Nadine, used to work for the main antagonist of Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End and took over Shoreline from her father. So she feels like she has a lot to make up for since she was backstabbed by her business partner who took the company away from her. And you get to see their friendship evolve slowly during the course of the game. And though they bicker and disagree, they ultimately end up trusting each other.
The other main item that you have for a large portion of the game that is needed for many of the puzzles is a disc that you stole at the beginning of the game from Asav. It originally depicts the image of Halebidu but transforms into Shiva during one of the puzzles in the capital. The disc is stolen back by Asav when you learn that the tusk is actually in the old capital of Belur. Also learning that Asav’s expert is Sam Drake who had given Chloe the map in the first place. At Belur, you have to navigate through several puzzles before facing Asav once more. In the central chamber the disc reveals the tusk covered in jewels. You also learn more about the three Hindu gods. Ganesh allowed Parashurama to cut off the tusk as a way to prove the axe Shiva gave Parashurama wasn’t useless.
Asav again causes Chloe, Nadine, and Sam to fall into a trap where they have to escape together. And once they escape learn that Asav is working with Shoreline, the mercenary company Nadine once ran. Asav exchanges the tusk for a massive bomb that will detonate the capital city and kickstart the revolution in India. Chloe convinces the others to help her stop the bomb. They manage to stop the bomb from destroying the capital and kill Asav. In the end, Chloe and Nadine decide to go into business together and give the tusk over to the Ministry of Culture much to Sam’s displeasure.
I love solving puzzles and love when they are incorporated right into video games. And Naughty Dog does an amazing job at this. Some of the puzzles like lining up the symbol to look like one of the weapons are rather easy, whereas shadow puppets and death traps prove a bit more of a challenge. They also just put so much detail into the backgrounds and how things interact with one another. The water doesn’t just stream down in a line, it flows around rocks like it were real. When Chloe walks through a clothesline, it doesn’t just move in a solid block. Chloe puts her hand up to move it out of the way. Another example, if you put the light from a flashlight over the eyes of another character they will go to cover their eyes. One last example as I seriously loved it, there is a section where you pass by some fire. Normally when developers create this it’s all just oranges and yellows, but not Naughty Dog. They actually added the blue at the bottom like real fire has. Or if you walk in water, only the part of the clothing that touches the water becomes wet. They may be just small details that are often missed, but they make the game feel so much more realistic. And I think I mentioned that in my Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End review as well. And if I didn’t, I should have because it’s not something that just happened in this game. It was present in that one as well.
I love the pacing in this game and how the cut scenes blur seamlessly to the actual game play. At points making you forget you’re in a video game or staring at the gorgeous scenery. When I played Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End I sometimes found myself going “Oh. Right. Back to controlling the characters.” And I have a feeling the same thing would happen if I was holding the controller playing these games instead of watching someone else play it. I loved this entry in the Uncharted series and has to be one of my favorites. Plus you honestly don’t need to know anything about the previous games in order to enjoy this game. And I loved it for that. As I missed out on the first three games as I never had a gaming console other than my computer growing up, so there are a lot of games I end up going never mind to because you need to know the previous games before jumping into the latest installment.
Overall, I loved this game and hope they continue in this direction for future installments. Either with Chloe, Nadine, or Sam… or even another character we’ve met before now that Nathan Drake has retired for life on his little island. And considering this game was just going to basically be a DLC originally for Uncharted 4, I loved that they made a full game out of it. Sure it’s shorter than the other installments but there is never a time that feels like you’re wasting your time or things that could be cut out without effecting the overall game.
If you hadn’t checked it out, I seriously suggest that you do as this game is amazing! Here is the launch trailer from PlayStation so you can get a taste yourself.
What is your favorite Uncharted game in the series? Do you want more like the Nathan Drake tales or smaller installments like this one? I would love to hear your thoughts.
