Sony Computer Entertainment released The Legend of Dragoon in Japan in December 1999, North America in June 2000, and Europe in January 2001. The role-playing game had a development budget of over $16 million, a notably high figure for the era. Production began in 1996 and spanned three years, with a team of more than one hundred people. Reviewers differed in their assessment, and many of them unfavorably compared it to the Final Fantasy series.
The game sold more than one million copies worldwide, with most sales coming from North America. An album of the soundtrack followed in 2000, along with a novel and a manga inspired by the game. A 2023 release brought it to PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 with up-rendering, rewind, quick save, and custom video filters.
A World Called Endiness
The Legend of Dragoon takes place in Endiness, a high fantasy world with a Middle Ages look and fantasy elements such as magic and dragons. Humans live as farmers. Dragons look like winged creatures and possess Dragon Spirits. Winglies are an aggressive species that can fly, and 10,000 years before the start of the game they enslaved humans.
After obtaining the help of Dragons, Humans became Dragoons to defeat the Winglies. At the time of the game’s events, they live in relative peace.
Nine characters are playable. Dart is the main protagonist, a warrior searching for the Black Monster. Shana is his childhood friend and love interest. Rose is a warrior who teaches Dart how to fight as a Dragoon. Albert is the king of Basil, a duchy within the game, and Lavitz is one of his knights. Meru is a Wingly dancer. Kongol is a Giganto, a giant-like human, and the last of his species alive. Haschel is an elderly martial artist searching for his daughter, and Miranda is a headstrong retainer of Queen Theresa.
The antagonists are just as crowded. Lloyd, a Wingly swordsman, is the central antagonist. Emperor Doel rules the southern part of Serdio. A Wingly bandit named Lenus appears. Melbu Frahma, former ruler of the Winglies and all of Endiness, sits behind it all.
Dart Postpones His Quest
Dart has been travelling the world in search of the Black Monster, an entity that killed his parents when he was a child. He is travelling to his home when a dragon attacks him. Rose saves him and informs him that an army has attacked his home.
He arrives to find the town destroyed and Shana taken to a prison. Dart sets aside his hunt for the Black Monster to rescue her. With Lavitz’s help he does it, and King Albert then sends the party to defend the fort-city of Hoax.
During a surprise attack, Rose helps Dart gain the ability to transform into a Dragoon. She reveals she can transform too. The fort holds, but Lloyd has kidnapped King Albert and taken the Moon Gem, an ancient artifact held by the Royal Family.
The king is rescued. Lloyd kills Lavitz and escapes with the Moon Gem. The party learns Lloyd is collecting similar artifacts from royalty across the continent and decides to stop him. They fail to stop him from getting all three.
Lloyd offers to bring the party to the person directing him, Emperor Diaz. Diaz explains that during the Wingly reign 10,000 years ago, a creature called the Virage Embryo, also known as the God of Destruction, came to the world.
Additions Carry the Combat
Combat uses a combination of turn-based mechanics and real-time commands. A maximum of three characters are used in each battle. On a party member’s turn, the player chooses a command: attacking with a weapon, guarding to recover health, using items, or running away.
When the attack option is selected, a quick time event mechanic called “addition” is activated. Two blue squares appear on the screen and start to converge. If the player presses a button when the squares overlap, the character will continue the addition and do more damage.
Characters gain access to multiple additions over the course of the game, which have longer chains and deal more damage. The longer additions, however, allow enemies the opportunity to counter, and the player needs to press a different button to continue their attack.
The rest of the structure is linear. The game features three modes of play: the area map, the field, and the battle screen. In the first mode, players explore the world by following predetermined routes on a linear 3D map, with towns and dungeons at the end of each route. The player can access new routes and areas as the plot progresses.
In field mode, the player navigates fully scaled versions of the locations represented on the area map, superimposed on pre-rendered backgrounds. The player can explore the environment, interact with characters and advance the story. At important story moments, the game will explain plot elements using CGI clips.
The Dragoon Transformation
Through different story events, each playable character gains the ability to transform into a Dragoon, a tool used to gain additional abilities and a greater power to defeat enemies. The game also lets players control a wide variety of characters that wield unique weapons and Dragoon attacks powered by the elements.
The cast lines up like this:
- Dart, the swordsman hunting the Black Monster
- Shana, his childhood friend
- Rose, the warrior who trains him
- Albert, king of Basil, and Lavitz, his knight
- Meru, a Wingly dancer, and Kongol, the last Giganto
- Haschel, the martial artist, and Miranda, Queen Theresa’s retainer
What the Re-Release Adds
The 2023 version on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 is listed with up-rendering, rewind, quick save, and custom video filters. Up-rendering enhances the visuals. Rewind undoes mistakes. Quick save lets players stop anywhere. Custom video filters let them soften the image.
The addition system demands timing, and the longer chains punish a missed input with an enemy counter. Rewind gives players a way back from a botched addition.
What the re-release does not change is the structure. The area map still runs on predetermined routes, field exploration still sits over pre-rendered backgrounds, and CGI clips still carry the big plot beats.
A Million Copies and a Long Argument
The Legend of Dragoon sold more than one million copies worldwide, with most sales coming from North America. A soundtrack album was released in 2000, as well as a novel and manga inspired by the game. None of that turned into a sequel.
Reviewers differed in their assessment of the game, although many unfavourably compared it to the Final Fantasy series. That split is the most telling detail in the record. A game with a budget over $16 million, three years of production, more than one hundred people on the team, and a million-plus in sales still could not settle the argument about whether it worked.
The addition system is the part worth watching. It takes the turn-based command menu and adds a real-time demand on top, then raises the stakes by letting enemies counter the longer chains. Few RPGs of the era asked for hands as well as decisions.
The 2023 release is a port with quality-of-life tools. Whether that is enough depends on what a player wants from a game that reviewers never agreed on in the first place.
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