Running sucks. To most people, that's just a fact, but there are so many ways to make it less terrible, like listening to music and choosing scenic areas to run. With the proliferation of AR apps that turn exercise into a game, players have better motivation than ever to start being active and maybe even go for a run…for fun. Enter Run Legends, a brand new AR app from Talofa Games aimed at rewarding players for running and connecting them with other gamers trying to get fit.

Unfortunately, the game itself is hamstrung by a bloated story, unclear directions, and a ton of lag. Setup takes a few minutes, as is to be expected, but what is a surprise is the fact that there are scant details on the game itself throughout the “training”.

run legends training screen
This is all that’s shown during most of the training session.

Opening the game, the UI is immediately pleasing and well-designed. The big PLAY button tells gamers exactly where to start, with other buttons being clearly marked, yet out of the way. Once that’s pressed, players meet the main NPC, called the Operator, and get their first glimpse at the great character design. The art is soft and colorful, and the voice acting is top notch (the Operator’s actor mirrors Rooster Teeth’s Gus Sorola in their performance), showing off the best things about the game from the very start.

Run legends home screen 2

However, the training mission as a whole is an exercise in ineptitude. The goal of this mission is to teach you how to play the game but instead of moving, players are supposed to tap the screen to simulate how their movement will affect the power bars. The training never ends up telling you how to get movement picked up though, instead opting to let players know that their movement is location-based afterwards, once they start the first real mission. That makes the whole training mission kind of pointless and forces troubleshooting movement to happen during the first real mission rather than during a dry run. The training mission does go over basic mechanics such as the fact that monsters appear and, more importantly, provides players with the sounds they’ll hear when a fight begins or when fast mode is active, but everything in the tutorial could have been explained with a small handful of dialogue boxes instead of through a four-minute long, unskippable training mission.

run legends training completed screen
The training asks players to learn the basics, step by step.

Now, using location for movement tracking is great for running and walking, as step counters can vary a lot and tend to be less accurate. That being said, there are still pros and cons to this, the biggest one being that players actually need to go outside for this app. It really encourages mental health walks and allows players to go at their own pace without letting them cheat by simply shaking their phone, but using location services is a massive battery drain (after about 15 minutes of playing, my fully charged phone had lost 25% battery). Location-based movement tracking also means there’s no way to play the game within an apartment or even a small house, and running in place doesn’t work like with some other fitness games. Players living in limited spaces or who do most of their exercise indoors won’t get anything out of this app at all. That feels very damning for an app that aims to motivate people to exercise, many of whom don’t exercise specifically because it’s tough to find the space or time to work out.

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Time is a major factor when trying to get healthy and start running or doing other exercises, and it’s a huge negative for the app. Run Legend’s time problem is two-pronged, with the story and lag bogging down every mission.

The plot of the game is that each player is a new recruit in a group called the Runnegades who fight Sappers, an evil race of monsters that come from gelatinous slugs. The dialogue in the game is campy at best, but there is a certain charm about it that makes it bearable, even though it’s super awkward to discuss monsters, like the self-sabotaging Sidney or the Alpha Chad, “sapping” humans.

run legends characters
A Pouting Patty enemy, The Operator, and a Self-sabotaging Sidney enemy.

The problem with the plot is how long it takes to hear about it! The first real mission begins with about 30 seconds of nonsense plot dialogue, while other missions can have anywhere from 10-40 seconds of talking before anything even begins. Once the battle is going, there will continue to be pauses of up to 30 seconds as different characters exchange threats or provide a new clue (which is never shown). The story is robust and could be genuinely interesting as a cartoon or a visual novel, but that kind of storytelling simply does not fit within an exercise app.

Other than plot-centered dialogue, there are also audio cues to indicate what type of enemy has appeared, how much health they have, and any other statuses that are affecting it. That is good information, but it takes forever to say and feels like being on hold with a bank, except at least with the bank there’s no running involved. It doesn’t seem like much at first, but as battles begin to feature more enemies, new statuses, and even teammates, each battle can be over 10 minutes long, yet ask for just a minute or two of movement.

On top of this, whenever a fight starts and a player’s movement begins being tracked, a classic fighting bell rings and that’s how players know to begin their run. So just to be clear, it’s not when the Operator says some form of “let’s get started” two or three times, and it’s not when the monsters say “come at me” or something, and it’s not even when the screen shows skills and power bars flashing like they do during the battle. Like a twisted game of Simon Says, the app messes with players to get them to do a false start and it’s really good at it.

While impatience is one part of this false start problem, this annoyance highlights the other major issue with Run Legends: there is significant lag between dialogue lines. Every line that’s said is followed by a short pause, and this affects everything from starting a fight to activating fast mode. It quickly becomes unclear when to activate skills because unless a player is staring at their phone while walking or running, they’re completely dependent upon the audio cues that are being sent after long pauses. There are visual cues as well, but these only sometimes line up with the audio. Reacting to these cues won’t do anything until the cue has gone off, but that leaves very little control to anyone who’s actually jogging or running, while leaving walkers confused as to why their movement isn’t doing anything.

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Further complicating things is the use of NPC teammates, who will attack and even finish off enemies seemingly at random. Run Legends boasts its social aspect, but playing together isn’t overly engaging. Most of the team interaction is hearing about your teammates getting hits in or getting the killing blow on an enemy, as there aren’t really any visual aspects to their actions other than the small icons that indicate they do, in fact, exist.

run legends multiplayer
Run Legends makes it easy to team up with other players.

The other social features of the app are pretty fun though, and include standard fare such as high-level gear, special weekly and daily missions, and of course leaderboards. It’s super easy to share every new unlock or milestone on social media too, which is always a nice touch. Additionally, the team at Talofa Games clearly want to cultivate a great community and have taken their Discord channel seriously, providing a really organized space for players to connect and share.

Regardless of whether a mission is completed solo or with others, the actual exercise portion of the game doesn’t seem to be effective. Players start with a skill that allows them to walk at a comfortable pace in order to heal (called slow mode), and then speed up their pace to deal damage (fast mode). While it is typical to run at an irregular pace (mixing running with breaks of walking), these special skill attacks are only 10 seconds long! The lag makes this additionally frustrating, as it’s difficult to stick to your timing when the game won’t keep up. This often makes it feel like you should just walk, jog, or run however you feel like and rack up points essentially at random. This design flaw discourages playing the game as intended, instead rewarding consistent, fast-paced walking or running above everything else, regardless of the active items or mechanics.

Overall, Run Legends is good for people who want to get points for running and don’t really care how they do it. It’s difficult to listen to music or podcasts while playing on the same device because of the game’s audio, but those who just need something to listen to while they run won’t be bothered. The pleasing art and UI make this an excellent choice for users who need that extra bit of encouragement, but some of the motivation may be better geared towards children thanks to cheesy lines and enemies named after somewhat dated memes.

Without fitness-focused features beyond a mile counter or succinct missions that align with standard fitness practices, fit gamers shouldn’t waste their time with this app. Run Legends may be the perfect solution for players who struggle to find motivation to run, but most players with dreams of getting fit through AR games might be better off sticking with the gold standards, Pokemon Go and Pikmin Bloom.

run legends mobile game
Run Legends

Run Legends is a new, free-to-play cooperative fitness video game from Talofa Games. Featuring an in-depth story and an attractive UI, this exercise video game aims to get players to walk, jog, and run through numerous challenges.  Though many of the mechanics fall flat, some gamers may find the campy humor and obtuse directions to be just what they need to get motivated and start a new fitness journey.

Released
May 18, 2023
Platforms
Mobile
Publishers
Talofa Games
Pros
  • Required to run or walk, so no cheating
  • Fantastic art and UI
  • Good rewards and progression
  • Easy to socially connect with other players
Cons
  • Can?t run in place to play
  • Major battery drain due to data usage
  • Dialogue takes up way too much time
  • Using powers doesn't correspond with good running techniques
  • Online play has limited effects
  • Sound doesn't play when phone is locked, but game continues on

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