The Legend of Dragoon (Sony PlayStation 1, 2000)

Although dated now with newer generation models of games currently available, this game ranks as one of the highest role playing games (RPG). The player controls Dart, a young man whose village was destroyed when he was a child by the mysterious Black Monster. The adventure begins with Dart battling a dragon and other enemy forces. As the player progresses through the game, Dart befriends strong allies who accompany him on his journey.

The game play features a battle system in which characters learn different moves, in addition to regular attacks and magic attacks, that must be input using various button combinations. With practice, a person can master these moves and deal deadly damage.

The characters align with various elemental traits, such as water, wind, fire and earth. Eventually, the characters can use different dragon magic and the FMVs of the dragons are amazing!

The story woven is very intricate and wonderful, immersing the player in the world of the game. A player begins to understand and feel for the characters. The game tells a story of a boy maturing, betrayals, redemption, lost civilizations discovered, political intrigue and romance.

One should also try to find the elemental items for each character. Also, the completion of the side quests is highly recommended. They add more depth to the game and tell more of the game's back story.

I highly recommend this gaming experience. I envy those people who have yet to play it and will play it for the first time.

Legend of Dragoon is a classic by Sony. I have played a variety of RPG’s (Role playing games) over the past few years, and this game is one of my favorite’s alongside Final Fantasy 8 and Final Fantasy VII. I am not a fan of Sony RPG games, but after playing this game, I have a different perspective on Sony RPG produced titles.
The game begins with stunning animation and CG scenes you would not expect from Square during the time this game had been released. It is very evident that the software developers put their time and effort into the beautifully animated backgrounds and special animated effects.
Despite the difficulty of navigating through the dungeons and levels, they are completely well though out and designed. Although the scenes, animations, and levels are very well detailed, the character animations and drawings could have been improved. The corners and edges of figures and items seem choppy in my opinion. But, during this game release, and the years they spent working on Legend of Dragoon, the animation and CG tools were not as modern as they are today.
Similar to an other RPG Game, your single button attacks increase in damage as your level increases, in addition, you will receive more skill add-ons when you level up. One thing I thought that was quite odd (or maybe it’s just me), the battle animations and character CG seemed to improve as we progressed into the game and leveled the character.
Once you encounter the chance to transform into a Dragoon, the battle system play will change. In order to use Dragoon Attacks or Dragoon Magic, you will need to transform into a Dragoon. Surprisingly, Dragoon attacks does not do much more damage than any other normal Addition attacks, and I think are useless. However, performing Dragoon Magic is a different story. The strong attacks are visually appealing and blew my expectations out of proportion.
All in all, Sony had taken the Playstation technology and capability to a whole new level. What is so magical about Legend of Dragoon? You will have to play and find out. RPG fan’s will not be disappointed. And besides the gameplay, the cover art for this Game is very attractive and well drawn also. So if you didn’t like the game; enjoy the artwork. The Legend of Dragoon game will a live on as a “Legend” RPG. Bravo, Sony! Bravo!

The reason I bought this game was because when it first came out, which was around when I was maybe 6 or 7 idk, my uncle bought it for me as a b-day gift. I played it all day and fell in love with it, but for some reason it didn't want to work later in the 4th disc. After a few years, I opened up and ebay account and said, "What the hell, worth a shot to look for it here". When I found it, I felt excited as the day it was bought for me when I was young. The game got to my house so fast that I right away started to play it and up to this day I still play it because I'm stuck trying to beat Magician Faust, or whatever his name is. What I LIKE about the game is the story line, it is very interesting. It is something you cannot imagine of what people with swords, like in medieval times, and dragons can be combined together within a story that has magic, tension, times to fight for peace, times to fight for revenge, and such shocking things about the past. I LOVE how the combos are pretty tricky to do, because I like a challange, also I really LOVE how the dragoons were designed in the game along with their dragons, which are not your ordinary and/or basic looking fire breathing dragons. I also like how every person gets a dragoon spirit that is specialized with one element. Of course you can just kick the other's butt by using the opposite element like in pokemon, but it is a very creative game. If I have to say something that I dislike about the game, it would just be the way my players have to be armed with items to become more powerful. Some items raise your attack power, while lowering your defenses dramatically and others raise your points while being in human form then drops your dragoon form points by a lot and vise versa in other cases. I can deal with it, but it is just something I do not like much is all. If anyone likes final fantasy game then The Legend of Dragoon is a very good and similar game to try out. :D

The Legend of Dragoon is in many ways one of the best examples of a J-RPG done RIGHT! It's got an engaging story, believable characters, decent voice acting (which was VERY rare in the 90's) & a battle system reminiscent to games like Super Mario RPG.

The setting is midevil times as most RPGs are, & takes place loooong after a war called the Dragon Campaign. You play as Dart, Shana, Lavitz, Rose & a few other characters I won't name due to spoilers. The battle system is the greatest part of this game I feel. When your character starts an attack you will see a square in the middle of the screen. Soon after you'll see another square begin to spin towards the middle square, this is where it gets engaging. You must press the X button right as both squares overlap. When you do this successfully it is called an Addition.

As you gain levels you gain more additions & most of those additions can have increased attacks. The battle style & timing of the button presses are both visualy stylish & pleasing to pull off. You will be able to continue the attack (to a certain extent ofcourse) & increase the damage of the attack when you pull off successfull additions in the attack.

The story, places you visit, people you interact with & memorable music you hear all stay with you LOOOOONG after the end credits roll. I would say that Final Fantasy VI, Final Fantasy VIII, The Legend of Dragoon, Super Mario RPG & Chrono Trigger all rank among this highest of J-RPG's done excelently. The Legend of Dragoon is an RPG not to be missed by classic Role Playing fans. If Sony never adds this game to download off of the Playstation Network via ps3 or psp I HIIIIGHLY suggest you trackdown this game on whatever auction site or garage sale you find it at.

It is well worth the price but don't pay over $70 for it in my opinion. This is a classic example of RPG's in their prime & a great Gem for ANY collection. I hope you are able to find & enjoy a copy of this wonderous game soon. I've beatin it several times but lost my copy while moving so I am buying it...AGAIN & I don't regret the purchase!!

LOD is MY favorite, its my ONLY favorite game, i'm not kidding. It will always be my favorite. The soundtrack is alluring, i sleep to it at night sometimes. it is the ONLY game that has the best music in my opinion. The graphics are pretty average but the waters are BEAUTIFUL. The battle system is pretty stricked, becuase an enemy can't attack you while youre trying to prepare to do something, its either your turn or not. The story is RICH, whoever made it up is a freaken genius. There are 4 disks to this game, you have ALOT to do.

basically just give a brief summary, its about a young man who's trying to seek revenge and answers about the "black monster" who attacked his homeland and killed his parents 18 years ago. nobody really speaks of the black monster anymore since all the witnesses are dead and since its been almost two decades, but as he returned to town, he found that the place has been attacked and that his childhood friend, Shana, has been kidnapped by Hellena goons. apparently they discovered that Shana has a mysterious power that has to deal with "the moon that never sets" Meaning a Moon that stays in the sky day and night in their world. but along their journey they meet a woman who has an extreme knowlege about the events that happen around them. they each gruadually receive the powers of the PAST Dragoons that once lived 11000 years ago during the Dragon Campaign which was a war where humans tried to fight for their freedom against winglies, who were pretty much humans too but they had advanced powers, silver hair and the ability to fly. Dart has a BIG connection to that Dragon Campaign.

play the game and find out.