When asking people what their favourite (J)RPG’s are, many will resort to some of the well-known franchises such as Final Fantasy, Chrono trigger, Mother and many others. When I first started playing games, I was glued to platformers like Mario, racers and anything involving action. I played what was around the house and as time went on, technology advanced. If somebody was to ask me what my favourite RPG is I would bring up one of the most memorable games I have played over the years, The Legend of Dragoon.

Many people don’t really five this game much props but I appreciate this game for its sentimental value. Having never touched a RPG game, I was pretty surprised to see a box with four discs passed to me. The only time I had played a multi disc game on the PlayStation was Metal gear Solid. I read over the back and it stated over eighty hours of gameplay – Woah! What on earth was this I wondered, hours of hack and slash or stealthy missions? No, this was a turned based RPG from Sony as they attempt to steal a little thunder from Square Enix.

The game follows the adventure of Dart who lives in a village if Seles which is soon destroyed by ‘The Black Monster’. Yes sounds original, I know. Aside from the clunkiness of the game and perhaps cliché features, LoD really shined at times in some of it plot twists and story build up. With Dart in your party you set off to save your childhood sweetheart and from there on, many characters are introduced. At the time I felt this game’s story was very well choreographed and every character had a personality that the player comes to understand and feel attachment to.

The gameplay mechanics were interesting, allow for button mashing and skill based combos depending on what your party was equipped or their abilities. For a noobie entering the RPG franchise for the first time this was a pretty heavy introduction into certain game mechanics but I welcomed this with enthusiasm. Having played many RPG’s over the years now and even backdating some, it’s clear that LoD ripped off various ideas but that doesn’t matter to me. In its own right, LoD immerses players into its world very well and there are many plot twists to look forward to.

The FMV cut scenes are also amazing. I really enjoyed the epic voice acting and art style the directors used in every scene. There are a few sinister scenes that leave you with a bit of a chill too. There are some really epicly sized boss battles in here. The soundtrack for the game works amazing well also. I loved the varied styles between towns, battles and travelling. It really added to the whole identity of the game.

Interestingly, after not finishing it in my early years I let it go as a gift. A couple of years after I felt the urge to finish the game. Looking online, LoD’s (European edition) price had shot up and cost 100’s of dollars. I eventually found a copy for a reasonable price but I was pretty amazed that a game would rise in value like that.

For anyone wanting to try out LoD, I highly recommend it. It holds up as a decent RPG and deserves some attention. I hope Sony will release a remake or sequel one day!

Luckily the game can now be bought on PSN here:

https://store.playstation.com/en-us/product/UP9000-NPUI94491_00-0000000000000001