Besides the Final Fantasy series there have been few rpgs that graced the PS1 that gamers still play and enjoy to this day. Even fewer titles still demand a sequel from a loyal following.
Take Sony’s Legend of Dragoon.
Released in Japan on Dec 2nd 1999, North America on June 11th ’00 and Europe January 19th in EU, Legend of Dragoon recieved mixed reviews from critics. Despite the critic’s response to the game, LoD managed to create a cult following mainly in the west where LoD is currently 40,000 shy of breaking the 1million sold mark in North America. In comparison, only 280k copies have been sold in Japan to this day.
To be honest, the first time I heard of LoD was by word -of-mouth several years ago by someone calling the game a ‘masterpiece’. That being the case, I’ll let someone who has played the game share why LoD needs to be revisited:
I’ll gladly explain to you why I’m currently enjoying this RPG more than any other RPG I’ve ever played in the past:
1) The characters: While the translation is shakey, the characters have a manner of speaking to one another that I find really refreshing. Had a better localization team handled the translation, it would have been much more interesting.
2) The World: I’ve heard the argument that everything beyond Disc 1 was ‘tacked on’, and I strongly disagree. I love how they paced this story…they give every plot element and backdrop in the game time to permeate the player’s mind. The Serdian War in chapter 1 was intense, and now that I’m on disc 2, I’m driven to see the next part of the story.
3) The Battle System: I love the idea of additions. I find that Dragoon forms and human counterparts are well-balanced (aside from the end-game revelation that regular additions are WAY more powerful than each character’s Dragoon form…). Magic is powerful and useful, but it’s not like in other RPGs where you need to use it every few battles and run out of MP during boss fights. It’s almost like a limit break that’s a pain in the ass to abuse.
Regular enemies can be dispatched with skillful execution of Additions, and give such little EXP/Gold that grinding levels and/or over-equipping your party members are not only not viable, they’re not even options. You have to get better at timing additions. The better you get, the more accessible they are, and the more applications they have (fewer hits for ease of use, more SP for Dragoon building, more damage for boss-fights/dispatching tougher enemies).
Dragoon Magic is necessary to help out in boss fights, and is not only practical, it’s almost a must, just to see a powerful boss fall to their knees in awe of your power. Considering how hard it is to abuse _ANYTHING_ in this game, I don’t find the miniscule MP values insulting at all. I hate some of the “hardcore” RPGs that think challenge means sending you into a dungeon, having you run out of MP due to having to cure your party members 20 times on the way to the boss, then turn around halfway to go rest at an Inn and start the journey all over again.
This game’s difficulty isn’t condescending to a player’s intelligence. It makes you practice to get better, not to extend the gameplay through monotony.
4) Optionals: Although I love games that give you more mini-games and areas to explore as optionals, and tend to hate games that have optional content such as palette swapped enemies, this game handles the latter better than I’ve ever seen.
4, 5, and 6 HP enemies that require strategic thought and patience to defeat make the game more exhilarating. For the first time in RPG history I’m not hoping that the enemy’s overpowered status-detriment misses my whole group, or that I randomly run into a random encounter and randomly receive a random peice of random treasure. I get the reward for figuring out HOW to kill the enemies before they escape.
Couple that with a very nicely-calculated encounter rate, and I’m a happy pappy.
5) The graphics: For its time, the graphics were pretty. Even now I’m impressed. The CG is incredible, even if the motion capture kind of sucks.
6) The story: I think the story is fantastic. It’s very deep and detailed. There’s a lot of history in Endiness, and it’s extremely well-told, even if mistranslated at times.
Quoted from a user at GameFaqs named JoloStuki. You’ll also find LoD has quite a following at Gamefaqs.
With game developers nowadays showing caution before concidering sinking resources into the rpg genre this gen ,unless it’s Final Fantasy, I think it’s time for Sony to take advantage of the overlooked genre and give gamers the rpg experiance they’ve been craving for. Staring with a next gen remake of Legend of Dragoon.
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I agree, LoD was a great game back in the day. Sony needs to capitalize on a great IP and make a sequel. LoD is one of many great RPG IP’s Sony had back in the day.
I see you haven’t played the game fully
At end of disc 2 dragoon form will make your game crash (black screen + sound) – it’s main disadvantage of this game.
Second one is item limit. Fix the issues, remove stupid item limit and game will kick-ass for those who likes classic rpg’s where you can spend hours of thinking about tactics instead of quick button mashing to change form (or whatever it’s called in FF 13).
i whole heartedly agree
i never got to finish the game, a friend borrowed it and i havent seen it for 6 years
that friend moved
i wish i could still play this
the game really was a masterpiece
Wonderful game would be on full board to buy a sequel or a remake. Loved the story and was a strong rpg game in the world of 2000 where if it wasn’t final fantasy no one cared about it. It had one of the best battle system ever seen in a rpg. Strong story as well even if the dialogue is rough at times.
This game is one of my favorite JRPG ever, I love the story I love the transformations I love the battle system I love the design on everything characters/towns/landscapes this game is like anything ppl have see back then, and it’s truly a shame that SONY never make a sequel.. we r talking for a game with 2 million sales!!! 500k JPN / 1m US / 500k EU we see everyday crappy game release that dont sell even 100k… why SONY abandon this MASTERPIECE to rot and forgotten?
who are the gamers?!
sorry, half of gamers don’t even have time for this trash game or don’t even know wtf it is!
Sony make a better sick game instead that everyone knows!
i played this game on a best buy demo disk, and from what i played i loved it all
careful… I’m not buying a remake. misleading it is to lead sony to believe I would.
I don’t want a remake. I want a prequel set during the ancient war that Rose and the other Dragoons was it. The Human Revolution.
Yes we do, I thought I was the only one that liked it though. At the very least release it on psOne classics so I can take it with my on my Go
i would finance its development just to have the chance to play a sequel! LOD was awesome, one of my favourite game of all time
I don’t think Sony will ever produce a sequel or remake, sadly. They seem to be focused on the shooter genre this gen.
Of course everyone can spam Sony with some emails demanding LoD gets some next gen attention.
this is the best game for ps1 ever……..its like a god ….. the story alone is a full 10 points……i dont want a remake i want a part 2
Um…what? The story is pointless, the characters are entirely forgettable, the music is second-rate, and worst of all, the battle system is mindless. There is NO strategy. If Sony wants to make a remake of a rhythm game, they’re better off with Frequency.
I disagree. I beileve people didnt give this game a chance. It is the best game i have ever played even after a decade and even if there are people that dont like it, dont comment on here then, its none of your concern i you dont care if they make one. To the people that do want one post. Cause i am sorry, but that game, no matter what anyone says, is amazing, and sony is messing up for not remaking it or anything, cause there are alot of people who love it. Its characters are amazing, each has its own personality and past, the story is great and its long and indepth. The battle system is AMAZING. I love the differnt cool additions. Final fantasy is so random and barely mkes any sense. Not saying its not good, i have never played it, but its weird. LOD is a classic and for its time had great graphics, horrible voice over, but great grpahics, and the music is AMAZING!
One can only hope. I hope this guess remade.
Yes. This game must be remade. It is one of my all time favourites, I agree, people didn’t give this game a chance, it has an epic story line, great fighting system (I don’t care what anyone says, the additions kick ass) and they’re much, much better than the generic “hit button, character generically attacks enemy” crap. The music for each town/battle/dungeon or just any situation was just great. I agree with some previous statements, the translations could be a bit better, but that didn’t take much away from the game at all. What did kinda bugged me was the voice overs and the characters saying the name of their attack every time they completed an addition. Other than that, I don’t really have any complaints. The amount of bag spaces was too low. But I have to say, without a doubt, that this is one of the greatest games I’ve ever played. I hope that it not only gets remade, but they don’t screw it up.
Someone should create a Facebook page for a remake of Legend of Dragoon. Facebook usually gets the ball rolling.
i play mostly sports games madden, mlb, fifa ect but i can honestly say this is the best game ive ever played on any system i loved every min of it the story is so in depth it kinda long but i love that about it i was 11 years old playing this game till 4am trying to beat it (witch i have several times) i would love to see a prequil or sequal idc just make another one its 50x over the best game ive ever played