Story isn't great, loading times are pretty bad, the experience system is busted, voice acting is atrocious, but I still love this game. I'm a sucker for the Addition system.
Um jogo que me encantou quando eu era criança e não sabia nada de inglês. Como ele pode ser tão mágico assim? Algo ele tem. Agora depois de adulto, revivi duas aventuras(entendendo inglês) e pude entender o porquê dele ter me marcado tanto na infância. É uma aventura épica, com combate e narrativa dinâmica. Você não se cansa de nada, pelo contrário, é sempre supreendido por algo. Seja sobre a narrativa ou sobre a gameplay. 5/5. Quem gosta de RPG de turno, TEM QUE CONHECER essa obra prima.
Let me be upfront in saying I have some pretty extreme nostalgia bias for this game. That's not to say it doesn't deserve praise, but rather some of the warts involved aren't as off putting as they might be with another title. Outside of Pokemon this was my first JRPG. I first played around ages 9-10, and while I never beat it then (shout out to Lenus in disc 2 for being an absolute wall if you don't know how to fight her). So here's how revisiting a game that I haven't played in 20 years unfolded.
First off with the combat it's pretty impressive how well the that aspect of the game has aged. Having additions to time makes you always involved in the game, and later on during my play through I found myself in a flow state hitting the higher additions one after another. No other JRPG has ever engaged me in that same way, so props for that. Also, additions not just being "more button presses = higher damage" but adding in that some will instead restore your SP (the bar used to enter dragoon form) makes for an interesting tradeoff. Do you want to do more damage every turn, or do you want to spend more time in dragoon form? The nice thing is each character will have a different preference as they all have a pretty unique feel. The early game saw me using the physical attacking Lord Albert, who has fewer additions than most but hits like a truck. Dart is, of course, not able to be changed out. He fills the role of an all around attacker, and you can change up whether or not he focuses more on being the heavy hitter with additions or the dragoon magic user. Lastly, I had rose who did have some nice early utility with her first dragoon spell that damages the enemy while healing part of that damage back to your party. Later into the game I would get the plucky Meru, and she would replace Rose for the rest of the game. And Meru is a great example of how fun character builds can be in this game. Late game I equipped her with the MP ring ( gives you MP every turn unless you're in Dragoon form), and the pretty hammer. The combination of these two made it very quick to build the SP bar up, along with restoring essential MP along the way. Which is really necessary since Meru makes for a wonderful healer, and it's needed in some of the boss fights in the game. And props to The Legend of the Dragoon for having some interesting boss fights. Some of them feature a mechanic that punish you for staying in dragoon form for more than a turn, which makes for an dynamic of building up just a singular level at a time rather than trying to stay in dragoon form as long as possible. Also, one thing I really appreciate is the character menu looks fantastic, and the music that plays is pretty iconic.
It's not all stardust and dragoon stones though. This game does suffer some quality of life issues with it being a PS1 era game. Things like random encounters mixed with no fast travel till the last part of the game means you will be revisiting A LOT of levels that you've already been through. Multiple times over. One other odd system is you can only have 30 total items in your item inventory. I specify item inventory because this doesn't include any items that can be equipped. This does mean you're limited on how many potions, revives, SP and MP refills, along with any kind of status condition relievers. Thankfully these issues aren't too egregious, and never take away from how enjoyable of an experience The Legend of Dragoon can be.
The story is nothing too original even for it's time. It goes off the rails and jumps the shark somewhat in the later game, but it's ok enough to be engaging. The characters themselves are a lot more interesting to me than the overall story. The whole cast (with an exception or two) have some kind of main trope that they fulfill, but the game does a good job of adding another layer of sub story to each of these characters. And the music! Every single track in here is an absolute banger. Some people may be get tired of hearing the same tracks used throughout the game, but all of the tracks are so well done.
TLDR- Legend of Dragoon shows it's age with some missing quality of life features, but really thrives in having an engaging combat system that withstands the test of time. The story is nothing new, but the characters themselves are quite enjoyable. Any fan of traditional JRPGs should absolutely play this one.
First off with the combat it's pretty impressive how well the that aspect of the game has aged. Having additions to time makes you always involved in the game, and later on during my play through I found myself in a flow state hitting the higher additions one after another. No other JRPG has ever engaged me in that same way, so props for that. Also, additions not just being "more button presses = higher damage" but adding in that some will instead restore your SP (the bar used to enter dragoon form) makes for an interesting tradeoff. Do you want to do more damage every turn, or do you want to spend more time in dragoon form? The nice thing is each character will have a different preference as they all have a pretty unique feel. The early game saw me using the physical attacking Lord Albert, who has fewer additions than most but hits like a truck. Dart is, of course, not able to be changed out. He fills the role of an all around attacker, and you can change up whether or not he focuses more on being the heavy hitter with additions or the dragoon magic user. Lastly, I had rose who did have some nice early utility with her first dragoon spell that damages the enemy while healing part of that damage back to your party. Later into the game I would get the plucky Meru, and she would replace Rose for the rest of the game. And Meru is a great example of how fun character builds can be in this game. Late game I equipped her with the MP ring ( gives you MP every turn unless you're in Dragoon form), and the pretty hammer. The combination of these two made it very quick to build the SP bar up, along with restoring essential MP along the way. Which is really necessary since Meru makes for a wonderful healer, and it's needed in some of the boss fights in the game. And props to The Legend of the Dragoon for having some interesting boss fights. Some of them feature a mechanic that punish you for staying in dragoon form for more than a turn, which makes for an dynamic of building up just a singular level at a time rather than trying to stay in dragoon form as long as possible. Also, one thing I really appreciate is the character menu looks fantastic, and the music that plays is pretty iconic.
It's not all stardust and dragoon stones though. This game does suffer some quality of life issues with it being a PS1 era game. Things like random encounters mixed with no fast travel till the last part of the game means you will be revisiting A LOT of levels that you've already been through. Multiple times over. One other odd system is you can only have 30 total items in your item inventory. I specify item inventory because this doesn't include any items that can be equipped. This does mean you're limited on how many potions, revives, SP and MP refills, along with any kind of status condition relievers. Thankfully these issues aren't too egregious, and never take away from how enjoyable of an experience The Legend of Dragoon can be.
The story is nothing too original even for it's time. It goes off the rails and jumps the shark somewhat in the later game, but it's ok enough to be engaging. The characters themselves are a lot more interesting to me than the overall story. The whole cast (with an exception or two) have some kind of main trope that they fulfill, but the game does a good job of adding another layer of sub story to each of these characters. And the music! Every single track in here is an absolute banger. Some people may be get tired of hearing the same tracks used throughout the game, but all of the tracks are so well done.
TLDR- Legend of Dragoon shows it's age with some missing quality of life features, but really thrives in having an engaging combat system that withstands the test of time. The story is nothing new, but the characters themselves are quite enjoyable. Any fan of traditional JRPGs should absolutely play this one.