super long load times and the racing itself is very stiff, would rather just watch the cutscenes somewhere

(edit)
tried giving it one more chance yeah the gameplay is so asscheeks I can't bring myself to try and muscle through it

Just play Ridge Racer Type 4 everyone this was better off being left in Japan

A little jank but I think it was supposed to be a partial love letter to street racing of 80s and 90s. Due to time, it has now become a love letter to the late 90s fantasy. They left their mark on the streets of time. Such a joy to hear and look at the whole time. I did not like getting locked out of the last race and not having ANY clue what to do, I just needed to get good!! But quality writing and Bosozoku’d Evos/Limos/Trucks got me to the end. DREAMING ON THE ROAD. THE LEGEND OF SHOU AKASAKI WILL NEVER DIE.

holy hot diggity dog damn. I definitely have never played anything like this before in my life, for better or for worse. First off, if you are even remotely averse to grinding, this game will not be for you. Racing games as a genre are inherently grindy as you hone your skills by doing the same courses over and over, and this being an RPG version of that same exact gameplay means theres a WHOOOOLE lot of grindin going on. Theres also a fair amount of padding in the fact that the optional missions aren't as optional as you might think (don't slack on those UORs buddy). With all that being said, you might be surprised as to why I gave this such a high score, and that high score is purely off of memorability. I am definitely not going to forget my time I had spent in Yokohama and Hakone playing this game. Not only was the environmental design and overall visuals extremely unique and the 3D rendered courses look phenomenal for PS1, but also the soundtrack is incredibly vibin and most of all, the plot is absolutely insane in this game. There is no way you will ever predict how the game is going to go with all of its twists and turns making the plot the absolute biggest driving force for progress, even if the grind can be kinda annoying at times. For freshness alone, I don't think I'll ever forget this game without a doubt. Must play for any racing fan that can tolerate the grind.

I’m not the biggest fan of JRPG’s, I barely play them or have interest in them whatsoever, or have time to play them properly. HOWEVER the moment someone told me about a game where i could put a Testarrosa engine on a AWD, Group C 240z, and race it against a bus and steal their entire frame, i was fully in.

Racing Lagoon was a game released all way back in ‘99 𝙚𝙭𝙘𝙡𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙡𝙮 on Japan (So… we had to wait a LONG time for someone to translate it, thanks to Hilltop for that)

So, what’s Racing Lagoon, to keep it clear, it’s a JRPG with Racing Games elements (A very janky and weird racing game) i won't go on FULL IN DEPTH on what’s the history is about (Trust me, i don’t want to ruin it) but, i’ll keep it simple

- You’re 𝗦𝗵𝗼 𝗔𝗸𝗮𝘀𝗮𝗸𝗶 (or however you want to call the protagonist, it’s up to you), a Street Racing driver, part of the Team Bay Lagoon crew, and on the entire plot, you’ll see some shenanigans through the whole 12 nights the plot is divided, you’ll meet other crews and characters to race and chat with (All narrated with the most janky and weirdly chapped 3D models you could see…), and beat other drivers to level up your car, parts and more.

I want to make emphasis on the “UPGRADING your car” part, cuz that was the key selling point for me, so… Here's the thing, the way you tune your car it’s similar to how you level up your party on a RPG, each night you can go around through all the city (from an aerial and simplified view) to scout around on point of interest to advance the plot, OR to beam your lights to ANY car you see, to challenge it on a one-to-one race (that doesn’t take more than 1 minute sometimes) beat it you win RP and 1 experience point for each MAIN part of your car (Engine, Chassis and Body) and the chance to pick one part of the opponent you have beaten (If you have enough RP - Really, it’s important to farm some RP for the really good and spicy parts) but if you lose, pray if the other driver doesn’t take one of yours

Each time you level up on of you MAIN parts, you can put more parts of your cars, for example, on your Engine you can put Turbos, ECU’s system and all the car nerd stuff that makes the car have more Horsepower, then the Chassis is mostly on how the car handles, the engine position, and the traction of it (If is Front Wheel Drive, All Wheel Drive, if it has the engine on the middle, you get the drill) and you can put Weight Reductions or Ballasts, Tieres, etc. And lastly the Body, basically how the car looks and the downforce of it and some simple cosmetics, and all parts (well… most of them) will have a significant part of how the car weights, fells, drives and all that (This is the impressive part, we’re talking about a 1999 game, and the only racing game from that time that has a decent tuning system it’s Gran Turismo 2, but Racing Lagoon REALLY takes the spot for it) and you can go through the game with some crazy builds, and you don’t even have to know too much about cars to make something decent (Well, i lied a bit here, you might need a 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘵 of basic knowledge of cars if you want something extremely OP and don’t ruin the build in the process)

Now with the physics (And well… it hit or miss) if you played Ridge Racer Type 4 or Rage Racer, you might feel at home, but it’s janky, the game it’s heavily “drift focused” so, sometimes you can take a corner easily OR, you could slam the handbrake and go for a drift and gain a speed light speed boost (idk why, but, it’s cool). if you crash into another car the game pushes you, and if you hit a wall, say goodbye to all your momentum, so now you know why i said it was more of a JRPG with Racing Game elements, rather than a Racing Game with JRPG elements, but i don’t deny it’s quite fun and pretty much friendly to everyone.

And just on a light note, the soundtrack it’s really good, few songs but they’re pretty good

To summarize, you should play it? YES, please, don’t care if you don’t know about cars, it’s a really unique experience (that, let’s be honest, it’s not gonna be for everyone) but for some people who are looking for something different (From the fans of RPG’s or the ones who loves racing games) it’s not a NFS High Stakes, Gran Turismo 2 or Ridge Racer Type 4, but damn it was a good run. Give it a shot if you have a spare 20 hours (People who plays RPG’s tell me this is a short one… so, go ahead)

I had never heard about this game until I saw news a few months ago that it had gotten a full fan translation, but after reading up on it I knew it would be something I'd absolutely need to give a look. This game is undeniably cool; a driving-based JRPG that is perhaps one of the most soulful games I've ever experienced. I love mostly everything about it from an aesthetic standpoint and I already knew what a fantastic soundtrack it had going in, which certainly did not disappoint. The storytelling is dated but charming, and was absolutely hitting those Initial D vibes that I had secretly hoped it would; hell, the main character even starts the game with a variation of THE CAR so they clearly knew what they were doing in that department.

Unfortunately I can't say the same for actually playing it, which is why this cool piece of gaming history will go unfinished for me. As soon as you feel the car's handling you instantly know it's a little off, and despite many hours of trying to get the hang of things, the end result was that I couldn't vibe with it. Races can be absolutely brutal as well, with even minor bumps into obstacles or other vehicles sending your car to a screeching halt and ruining all chance of catching up. The game demands almost absolute perfection from you, unless you want to do the classic JRPG staple of grinding (in this case for better car parts), which I might have been down for if the game was more fun or approachable. Sadly, it wasn't, so while I personally couldn't see this through to the end, your mileage may vary.

--A WORLD BEYOND SPEED--

"Hidden Gem" is a term I believe to be thrown around way too frequently in the gaming community, rarely ever being used in a way I would say its "properly" applicable.

Racing Lagoon is a Hidden Gem, and also straight up one of the coolest video games ever made.

Finally being playable in English thanks to the hard work from the people over at Hilltop, Racing Lagoon is a stylish, raw, and just phenomenal racing based RPG made by prime Square during their insane PS1 days. Presentation is off the charts visually and sonically. The stealing parts mechanic keeps the gameplay engaging throughout the games whole runtime and the world kept opening and expanding to a point where I was just like "why did I only hear about this a month ago?"

The world of Racing Lagoon might be its most notable aspect. Yokohama just feels like home and all of its inhabitants are just so charming. The writing and story, while they go some out there places by the end, is consistently engaging and overall is just a very fun ride, with all your shenanigans you would expect from a Square RPG from this era.

if at any point you read me rambling about my love for this game and found it interesting, then please, do yourself and the game a favor and give it a shot, we need more Lagooners in the world.

Racing Lagoon is undoubtedly one of the coolest video games I have ever played. Literally every single screen and piece of dialogue culminates in a sleek, artistic aesthetic of its own domain. Characters have shonen-esque appearances, upheld by their hip, slang filled street talk, and even at times poetic speech styles thanks to the brilliant English translation provided by Hilltop and the rest of the crew that helped bring such an underrated gem into the light of Western audiences.

Gameplay is a mixture of high speed drift racing, with the addition of JRPG elements such as vehicle upgrades and customization that is surprisingly in-depth and far more involved than simply equipping a better engine or cooler looking body onto your car. Building the proper vehicle requires analysis and consideration depending on the challenge that awaits you on the road.

The story itself absorbs you into the moody and heated rivalry of street racing teams competing for the title of “Yokohama’s Fastest Legend” in Japan’s 1990s nightlife. In addition to the beautiful presentation of Racing Lagoon, I immediately fell in love with its jazzy and techno soundtrack, one that I consider to be a favorite of any video game score.

There is very little that this game suffers from. Times where you might feel lost in the winding streets of Yokohama’s cityscapes are deliberate, and exploring various gang hangout spots and street corners are necessary to progress further into the plot. What starts off as the exciting progression of Sho Akasaki’s street racing career soon unveils a darker, more disturbing tale of loss and misidentity in typical Squaresoft fashion.

Put simply, my experience with this game went beyond my initial excitement when I first found out that Squaresoft developed a racing JRPG for the PS1 with a jazz soundtrack and anime aesthetic. Racing Lagoon is impressively ahead of it’s time in many regards, and fans of Square or JRPGs in general need to look into this game.

i never knew how much i needed a High Speed Driving RPG until now. fully customizable vehicles both in stats and visuals by using parts that you buy from shops or loot from beaten racers. a world map you traverse by cruising the night streets. encounters with other racers happen as you're driving around the world map, but they're initiated by speeding drivers flashing their headlights at you. you can also flash your headlights at absolutely anyone, racer or not, and start a race. such a【COOL】and thematically appropriate alternative to the usual rpg encounters.

racing lagoon is a masterclass in presentation. the music, the backdrops, the cutscenes full to the brim with style, and the protagonist's cheesy & poetic monologues all come together to create an atmosphere that pulls you into this world of street racing. and man, this story. nothing groundbreaking, but i would never have expected something like it from a game about a bunch of street racers.

seriously fantastic game all around.