Raven Software wanted to take the Marvel superhero video games one step further and chose the world of RPGs instead of action.
There are titles that fade into oblivion despite the fact that many players have fond memories of them. For those who have been fans of the pantyhose superheroes long before the Marvel Cinematic Universe took off, X-Men Legends on PS2, GameCube and Xbox is definitely one of them.
Raven Software probably needs no introduction. We can thank them for games such as the Heretic and Hexen series, Soldier of Fortune or Jedi Knight games. The jewel with which the studio started its console journey was not only a great couch co-op but also showed that other superhero games were possible. It turns out that, leaving aside the more mindless popcorn action, an excellent RPG can be built around these characters.
A Marvel Final Fantasy game dressed as X-Men?!
X-Men Legends was not only the seed of the later Marvel: Ultimate Alliance franchise. The developers’ original plan was highly unusual in the early 2000s. They envisioned a Final Fantasy clone focusing on the character of Wolverine.
This is precisely how its development began. True, in the end, it became something that was closer to Diablo than to turn-based combat; the story of how it got there and how it influenced everything that came after it with superheroes in the leading role is at least as attractive.
X-Men Legends was finally released exactly twenty years ago, in the fall of 2004, for the PlayStation 2, GameCube and Xbox consoles. On the occasion of this, we have collected some retrospective videos below for all those who managed to arouse their interest or simply – like us – like to feel nostalgic about an old favourite…
