I am physically unable to keep up with all the comments at this point, so hopefully a pinned reply will do. THANKS FOR WATCHING! Absolutely nuts to me that we will soon surpass 100k views, and as put aptly by some commenters, a clear indicator that there's still a lot of interest in a remake/sequel. Completely vindicated my statement about the passion levels for this game never being higher! I hope you enjoyed the video! My gratitude is immeasurable and my day is made.
Idk if you watched Hunter x Hunter (1999) but at 35:55 I have a soft spot for that ost because it sounds like the main theme the old version of the show had. Weird to comment but it was very much a popular sound design type back then
If you like the addition system, I highly recommend playing at least the first two Shadow Hearts games on PS2. They're pretty charmingly unique games in their own right, too.
Do keep in mind i'm on my third rewatch, i've been feeling like playing it again and finding such a great review helped me sooth my nostalgia quite a lot, awesome work you absolutely nailed it if i may say so myself.
"He's too busy fist bumping Lavitz to reciprocate her feelings" Man, you might have been late to the party, but sure did understand this game. Your opinions have been validated by this sentence alone.
Grew up playing this game with my dad, who was never that good at RPGs because he refused to search areas for items or grind when needed. We had so many good times staying up trying to beat whatever boss we were stuck on at the time. He’s gone now, but I’ll always have those memories when I think of this game.
That's really cool that your dad played video games with you. My dad played mortal Kombat with me an my brother as a kid but that was the only other game besides pac man that he liked. I could only imagine trying to play a dog with my dad 😆
It's funny my dad let me play and I lost and I felt so bad cuz it started him over I was so young and I played it again to that part and I remember going to him like I got you back there
Never forget that Bluepoint Games made a Halloween tweet a few years ago where they basically hinted that they were remaking five games or six or twelve games. One of those was true (Demon's Souls, but they also name drop Wander from Shadow of the Colossus which was already out), but it also mentioned Dart and the Black Monster: "So calm this spooky night. A symphony of rumors - not one, but two - return from shadow. A resistance to dart home as black monsters escape twisted hills to wander lands and syphon souls. Filter your candy collections, soft from solid, and be eco-friendly. Have a metal Halloween." It's a pipe dream at this point, but I also know that one of the head honchos over at Bluepoint really likes LoD, and that's why the rumor took off the first place. Keep hope alive. It took ten years to announce FFVII Remake after all. And now that Sony owns Bluepoint, maybe someone at the studio has Sony's ear about it.
it's such a missed opportunity really, the whole story behind the Dragoons x Wingly war is so interesting. They could totally do a prequel with it, I'd also love a sequel. Really anything in this game's universe would be awesome, but Sony has to be Sony and just abandon a perfectly good IP. Like they did Tomba.
Gotta think about it too, he had to speak with Lavitz's mother again as well. And that to me is a difficult, heavy thing to do. Especially after the whole adventure. Good chance he tells her about her son's role at the end of the story, too.
LoD is such a charming, imperfect gem that I can’t help but want Sony to take another stab at the universe. Either a remake or prequel, but a second chance to polish this title would be welcome.
They could use Drakengard mechanics to bring the game into the zeitgeist of ActionRpgs. In Drakengard each weapon has its own combos, which reminds me of the combat system of Dragoon.
As someone who hasn't played the game I think I'd be onboard for a remake as long as it keeps the spirit and the gameplay of the original alive (I found the FFVII remake rather bland and souless)
This game is one of my greatest inspirations. I used to draw my own dragoons in middle school, still listen to the opening theme to this day, and my obsession with Shana led me to pursue my tribe's archery lessons and I discovered marksmanship was a hidden talent. I owe a lot to this derpy cheesy beautiful "magical girls but for boys" game.
I never thought of "magical girls but for boys" would perfectly match this game and I love it. "80's radical magical girl/boy adventure game with DRAGOONS "....Oh aaand war haha.
Another thing that I don't believe was talked about was that after several of the major events if you go back into earlier parts of the game NPC's will have changed dialog to reflect what is happening. Also visiting lavitz mother over the game you get to view her picking back up her life after her son.
Don't forget Haschel's whole arc with his daughter. That was rough to see a case where an argument was truly the last time a person would ever interact with a loved one.
Rose being 11 thousand years old, and going through such terrible things, finally dying with her loved one, + the final scene being the black and the red dragoon lying down together... The game is really called "The Legend of Dragoon" after her. P.S. Still remember a moment when she said "i used to be shy just like her" whilst thinking about Shanna. Cranks me up every time.
I love this game probably more than it deserves. It has a lot of rough edges but it's got so much charm and well realized art and storytelling. Very good video, thanks for taking the time to share your experience with it!
I didn't appreciate the smaller details of how well done Lavitz's death was done until I looked back on it years later. I like how you point out how expressive each of the character's reactions to it is despite being done with the in-game engine and lack of voice acting. Dart crying out, and Shana flinching away and grasping at Rose who doesn't even flinch after all the death she's seen. It's probably the most impactful scene while working within limitations of in-game visuals and sound design.
This is going on my best content on UA-cam playlist. The aside about Albert being an absentee king and the "just kidding, she's a bitch and everyone hates her" made me die laughing. I've loved this game my whole life and you did it justice, mad props.
Not gonna lie this is THE game that OFFICIALLY made me a gamer.. I was about 11 and my friend left the game at my house, I started that night, I skipped school for a day and beat the game.. Or so I thought until I realized there was more disk, I remember searching everywhere in my neighborhood and beyond to find them I traded off like 100 pokemon cards for disk 2 with some kid at school, went outside my city via bus cause I seen a ad selling disk 3 and litterally fought a kid because we played cards for games and he wasn't tryna give me the forth though he lost lol man I fucking love this game.. It's one of the best I ever played and till this day I play games to find a feeling THAT game gave me.. If they made a remake I haven't played a PS regularly since a PS3 but I'd play daily off just this game alone 💯...
Who translated this, it smells like America? I know their shit, I live here. Games like Mario and Zelda games back when there were manual books. There were no translation errors from Japanese translations to English. But with American companies named Canada Dubbing or something like that, that screwed up Inuyasha but that was the style back then or something. (Kagome speaking to Inuyasha not to chase after that demon bird in season 1) "No!, Don't, you'll hurt those boy!" and Yu Yu Hakasho "You're idiot!" (Kuwabara referring to Yusuke as that underwater in spirit form while Yusuke is in the middle of fighting Hate Fish and Rando.) Uploader did say the translation is walking all over the game and story and stuff, that might be the reason. Disgruntled employees slightly racist or lashing out workplace hostility led to Rockstar making GTA 5 and having some very questionable design and development choices. I say that, but it's more like a fucking warzone over there, man.
@@BlackMoonHowls ...What? There have ALWAYS been translation errors. Mario and Zelda and game manuals barely have text in them so they are easy as fuck to translate. America is just that incompetent/puritan.
Oh my goodness you are absolutely hilarious. I found you through my weekly youtube search for "Legend of Dragoon" and you're at the top of the results! So glad I found you cause this was not only a great video about my all time favorite game, but also you were insanely entertaining. Keep up the great work!!
@@Majuular Well, I gotta say, we really can't argue about the fucking VOICE ACTING AND TRANSLATION. LMAO I remember showing any friends I've ever grown up with "OH IT CAN NOT BE" and we'd laugh our asses off every time. Good days!
Thanks for bringing attention to this old gem. The Legend Of Dragoon was a childhood joy I got to better appreciate and understand as I grew up. The subtle changes in Rose's behavior with the group over the game are so endearing. Ruff.
30:45 one thing to note is that Albert's additions are slightly different in execution than Lavitz which gives them a different "feel" when being accomplished. It's a pretty nice touch.
You've already stated how good Shana is at magic. So I'll just point out that having her in the party is a good excuse to clear junk magic items from your inventory. Helped motivate me to use consumables in general.
41:18 The reason why there was no teleport option at this point was because you could go back to the flower city first to attend Lynn's wedding. The game only hints at the possibility but if you follow Lynn all the way back there first you see the event and get a key item. But only if you go there at this point otherwise you miss that event. This was something i found out about in my 2nd playthrough of the game and it has 2 different outcomes as well. I'll let you discover that on your own. Besides that easily missable content I absolutely enjoyed your review and look forward to watching more in the future.
There's actually 3 possible results to that prompt I think. The outcome where you don't react in time has two possible results. I'm not sure if it's random or some background process determines which happen, but I'm 99% sure there's two possible outcomes. It could be 6 total results now that I think about it, and I have only seen 3. I'm also trying not to spoil, so hopefully you get what I'm saying.
I'm currently playing this game for the 3rd time. I nearly finished it way back in the day, from memory I couldn't figure out where to go at some point. Great review mate, thumbs up.
This is one of those games where I dreamed of owning and playing as a kid. I remember playing through the demo hundreds of times. Back then you could go to the store and buy a gaming magazine and at the back there was a ps1 disk that had tons of demos and trailers. Sigh oh the nostalgia...
After watching your Xenogears retrospective, I’m now in the process of making my way through your entire catalogue of videos, and this is probably my favorite so far. I’m one of the rare people who actually played this game to completion when it was relatively new, and getting to see your take on it was absolutely delightful. With every video I watch I’m becoming more and more a fan of you and your content. On to the next one!
When it comes to the OST, I think the virage theme freaking slaps. It's one of these old-style boss themes that perfectly encapsulates the feeling of "Oh shit."
Yep im totally in that list of people who does a replay every couple years. This is the first game i remember completely losing myself in when i was a kid/teen. i really wish we would get a remake with the same story but with a better translation and some gameplays changes. The addition system was awesome and i wish more games did something similar.
I believe there's more charm to keeping the prerendered backgrounds, if ever updated. I found the dragoon mode attacks almost impossible to nail perfect.
This game and its OST gives me a feeling a can’t explain and nothing else has ever really come close. I love it so much. Another of my favorites of the time I’d love to see you talk about is Legend of Legaia.
Thank you for this trip down memory lane. I think about this game all the time, it is still probably in my top 10 JRPG's of all time. Great video, the nostalgia is real and it is amazing that so many other people feel as I do with this classic!
My buddy finally played this with me right before I moved away for a few years. I let him play Lavitz, knowing full well what happens. It's the one time in my life I have ever even heard of him shedding tears, manly or otherwise.
1:12:30 There are some birds that only take one damage at certain spots. They drop massive gold compared to the rest of the games fights. You need the sachet reuseable item to actually win the fights though as they run. Props to you for doing that grind.
Farming those was the only time I put Shana/Miranda in my party over other characters, since she had 100% accuracy despite their incredibly high evasion.
Bro, this video is way too high quality to only have like 7,000 views. I wish i had friends who gave a shit about ps1 games to show them the absolute greatness and labor of love you clearly put in to this video. Regardless, i hope you know that i genuinely think that you are one of the coolest content creators i've seen in recent memories. I am so glad this popped up in my recommended because I genuinely can't wait to see what other awesome videos you put out.
This game I watched my brother play countless times when I was very young and it's honestly one of our favorites. We love every inch of this game and I was so happy that years later I was able to play it myself when we got it digitally on the PS3 as our PS1 disks weren't working cause, well, we played them so much we kinda scratched them to oblivion XD;;; I may be an emotional person, but when I finished the game with my brother beside me all those years later I cried. There are many reasons why I appreciate this game, but mainly it's because it was an escape for me and my brothers when we needed it most. It was an adventure we needed when life got us down, and one day I hope it gets a remaster at the least
The bromance jokes had me bursting out laughing. In the kind of way that you know only you find funny because you know the story but your wife is looking at you from the other side of the room wondering if it's too late for a divorce.
This story is remarkable in showing the perspective of having to live for 11,000 years. Even when 3 of my team were in *Dragoon* mode while in battle, I still had access to healing magic, so seems your refusal to use *Shanna's* or *Miranda's* healing magic made some of the Boss battles harder on you than was otherwise nessasary. Kudos to you for taking the hard {melee only} path while in combat. *Meru* and *Rose* could also heal partly members while in *Dragoon* form 🦹 🧜♀️ 🧚♀️ 🤺 🦹♀️
I hoarded healing items and Angel's Prayer like you wouldn't believe. My biggest gripe as a kid was how much their damage sucked and how they didn't use Additions like the rest of the party. LoD was my first RPG so I never saw Shana's or Miranda's utility as Healers. It did bother me though that LoD didn't have spells or at least the traditional ones.
I love how you can get Kongol's dragoon stone somewhat early in part 2 or at the point of no return in the endgame. I feel like they forgot to give it to him and remembered about it so late that this was all they could do.
What an amazing review, throroughly enjoyable, well written and edited and pretty funny humor. The footage and upscaled emulation looks gorgeous! I hope they port/remake/prequel/sequel this game eventually
Props to you my guy, for not knowing any money making strats but still grinding out two Legend Casques. That's a feat given how little gold you get from some encounters. There are a few repeatable battle items that stun and otherwise prevent foes from running. With the use of these, you can go back to various locations in the world map and fight different rare (kinda, spawn rates are pretty good, you've probably fought a few) enemies that have high defense and usually run away before killed. If you manage to beat the right ones some drop crazy amounts of gold. Only ones I remember are 00parts outside of the black city/ Lohan area who drops 300 gold when defeated and the Rainbow Bird who's outside Rouge(I think). There are easy-ish ways but honestly you probably saved yourself a little hassle just grinding it out. I missed out on one of the repeatable items and fighting the rare monsters was incredibly difficult sometimes. Either way you nailed every aspect of this game in your review! Sad that Shanna getting ignored while Lavitz and Dart fist bump is legitimately a scene in the game xD
This game is a GEM. The menu music is an unforgettable banger. The addition system made combat feel so special and unique compared to others of its time. 9/10. Absolutely love it.
This video is fantastic. Was super funny and honestly cool to see so many other people loved this game as much as I did. A truly hidden gem in the RPG world
I must confess that I never finished this game along with Xenogears, I don't know how many times I have played both since I was a kid, many times almost reaching the ending just to drop 'em for reasons I don't even remember or understand. But you have inspired me with this review to finally finish it once and for all.
Weird how that sometimes works with JRPGs, but I relate so much. Take a "short" break, come back 3 years later, realize you don't remember what's happened in the story, restart, repeat.
Always good to see someone review this amazing hidden gem. And I appreciate you giving this a fair shake and give an honest opinion. But this is definitely one of my favourite games of all time (given the fact my name is a reference from the game lmao) plus the flaws for me of this game gives the game its charm. Ofc not all can appreciate it, but I do. Anyways love you for making this review. You just earned a sub from me on this.
I'm so glad I found this channel because of three key-reasons: 1. I feel the need to have something vaguely informational playing in the background while doing any regular activity. 2. Reason 3.
And also... I never got around to beating Dragoon either as a kid. But I've currently been streaming it and gotten to a point I've never played before! I'm so freaking excited to finally beat this game. Getting to see new aspects of the game was surreal after so many years of barley getting past the first disc. xD
This was such a great game, and this video really took me down memory lane. I feel you on the shit translation thing--I was so happy when they ported FF Tactics to the PSP with a better translation that I'm always hoping Dragoon would get a similar treatment at some point for the new generation of consoles, along with some gameplay updates. The addition system was so unique for the time though--I really remember the sense of accomplishment I felt the first time I nailed Rose's final combo during a critical boss fight. It's the kind of thing that really sticks with you.
I played this game like CRAZY when it first came out, but at the age of 10 I couldn't figure out to law puzzle at Zabatanos, so I eventually stopped playing. A coworker of mine got me a copy of the game recently and I just beat it literally minutes ago. The ending scene where you see everyone living happily, dart pouring one out with the portrait of Lavitz that you receive early in the game, and Rose's bittersweet happy ending with Zieg, made finally finishing this game worth it. Well done with the review!
OH HELL YEAH! I just found your channel last week with the Chrono Cross review. Noticed you used a LotD clip in the combat section and I thought "I hope he does a review like this for Legend of the Dragoon." And here we are.
Found this channel the same way and it's quickly becoming one of my faves. I never played this game but the synopsis is really well paced and entertaining and makes me feel like I didn't miss out on anything
I never watch youtube videos over maybe thirty minutes, but this, this was worth it. I deeply appreciate the detail and love you gave to your narrative about the story as well as the gameplay. I watched the entire video about this game I so enjoyed as a teenager, thank you for taking the time to make and share it with us.
I loved this game as a young kid, unable to solve even the simplest of puzzles and dungeons. It provided many hours of fun, and I was captivated by the story (again, being a clueless kid). Thanks for making such an amazing video and the great nostalgia hit.
An important note about the transition from Lavitz to Albert is it's stated in a piece of dialogue from Lavitz that Albert trained him to fight, so not only is he a superior fighter, but his additions are way faster, trickier and less clunky. There was also a fun feature in disc 2 where you could go back to Serdio and visit Seles with Shana in your party. Doing so would make your controller's vibrations stronger whilst visiting without her made them weaker. If I recall correctly, you could go back to Bale and have Albert interact with Lavitz's mom too Also the Melbu Frahma music is unparalleled. I will die on that hill
I really enjoy your videos. I work at home all day on my computer and so I watch a lot of these more long-form videos about random topics, but usually about media. I often found myself laughing and rewinding or sort of putting my work on pause to listen to whatever thought you were fleshing out. I also enjoy that you seem to be reviewing obscure JRPG classics and giving them a fair shakedown, instead of just saying how everything is dated and bad. In short, I hope you don't change!
I still remember the some of the music. Quite frankly the normal battle music for this game was pretty damn good. Its still stuck in my head to this day.
LoD kinda killed a lot of JRPGs for me. It was my first JRPG and set the bar. I enjoyed their mechanics, there are mix of resource management and additions (which were fun and cool), Dragoon mod > every limit break mechanic at the time, so gameplay wise I didn’t enjoyed a lot of other JRPGs as I should have if I didn’t play LoD first. I still loved FFs and other classics like Chrono Trigger, Persona, earthbound etc. but LoD forever will be on some kinda pedestal because… well you’re never forget your first lol. Nice video, there are a lot of nostalgia here for me P.S. and yeah Menu theme is a banger
That's actually what FF7 did for me. After I played it I knew nothing would ever be as good. I played FF8 next and i was right it wasnt as good. Then I saw FF9 in the store and it looked goofy like a bunch of little kids and i didnt touch it. It was nearly 16 years I didn't even touch an RPG until I realized that even though nothing will ever compare to FF7, it doesnt mean i shouldnt play them.
Have you played Panzer Dragoon? Asking cuz its an experience i found very different from other jrpgs in its tone, storytelling and gameplay. Primarily because it feels so distant and somewhat haunting, going for a completely different vibe. Main villain Craymen is especially unusual in a jrpg because while main character hates him and wants revenge on him, he genuinely wants them to be friends.
@@KOTEBANAROT no, I have not played this game. I guess its just never hit any video game stores in my country, cause I don’t even remember something like that. Looks interesting though. I doubt that I would find a time to play it, but hey maybe I will. Thanks for the tip.
I really appreciate the balance of story summary, review, and comedy in this video - fantastic work and it definitely makes me want to check out more of the channel. Thanks for the content! As for LoD, It's just way too good to have gone unsupported this long by Sony compared to other lesser games that have had ports, remasters, and sequels over the same timeframe. A prequel set during the Dragon Campaign that sets up more of divine history that could lead into a remake/remaster and then a sequel would be so fantastic for this generation, especially given how the addition system could be modernized when mixed with how FF7R innovated and showed what an action RPG battle system could be. Maybe one day...
A Remaster for this game would be the same as splitting FF7R, at least 4 parts. Square-Enix took a huge risk that paid off, and while LoD is a masterpiece a remaster of this caliber isnt a guaranteed success. And honestly FF7R did an excellent choice of both telling the old story with new twists, thus making it almost like a sequel. And did a good job of not invalidating the original story-wise, dubsequently there are many new players playing Original FF7 after FF7R.
As a kid I got stuck in the marshland for a year because for some reason I couldn’t see the path you’re supposed to go down. I ended up retracing my steps thinking I missed some important item or event. Then I just decided to replay from the beginning and got stuck at the same spot again. Eventually I found the path by accident just running around and felt like an idiot.
Love the game. ALL the music was perfect for me, love the additions, the large scrolling pre rendered environments. The linear nature was fine as I was hooked anyway. But again, the music and sounds have me gushing about it. The beautiful nostalgic, ambient and melancholic sections, bleak and apocalyptic and Super calm and comforting at others A fair few breakbeat style tunes that get you pumped for battle. The music is genuinely emotional for me. What a fantastic accompaniment to beautifully realised environments, and a decent storyline. I even don't mind dodgy voice acting. "Double punch!!" Just subscribed, Great content, thank you
Thank you for this video. I had this game as a kid and could never get past the desert maze, even after hours of trying and returning to it years later (how wonderful is it the internet keeps us from hard losing games now). Finally some closure!
You’ve got a gift with words my dude. The line about how Dart is dumb and oblivious made me laugh out loud. Liked and subbed, looking forward to more of your content.
There's a fan made remaster in the works... called the 4K upscale project. I became a part of the project a while ago, can't wait until it goes public.
Thanks for the trip down memory lane. I have so much nostalgia for this game, and at a time in history, where things are kind of going to shit, I appreciate it more than you know.
Found this a little late, but loved your review. There is kind of a way to farm money, but its still a pain in the butt. There are Unique Monsters that appear in certain areas of the overworld map, have very odd fight mechanics and will reward items, xp or gold. That is the fastest way I know to get money for the expensive items in Lohan like the Legendary Casque. They are very hard early game, but not impossible, and become much easier to farm late game before the optional superboss, assuming you have speed and accuracy items as well as having not gotten rid of the special items such as the signet stone. (There is one outside Lohan towards Kazas called 00PARTS that has 4 hp, takes 1 hp damage per hit, but is very fast and can instantly kill a character and run away, but gives 600 gold if you kill it before it runs away) Great breakdown, thanks for the video!
My father bought LoD on release but I never really played past the intro until 2018, and 4 years later I'm just starting disc 4 lol. But it has always been ingrained as one of my favorites, even if my attention strays from it. This is definitely the most enjoyable review I've ever seen on the game, never thought Sneak King and LoD would be mentioned in the same sentence but here we are. Thanks for the hard work you put into this 👍
THIS GAME IS ENGRAVED IN MY CHILDHOOD MEMORIES FOR LIFE...I STILL CANT. BELIEVE HOW GRAPHICS WERE THIS GAME HAD A STORY THAT NOBODY WILL FORGET HAD ME RUNNING TO MY COUSINS HOUSE TO WATCH HIM PLAY ALL DAY SAT AND SUN
This is without a doubt one of the best Review's / Game breakdowns I have ever seen of this game. No wonder it's at the top of the search list for Legend of Dragoon Reviews. :D
I’ve been doing laps of your videos for months now. Growing up I always saw people fawn over SNES RPGs and the PS1 Final Fantasies but that’s it. It always felt like the SNES JRPGs were considered golden age and the PS1 JRPGs were he peak but also the start of the falloff. I’m glad to see someone exploring the other PS1 games along with the Dreamcast/Gamecube games. What I’m circling around is I love your content.
Pretty sure I have rewatched this video around 10 times now. I love your commentary and humor, and your videos are super entertaining. I especially love this one, Xenogears, and Chrono Cross. Hoping that you do more long form reviews of some of my other favorite RPGs.
This video brought it all back. Thank you, I forgot so much but this game was my favorite in the period where I started having my own personality and agency, transitioning from childhood to young adulthood.
I want to thank you persoanly for bringing this Hiden gem to light, this was my childhood. and a game that needed a HD remake or heck a brand new remaster like the treatment ff7remake got. this is by fa rmy favorite rpg back in the day so thank you for showing this new generation this game
This was the first RPG I ever played. I fricken loved it! I was really bad at games back then and it took me a while but as soon as I was finished I remember being depressed that it was over. I still listen to the sound track from time to time. One day I will replay it.
No time like the present! You can always just start it when you have the time to, and just slowly chip away at it. That's one of the greatest advantages to video games: you can enjoy them almost entirely at your own pace.
Instantly clicked the Like button at the Dartfeld joke.^^ First video of yours I watch, and I found it very enjoyable. I had it on my "to watch" list for months, but its length detered me for quite some time. I enjoy the light tone you use and the jokes you pepper through the video (Fruegel and his BDSM army, "Unfortunately for Shana Dart is the dumbest and most oblivious f*** this side of Seles, so he's too busy fist-bumping Lavitz to reciprocate her feelings...", "the annoying character has annoying additions..." Poor Meru!^^, "overcome with feelings of uselessness" Poor Shana!^^, "it could be a love triangle, but Dart is so f***ing oblivious it's more like a love wah", Vladimir Denin, the comfy scale, MORSHU'S CAMEO...). I just love how casually you throw these good lines, it gives a good rythm, so the video doesn't even feel long. I actually had the game when I was a teen, and I played the first two chapters a dozen of times, but due to the rythm of its gameplay I never finished it on the PS1. And it would be my main gripe. Everything always felt so slow and sluggish to me: navigating in the menu, the transition between the menus, selecting the commands, the transition between field and fights and the beginning animation of the fights, the ANIMATIONS of the attacks... I'm often talking about things that are only one second or a few tenths of second too long (well, except the astronomically long animations sometimes^^), but after 20 hours you start to feel these tenths of seconds... (Though I agree that the additions helped a lot make the battles more fun.) At some point during Chapter 3, I usually stopped playing. Maybe my memory is too blurry, as I now only play on emulators, mod launchers and such, but I recall that some other PS1 games like FF7 didn't have the same problem. I recently restarted AND finished the game on emulator, and I surely felt a lot of nostalgia! And just for the final dungeon on the moon, I don't regret it. I think that this is one of the best final dungeons of a JRPG - with the design that reuses previous locations and mixes it with more eldritch-looking sceneries, but especially story-wise and character-wise as it gives more insight on each main character. I agree with many of the things said about the qualities of the game: the in medias res introduction, the depiction of the civil war and its effects (Chapter 1 is my favorite), the atmosphere and illusion of size of the main towns, the additions, a good soundtrack, a good clear lore, the pace of the plot... Aaaaand I also agree about most of the flaws pointed out (the world map, the underutilized dragoon mechanic, or the translation - and in French there are also the mistakes the French translators made when they badly translated an English expression that was potentially already flawed to begin with). I really enjoy the narration, and the characters even though they are archetypal (seriously, the game doesn't even hide it, they're even colour-coded^^): the classic JRPG protagonist, the classic childhood friend secretly in love with the protagonist, the good king, the aloof dark-haired action girl, the quirky but wise old man, the hyperactive teenager, and so forth... Same with the antagonists: Lloyd is the classic well-intentioned villain who wants to make the world better but feels he has to use unethical means, and of course there is an evil emperor... However, classic doesn't necessarily mean bad. These characters are very sympathetic and fun to watch. I enjoy a lot of their interactions - especially whenever Lavitz or Haschel act like Dart's wing men. Lore-wise, story-wise and character-wise, I'd say this game feels like a time capsule of what the classic JRPGs of its era did - but in a good way. It uses classic elements, but it uses them well and it makes a compelling game. And Lavitz is indeed the bro everyone dreams they had... Seeing him share one last bromance scene with Dart and Albert in the final chapter really made me feel something! There is no bro jealousy between Dart and Albert, I respectfully disagree with that. There is a bromantic threesome!^^
I've been having a rough time recently, and these videos have gotten me through some long dark nights, so I really want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart. You're a gem, my dude!
Love this game. I wish we do get a remake. New sub amigo. To put a smile on your face. Lavitz is the best friend you could ask for. *SPOILERS* It hurt me more than Aerith's death when he died. 😭
Subscribed for the fact that I absolutely adore this game and wish more people would do longer reviews on it. It had an incredible amount of potential back in the day, in my opinion. Still hope they remake it one of these days.
When I was a kid and I was playing the crap out of this game, everyone was playing ff7, I felt so alone. Now, I feel redeemed. I loved Legend of Dragoon. So many memorable moments. Also, Dart saying "Flaaaaaame Shot" while the camera cuts at places and there is the punch sound, is just amazing and I will die on this hill.
Loved the narration and detailed review of this amazing game. I had the pleasure of playing it back in the day and was a little confused with the story but you explained it brilliantly! Also the puns in between to lighten the mood were superb! Perfection ☺️
A fantastic review, mate! Made me laugh out loud multiple times and was pretty damn on point. Except maybe when you said you don't like to use Shana and Miranda. Dude, I can't count the times their healing capabilities or strong magic attack stats have saved my skin! Use a correct throwable elemental magic spell on any enemy and watch them crumble at your feet!
This game is a HUGE part of my childhood, and honestly even as a kid I knew the translation was jacked up. Some things just didn’t make sense even a little, or were even spelled wrong? I’ve come to find it charming. Thank you for this video! I’ve been going through your catalogue and made it all the way here!
I love this game. What I love most about it is the folklore/history of the world. The moon that never sets and the ties to the black monster/"moon child" The dragon campaign The divine tree and all of the species that were born from it in small fruit capsules The Wingly civilization and their enslavement of humanity thousands of years ago The divine creator Zoa (creation story) 11,000 years of history, and it can be expanded more. And I agree with a lot of the other comments. Those flaws are what definitely give it its charm. When I was young and played it the first time, I listened to the voice acting and thought it wasn't great, but I didn't care. You accept the limitations and you let the game just be itself. The music really does set the mood and the atmosphere. When you visit Hoax, and the army begins to attack, the music comes on and it's the kind of music that just gives you this eerie feeling. You know something bad is coming. My favorite was King Albert. His attacks were pretty strong too, next to Rose. Always did work on the enemy, especially with his addition Gust of Wind Dance. Dart was my second favorite character. This game desperately needs a prequel and remake, and there is so much for other offshoot storylines. Like Rose before she appears at the beginning of LoD. Serdian civil war where Lavitz could be the main character. Dart's journey before returning to Seles at the beginning of LoD. Apparently he explores a region of Endiness that is off limits. Younger generations need to be introduced to this game, just as we were when we first played the PS1 version.
I am physically unable to keep up with all the comments at this point, so hopefully a pinned reply will do. THANKS FOR WATCHING! Absolutely nuts to me that we will soon surpass 100k views, and as put aptly by some commenters, a clear indicator that there's still a lot of interest in a remake/sequel. Completely vindicated my statement about the passion levels for this game never being higher!
I hope you enjoyed the video! My gratitude is immeasurable and my day is made.
Idk if you watched Hunter x Hunter (1999) but at 35:55 I have a soft spot for that ost because it sounds like the main theme the old version of the show had. Weird to comment but it was very much a popular sound design type back then
do breath of fire 3 next bru
If you like the addition system, I highly recommend playing at least the first two Shadow Hearts games on PS2. They're pretty charmingly unique games in their own right, too.
Do keep in mind i'm on my third rewatch, i've been feeling like playing it again and finding such a great review helped me sooth my nostalgia quite a lot, awesome work you absolutely nailed it if i may say so myself.
Got a new subscriber. Wildarms is a great one to cover! I wish you good fortune broski.
Nothing quite like finding a niche channel with a long-winded, wholesome ramble about a game I completely and utterly fangirl over
same, except im a boy
I'm a dude and I fan girl over this game BIG TIME
Same!!!
It is a great game. It was this game and skies of Arcadia that got me into Rpg's . Great times
I loved this game at first sight and still do. It still holds up too
"He's too busy fist bumping Lavitz to reciprocate her feelings"
Man, you might have been late to the party, but sure did understand this game. Your opinions have been validated by this sentence alone.
Grew up playing this game with my dad, who was never that good at RPGs because he refused to search areas for items or grind when needed. We had so many good times staying up trying to beat whatever boss we were stuck on at the time. He’s gone now, but I’ll always have those memories when I think of this game.
That's really cool that your dad played video games with you. My dad played mortal Kombat with me an my brother as a kid but that was the only other game besides pac man that he liked. I could only imagine trying to play a dog with my dad 😆
Then we are two, this gave me the feels.
It's funny my dad let me play and I lost and I felt so bad cuz it started him over I was so young and I played it again to that part and I remember going to him like I got you back there
My son plays games that way then makes me do the parts he can't because he won't search ever and gets frustrated lol
Thank you for sharing! I'm sorry for your loss.
“He’s to busy fist bumping lavitz to reciprocate his own feelings”so true 🤣
Getting hours from a wholesome obscure UA-cam channel hits different. Thank you for everything.
"If sony ever tries to do a remake or a sequel, AND I GUARANTEE THEY WON'T" I laughed pretty hard, then I cried.
Never forget that Bluepoint Games made a Halloween tweet a few years ago where they basically hinted that they were remaking five games or six or twelve games. One of those was true (Demon's Souls, but they also name drop Wander from Shadow of the Colossus which was already out), but it also mentioned Dart and the Black Monster:
"So calm this spooky night. A symphony of rumors - not one, but two - return from shadow. A resistance to dart home as black monsters escape twisted hills to wander lands and syphon souls. Filter your candy collections, soft from solid, and be eco-friendly. Have a metal Halloween."
It's a pipe dream at this point, but I also know that one of the head honchos over at Bluepoint really likes LoD, and that's why the rumor took off the first place. Keep hope alive. It took ten years to announce FFVII Remake after all. And now that Sony owns Bluepoint, maybe someone at the studio has Sony's ear about it.
I felt this in my soul.
Me Toooooo! 🤣
it's such a missed opportunity really, the whole story behind the Dragoons x Wingly war is so interesting. They could totally do a prequel with it, I'd also love a sequel. Really anything in this game's universe would be awesome, but Sony has to be Sony and just abandon a perfectly good IP. Like they did Tomba.
They did
I teared up when Dart went to Lavitz's room in the credits to share the drink he promised
20 years later and i still can’t think about that scene without tearing up 🥹
Lavitz is best bro. I literally cried when he died. I was also like 10 and had a crush on him. He was my first video game heartbreak. 💔
@@spiwolf6998 for me it was Shana 😍
Gotta think about it too, he had to speak with Lavitz's mother again as well. And that to me is a difficult, heavy thing to do. Especially after the whole adventure. Good chance he tells her about her son's role at the end of the story, too.
@@kaitoudark1 yes, that has to be rough. I’m sure he told her that he was a hero and died nobly
LoD is such a charming, imperfect gem that I can’t help but want Sony to take another stab at the universe. Either a remake or prequel, but a second chance to polish this title would be welcome.
Hard agree from me! If this game got a prequel that showed the horror of the dragon campaign I would buy that in a heartbeat
Remake first. We need to bring this game back, then we can have a prequel to explore the horrors of the Dragon Campaign.
They could use Drakengard mechanics to bring the game into the zeitgeist of ActionRpgs. In Drakengard each weapon has its own combos, which reminds me of the combat system of Dragoon.
As someone who hasn't played the game I think I'd be onboard for a remake as long as it keeps the spirit and the gameplay of the original alive (I found the FFVII remake rather bland and souless)
Only thing this need is a remake...the same exact way..this isn't a game that needs to be brought back and ruined...
This game is one of my greatest inspirations. I used to draw my own dragoons in middle school, still listen to the opening theme to this day, and my obsession with Shana led me to pursue my tribe's archery lessons and I discovered marksmanship was a hidden talent. I owe a lot to this derpy cheesy beautiful "magical girls but for boys" game.
"magical girls but for boys", i'm fairly sure that we just call that Super Sentai.
I love this
I never thought of "magical girls but for boys" would perfectly match this game and I love it.
"80's radical magical girl/boy adventure game with DRAGOONS "....Oh aaand war haha.
I drew my Dragoon in middle school too. hahaha...
WoOoooh Go man!😊
Another thing that I don't believe was talked about was that after several of the major events if you go back into earlier parts of the game NPC's will have changed dialog to reflect what is happening.
Also visiting lavitz mother over the game you get to view her picking back up her life after her son.
Oh God I could only handle going back to see her once after Lavitz died, I felt so bad for her
Man this game taught me as a kid that good guys CAN die, unceremoniously too. 2 decades later and I'm still not over what happened with Lavitz
Pretty bold story choice they made - that scene at the end of the game with his ghost is redemption on a legendary scale.
Aye
i understand what you mean
Don't forget Haschel's whole arc with his daughter. That was rough to see a case where an argument was truly the last time a person would ever interact with a loved one.
Lavitz was my Aeris moment. Loved this game and he was my favorite character.
Rose being 11 thousand years old, and going through such terrible things, finally dying with her loved one, + the final scene being the black and the red dragoon lying down together... The game is really called "The Legend of Dragoon" after her.
P.S. Still remember a moment when she said "i used to be shy just like her" whilst thinking about Shanna. Cranks me up every time.
I love this game probably more than it deserves. It has a lot of rough edges but it's got so much charm and well realized art and storytelling. Very good video, thanks for taking the time to share your experience with it!
My pleasure, glad you enjoyed the video!
I didn't appreciate the smaller details of how well done Lavitz's death was done until I looked back on it years later. I like how you point out how expressive each of the character's reactions to it is despite being done with the in-game engine and lack of voice acting. Dart crying out, and Shana flinching away and grasping at Rose who doesn't even flinch after all the death she's seen. It's probably the most impactful scene while working within limitations of in-game visuals and sound design.
This is going on my best content on UA-cam playlist. The aside about Albert being an absentee king and the "just kidding, she's a bitch and everyone hates her" made me die laughing. I've loved this game my whole life and you did it justice, mad props.
Not gonna lie this is THE game that OFFICIALLY made me a gamer.. I was about 11 and my friend left the game at my house, I started that night, I skipped school for a day and beat the game.. Or so I thought until I realized there was more disk, I remember searching everywhere in my neighborhood and beyond to find them I traded off like 100 pokemon cards for disk 2 with some kid at school, went outside my city via bus cause I seen a ad selling disk 3 and litterally fought a kid because we played cards for games and he wasn't tryna give me the forth though he lost lol man I fucking love this game.. It's one of the best I ever played and till this day I play games to find a feeling THAT game gave me.. If they made a remake I haven't played a PS regularly since a PS3 but I'd play daily off just this game alone 💯...
bro we must be twins lmao
@@frandavis1990 Hey they say everyone got a twin, you never know 🤷🏾, either way.. What's good brother man lol..
I was about to comment how the hell did u beat this game in a day..then i read the rest of ur comment first 😂😂
You done quested to finish the game itself lol
Respect!
@@originals4614 fakx never thought I'd be happy playing a real life Ubisoft fetch quest sim 😂..
“Finally a strong female character to help Shana make sandwiches” had me rolling
Who translated this, it smells like America? I know their shit, I live here. Games like Mario and Zelda games back when there were manual books. There were no translation errors from Japanese translations to English. But with American companies named Canada Dubbing or something like that, that screwed up Inuyasha but that was the style back then or something. (Kagome speaking to Inuyasha not to chase after that demon bird in season 1) "No!, Don't, you'll hurt those boy!" and Yu Yu Hakasho "You're idiot!" (Kuwabara referring to Yusuke as that underwater in spirit form while Yusuke is in the middle of fighting Hate Fish and Rando.) Uploader did say the translation is walking all over the game and story and stuff, that might be the reason. Disgruntled employees slightly racist or lashing out workplace hostility led to Rockstar making GTA 5 and having some very questionable design and development choices. I say that, but it's more like a fucking warzone over there, man.
@@BlackMoonHowls You must be fun at parties. Do yourself a favor, take a few deep breaths. Seek therapy.
It's such a good line!
Tifa?
@@BlackMoonHowls ...What? There have ALWAYS been translation errors.
Mario and Zelda and game manuals barely have text in them so they are easy as fuck to translate. America is just that incompetent/puritan.
Oh my goodness you are absolutely hilarious. I found you through my weekly youtube search for "Legend of Dragoon" and you're at the top of the results! So glad I found you cause this was not only a great video about my all time favorite game, but also you were insanely entertaining. Keep up the great work!!
Weekly search, love it. YOU are the devoted fan I'm referring to in the video 😁
@@Majuular Well, I gotta say, we really can't argue about the fucking VOICE ACTING AND TRANSLATION. LMAO
I remember showing any friends I've ever grown up with "OH IT CAN NOT BE" and we'd laugh our asses off every time. Good days!
@@Majuular It's been a month but I can finally put a pin on your energy.
You have Nakey Jakey vibes.
That means you've truly ascended. Keep it up.
Thanks for bringing attention to this old gem. The Legend Of Dragoon was a childhood joy I got to better appreciate and understand as I grew up. The subtle changes in Rose's behavior with the group over the game are so endearing. Ruff.
30:45 one thing to note is that Albert's additions are slightly different in execution than Lavitz which gives them a different "feel" when being accomplished. It's a pretty nice touch.
I couldn't use Albert worth shit. Really pissed me off they stole Lavitz and made me use Albert. I was badass with Lavitz
LoL slightly he says. It goes from 0 to 100 . His are all the hardest Imo at every point in the game
@@Demortixx idk man once you figure out the timing on Gust of Wind Dance it just feels so good to hit it on Albert
You've already stated how good Shana is at magic. So I'll just point out that having her in the party is a good excuse to clear junk magic items from your inventory. Helped motivate me to use consumables in general.
This. I basically use her for healing and chucking any magic items at bosses. Almost makes the game a joke in places.
41:18 The reason why there was no teleport option at this point was because you could go back to the flower city first to attend Lynn's wedding. The game only hints at the possibility but if you follow Lynn all the way back there first you see the event and get a key item. But only if you go there at this point otherwise you miss that event. This was something i found out about in my 2nd playthrough of the game and it has 2 different outcomes as well. I'll let you discover that on your own. Besides that easily missable content I absolutely enjoyed your review and look forward to watching more in the future.
There's actually 3 possible results to that prompt I think. The outcome where you don't react in time has two possible results. I'm not sure if it's random or some background process determines which happen, but I'm 99% sure there's two possible outcomes. It could be 6 total results now that I think about it, and I have only seen 3. I'm also trying not to spoil, so hopefully you get what I'm saying.
I missed the bouquet 😥💐
I'm currently playing this game for the 3rd time. I nearly finished it way back in the day, from memory I couldn't figure out where to go at some point. Great review mate, thumbs up.
3rd play through? Are you being forced to by someone? What kind of masochist would willingly put themselves through this BS 3 times over?
I hope it gets a remake! been hoping for years!
that was one of the glaring flaws in games back then. They really wanted you to buy that strategy guide lol
I just gave you your *69th* like!!! Yeah!!! 69!!!🤜🤛💪
This is one of those games where I dreamed of owning and playing as a kid. I remember playing through the demo hundreds of times. Back then you could go to the store and buy a gaming magazine and at the back there was a ps1 disk that had tons of demos and trailers. Sigh oh the nostalgia...
After watching your Xenogears retrospective, I’m now in the process of making my way through your entire catalogue of videos, and this is probably my favorite so far. I’m one of the rare people who actually played this game to completion when it was relatively new, and getting to see your take on it was absolutely delightful. With every video I watch I’m becoming more and more a fan of you and your content. On to the next one!
I've been enjoying his catalogue as well except xenogears was my favorite one so far
I too played this straight through when it was new! One of my favorite games of all time!!!
When it comes to the OST, I think the virage theme freaking slaps. It's one of these old-style boss themes that perfectly encapsulates the feeling of "Oh shit."
Yep im totally in that list of people who does a replay every couple years. This is the first game i remember completely losing myself in when i was a kid/teen. i really wish we would get a remake with the same story but with a better translation and some gameplays changes. The addition system was awesome and i wish more games did something similar.
I believe there's more charm to keeping the prerendered backgrounds, if ever updated.
I found the dragoon mode attacks almost impossible to nail perfect.
This game and its OST gives me a feeling a can’t explain and nothing else has ever really come close. I love it so much.
Another of my favorites of the time I’d love to see you talk about is Legend of Legaia.
Yes, I miss the old days when video games were just good and weren’t stuffed with scummy ways to take more money from the fans.
imagine if this game got the final fantasy 7 treatment
Thank you for this trip down memory lane. I think about this game all the time, it is still probably in my top 10 JRPG's of all time. Great video, the nostalgia is real and it is amazing that so many other people feel as I do with this classic!
My buddy finally played this with me right before I moved away for a few years. I let him play Lavitz, knowing full well what happens. It's the one time in my life I have ever even heard of him shedding tears, manly or otherwise.
1:12:30 There are some birds that only take one damage at certain spots. They drop massive gold compared to the rest of the games fights. You need the sachet reuseable item to actually win the fights though as they run. Props to you for doing that grind.
I mean, you dont NEED sachets but they make it a cakewalk.
Farming those was the only time I put Shana/Miranda in my party over other characters, since she had 100% accuracy despite their incredibly high evasion.
Bro, this video is way too high quality to only have like 7,000 views. I wish i had friends who gave a shit about ps1 games to show them the absolute greatness and labor of love you clearly put in to this video.
Regardless, i hope you know that i genuinely think that you are one of the coolest content creators i've seen in recent memories. I am so glad this popped up in my recommended because I genuinely can't wait to see what other awesome videos you put out.
Super appreciate that my dude 🙏All of the positive feedback & comments like yours have given me a lot of energy, lots of fun ideas for the future.
Over 140,000 views now
300k by the end of the week. it's in recommended
440k as I watch. I’m glad this video got its flowers. Great review and great game
This was one of my first JRPGs and I loved it so much. Never got passed Zenebatos, but it was awesome to see the ending. Fantastic video!
This game I watched my brother play countless times when I was very young and it's honestly one of our favorites. We love every inch of this game and I was so happy that years later I was able to play it myself when we got it digitally on the PS3 as our PS1 disks weren't working cause, well, we played them so much we kinda scratched them to oblivion XD;;; I may be an emotional person, but when I finished the game with my brother beside me all those years later I cried. There are many reasons why I appreciate this game, but mainly it's because it was an escape for me and my brothers when we needed it most.
It was an adventure we needed when life got us down, and one day I hope it gets a remaster at the least
If you liked how the additions worked in this game ive got a feeling you would love the system Shadow Hearts:Covenant uses.
The bromance jokes had me bursting out laughing. In the kind of way that you know only you find funny because you know the story but your wife is looking at you from the other side of the room wondering if it's too late for a divorce.
I know that feel. I know that look.
God, those LOD magazine ads were beautiful.
Some of the others I found in my research took up like 4 pages of real estate. They were serious about advertising this game!
@@Majuular That Sony advertising budget is infinite.
To this day the main theme "If You Still Believe" still holds up as one of the best themes for a JRPG, there's something so otherwordly about it.
This story is remarkable in showing the perspective of having to live for 11,000 years. Even when 3 of my team were in *Dragoon* mode while in battle, I still had access to healing magic, so seems your refusal to use *Shanna's* or *Miranda's* healing magic made some of the Boss battles harder on you than was otherwise nessasary. Kudos to you for taking the hard {melee only} path while in combat. *Meru* and *Rose* could also heal partly members while in *Dragoon* form 🦹 🧜♀️ 🧚♀️ 🤺 🦹♀️
I hoarded healing items and Angel's Prayer like you wouldn't believe. My biggest gripe as a kid was how much their damage sucked and how they didn't use Additions like the rest of the party. LoD was my first RPG so I never saw Shana's or Miranda's utility as Healers. It did bother me though that LoD didn't have spells or at least the traditional ones.
I love how you can get Kongol's dragoon stone somewhat early in part 2 or at the point of no return in the endgame.
I feel like they forgot to give it to him and remembered about it so late that this was all they could do.
you can actually get it anytime during Disc 4 by going back to Lohan.
@@AnAverageGoblin And sitting through like four disc changes.
@@gaminggoddess85 absolutely worth it.
@GribbleGob you can actually get it as early as disc 2 as soon as Kongol joins your party.
What an amazing review, throroughly enjoyable, well written and edited and pretty funny humor. The footage and upscaled emulation looks gorgeous! I hope they port/remake/prequel/sequel this game eventually
Props to you my guy, for not knowing any money making strats but still grinding out two Legend Casques. That's a feat given how little gold you get from some encounters.
There are a few repeatable battle items that stun and otherwise prevent foes from running. With the use of these, you can go back to various locations in the world map and fight different rare (kinda, spawn rates are pretty good, you've probably fought a few) enemies that have high defense and usually run away before killed. If you manage to beat the right ones some drop crazy amounts of gold. Only ones I remember are 00parts outside of the black city/ Lohan area who drops 300 gold when defeated and the Rainbow Bird who's outside Rouge(I think).
There are easy-ish ways but honestly you probably saved yourself a little hassle just grinding it out. I missed out on one of the repeatable items and fighting the rare monsters was incredibly difficult sometimes.
Either way you nailed every aspect of this game in your review! Sad that Shanna getting ignored while Lavitz and Dart fist bump is legitimately a scene in the game xD
This game is a GEM. The menu music is an unforgettable banger. The addition system made combat feel so special and unique compared to others of its time. 9/10. Absolutely love it.
This video is fantastic. Was super funny and honestly cool to see so many other people loved this game as much as I did. A truly hidden gem in the RPG world
Definitely an underrated channel. This is a great video
I must confess that I never finished this game along with Xenogears, I don't know how many times I have played both since I was a kid, many times almost reaching the ending just to drop 'em for reasons I don't even remember or understand. But you have inspired me with this review to finally finish it once and for all.
Weird how that sometimes works with JRPGs, but I relate so much. Take a "short" break, come back 3 years later, realize you don't remember what's happened in the story, restart, repeat.
That 3rd disc final boss is an ass whooper
I have played this so many times back in the day. Have it on my ps vita too for some LOD on the go.
You never finished this game because it sucks.
@@ChaoticNeutralAnimation you must be trash at timing the battle system with that input lag, get g00d
Always good to see someone review this amazing hidden gem. And I appreciate you giving this a fair shake and give an honest opinion. But this is definitely one of my favourite games of all time (given the fact my name is a reference from the game lmao) plus the flaws for me of this game gives the game its charm. Ofc not all can appreciate it, but I do. Anyways love you for making this review. You just earned a sub from me on this.
I'm so glad I found this channel because of three key-reasons:
1. I feel the need to have something vaguely informational playing in the background while doing any regular activity.
2. Reason 3.
I played the crap out of the game, loved it a lot! Never beat the game though sadly, and it got stolen a few years later..
And also... I never got around to beating Dragoon either as a kid. But I've currently been streaming it and gotten to a point I've never played before! I'm so freaking excited to finally beat this game. Getting to see new aspects of the game was surreal after so many years of barley getting past the first disc. xD
How do you stream it?!
@@vantilsley8633 Like what programs do I use? I have a PS1 emulator on my computer and I stream with OBS. :)
Everything gets better and comes to a head on disc 4.
@@RageBoxMan Nvm thought you meant something else entirely
I Loved this game back in the day!Still do honestly,just glad to see ruminations on it.
This was such a great game, and this video really took me down memory lane. I feel you on the shit translation thing--I was so happy when they ported FF Tactics to the PSP with a better translation that I'm always hoping Dragoon would get a similar treatment at some point for the new generation of consoles, along with some gameplay updates. The addition system was so unique for the time though--I really remember the sense of accomplishment I felt the first time I nailed Rose's final combo during a critical boss fight. It's the kind of thing that really sticks with you.
I played this game like CRAZY when it first came out, but at the age of 10 I couldn't figure out to law puzzle at Zabatanos, so I eventually stopped playing. A coworker of mine got me a copy of the game recently and I just beat it literally minutes ago. The ending scene where you see everyone living happily, dart pouring one out with the portrait of Lavitz that you receive early in the game, and Rose's bittersweet happy ending with Zieg, made finally finishing this game worth it. Well done with the review!
OH HELL YEAH! I just found your channel last week with the Chrono Cross review. Noticed you used a LotD clip in the combat section and I thought "I hope he does a review like this for Legend of the Dragoon."
And here we are.
Found this channel the same way and it's quickly becoming one of my faves. I never played this game but the synopsis is really well paced and entertaining and makes me feel like I didn't miss out on anything
Like Schala & Serge, I heard your desires through space & time and got crackin on an LoD review. Enjoy!
I never watch youtube videos over maybe thirty minutes, but this, this was worth it. I deeply appreciate the detail and love you gave to your narrative about the story as well as the gameplay. I watched the entire video about this game I so enjoyed as a teenager, thank you for taking the time to make and share it with us.
I loved this game as a young kid, unable to solve even the simplest of puzzles and dungeons. It provided many hours of fun, and I was captivated by the story (again, being a clueless kid). Thanks for making such an amazing video and the great nostalgia hit.
Hell of a review. Didn't feel like I spent an hour and 20 minutes listening to someone speak about a game I truly love. Great job and thank you
An important note about the transition from Lavitz to Albert is it's stated in a piece of dialogue from Lavitz that Albert trained him to fight, so not only is he a superior fighter, but his additions are way faster, trickier and less clunky.
There was also a fun feature in disc 2 where you could go back to Serdio and visit Seles with Shana in your party. Doing so would make your controller's vibrations stronger whilst visiting without her made them weaker. If I recall correctly, you could go back to Bale and have Albert interact with Lavitz's mom too
Also the Melbu Frahma music is unparalleled. I will die on that hill
Lavitz taught Albert.
@@josephsloop8865 that's what I remember to
I really enjoy your videos. I work at home all day on my computer and so I watch a lot of these more long-form videos about random topics, but usually about media. I often found myself laughing and rewinding or sort of putting my work on pause to listen to whatever thought you were fleshing out. I also enjoy that you seem to be reviewing obscure JRPG classics and giving them a fair shakedown, instead of just saying how everything is dated and bad. In short, I hope you don't change!
I still remember the some of the music. Quite frankly the normal battle music for this game was pretty damn good. Its still stuck in my head to this day.
Let me tell you something…. I absolutely LOVE what you are doing. This has turned into my favorite place to go on UA-cam! Thank you for this.
Your explanation about Zeig and Melbu Frahma taking over his dragoon spirit answered one of the biggest questions the game left me with.
LoD kinda killed a lot of JRPGs for me. It was my first JRPG and set the bar. I enjoyed their mechanics, there are mix of resource management and additions (which were fun and cool), Dragoon mod > every limit break mechanic at the time, so gameplay wise I didn’t enjoyed a lot of other JRPGs as I should have if I didn’t play LoD first. I still loved FFs and other classics like Chrono Trigger, Persona, earthbound etc. but LoD forever will be on some kinda pedestal because… well you’re never forget your first lol. Nice video, there are a lot of nostalgia here for me
P.S. and yeah Menu theme is a banger
That's actually what FF7 did for me. After I played it I knew nothing would ever be as good. I played FF8 next and i was right it wasnt as good. Then I saw FF9 in the store and it looked goofy like a bunch of little kids and i didnt touch it. It was nearly 16 years I didn't even touch an RPG until I realized that even though nothing will ever compare to FF7, it doesnt mean i shouldnt play them.
Have you played Panzer Dragoon? Asking cuz its an experience i found very different from other jrpgs in its tone, storytelling and gameplay. Primarily because it feels so distant and somewhat haunting, going for a completely different vibe. Main villain Craymen is especially unusual in a jrpg because while main character hates him and wants revenge on him, he genuinely wants them to be friends.
@@KOTEBANAROT no, I have not played this game. I guess its just never hit any video game stores in my country, cause I don’t even remember something like that. Looks interesting though. I doubt that I would find a time to play it, but hey maybe I will. Thanks for the tip.
@@slammydunk9787 just in case you ever find yourself wanting to check it out, the game is also really short by jrpg standards, like 14 hours
I really appreciate the balance of story summary, review, and comedy in this video - fantastic work and it definitely makes me want to check out more of the channel. Thanks for the content!
As for LoD, It's just way too good to have gone unsupported this long by Sony compared to other lesser games that have had ports, remasters, and sequels over the same timeframe. A prequel set during the Dragon Campaign that sets up more of divine history that could lead into a remake/remaster and then a sequel would be so fantastic for this generation, especially given how the addition system could be modernized when mixed with how FF7R innovated and showed what an action RPG battle system could be. Maybe one day...
A Remaster for this game would be the same as splitting FF7R, at least 4 parts. Square-Enix took a huge risk that paid off, and while LoD is a masterpiece a remaster of this caliber isnt a guaranteed success. And honestly FF7R did an excellent choice of both telling the old story with new twists, thus making it almost like a sequel. And did a good job of not invalidating the original story-wise, dubsequently there are many new players playing Original FF7 after FF7R.
As a kid I got stuck in the marshland for a year because for some reason I couldn’t see the path you’re supposed to go down. I ended up retracing my steps thinking I missed some important item or event. Then I just decided to replay from the beginning and got stuck at the same spot again. Eventually I found the path by accident just running around and felt like an idiot.
playing ff 8, i got stuck for weeks or months at the place where you have to pick up a sniper rifle from the floor, did the same pretty much.
OMG, I thought I was the only one who did that lol. I also couldnt tell you were supposed to climb that tree branch to progress.
Love the game. ALL the music was perfect for me,
love the additions, the large scrolling pre rendered environments. The linear nature was fine as I was hooked anyway. But again, the music and sounds have me gushing about it. The beautiful nostalgic, ambient and melancholic sections, bleak and apocalyptic and Super calm and comforting at others
A fair few breakbeat style tunes that get you pumped for battle. The music is genuinely emotional for me.
What a fantastic accompaniment to beautifully realised environments, and a decent storyline. I even don't mind dodgy voice acting.
"Double punch!!"
Just subscribed, Great content, thank you
Thank you for this video. I had this game as a kid and could never get past the desert maze, even after hours of trying and returning to it years later (how wonderful is it the internet keeps us from hard losing games now). Finally some closure!
Your ideas for expanding the addition system are good ones. Make already engaging combat even better.
You’ve got a gift with words my dude. The line about how Dart is dumb and oblivious made me laugh out loud. Liked and subbed, looking forward to more of your content.
I cry every single day a remake or even remaster of this doesn't exist.
There's a fan made remaster in the works... called the 4K upscale project. I became a part of the project a while ago, can't wait until it goes public.
Thanks for the trip down memory lane. I have so much nostalgia for this game, and at a time in history, where things are kind of going to shit, I appreciate it more than you know.
Found this a little late, but loved your review. There is kind of a way to farm money, but its still a pain in the butt. There are Unique Monsters that appear in certain areas of the overworld map, have very odd fight mechanics and will reward items, xp or gold. That is the fastest way I know to get money for the expensive items in Lohan like the Legendary Casque. They are very hard early game, but not impossible, and become much easier to farm late game before the optional superboss, assuming you have speed and accuracy items as well as having not gotten rid of the special items such as the signet stone. (There is one outside Lohan towards Kazas called 00PARTS that has 4 hp, takes 1 hp damage per hit, but is very fast and can instantly kill a character and run away, but gives 600 gold if you kill it before it runs away) Great breakdown, thanks for the video!
My father bought LoD on release but I never really played past the intro until 2018, and 4 years later I'm just starting disc 4 lol. But it has always been ingrained as one of my favorites, even if my attention strays from it. This is definitely the most enjoyable review I've ever seen on the game, never thought Sneak King and LoD would be mentioned in the same sentence but here we are. Thanks for the hard work you put into this 👍
THIS GAME IS ENGRAVED IN MY CHILDHOOD MEMORIES FOR LIFE...I STILL CANT. BELIEVE HOW GRAPHICS WERE THIS GAME HAD A STORY THAT NOBODY WILL FORGET HAD ME RUNNING TO MY COUSINS HOUSE TO WATCH HIM PLAY ALL DAY SAT AND SUN
I remember really enjoying this game way back in elementary school. It'd be crazy if they actually decide to do a remake
You sold me out to this game. What a great find for me. Thanks!
FFX did the button push sequences with their overdrives.
Shadow Hearts would be way more comparable in terms of quick time events in the battles (and is a far better rpg than final onewaystreet X).
The game really was something special. Excellent review!
By far one of my top favorite games of all time. Really enjoyed the review!
This is without a doubt one of the best Review's / Game breakdowns I have ever seen of this game. No wonder it's at the top of the search list for Legend of Dragoon Reviews. :D
I’ve been doing laps of your videos for months now. Growing up I always saw people fawn over SNES RPGs and the PS1 Final Fantasies but that’s it. It always felt like the SNES JRPGs were considered golden age and the PS1 JRPGs were he peak but also the start of the falloff. I’m glad to see someone exploring the other PS1 games along with the Dreamcast/Gamecube games.
What I’m circling around is I love your content.
Pretty sure I have rewatched this video around 10 times now. I love your commentary and humor, and your videos are super entertaining. I especially love this one, Xenogears, and Chrono Cross. Hoping that you do more long form reviews of some of my other favorite RPGs.
This video brought it all back. Thank you, I forgot so much but this game was my favorite in the period where I started having my own personality and agency, transitioning from childhood to young adulthood.
I want to thank you persoanly for bringing this Hiden gem to light, this was my childhood. and a game that needed a HD remake or heck a brand new remaster like the treatment ff7remake got. this is by fa rmy favorite rpg back in the day so thank you for showing this new generation this game
This was the first RPG I ever played. I fricken loved it! I was really bad at games back then and it took me a while but as soon as I was finished I remember being depressed that it was over. I still listen to the sound track from time to time. One day I will replay it.
BatChest
No time like the present! You can always just start it when you have the time to, and just slowly chip away at it. That's one of the greatest advantages to video games: you can enjoy them almost entirely at your own pace.
Instantly clicked the Like button at the Dartfeld joke.^^ First video of yours I watch, and I found it very enjoyable. I had it on my "to watch" list for months, but its length detered me for quite some time. I enjoy the light tone you use and the jokes you pepper through the video (Fruegel and his BDSM army, "Unfortunately for Shana Dart is the dumbest and most oblivious f*** this side of Seles, so he's too busy fist-bumping Lavitz to reciprocate her feelings...", "the annoying character has annoying additions..." Poor Meru!^^, "overcome with feelings of uselessness" Poor Shana!^^, "it could be a love triangle, but Dart is so f***ing oblivious it's more like a love wah", Vladimir Denin, the comfy scale, MORSHU'S CAMEO...). I just love how casually you throw these good lines, it gives a good rythm, so the video doesn't even feel long.
I actually had the game when I was a teen, and I played the first two chapters a dozen of times, but due to the rythm of its gameplay I never finished it on the PS1. And it would be my main gripe. Everything always felt so slow and sluggish to me: navigating in the menu, the transition between the menus, selecting the commands, the transition between field and fights and the beginning animation of the fights, the ANIMATIONS of the attacks... I'm often talking about things that are only one second or a few tenths of second too long (well, except the astronomically long animations sometimes^^), but after 20 hours you start to feel these tenths of seconds... (Though I agree that the additions helped a lot make the battles more fun.) At some point during Chapter 3, I usually stopped playing. Maybe my memory is too blurry, as I now only play on emulators, mod launchers and such, but I recall that some other PS1 games like FF7 didn't have the same problem. I recently restarted AND finished the game on emulator, and I surely felt a lot of nostalgia! And just for the final dungeon on the moon, I don't regret it. I think that this is one of the best final dungeons of a JRPG - with the design that reuses previous locations and mixes it with more eldritch-looking sceneries, but especially story-wise and character-wise as it gives more insight on each main character.
I agree with many of the things said about the qualities of the game: the in medias res introduction, the depiction of the civil war and its effects (Chapter 1 is my favorite), the atmosphere and illusion of size of the main towns, the additions, a good soundtrack, a good clear lore, the pace of the plot... Aaaaand I also agree about most of the flaws pointed out (the world map, the underutilized dragoon mechanic, or the translation - and in French there are also the mistakes the French translators made when they badly translated an English expression that was potentially already flawed to begin with). I really enjoy the narration, and the characters even though they are archetypal (seriously, the game doesn't even hide it, they're even colour-coded^^): the classic JRPG protagonist, the classic childhood friend secretly in love with the protagonist, the good king, the aloof dark-haired action girl, the quirky but wise old man, the hyperactive teenager, and so forth... Same with the antagonists: Lloyd is the classic well-intentioned villain who wants to make the world better but feels he has to use unethical means, and of course there is an evil emperor... However, classic doesn't necessarily mean bad. These characters are very sympathetic and fun to watch. I enjoy a lot of their interactions - especially whenever Lavitz or Haschel act like Dart's wing men. Lore-wise, story-wise and character-wise, I'd say this game feels like a time capsule of what the classic JRPGs of its era did - but in a good way. It uses classic elements, but it uses them well and it makes a compelling game.
And Lavitz is indeed the bro everyone dreams they had... Seeing him share one last bromance scene with Dart and Albert in the final chapter really made me feel something! There is no bro jealousy between Dart and Albert, I respectfully disagree with that. There is a bromantic threesome!^^
I've been having a rough time recently, and these videos have gotten me through some long dark nights, so I really want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart. You're a gem, my dude!
Love this game. I wish we do get a remake. New sub amigo. To put a smile on your face. Lavitz is the best friend you could ask for.
*SPOILERS*
It hurt me more than Aerith's death when he died. 😭
Subscribed for the fact that I absolutely adore this game and wish more people would do longer reviews on it. It had an incredible amount of potential back in the day, in my opinion. Still hope they remake it one of these days.
I miss the golden age of RPG's, where Square would put out 3-4 absolute bangers every year.
When I was a kid and I was playing the crap out of this game, everyone was playing ff7, I felt so alone. Now, I feel redeemed. I loved Legend of Dragoon. So many memorable moments.
Also, Dart saying "Flaaaaaame Shot" while the camera cuts at places and there is the punch sound, is just amazing and I will die on this hill.
Thanks for the trip down memory lane. You’ve earned a new sub. 👍
Sorry I missed this comment but thanks so much for the support & sub, glad you enjoyed the video!
17:13 "DEVOURING GOD. Dart, you do like 5 damage right now, bud. There's still time to turn around." LMAO So, so good.
Loved the narration and detailed review of this amazing game. I had the pleasure of playing it back in the day and was a little confused with the story but you explained it brilliantly! Also the puns in between to lighten the mood were superb! Perfection ☺️
Hahahaha... you had me with the menu music.... so true... one of the best original creative concept, gameplay. Awesome game.
A fantastic review, mate! Made me laugh out loud multiple times and was pretty damn on point. Except maybe when you said you don't like to use Shana and Miranda. Dude, I can't count the times their healing capabilities or strong magic attack stats have saved my skin! Use a correct throwable elemental magic spell on any enemy and watch them crumble at your feet!
This game is a HUGE part of my childhood, and honestly even as a kid I knew the translation was jacked up. Some things just didn’t make sense even a little, or were even spelled wrong? I’ve come to find it charming. Thank you for this video! I’ve been going through your catalogue and made it all the way here!
I love this game. What I love most about it is the folklore/history of the world.
The moon that never sets and the ties to the black monster/"moon child"
The dragon campaign
The divine tree and all of the species that were born from it in small fruit capsules
The Wingly civilization and their enslavement of humanity thousands of years ago
The divine creator Zoa (creation story)
11,000 years of history, and it can be expanded more. And I agree with a lot of the other comments. Those flaws are what definitely give it its charm. When I was young and played it the first time, I listened to the voice acting and thought it wasn't great, but I didn't care. You accept the limitations and you let the game just be itself.
The music really does set the mood and the atmosphere. When you visit Hoax, and the army begins to attack, the music comes on and it's the kind of music that just gives you this eerie feeling. You know something bad is coming.
My favorite was King Albert. His attacks were pretty strong too, next to Rose. Always did work on the enemy, especially with his addition Gust of Wind Dance. Dart was my second favorite character.
This game desperately needs a prequel and remake, and there is so much for other offshoot storylines. Like Rose before she appears at the beginning of LoD. Serdian civil war where Lavitz could be the main character. Dart's journey before returning to Seles at the beginning of LoD. Apparently he explores a region of Endiness that is off limits.
Younger generations need to be introduced to this game, just as we were when we first played the PS1 version.
Great content, as always! I appreciate the quality of your videos, you clearly put effort on these!