The Legend of Dragoon (PS1) Review

The Sony PlayStation was home to some of the most beloved RPG's, and a lot of that is owed to the success of Final Fantasy VII. Technologically speaking, the PS1 was a lot more convenient for developers. That's why there weren't a lot of RPG's on the Nintendo 64: cartridges severely limited the developers' visions. A PS1 disc just held more data, but I'm getting off track here. Most of these RPG's, however, were third-party titles, being handled by companies like Square and Konami, but not Sony themselves. So where does The Legend of Dragoon fit in to this story?

It all began in 1996, when Sony formed their new studio in Japan (now called SCE Japan Studio). They began work on a few titles like Ape Escape and Ico, which have since become cult classics after release. Sony also decided to try their hand at the RPG genre given how huge the market became. Development occurred over the course of three years, with a team that grew to about 100 people or more.

The Legend of Dragoon would be released in 1999 in Japan, 2000 in North America, and 2001 in Europe. It got decent reviews and sold well enough to get a "Greatest Hits" rerelease. As the years went by, though, it's kind of faded into obscurity. This is the part where I review this game.

A few years back, I became more comfortable to play turn-based RPG's after playing through Final Fantasy VII. Since then, I wanted to try other games in its genre. In 2018, I found a copy of The Legend of Dragoon at a convention, but didn't play it until this year. As someone who is not an RPG buff, I had a good time with this one. I think this game deserves a lot more attention and I will go into detail as to why.

Story and Characters

The story follows a young man named Dart Feld. He is on a journey to find the Black Monster that is responsible for destroying his original hometown and his parents. During said journey, his other hometown goes under attack and his childhood friend, Shana, gets kidnapped for a mysterious reason. After rescuing Shana with the help of a knight named Lavitz, they then go on a quest to find out what is going on.

Dart, alongside Lavitz and Shana, also meet up with other colorful characters who become allies like the mysterious Rose, the Serdian king Albert, an elderly martial artist named Haschel, a Giganto named Kongol, and a dancer named Meru. While I think some characters are better than others, each one is compelling and have something driving them on their quest.

Dart is a fairly-written protagonist who we latch onto the whole way through. He is likable and gets along well with the rest of the party. Underneath his compassion, though, he is driven by revenge. Through his journey, he has a desire to confront the Black Monster and avenge his parents' death. He has a great arc as he wonders if revenge is even worth it.

Rose is also just as interesting. While she mostly provides exposition throughout the story, she also has an aura of melancholy around her. She is also the most distant of the party, meaning there is a lot more than she lets on. Even so, she does remind from time to time that she is on the side of good, subverting the "Dark is Evil" trope.

Lavitz is the first party member who joins Dart and gives off a really good impression. He is shown to be loyal and trusting, with a side of impulsiveness here and there. I also love the friendship that he forms with Dart. When Dart saves Lavitz from falling to his death in one moment and they share a handshake, it put a smile on my face. In a way, it kind of reminds me of the friendship between Finn and Poe in Star Wars: The Force Awakens due to how quickly they befriend each other and have amazing chemistry.

Shana is Dart's childhood friend and love interest. She is shown to be kind, supportive, and determined to help out Dart, despite him viewing her as a baby sister. On one hand, I like her as a character because of this. On the other, it's hard to appreciate her when she is either a damsel in distress, a plot device, or both.

What is also a mixed bag is the romance between her and Dart. Their past is enough for me to care for them and Shana does inspire Dart to open up more about his feelings. They also have some genuinely heartwarming moments. However, the way the story builds up their romance leaves a lot to be desired, due to mostly ship teasing. When they do become a couple in the halfway point, there isn't enough interaction between them to show how their relationship has grown.

My favorite character, though, has to go to Meru. She has a great introductory scene which establishes that she's tougher than she looks and she's quite perky. I really like how energetic she is that I often have her as a party member when given the opportunity. She's not all sunshine and rainbows, though, once we learn more about her, making for a compelling character overall. Meru is best girl, fight me!

The rest of the main party members are good, though I don't have as much to say about them. Albert is pretty selfless and knowledgeable, putting aside his title as king to help the party. Haschel is a wise martial artist with a bit of a goofy side, leading to some funny moments. Kongol, originally an enemy of the party, becomes humbled after being introduced to the concept of mercy and friendship, which makes him a loyal member. There's also Miranda, but she joins the game a little too late to be organically fleshed out.

The game also has a decent share of villains that the main characters confront, ranging from ruthless to deeply complex. A lot of villains, though, only have a brief presence before getting their butts handed to them. Lloyd, however, is an exception. He is a recurring antagonist constantly getting in the heroes' way and also doing some rather odd deeds. It leaves them (and the player) wondering what he really wants at the end of the day, which makes the narrative just as engaging.

As I played through this game, I tried to figure out what are some of the central themes that the story was trying to tackle. I noticed that it explores subjects such as friendship, prejudice, and the horrors of war. However, I think the central theme of the overall story is accepting the past and learning from it. The game's final chapter has all the main characters go through some kind of trial that shows how much they have grown since the beginning and accepting what happened to them in order to move on.

If there is one flaw in the story that I should point out, it's the various missed opportunities that could have led to more powerful moments. For example, without spoiling anything, we learn some things about Haschel and he eventually makes other discoveries. The problem is that it's never discussed afterwards. That's just one example, though.

Besides that flaw, I found the overall narrative to be quite engaging. Not only are the characters compelling and memorable, but there is never a dull moment. With all the intense moments going on, it also knows when to take a breather. One of my favorite moments is when the party rides a boat to their next destination, and it leads to some good interactions and introspection. It's a good way to showcase how each of the characters are.

Not only that, the world around The Legend of Dragoon is well-constructed. You can tell how much history and lore there is that makes it feel alive. We only get snippets of the world's lore that plays a big part in the overarching narrative. I daresay that supplementary material like books could be made to expand this world.

Graphics

In terms of presentation, The Legend of Dragoon, for the most part, is a beautiful-looking game. Since this is a PS1 title, we're bound to notice how blocky and polygonal the in-game character models can be, comparable to even Final Fantasy VII. Final Fantasy VIII came out the same year and the in-game character models look a lot better. The characters look better during the battle sequences, though.

Even so, those blocky character models are still expressive in terms of body language. For example, Rose leans against a wall and crosses her arms to show how distant she is. Meru tends to bounce a lot, adding to her energetic personality. In the battle sequences, she is also a bit of a klutz. Her victory animation has her trip but quickly get herself back up.

What's also great about the character designs are their features that make them identifiable even if they're silhouetted, like Dart's spiky hair, Meru's ponytail, Rose's horns, or Kongol's mohawk. They are also color-coded for convenience and they correspond to their respective elements. Dart's element is fire, so he is red; Kongol's is earth, so he is gold, and so on.

The locations are also varied in terms of architecture and atmosphere thanks to beautiful pre-rendered backgrounds. Special mention goes to the water effects, which are still impressive to this day, and this was released in the turn of the century. The game also runs well at 30 frames per second, which makes select moments more jarring when certain shots are at 60 fps.

The game also has its share of CGI cutscenes, which are used sparingly most likely due to system limitations. When they do pop up, though, they look great for the time, almost on par with CGI movies in the 1990's. If you're playing the game on a flat-screen TV, though, it'll be hard to appreciate them due to the low resolution and compression just to fit on the discs. What's bad about the cutscenes, though, is that the lip syncing is pretty awful. The lip animations were obviously made for the Japanese dub.

Audio

While we're on the subject, the English voice acting is pretty bad, too. While the voice acting is minimal, limited to just grunts, shouting out attacks, and the like, the direction that the actors were given is laughable. At the end of disc 3, a big reveal takes place, yet one character overacts their surprise. Special mention goes to a moment when Shana gets electrocuted, which had me bursting out laughing because of her "scream." Look it up if you want to witness some hilarity, though you'll be risking on spoiling the ending for yourself.

Some of the CGI cutscenes also have some sound mixing on par with Sonic Adventure 2. I could barely hear what some of the characters are saying because some sound effects are louder, drowning out some of the dialogue. I guess I should be thankful that the dialogue is mostly spoken through text, then.

While I did poke fun at the voice acting, the music was thankfully the opposite. Composed by Dennis Martin and Takeo Miratsu (who worked on Jumping Flash), the soundtrack is one of the high points of the game. I didn't think much of it at first when I started playing, but it grew on me soon enough. This is a pretty underrated soundtrack.

If this game's world felt more alive thanks to its history and lore, the music completes it. Each location you travel to has a track that matches its overall atmosphere. They can be peaceful like the kingdom of Fletz, unsettling like the Ghost Ship, or mystical like the Crystal Palace in Mille Seseau. There's a good amount of battle themes that make combat just as exciting. That's right, there's more than one regular battle theme, unlike the Final Fantasy series, so you're not at risk of feeling tired of hearing them.

There are also some solid character themes, like Meru's, which is upbeat and energetic, and Shana's, which is a heartwarming lullaby. Dart's theme, however, is a highlight. It's such an inspiring and motivational track and it just adds to how determined the character is. It plays in moments where you're just ready to kick some butt. You know those memes where this one particular theme goes with everything? Let's make this one into a meme! It's too good to not pass up.

This is all topped off by the ending credits theme "If You Still Believe," performed by Elsa Cornish. On its own, it's a pretty great song to end the journey on. In the context of the game, the lyrics make a lot more sense, and I'll leave it at that.

I liked the soundtrack just enough that I went and purchased it on CD, since it's not on any digital store. The only downside is that some tracks are missing like the catchy menu theme and the Shrine of Shirley. Come on, I like those tracks! Why did they have to exclude them?

Gameplay - Part 1: Basics

Now that I've covered most of the game, it's time to talk about the most important part: the gameplay. It does check off the most basic things to expect in an RPG: towns to explore, weapons to equip, healing items to collect, money to earn, experience points to level up, and several characters to play as. All of that is here.

I don't know how many people have their preferences for RPG's, but I will say that the game is pretty linear since you can't just go anywhere you want. The World Map even puts you on a path and restricts you from going further until you progress the story. If you want to go from one town to the next and vice versa, you have to go through additional places in between, too. It gets annoying during the few times that you backtrack, especially with the Valley of Corrupted Gravity. I didn't like navigating through that place.

This is also the part where I talk the combat system, and I have to say that I don't think any other turn-based RPG has ever played like this one. How unique is it, you may ask?

Gameplay - Part 2: Combat

First, let's talk about the characters, gameplay-wise. There are a total of seven (technically nine) characters. For the whole journey, Dart will always be in your party because he is the main protagonist, leaving you with only two party members to choose from. It's not too bad of a decision since he serves as all-rounder.

All of the other characters have their strengths and weaknesses. For example, characters like Haschel and Meru have higher speeds, giving them extra turns during battle. Shana and Miranda have the weakest attacks due to low damage, but are useful in another part of the gameplay, which I'll get to later. Kongol is probably the worst character. His attacks are strong, but due to his slow speed, he has less turns than everyone else.

I do my best to play as all of the characters just to spice things up, but eventually there are some that I use way more than others. That just comes with the territory of turn-based RPG's, I suppose.

In a typical turn-based RPG, once it's a player's turn to attack, you select the "Attack" command and then watch the characters do the rest. The Legend of Dragoon, on the other hand, encourages you to be more active. That is where the Additions system comes into play.

After selecting the "Attack" command, these two squares appear. The bigger square eventually shrinks and overlaps with the smaller one. When that happens, you have to press the X button. Successfully doing so deals additional damage to enemies. Of course, enemies are not just going to sit back and take the heat. There will be times when the squares turn red, meaning they will counter-attack. Hit the circle button at the right time, and you will continue to deal additional damage.

Each character (except Shana and Miranda) has their own set of Additions to master. You can level them up after pulling them off perfectly 20 times and they will get stronger. As you get further into the game, more Additions will be unlocked, so there is always room for experimentation and finding out which attacks work best for you.

I will say, though, that the Additions do require precision. You have to press them at just the right time, or you fail. It does take some getting used to, but I managed to master it early on. It feels so fulfilling to strike a perfect combo. I think it also helps that all these Additions have a sort of rhythm to them. Later Additions do get longer, but with practice, you'll master them, too.

Bottom line: if you don't master the Additions, you're not going to make it very far.

One other feature in combat that I found to be useful is the Guard command. It's not just potions that heal you, but guarding, too. You not only get 10% of your health back, but you can also take half damage from enemies and avoid potential status ailments. I do make the characters guard when I have to, because it's a life saver.

Gameplay - Part 3: Dragoon Forms

Early on, Rose reveals to Dart that he can transform into a Dragoon thanks to the Dragoon Spirit that he carries around as his father's memento. What is a Dragoon, by the way? They are physical manifestations of a dragon's soul which give the wielder some powerful armor and abilities. Every party member eventually gets a Dragoon Spirit and they each have different abilities. It's also the only way to access magic in the game.

Once a character receives a Dragoon Spirit, an SP (Spirit Point) meter appears. You earn SP whenever you successfully attack an enemy, even more so with the Additions. Once the SP meter is full, you have a chance to transform into a Dragoon and unleash some powerful attacks. The special attacks do cost MP (Magic Points), so use them wisely. When you level up their Dragoon levels, more abilities will be unlocked and their MP and SP meters will increase, giving you more time to use their abilities before turning back to normal.

Going back to Shana and Miranda, I found them nearly useless due to their weak attacks. They are, however, useful with their Dragoon abilities. Compared to Rose and Meru, they have the strongest healing magic once you unlock them. Meru's healing magic is also pretty good, too, with Rose having the weakest one.

To better balance out the game (I guess), the Dragoon forms are a double-edged sword. While you do have access to powerful attacks, you cannot guard or use items. You also cannot manually transform back to normal; you just have to attack until your SP meter runs out. There are also a few boss fights that discourage you from using Dragoon forms due to a circumstance, so it kind of makes this a wasted ability at times.

Regardless, the Dragoon forms are a welcome addition to the game and they do make the battles interesting at times, even being lifesavers, too.

Cons

With all that is said about the gameplay and combat, are there other things that I do not like about The Legend of Dragoon? Well, for starters, the writing could have been a lot better. I'm not talking about the story, but the translation. Some of the writing can come off as robotic. How robotic? You know how Clank from the Ratchet & Clank series does not use contractions ("I do not understand" instead of "I don't understand")? This tends to pop up. There are also some spelling errors that can drive a grammar geek like myself up the wall. They weren't a detriment in the gameplay, but they were distracting.

Only 32 items?!

One other thing that bothered me is that your item inventory is limited. You can carry up to 255 weapons and armor, which is fine. It's the recovery and attack items that you're limited with. You can only carry up to 32. I find this to be detriment in some parts. There are moments during combat where a party member gets a status ailment like Poison or Fear, but I run out of Body and Mind Purifiers to cure them.

Because I can't carry more of those when the number is capped off, I can't open any chests that have recovery or attack items as a result. Sometimes I take a chance by discarding one item and hope that what I get from that chest is worth it.

This limitation became a problem for me when I entered this one dungeon. Unknown to me the first time, there are two paths that both lead to an artifact that the party is looking for. I took one path and ran into the optional boss of that area. I wasted some items during that fight as a result. Then, when I reached that artifact, the mandatory boss fight occurred and I was so low on items that I straight-up lost.

You'll probably ask if there's a shop in there or if you can exit the area to restock after that optional boss fight. The answer is no. I then decided to load my last save and take the second path instead. I wound up doing much better during that mandatory boss fight because of this. That's how much of a pain in the butt the limited item inventory is.

By the way, how is the random encounter rate? Pretty high. Even if you're on the World Map, if you so much as breathe, you'll be hit with a random battle. It does get pretty annoying, but as I said in my Final Fantasy VII review, I value every random encounter. It gives me a chance to earn money and level up the characters' stats.

Lastly, some boss fights do tend to drag. When it comes to facing a boss with over 10,000 HP, it wears on my patience and stresses me out. The final boss fight itself lasted about an hour for me. Also, take note that this is just the international release. When the game was first released in Japan, it was a bit harder due to some bosses having higher HP. The developers took note of the feedback and balanced out the difficulty for the international release. I feel so sorry for the Japanese players.

I just wish there was an ability in the game that lets you see how much HP an enemy or boss has. That cursor above their head during combat which changes colors is the closest thing to that. I had to look up the game's wiki just to see how much HP they have to better prepare myself.

Conclusion

Even with the flaws that I just mentioned, I couldn't put this game down. I had such a great time getting to know these characters, enjoying the unique combat system, and getting engrossed into this game's world. Those flaws that I mentioned, they're inconveniences that hardly leave a dent. As I'm writing this review, I feel like playing through the game again, but maybe in the near future.

The Legend of Dragoon is amazing. The story and characters are engaging, the gameplay is a lot of fun, it looks great for a PS1 game, and the music is great. Content-wise, it's a bit scarce, having a good share of optional boss fights. There is also the Stardust quest, where collecting them all is necessary to defeat the hardest boss in the game. It could have used for more extra content, but I'm betting it's because of technical limitations.

There are the issues that hold the game back a bit, so I think it's fitting that I give this a fair rating of...

GOOD OUTWEIGH THE BAD

It may not be SOMETHING WONDERFUL, but I still say that this is not only one of my favorite RPG's, but one of my favorite games, period. It's a shame that The Legend of Dragoon just came and went. To add insult to injury, Dart was actually planned to be a playable DLC character in PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale, but was cancelled due to low sales. Want proof? Here's his character model:

If you have any interest in playing this game, then do seek out a copy. It's also available for download on the PS3, PSP, and PS Vita.

However, I would love to see a remastered port on the PS4 or PS5. Just increase the resolution, avoid any potential input lag (which would screw up the Additions badly), tweak some of the dialogue to give them personality, and maybe add some bonus content like an art gallery or a behind the scenes documentary. I know just the right developers for the job: Bluepoint Games. They teased the idea of them working on a remaster. Given their track record, it would be great if they did. A remaster would be a good way to introduce a new generation of players to this game.

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