Way Back Wednesday: Legend of Dragoon

The Legend of Dragoon is a role-playing game, released for the PSX on June 11, 2000 and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. For the time in which the game was released, the graphics were still blocky but getting better. The music score is beautiful and still to this day, I can hear the music of certain instances playing in my head. The character development is also something that, I believe, is lacking in a vast majority of the games in this day and age.

The Legend of Dragoon centers around a fighter named Dart and his trials as he travels the world. The player is immediately brought into a bleak situation as Dart's hometown is on fire, set by the Sandoran army, and the hero finds himself being attacked by a giant green dragon. Dart is saved by a woman in black who mentions that Seles was attacked, causing the hero to run towards his hometown. Finding the city in ruins, the player is forced to battle their way to the captain and this is where it gets interesting!

The battle system for The Legend of Dragoon is absolutely unique. None of the characters can actually cast magic, and are forced to use weapons and items to defeat a lot of enemies. However, after a certain time, the characters can turn into Dragoon's which can then cast magic as well as attack differently. The first thing in combat a player will realize, when they attack, is a small white box in the center of the screen. Another box also comes in from outside the screen, shrinking until it disappears into the center of the smaller box as well. This is what makes or breaks a character. This box is what helps the player form 'Additions', or simply put, additional attacks leading into a stronger attack. When it comes to battle, attacking both in and out of Dragoon form as well as 'spell-like' items require accurate button pushing, making a unique feel to the game.

Once the battle in Seles is over, Dart learns that his childhood friend Shana was taken to Helena prison. Of course, Dart can't sit back and let the enemy have her. Entering Helena prison reveals more of the special mechanics of the game. When there is a ladder nearby or a small event that requires Dart to move, a yellow diamond shape with an exclamation mark will appear over his head. This tells the player to press the corresponding button in order to have Dart move.

Throughout the game. Dart meets new friends and old enemies. The tale of The Legend of Dragoon is told over four discs with more twists, turns, and agonizing losses on each disc. I highly recommend this game to anyone who enjoys role-playing games as it's one of the best I've ever played. The Legend of Dragoon walks away with a 9.5/10, close to perfect again! The only real negative to The Legend of Dragoon is how hard it can be for players to adapt to the battle system. Apart from the difficult learning curve, the game itself is flawless.

That's it for this week's Way Back Wednesday, stay tuned for more. Don't forget to comment to let us know what games you would like to see, or what you think about a review, and subscribe to get updates every time we put new content up.