Legend of Dragoon is an RPG released in 2000 by Sony. Even though Dragoon takes conceptual design ideas from other games, namely Final Fantasy 7 and 8, it is ultimately a genuine, original game that is intellectual, challenging, deep, and fun.
The battle system sticks out a lot. Dragoon has a unique “twist” on the traditional turn-based RPG set up. Each character gets their turn like normal but when attacking there is a string of combos or additions as they are called in the game to put together to get greater damage. The concept works because of the gradual accumulation of damage given. If you put together 5 of the possible 7 additions, you don't miss your turn completely you just do damage equal to 5 hits instead of 7. I was always trying to complete the additions but I never felt bad if I missed because I was still doing substantial amounts of damage. Completing the addition to its fullest is recommended because with every 20 successes your addition will gain a level and thus become even stronger. This is a novel concept because it makes random battles go by faster which is desperately needed with how slow the battles can be. The load time is only a few seconds but it is noticeable. Once in battle there is always a brief pause before characters turns are granted. This is a slight technical problem not a conceptual one.
The game opens with an amazing FMV that has a wonderful sense of shadowy foretelling.
The story is incredible. First of all it is very easy to understand. The concept is so simple to understand. Unlike many RPG's where things get so convoluted with ideas that go over the head so easily, Legend of Dragoon is able to keep the epic feeling that an RPG should have but is able to do so in a way that is easy to grasp. The story is very character driven.
Dart the lead character is pretty easy to understand. His motivation is very upfront. However, there is sudden shift that transfers the focus of his motivation to something else making him abandon his previous intentions. How he deals with that is what creates his heroic presence and justifies his role as the lead character. The main conflict slowly unfolds in a traditional way that works, unlike some games which seem to take this route only to drop a sudden and asinine plot twist that ruins the entire of complexion of the game.
The game has a wonderful ending. I expected something a little bit bigger but I won't complain. The ending exemplifies the desperation that the party feels throughout the story and matches their will and determination to get what they want.
Here is just a preview of the game. It's originol Trailer.
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