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The Legend of Dragoon

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The Legend of Dragoon
North American box art
Developer(s)SCEI
Publisher(s)Sony Computer Entertainment
Designer(s)Yasuyuki Hasebe
Composer(s)Dennis Martin, Takeo Miratsu
Platform(s)PlayStation
Genre(s)Console role-playing games
Mode(s)Single-player

The Legend of Dragoon is a console role-playing game developed and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation. It was released in Japan on December 2, 1999, in North America on June 11, 2000, and on January 19, 2001 in Europe.

Gameplay

The Legend of Dragoon features three modes of play: the world map, the field map, and battle mode. The world map is linear with the controlled character's movements, which is then limited to dotted lines from place to place. The field map is used whenever the player enters a town, dungeon, or landmark. It consists of 3D characters on a 2D pre-rendered background. Animations are overlaid to create motion such as the movement of water or light effects. Battle mode is a 3D field that complements the current field map. Turn-based battles occur in this between playable characters and CPU-controlled enemies. Standard actions such as attack, magic, defend, item and escape are present and implemented in various ways.

Additions

The Additions combat system was a new system that was implemented in Legend of Dragoon which crossed a new boundary within turn based combat games. While new and challenging, the addition system was criticized for requiring too much precision at times, especially later on near the end of the game where additions became more complex and required more speed and hand eye co-ordination. After a party member obtained a Dragoon Spirit, they would also gain Spirit Points from the successful completion of these additions, which would allow them to use their Dragoon Spirits in battle.

Additions, like characters, could become stronger with repeated use, granting added benefits such as more damage or more Spirit Points gained per strike. Every playable character within the game (with the exception of two) can use additions, with each character having varying speeds to their attacks making their additions harder or easier to execute than others.

Items

Items in The Legend of Dragoon are very similar to those found in other games of the same type. There are many items available to the player, each having their own use from healing potions to items that will cause damage during battles. These items can either be purchased from merchants within the game or can be found or dropped during battles that take place.

Like the addition system, the item system did receive a unique change which set it apart from other games of the same type. These items take the shape of various attack spells, with each spell having an element attached to it which may do more or less damage depending on what it is used on. These items can either target a single enemy or a group of enemies, with two archetypes which are single and multiplier items. Single items attack with a set power and do a set amount of damage varied by the type of enemy it is used on, whereas multipliers can be made more powerful by the player.

Dragoon

All playable characters eventually receive a Dragoon Spirit. This item allows a character to transform into a more powerful form, a Dragoon. These are powerful beings with the ability to control dragons and use powerful magic. There are different Dragoon Spirits that have different elements such as light, fire, water, and darkness. Upon transforming, various stats are increased depending on the character; they also have access to powerful magic spells that use MP rather than items. However, the character loses the ability to use items, guard, or escape, and reverting to normal form becomes possible only through exhaustion of SP, winning the battle, or being KO'd during combat.

There are two options as a Dragoon: attack and magic. The addition system has been replaced with a dial. The player is required to press a button when the dial completes a rotation to a maximum of 5 rotations which determines the strength of the attack.

Each character has a custom list of magic spells of their particular element. Casting these spells requires MP, which can be recovered by resting at inns or by using items. These spells have a % modifier attached and will be more powerful when used to target an enemy affiliated with an opposing element.

Multiple use items

Various multiple use items can be found throughout the game that will increase stats or cause certain effects for three consecutive turns. These items can be used once per battle and reappear in the selectable inventory come the next battle. These items consist of the Material Shield (makes ally immune to physical attacks for three turns), the Power Up (increases an ally's strength), and other items like that.

Stardust

Stardust is described in the game as "a magical wishing stone", and whoever can obtain it make their dreams come true. The game keeps a tally of how many stardusts the player finds during play, shown on the save screen. Stardusts can be found in all sorts of places over the course of the game, and give them to a traveler named Martel. As the player accumulates stardust, Martel will give rewards for the given stardusts.

Plot

Setting

The game takes place on the fictional continent of Endiness. It is a geographically diverse land, with each climate zone being home to a different nation. The game begins in Serdio, a temperate region that is undergoing a civil war at the beginning of the game. West of Serdio is the desert nation of Tiberoa. North of Serdio are the icy regions of Gloriano and Mille Seseau. Mille Seseau is a forested mountain, while Gloriano is an icy desert.

Characters

Main article: List of The Legend of Dragoon characters

The main playable characters in The Legend of Dragoon are also the titular Dragoons. While there are 9 playable characters and 8 Dragoon Spirits, there will never be more than 7 selectable characters at one time. Due to storyline events, Lavitz Slambert and Shana are replaced by Albert and Miranda, respectively. Both acquire the stats of the character they replace. The final party will consist of Dart, Rose, Albert, Haschel, Meru, Kongol, and Miranda.

Several villains are pursued over the course of the game but the two predominate ones are Lloyd and Zieg. These villains are also capable of using Dragoon Spirits: Greham, Doel, Lenus and Melbu Frahma in Zieg Feld's Body. Also, there a side-quest in which the player has to fight the 4 dragoons that died in the dragon campaign to free their souls, these dragoons are: Belzac, Syuveil, Kanzas and Damia. All use Dragoons Spirits in battle which pass on to party members after their defeat. Ultimately, the party fights Melbu Frahma, The Wingly Dictator in the body of the God of Destruction.

Story

The story begins when Dart, the protagonist, is heading home from a 5 year long journey to pursue the black monster, who killed his parents and destroyed his birth city: Neet. On the way, he is attacked by Feyrbrand, a dragon controlled by the Sandora, a rebel faction in the Serdian civil war. After Dart gets hit by the dragon, he gets saved by a mysterious female heroine named Rose, though they soon part ways. When he arrives at his hometown, Seles, he discovers that it has been destroyed by Sandora, and that Shana, Dart’s childhood friend (and later in the game, his love interest), has been taken away. Dart sets out to rescue her. Throughout the game, he is periodically joined by people that he helps along the way.

After rescuing Shana from Hellena prison with the help of the recently escaped: Lavitz Slambert, King Albert sends the party to defend the fort-city of Hoax against attacks from Sandora. Among the attacking Sandora is Kongol, the last survivor of a race of giants known as the Gigantos. It is in his battle with Kongol that Dart first gains his ability to transform into a Dragoon using the Dragoon Spirit of the Red-Eyed Dragon with the help of Rose. Kongol is injured, but survives and retreats. With the fort safe, they travel to the city of Lohan. In the city, they meet a man named Lloyd in the Heroes Tournament, supposedly the greatest swordsman in the world. Later they discover that he kidnapped King Albert and took the Moon Gem from him, an ancient artifact held by the Royal Family. Lavitz desperately tries to save King Albert, buts gets killed by Lloyd's Dragon Buster, a sword created by the Winglies to kill Dragoons. The king is rescued, but Lloyd gets away with the Moon Gem.

They soon discover that Lloyd is gathering other artifacts held by human kings since the days of the Wingly Empire, and at the same time, causing disasters in the lands that he visits. While the party tries to reverse Lloyd’s work, Lloyd manages to obtain all three of the artifacts, and also obtains the Dragoon Spirit of the Divine Dragon, the most powerful dragon in the world. Dart and the party finally manage to defeat Lloyd, who then agrees to take them to Emperor Diaz, ancient Emperor of Gloriano during the Dragon Campaign. Emperor Diaz reveals several things to the party.

During the height of the Wingly Empire over eleven thousand years ago, a creature called the Virage Embryo, also known as the God of Destruction, came to the world to end all other life. Before it could be born, the Winglies used their magical power to separate its body from its soul, making it unable to destroy them. They then cast the body into the sky, where it became the Moon That Never Sets, and sealed it using several magical Signets, one in each of the ancient Wingly cities, to prevent the soul and body from reuniting. The soul of the God of Destruction was originally placed inside the Crystal Sphere, which was worn by the ancient Wingly ruler Melbu Frahma to increase his power. However, during the Dragon Campaign, when the Dragoons assaulted Kadessa, the capital city of the Ancient Winglies, the Crystal Sphere was shattered during the fight between Melbu Frahma and Zieg Feld, leader of the Dragoons.

Ever since, the soul of the God of Destruction has wandered the Earth and, every one hundred and eight years, possesses the body of a human child in an attempt to return to its body. The body can be summoned if the Signets are destroyed, which can be done using the immense magical power contained within the artifacts that Lloyd gathered, called the Divine Moon Objects. At this time, the human that is the soul of the God of Destruction is Shana. Emperor Diaz then reveals himself to be Zieg Feld, Dart's father and leader of the Dragoons that fought alongside Rose in the Dragon Campaign. After Zieg defeated Melbu Frahma, Melbu cast a spell that both petrified him and kept Melbu's spirit alive within Zieg's body. Finally, it is revealed that Rose is the Black Monster that destroyed Dart’s village, in an attempt to kill the person carrying the soul of the God of Destruction.

After all this is revealed, Zieg (or, more accurately, Melbu Frahma, who is now possessing Zieg's body) takes Shana away and proceeds to destroy the remaining three Signet Spheres that seal the Moon That Never Sets, the flesh of the God of Destruction, causing it to fall from the sky and land on the Divine Tree. He then carries her to the body of the God of Destruction, so that the body will sense the presence of its soul and prepare to restore itself. Instead, Melbu Frahma unites with the body himself, taking the form and power of the God of Destruction. Zieg is released from Melbu Frahma’s possession, and aids the party in their attempt to defeat Melbu. The party defeats him, but at the cost of Rose and Zieg who sacrifice themselves to destroy Melbu Frahma. Everyone else is able to return home to live their own lives.

Development

The game took four years to develop with a team of over 100 members.[citation needed]

Reception

The Legend of Dragoon received mixed reviews.[5][6] The game was praised for its graphics and cinematics.[7] However, the combo system was criticized for requiring too much precision, while the titular element of Dragoon transformation was deemed inconsequential to gameplay.[8] The game's battles were considered repetitious due to an excessive frequency of random encounters.[9]

References

  1. ^ http://www.gamepro.com/article/reviews/5867/legend-of-dragoon/
  2. ^ http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/psx/legendofdragoon
  3. ^ http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/psx/legendofdragoon
  4. ^ http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/psx/legendofdragoon
  5. ^ http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/psx/legendofdragoon The Legend of Dragoon on metacritic
  6. ^ http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/197765.asp
  7. ^ "Legend of Dragoon". IGN. 2000-06-13. Retrieved 2008-10-10. Lovely backgrounds, amazing CG, and some very impressive 3D bosses (the Divine Dragon is something else). Very high marks here.
  8. ^ "Legend of Dragoon". IGN. 2000-06-13. Retrieved 2008-10-10. The Addition system demands too much precision combined with too much repetition, and the Dragoon transformations are pretty, but often superfluous.
  9. ^ "Legend of Dragoon". IGN. 2000-06-13. Retrieved 2008-10-10. For example, when I've gone all the way through the dungeon and finished off the long, tedious boss fight, a game should be kind enough not to make me hike back out of the dungeon and back home to the castle or town or whatever, battling random monsters all the way.
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