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Legend of Dragoon, The Textbook Jrpg with a Dash of Super Sentai

AnimaRize

AnimaRize

Banned
Nov 7, 2020
3,483
Legend of Dragoon is a game that holds a special place in my heart. It is a game with great characters and interesting plot and probably in my top 5 playstation 1 jrpg's of all time. But i will be the first to tell you while it's a great game it's not a genre defining game like xenogears or ff. It's basic, it's standard, it doesn't redefine the tropes of the genre of the time, instead plays most of them straight. The tragic backstory hero, the mysterious heroine, a childhood friend love interest, the evil empire that is just being manipulated by another more interesting villain. If there was a game that i would choose to represent the genre as a whole at the time, not the games that redefined it or are remembered as quintessential examples of the genre, but the one that you could play and say that is what jrpg's were at the time. It doesn't have really much to make it stand out from the pack, it just has good gameplay and a good story just not what one you would call unique. well besides it's super sentai transformations and yes that is exactly what they were right down to the leader of the group being red and hand having their civilian clothes be the same color al their transformation most of the time.

It's one of those games that if it was released today it wouldn't be remembered or treated nearly as fondly, but it's a game i can't help but love
 
Ryuelli

Ryuelli

Member
Oct 26, 2017
15,209
I replay it every few years and still love it as much as I did the first time. Lavitz is the bro-est of bros.

I feel the way about it that so many others do with Final Fantasy 7. It's one of my favorite RPGs and I'd absolutely love a remake.
 
ShroudOfFate

ShroudOfFate

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 30, 2017
1,518
SPINNING CANE

I so badly want this to be Bluepoints next project. It won't be, but man more people need to see how cool this game is (with a better translation)
 
TheZynster

TheZynster

Member
Oct 26, 2017
13,285
I want this to be bluepoints next project.

Besides just a ton of translation fixes needed they need to give shana/miranda fucking additions.
 
phanboy4

phanboy4

Member
Oct 27, 2017
413
I remember liking this back in the day, just not enough to finish it.

I'm waiting on fans to correct some of the really terrible grammar and phrasing mistakes in the translation before I play it - didn't notice these as a kid but they're incredibly off-putting to me now.
 
SolVanderlyn

SolVanderlyn

I love pineapple on pizza!
Member
Oct 28, 2017
13,510
Earth, 21st Century
Still one of my top ten JRPGs. It's a love it or hate it game. But I love it.

Something about the aesthetic seemed a bit more western than is typical for JRPGs, especially in the area design. Even the music seemed like a Japanese take on western fantasy music. Leaves the game with a very unique vibe
 
Hilarious_Bearious

Hilarious_Bearious

Member
Nov 4, 2017
7,378
I remeber being blown away by the VA in FMVs after watching the silent characters faff about in FF videos, but I never finished this game. I think I got to the end of the first dungeony bit? Anyways, I've heard it gets a bit slow and grindy. Is it worth a revisit in 2021, or should I just pray for Bluepoint wizardry?
 
daegan

daegan

#REFANTAZIO SWEEP
Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,900

Even if you enjoy RPGs, it's probably better to give your favorite game another run-through than waste time on this derivative, shallow swill. No amount of FMV could really justify slogging through an unbalanced, tedious battle system to get to the trite, hackneyed bits of plot acted out by bland and uninspired characters. If you've 60 hours of your life that you're just desperate to fill, the GIA suggests you use the time to do odd jobs until enough money is earned to buy a copy of a worthwhile game.
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Notable only and primarily for spawning my favorite game review takedown of all time.
 
Tuorom

Tuorom

Member
Oct 30, 2017
10,915
G U S T O F W I N D D A N C E

H E X H A M M E R

M A D N E S S H E R OOooooooo

I enjoyed the addition system, but yea it's a pretty rough game overall.

 
Weiss

Weiss

User requested ban
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
64,265
This game is so bad but JRPG fantasy Sentai heroes is a pretty baller concept for a game ngl
 
NinjaScooter

NinjaScooter

Member
Oct 25, 2017
54,169
I remember renting it and feeling like it felt like Great Value Final Fantasy or just general Square Enix of that era.
 
skillzilla81

skillzilla81

Self-requested temporary ban
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
10,043
Whenever anybody mentions this game I just remember Rose's attack with menstrual blood and I just hate that anybody ever mentions this game.
 

Amirnol

Member
Oct 27, 2017
479
I enjoyed it a ton back in the day. The soundtrack slapped pretty hard too, from what I remember.
 
ZeroX

ZeroX

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
21,266
Speed Force
every time someone waxes nostalgic on Legend of Dragon I'm like it's a shame you didn't play Legend of Legaia instead
 
That1GoodHunter

That1GoodHunter

My ass legally belongs to Ted Price
Member
Oct 17, 2019
10,863
Bluepoint, please, if you are reading this, just make your own original RPG for Sony instead :)
 
Dakkon

Dakkon

Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,194
One of my favorite JRPGs, but ultimately Shadow Hearts 2's Ring of Judgment is a better more interesting take on the Additions system.
 
OP
OP
AnimaRize

AnimaRize

Banned
Nov 7, 2020
3,483
SageShinigami said:
A J-RPG that does Super Sentai stuff unironically is a good idea, and should be done again.
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it technically was. dragoon wasn't the last time the sentai formula was used, it just the games that used them left a lot to be desired most were plain average



i think persona 5 was the most successful game at it but it really didn't have a civilian form that transforms in mod fight, which is why most people don't recognize it uses the sentai trope
 
Sabin

Sabin

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,623
One of the worst JRPG i played and finished (god why)

Considering it came out during a period of great JRPG made LoD even more stick out being a sore thumb. From the bland music, awfully balanced fight mechanics to the boring story.

No idea why it has so many die hard fans but i guess each their own.
 
NinjaScooter

NinjaScooter

Member
Oct 25, 2017
54,169
Sabin said:
One of the worst JRPG i played and finished (god why)

Considering it came out during a period of great JRPG made LoD even more stick out being terrible. From the bland music, awfully balanced fight mechanics to the boring story.

No idea why it has so many die hard fans but i guess each their own.
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Sony put a lot of marketing behind it in the US because of FF7 so I imagine it reached a lot of people for whom it was an early or first JRPG experience.
 
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AnimaRize

AnimaRize

Banned
Nov 7, 2020
3,483
Sabin said:
One of the worst JRPG i played and finished (god why)

Considering it came out during a period of great JRPG made LoD even more stick out being a sore thumb. From the bland music, awfully balanced fight mechanics to the boring story.

No idea why it has so many die hard fans but i guess each their own.
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as i stated in the OP it's very of its era, it doesn't do anything special it doesn't push the genre forward, and it doesn't try to be something new, it's standatd. it's something that if you hadn't played it during the time, it is hard to consider it good. like if it was released today it would be recieved as at best average. so yeah it is nostalgia for a lot of us. but it really isn't overly bad. standard of it's time. but not terrible. and just because something is standard doesn't mean people can't love it
 
Compbros

Compbros

Member
Oct 30, 2017
5,407
I played Dragoon and Legaia before FFVII and FF felt kind of basic. When it comes to JRPGs my first thing is the battle system and I loved Dragoon so much. The addition system, the timing battle system, it was sooooo much fun.

Still my favorite JRPG of all time Not even close to the best but easily my favorite.

Edit: I dunno why people need Dragoon to define or re-define anything.
 
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Enduin

Enduin

You look 40
Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,491
New York
Dragoon is like peak B-movie greatness for JRPGs.

And I will die on the hill as many times as needed to say that the Additions system was a stroke of genius and travesty that no other game has sought to build off of it.
 
RPGam3r

RPGam3r

Member
Oct 27, 2017
13,522
I own and played this game back when it was released. It was a not good knock off then and years later returning to it I still think it not worth mentioning against a genre full of too many to count great or even good entries.
 
Ra

Ra

Rap Genius
Moderator
Oct 27, 2017
12,209
Dark Space
AnimaRize said:
as i stated in the OP it's very of its era, it doesn't do anything special it doesn't push the genre forward, and it doesn't try to be something new, it's standatd. it's something that if you hadn't played it during the time, it is hard to consider it good. like if it was released today it would be recieved as at best average. so yeah it is nostalgia for a lot of us. but it really isn't overly bad. standard of it's time. but not terrible. and just because something is standard doesn't mean people can't love it
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It was received as below average, even at its time, by a lot of people including me.

My friend and I started off intrigued but by the end od disc 3 we were dragging ourselves to the finish line. It was so by the numbers that I was quite literally calling out what would happen way ahead of time, that was my main issue. Sony had good intentions but they just copied too much of the playbook.

LoD is certainly not what I'd call "good for its time", but I will also not fault anyone for finding the fun and charm in a game. Assholes do that.

I would not mind a modern reimagining at all. Just giving the ability to select Additions from a menu in combat, instead of being stuck to one once an encounter had begun, would greatly improve the experience to me. The game can be saved. It's pretty crazy Sony never tried again.
 
Dakkon

Dakkon

Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,194
Enduin said:
Dragoon is like peak B-movie greatness for JRPGs.

And I will die on the hill as many times as needed to say that the Additions system was a stroke of genius and travesty that no other game has sought to build off of it.
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The Judgment Ring in Shadow Hearts 2 is Additions but better in every way, pretty much:

* Most attacks have a harder sliver to hit that makes it do more damage.

* It's active on special & magic abilities too.

* There's multiple difficulty types: Normal, Practice (Easy - easier to hit but no extra damage slivers), Technical (smaller slivers overall but your moves do more damage), Gamble (all slivers replaced with 1 very tiny one that will count as hitting all of them if you hit it, high risk high reward)

* It doesn't require you to grind your moves.
 
Enduin

Enduin

You look 40
Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,491
New York
Dakkon said:
The Judgment Ring in Shadow Hearts 2 is Additions but better in every way, pretty much:

* Most attacks have a harder sliver to hit that makes it do more damage.

* It's active on special & magic abilities too.

* There's multiple difficulty types: Normal, Practice (Easy - easier to hit but no extra damage slivers), Technical (smaller slivers overall but your moves do more damage), Gamble (all slivers replaced with 1 very tiny one that will count as hitting all of them if you hit it, high risk high reward)

* It doesn't require you to grind your moves.
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I love Shadow Hearts, but I never found the Judgement Ring to be a suitable replacement at all. It's a completely different type of system and experience.
 
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OP
AnimaRize

AnimaRize

Banned
Nov 7, 2020
3,483
K.Jack said:
I would not mind a modern reimagining at all. Just giving the ability to select Additions from a menu in combat, instead of being stuck to one once an encounter had begun, would greatly improve the experience to me. The game can be saved. It's pretty crazy Sony never tried again.
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I don't think it was that they never tried, it was more they didn't have time, if i recall back then the sony goal for playstation games was throw stuff to the wall and see what sticks, so i believe even after that game was finished the team was already divided into other projects, and they never got around to it even though i believe a prequel sequel was planned and eventually canned do to taking to long to get back to it. and it wasn't like it wasn't financially viable either it is in the top 50 selling ps1 games of that era, if wikipedia is correct on that number. It was just forgotten by sony. At this point there is only one way for this franchise to get a revival and that is through bluepoint. because the other way was screwed by the game that could brought it back sold so poorly dart was cancelled on being a fighter
 
Ra

Ra

Rap Genius
Moderator
Oct 27, 2017
12,209
Dark Space
AnimaRize said:
I don't think it was that they never tried, it was more they didn't have time, if i recall back then the sony goal for playstation games was throw stuff to the wall and see what sticks, so i believe even after that game was finished the team was already divided into other projects, and they never got around to it even though i believe a prequel sequel was planned and eventually canned do to taking to long to get back to it. and it wasn't like it wasn't financially viable either it is in the top 50 selling ps1 games of that era, if wikipedia is correct on that number. It was just forgotten by sony. At this point there is only one way for this franchise to get a revival and that is through bluepoint. because the other way was screwed by the game that could brought it back sold so poorly dart was cancelled on being a fighter
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I'm not on the Bluepoint train tbh.

Sony is talking about "growth", well they need to build a dedicated JRPG studio. It's time.
 
Pharaun

Pharaun

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,052
LoD wasn't even considered average when it came out. It was always considered a cheap knock off. People can enjoy bad things, there's nothing wrong with that. I just wish that people would quit trying to make LoD happen, it didn't happen 20 years ago and it won't happen now.
 
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