*WATCH NEXT:* Parasite Eve Retrospective: Square's Resident Evil RPG - ua-cam.com/video/BBokBXQ2GVo/v-deo.html *Common questions are addressed at the bottom of this comment, so make sure to read this before commenting!* Thank you SO much for watching - hopefully I've reminded you about this gem of a game, or hopefully I've inspired you to give it a shot yourself! This video took well over 100 hours to make altogether, which is by far the most time I've devoted to any one project. If you especially enjoyed it and would like to support future videos, including ones of this massive scope, even a dollar a month at www.patreon.com/TheGoldenBolt goes a huge way! If not, that's cool too! *COMMON QUESTIONS/COMMENTS* *What about the Charm Potion?!* That's the item I refer to at 13:40! I called it an escape rather than a repel for some reason, or y'know, by the actual name. I caught it while editing the video, but by that point I would've had to re-record several lines on a shredded voice, so I just left it as-is, figuring only 1000 people would see the video anyway. I was _very_ wrong about that last part! The Charm Potion as I mention around that timestamp brings about even more issues rather than fixing the one it attempts to address - you'll at best only be able to carry about 12 Charm Potions unless you go out of your way to avoid picking up other items, and that's not really enough to get through a dungeon! *It's not a Final Fantasy Killer though.* Correct, hence the "quotes" on the thumbnail! Sony positioned the game in that way, and the press around that time used the "Killer" phrase as often as they called FPS games "Doom Clones." Of course LoD didn't kill FF - not a single game marketed as a "_____ Killer" has ever successfully killed another the franchise off of which it's mooching press! *Will you do [GAME] next?* Next? Probably not! At some point? Absolutely, I'd love to! I've seen a lot of requests for Legaia especially, which is a game I'm completely unfamiliar with. It all comes down to time - I work a full-time job and am currently a full-time student on top of this hobby and other part-time endeavors related to UA-cam, so to keep on a good schedule, these long videos are for now gonna be mostly limited to games with a huge impact on me personally. As the channel grows, and with the generous support of my Patrons, I can take progressively more time out of my day job to work on these projects, which means they can get bigger and better! I'd like to do one large-scale video every few months until that point comes, at least!
Great video! Same as you I love LOD BTW i am not sure if you know but I highly suggest you review and play Legend of Legaia another amazing JRPG from Sony and from PS1
My little brother and I would pool our chore money to buy video games and buy solely based on the box art to mixed results.This was one of those purchases. Life defining game. Had a dedicated fan to keep the ps1 cool when we got dragged away by our parents.
19 years ago when I was in grade 5 and my brother in 6, my parents let my brother buy any game he wanted. He chose Resident Evil Survivor. I had a temper tantrum because I didn't get anything so my mom let me also choose a game and I didn't know what I wanted. I picked out Legend of Dragoon just based on its cover art. It was one of the best decisions I ever made. To this day my brother and I laugh at how bad RE Survivor was and talk about the fond memories we have of LOD and how great it was.
I have to admit I can only view this game through nostalgia goggles. The music touched my soul so profoundly as a child I'll forgive any flaw it has and insist it's a masterpiece. I cant help myself
The ps4/5 version is identical. Hopefully if there’s a remaster they don’t F it up. Seems like every game that gets remastered is not true to the original and just ruins it for the players who have these fond memories of the game.
@@mikem7928 something tells me there aren't enough of us fans to justify making one. But if they did I'd also hope they don't botch it 👍 the ratio of good to bad remasters isn't great to say the least x)
This is that game that everyone who played it felt like they were the only person in the world that played it and it was completely insane it didn't get more recognition. Holy shit I was a hipster at 6...
Tbh I always found that to be interesting about the game. If you look up sales figures, at least just for North America, it sold more copies than some other more famous Squaresoft games. So unless it happened to sell more copies in say Canada than the US, it always baffles me how so many people apparently bought the game, yet it wasn't brought up.
This game needs a remaster so badly. Also even at the young age I was at when I played this it was blatantly obvious Rose is the Black monster and Shana was the moon child
They need to remaster but need to keep all the terrible voice acting and lines. I don't care what anyone says, those two items make the game stick with you and make it stand out. It was one of those rare instances where the product was so bad it became AMAZING.
I think this game needs a proper remake. My idea for a proper magic system is one where every time you d-lvl up, you unlock basic magic spells that are normally items. It makes perfect sense because the game straight up says that the dragoon spirits can draw power from each other. Let me SEE that in action, damn it. Also, add an elemental opposite to thunder. The game needs it. And for Shana/Miranda, give them 5 additions. Also, every character except Dart gets 1 or 2 more additions.
It brings tears to my eyes every time I hear someone talk about The Legend of Dragoon. I have such a regard for this game, I have played it dozens of times. Surely, The Legend of Dragoon is #1 at the top of every LoD fan's remake list.
Ditto. I've played the game to completion 13 times that I remember. I have said for years if Sony remakes this I will buy the console it comes out on. I have hunted for any other game that might feel like Legend of Dragoon, but no one has the Addition combat system and no game seems to have an answer for the Dragoon transformation abilities. So far, there is nothing that I can find even close to this game.
37:40 I never played the Japanese localization of LoD, but I’m 99.9% sure “that’s life” was a translation of “shouganai” or “shikataganai” which is a very common Japanese expression. It can translate to, “it can’t be helped”, “there’s nothing we can do about it”, “it’s no use worrying about it”, or some approximation thereof. Translating it to “that’s life” can be an appropriate idiom depending on the context, but yeah not in this case; one of the other translations would have been a much better fit.
I appreciate the insight, that makes a lot of sense actually! With how stilted the translation tends to be, I can 100% believe it's a direct translation causing trouble.
I just don't understand why. The amount of voices that want SOMETHING!!! ANYTHING!!! INVOLVING l.o.d is impossible to not be aware of. It's like they blantantly refuse to do it. For whatever reason. I really hope it wasnt a situation similar to ff8, where the original code was lost. And they had to back up multiple lines of it from the staff that worked on its various computers and piece it back together. It's kind of concerning me that that's the case with l.o.d
Personally I've disliked every remaster that's come out, and would rather just play the originals. I'd be much more happy with a prequel showing off the Dragon Campaign and the previous heroes.
I would like a remaster but only because the port on psp/vita has to many bugs that makes the game freeze. Still can pass it but anoying when it freezes. For example if you transfrom to dragoon in water dragon fight after fight the game softlocks
Im sorry but i absolutely disagree with every fiber of my being. This game is often praised today as being a masterpiece and overlooked classic. The reality is that this game came out at a time where Square set the standard for overall package in a full big budget rpg, of which this game did not hold a candle. It was a B tier rpg masquerading around as a contender for the likes of games such as chrono cross and ff8-ff9 (this game launched in the same window of time roughly). Production value wise, it was simply subpar on almost every level. The environments were washed out and uninspired, the world map was simply hideous, and the environments for battles were equally bland. The audio, while having some interesting tracks was almost entirely midi and had no volume or sound stage to it. The story was serviceable at best and largely predictable. The power rangers approach to making everyone dress the color of thier unknown dragoon affiliation was cute i guess but still lame. The combat system was incredibly linear and offered zero amount of player customization or expression. You chose the combo you wanted to use wherein each new combo trumped the previous one on all fronts where by the end game it was the same thing over and over again ad nauseum. The post game challenges were non existent, and while this isnt always a requirement, in a world where you had less production value in assets with meaty as hell post game and replayability via Enix games at the time (valkyrie profile, star ocean 2nd story) where you could sink 100s of hours into taking on bonus dungeons with tons of scaling and variable difficulty options for play throuhgs, or you had high production value assets in the main final fantasy entries that were a bit less flexible in terms of replayability and post game challenges, LoD offering none of either side made it a weaker game overall. Judged by its peers for which it was directly comparing itself, LoD was not nearly on the same level and is grossly overrated today.
@@Exeeter1234 not sure how you don't think the combat is any less repetitive in ff8/9. i know for me it was, in ff9 i attacked every turn with every character, used black magic with vivi and white magic with garnet/eiko. i like ff9 just as much as lod, but the combat was every bit as repetitive, it was just more fun in lod because you had additions instead of simply choosing attack. in nearly every game of this type random encounters pretty much just become muscle memory. i think lod has some faults, but considering this was their first attempt at a game of this type, it was very impressive. if they had not given up after a single game and had continued the series, improving on each installment, it easily could have rivalled ff. it's just sad that they gave up after a single attempt. ff already had 8 games across a few console generations and already had a pretty large, loyal fan base, they were never going to catch or surpass it with a single game.
@@Jack_80 On production value alone it absolutely could not have rivaled what Square was churning out at the time. When i critique the combat i am specifically referring to the lack of any semblance of depth both moment to moment and outside of combat with character progression / player option. Yes every FF game can easily be gamed to an extent where the combat just becomes spam attack until you get to the next boss fight, but that is completely missing the point. LoD had zero dimensions to its combat system outside of muscle memory. Timed attacks work great and keep players engaged when its paired with interesting mechanics beyond it. And frankly, you dont get to sweep inexperience under the rug when comparing an RPG that was VERY much marketed to players as a big deal game and say "no its ok, Square has more experience so we should forgive the abysmal end game or lack thereof and the abysmal world map design, or the abysmal low definition midi soundtrack" Hell even capcoms bof4, released 4 months after LoD was infinitely more robust of a game with a tenth of the budget Square had for vagrant story or chrono cross. LoD was a mediocre attempt at trying to sell an RPG as something more than what it was. They wanted to be viewed in the same light as Squares main releases with half the effort. They could have easily went the enix route with budget and focused on variable depth and replayability instead of trying to ape final fantasy on ps1
To this day, Legend of Dragoon is still one of my favorite RPGs of all time. I first fell in love with the demo, walking through the Wallmart back in the day.
I'm wondering now if they haven't remade it, instead keep releasing it digital, because of possible lawsuits. Or if they were planning it but the ffvii remake took the wind out of it's sails.
@@wonder_prawn9182 i did not even realize they re-released it digitally. is it available on the PS? and seems plausible that they would hyper focus on big ticket items like FF. :/
@@impIicit If all else fails you can always emulate as well. If your pc has a disk drive you can play it straight from disc. Best way to play in my experience.
I was at a flea market type deal in the middle of no where and bought it on a long family trip and read the booklet over and over again til I got home and played the shit out of it
i have never in my gaming career got mad at any character dying but lavitz really made me mad i really liked lavitz and to take him from my team i had plans for lavitz his replacement was not good enough
I feel like most of that budget went into cinematics. When I played this on my ps2, I thought the graphics were so next level lol. And they were for the time.
Legend of Dragoon. This game man, took me a decade to finish this game. Mainly due to the fact that my ps1 was modded (most in the Philippines were at that time), bootleg copies of this game came from 1 source who effed up with the last disc. From PH moving to the US, this was the game that kept me from going insane as a 13 year old teenager moving to foreign land, experiencing jet lag for the firdt time and seeing the sun still up at 830pm. I remember finally finishing it on the PSP and what a satisfying feeling it was. This and Grandia were games that really show how games dont have to be perfect, with their flaws turning out to be charming and memorable. If ever someone comes up to me and shouts "Volcano!", I would know that person played this gem. Thanks for the video man. You and your friends have given this justice.
Anyone remember how bootlegs of Year of the Dragon were all PAL copies with the Paradox crack that didn't work to bypass anti-cheat? Good times. Grandia... Aw man. I need to pick up the remasters, because I loved 2 but never finished it. Still holding out for Grandia 3 to be remastered someday too. Sadly, LoD was not one of my childhood games. I just never got to try it.
39:15 In original Japanese, if I remember correctly, they're called 有翼人 (yuuyokujin). The literal english translation would be "winged people", which still sounds awkward, but in japanese it's actually a perfectly decent sounding name.
"The Winged" could have played incredibly well, too - it's even got some "wicked" mouthfeel to it that'd help push the little twist that Winglies are mostly pretty cool, not evil!
@@TheGoldenBolt could also do the "they called us "the winged ones" but we call ourselves winglies" sort of thing, everyone saw them as a wicked race thus a name that sounds intimating while they call themselves something more.... well normal in comparison lol
My parents got me this game when it first released. My first RPG ever. Little 8 year old me went absolutely bonkers for the entire storyline. Even 20 years later I have yet to find a game that could compare to the greatness LoD had to offer. Still play it to this very day
I have to agree with you on that one. It’s literally the most iconic game of my childhood. I’m 29 now and have been playing this game for years. Doesn’t matter how many times I play this I’ll keep coming back to it
Neves WH I just wish they went with a different commercial to convey a different vibe so as to have a larger fan base. Maybe then we would’ve gotten a sequel or even a prequel
As someone who played the The Legend of Dragoon when it first released I can not come to a conclusion of why I enjoy this game so much more than any Final Fantasy game, all I can say is that I do. I will continue to wish for a sequel probably until the end of my time because realistically, I do not expect them to make one. All I can hope is they decide to do a remake but even then who knows.
The story and the battle system are the biggest things. The battle system in LoD is a huge factor, because you're always learning new additions and trying to level them up, so random enemy encounters are more fun and more useful. In most FF games you're just hoping and praying that there's a boss battle coming up because the random enemy encounters feel like a chore sometimes.
definitely the story and lore of the gameplay. The game is rich in lore from many difference species, thousands of years civilization, countries feeling like countries, cultures with different gods and tradition and much more . It also helped that the game looked charming and displayed all the lore quite well. Its full of themes such as revenge, politics, destiny/fate, war, love, racism, and of course friendship (why not lol). There are other underlying themes as well but my point it has some dark themes if u think about it. Not to mention, gameplay was actually a fun turn based games that required skill. Not many turn based games that u can say that about. -
I am even more convinced of how Sony doesn't forget this IP, especially since Bluepoint Games was teasing us months ago with a potential remake of this title in line with projects such as Shadow of the Colossus and the recently announced Demon's Souls in PS5.
@@louieverrtorreon684 with the success of Remake, it's not unbelievable that they are looking back at the era. The problem would be updating the combat system. The story is solid enough to just be repackaged but the combat system is a very active bit of micro managing that I just dont see translating well. It's the same problem with repackaging Legend of Legaia, turn based combat is just too slow by today's standards and alot of the innovation that makes them stand out is their take on keeping you busy during combat. That said if they use the button patterns as 'limit breaks' as opposed to basic attacks.... well copying success is basically the hallmark of Sony
This is my brother and I's childhood. My mom almost didn't buy it because money was tight back then and 4 CDs weren't cheap. If we get a remake of this game, I will cry as an adult man out of nostalgia and happiness and play it multiple times.
Best RPG ever, unique interactive battle system, lore, characters and audio. Ghost ship owns. Ive allready emailed remake studios numerous times to remake this 1. Al we can do is hope. tx for uploading this gem
Rose's an Albert's were some of the hardest for me too, it was all the odd timing and there was one of Haschel's that I could never get down pat if I didn't have the No Counter accessory equipped. For some reason I rocked at Meru's though
I love that you're even talking about this game in 2020. It was a true classic for the PS1 and one of my favorite games of all time. I agree with most of your points except for swapping out party members in combat. That did not bother me as much, nor did I ever really have a problem with healing or guarding as needed. Most often times, I'd have too many healing items and no real use for them. In fact, the Final Fantasy series to which this game is often compared to will not have the active party member switching and clear indication of what character's turn it was until the following year in 2001 on the PS2 with FFX which is another of my favorites.
It doesnt even need to have the best graphics, better voice acting is a necessity though, maybe with more spoken lines of dialogue. Leave everything else alone cause it's perfect. That's the one thing I worry about every time a game gets a remake or reboot, changing the things that we loved and didnt want altered.
The best? I don’t know about that easily top five and that’s coming from a hardcore jrpg fan. I’ve got to put xenogears over this as well as legend of legaia and chrono cross.
The reason Meru can't use magic, despite being a Wingly, is explained in the flavor text when you get to her home town by talking to several NPCs. Her magic teacher explains that since Wingly magic in general has weakened over the centuries (due to being cut off from the Virage Embryo), many of the younger Winglies are losing the power to use magic as powerfully as they could in the past. Meru can use magic, but whenever she does, she gets a splitting headache and sometimes passes out, so it isn't safe for her to use it in real combat.
"where do you go when you've killed god" You didn't kill god. The divine tree didn't make itself. It was Soa. There is an entire god who's will was defied that is left unaccounted for. There also is the issue that dragoons are tools of war, what happens when you find times of peace? What would happen when a god plants another divine tree? There is a lot of directions to go for a sequel.
Well technically it was supposed to create the God of Destruction. However, it is never truly created and thus you don't kill a God (as you stated). However, you could play on this with a sequel as well.
@@kritikalgamer yep, to add, there was 10k years inbetween from the dragon campaign and the start of game. There could be tons of lore added, new enemies, and legends never told arising.
The unhatched 109th fruit was a subspecies of insect set to hatch AFTER the purge of the existing life. However given the 10,000 year delay, it is only natural it woke up early, pissed tf off that it woke up just to die. It was Soas design to destroy all life, and reintroduce life in different forms, much like Noah's ark. Okay. No room for a sequel huh? Ha! We forgetting something?! Life after the birth of and purge by, the god of destruction, is apparent! Also, its 10,000 years late, putting a HUGE damper on Soas timeline! The winglys knew that the 108th fruit was to be more powerful than they, but as a newborn species, how the fuck were they to know its purpose?? Melbu Frahma was a dictator hungry for power... a master manipulator. Uhhh... duh. (10,000 years is a long time for someone like this to plot his revenge just to be overthrown the same exact fucking way.)(And besides that, why did rose kill all those who came in contact with the moon child as well? Oh yeah, because they'd be corrupted into doing its bidding)(The wingly dictator drew most of his power from the moon child)(the divine tree has the power to birth such horrific creatures...)(who's to say that melbu didnt conspire with the "voice" of the virage embryo, to create for itself a body even stronger than it's original, giving control over its body to melbu to test drive it against the dragoons, knowing itd be secure inside of shana?)(Melbu transmigrated into Zeigs dragoon spirit, okay, but where is Kadessa? How far is it from neet? Didnt the winglys seal it off? How did Zeig know where to find the other spirits? How did he get them? How much did time did he spend searching? In 10,000 years, what was melbu up to? How did Zeig meet claire? There's a lot to go on about Zeig just in himself with that) The spirit of this "god of destruction" is still alive inside of shana... who's to say it doesn't do to darts soldier squirts what melbu did to its body?? Oh shit! Look ma! A new baby body for me to hijack! Someone said something, about someone creating a new divine tree... well guess what bitch. It's now a time of peace, the dragoon spirits are all but scattered, it's safe to assume that melbu is waiting somewhere as a sublime soul, hell he did it once, why not again? And the 108th species is now a shadow of its former designation as a halfling, a human with unknown powers and unlike shana, accessibility to these powers, and the capability to control, nurture and grow them. Together with the dragoon spirit inhabited by papa, can anyone say hello new divine tree and hello melbu frahma? New celestial body, eternal soul, hijacks the tree to ascertain his rebirth, with similar powers to that of the new trees creator. There ya go. A base plot line for a sequel. Fill in the blanks, and dont fuck with me. I've played it through for the record 400 times.
I haven't ever forgotten this game, I bought an old PlayStation and re-bought the game again because of how much i missed it. I've always considered this game as one of the greatest. I appreciate someone talking about it. Thank you.
I did that and got an original copy of FFVII, both games are so memorable because of how they attacked the RPG genre. I also love how both games were completely different from each other. If I was stranded on a desert island with only those two games and a PS1, I'll be more than happy to suffer that fate. I wish story writers in the industry today would take an example from LoD and write better stories. The closet game I've encountered was Lost Odyssey.
I love Legend of Dragoon, faults and all. This was a great and very fair retrospective, thanks a lot for making a video on it :) Personal likes about this game are the music, the story/lore (particularly the first half of the game), the additions, the various settings/background art, and my own nostalgia for it. Dislikes include the experience point distribution, the item bag restrictions, the cg cutscenes (I always thought character models looked very awkward in them, I'd actually rather have those in-game model cutscenes after boss fights instead), and Miranda (say what you want about Kongol, I personally think he had more plot-relevant and character developing moments than Miranda, who feels like she came in out of nowhere and replaced a plot-critical character for a pretty dumb reason). Not sure if I could recommend trying the game out to someone now, unless they enjoy this era of RPGs/PS1 history, but I think it's fair to say it was a decent part of the console's history for enough people. Looking forward to whenever I revisit this game! :D
Yeeeah, I didn't get to touch too much on Miranda since this video was already ballooning too much, but god there's so little character there it's almost sad. I definitely like Kongol more as a character, as much as I jokingly dunk on him!
In all honestly Miranda was there just to replace Shana, to create drama as to whether Dart would have to kille her. Since Shana was the Silver Dragoon the healer, you can't just take away the healer.
I also wanted to point this out but wasn't sure how many others might have done so already, but most major elements such as this were explained in great detail, by either the sword Master who taught Dart, the first item peddler you encounter in the forest after leaving Seles, various other merchant and npcs along the way, and especially Rose herself. You just gotta talk to everyone you meet and pay attention and you can learn pretty much anything you wish to learn. I'm glad that more people understand this than not.
That’s my point. This guy just wanted to run through the game, wanted to be able to fast travel instead of exploring and running into mobs. He doesn’t have a true love for the game and is talking shit about unimportant things. For the time of its release this game created thousands and thousands of gamers
@@EnZyKaHd I'm not so sure. I really like fast travel these days, but back when Dragoon came out it was truly one of a kind and I'm still learning new things every single play through. I appreciate how highly you seem to appreciate it, but what it means to others isn't always so clear so I personally wouldn't jump to assuming they are talking shit just because it was a completely different time for gaming and they just don't understand. I still think it was every bit as good if not better than ff7, though they are both fantastic stories, but due to the massive franchising and following that had already been established for ff, the former stood little chance of gaining the same traction as the latter, unfortunately, though I'm still hopeful it makes a come back as it's obvious I'm not the only one.
When ps2 comes out, i wish they had a sequel for this game. When ps3 comes out, i wish they will remake this game. When ps4 comes out, still i wish they remake this game. Now ps5 will comes out, still nothing eh? Really want this game to be remake, made a sequel, or a prequel when old Dragoons fighting winglys. Still a best game for me❤️
Legend of Dragoon is the most memorable ending for me. last guy alive had less than 100 HP and i had given up so i just threw a grenade and it killed him
I got lucky 7777 to activate on Emerald weapon when I was like 11. FF7 takes the spot for me but Legend of Dragoon takes second and Legend of Legaia in close third. Love these old games.
@@sicwriter A fellow man of culture. Legend of Legaia was one of my favorite games when I was young. It was probably one of the first JRPGs I played after FF7
Look at this point Cid's become a meta joke itself on par with other your ever returning NPCs Biggs and Wedge. And well you just need a Cid to do Cid things. Who else is gonna own the airship? Steve?
@@Melodyofthesea78 I kind of saw lavitz coming as well. There were subtle hints, aries messed me up cuz you know sephiroth is after her so you're racing to get there just to fail lol
@@rickyspanish4550 Yeah I think I didn't pay attention to the death flags for him. As for Aeirth there was enough reason why I saw it coming she was a awesome healer for one and you get her last limit break very VERY early on so....yeah. I braced myself I figured A.) She'll be kidnapped because she might be useful to Sephiroth. OR B.) Sephiroth will just kill her because she's not only useful to the Cloud and his team but she's going to be a huge problem for his plans.
I'm one of those in the camp that loves this game more than it deserves. It remains one of the ONLY rpgs i've replayed and more than once. To me.... it's beautiful.
"I'm sort of gust of wind dancing around this topic" I'm now going to like, subscribe and activate the notifications for your channel just for this one pun, I loved it
@@TheGoldenBolt your point about the additions was my favourite in the video and probably why it's best the voice acting was shit in the latter portion of the video i couldn't help but hear "crush daance" every time it popped up
Idk I think it's kinda badass with the huge canon and all. I like that they went for that kind of crazy deformed but alien like type of design for it, it really fits the look of the Dragons and creatures in this game which is another great, unique point about it.
This is my all time favorite game. I go back and do a full play through once ever year or two. It’s what really got me hooked on jrpgs. I’d love to se a remastered or remake version of this.
With Bluepoint releasing the Demons Souls trailer, I decided to binge the TLOD ost and found this video. The director acknowledged a Dragoon remake and hinted that he'd love for it to be a project. I hope it happens one day, this game had so many FANTASTIC ideas that other RPGs haven't even tried to implement.
I will say that the Bluepoint director's comments definitely seemed more like a "man, it's awesome how passionate you LoD fans are!" than a serious consideration. That said, I hope I'm wrong!
Plus he said there is no way to avoid random encounters. But there is a way to do that very easily. I love the combat but I'm surprised he said there isn't when there is.
36:19 oh hey that's me. Really enjoyed watching the whole thing. My favourite part is where you mention something bad about a gameplay mechanic and I was like "oh we have mods (or upcoming mods) for those now".
Mods, you say? That's amazing to hear, I was thinking that somebody cracking/modding the game would be the big perfect moment for fans to get a fixed/definitive version! Also, I appreciate you and the others in the community going so far to give everybody info about the game! You don't know how many times I'd wonder what the hell the damage stats were supposed to mean lol
I remember when lavitz died, my brother (we played on the same save file) loaded the game and grinded out every single fucking attack that lavitz had. He loved that character.
Loved this game. My lil bro would watch me play it when he was little. A year ago, he beat it by himself and I sat back and watched him do it. Nostalgia hit me hard that night. He even asked me at times in boss fights what should he do. A remake would make us both overjoyed
The first time I ever played LoD was on one of the pizza hut demo disks waaay back in the day (Also where I first played FF8 and Ape Escape among some others). I replayed that demo numerous times but was never able to convince my parents to buy the game for me. Many years later I wanna say 2011-2012, I had a PSP and ended up buying it (alongside FF8) off the PSN store and played it on my PSP. I loved it so much. It wasnt even my first JRPG at the time, I had been playing Fire Emblems, a couple Final Fantasys (I wanna say 1, 5, 12, 13 and Crisis Core at the time), Shining Force, I had even gotten into RPGMaker and was making my own JRPGs (shitty ones but still), most of which took inspirations from FF5, Crisis Core, Shining Force, Fire Emblem and even Legend of Dragoon. I remember spending a lot of time trying to find a way to add Additions to my games because I enjoyed that system so much. It made random battles FUN, you were doing something other than mashing A (cough cough FF13 cough) So even to someone who had other JRPG experience, I still loved my time playing Dragoon and I've really wanted to go back and play through it again and actually do all the sidequests this time. I had no idea there was a superboss, I may have known about the 4HP enemy farming thing because I do remember sitting around doing random encounters for a good amount of time but I dont remember if that was for XP or just maxxing everyone's additions. After watching this video I'm seriously considering dusting off my PSP again and going through it again. A remaster on PS5 would be the absolute dream and if they did announce a Legend of Dragoon remaster on it, I would actually have to buy a PS5.
I lucked out super hard as a kid my moms friend didn't want her playstation anymore and gave it to me with the only games being don't hawk 3 and TLOD I didn't have a memory card at first so I used to do super long play sessions leaving my PlayStation on for a day or two.
does it need a prequel, no. Would it be awesome to play through the dragon campaign and see how the humans managed to claim the dragon souls and fought back against the winglies flying cities with giant rail guns? In my opinion, absolutely.
Honestly, that CG cut-scene was more than enough for me. Aeris' death in FF7 was surprising, to say the least and without question one of the most shocking moments in video games, period. The deaths of the original dragoons was downright brutal, bloody and savage. They had no problem intentionally dying/sacrificing themselves to take out the more powerful foes. My favorite part of the scene was the death of Belzac, as he is holding the gigantic pillar up to save the life of Shirley. A Virage shows up and impales Belzac, but he continues to hold up the pillar as he is dying. Shirley promises him that his death will not be in vain, as the Virage is about to energy blast them to death. Just before the blast you see Shirley fire her arrow to kill the Virage. The Virage's explosion killed them both (fact). Kansas also had a great death. He was killing enemies and took on a Super Virage. He was seriously wounded in the fight and decided to cling to the Super Virage and self destruct "I'm Taking You With Me!!!!", killing them both. Never in video games had I ever seen such brutality and sacrifice so well displayed on screen (I know it's dated now and I still get electricity moving through me during that scene), especially at such a fast pacing. That scene is honestly all I ever need to let me experience the LOD past and Dragon Campain. I appreciate only hearing pieces of the lore in the game and discovering the artifacts of old. This game did it's story telling so well. You want to leave plenty of story up to the imagination of the reader/one who experiences it. We don't get that kind of writing much anymore. My friend and I came up with an excellent description of RPG's of old vs modern: PS1 Rpg's were like reading an excellent novel. PS2 and beyond were only like experiencing a movie. Legend of Dragoon seems like it suffered from the same fate that Xenogears did. It may have been rushed and was not given the time it needed to Polish it. BUT, just like Xenogears, we have an incredible experience with TONS of well written story elements that make a person think so deeply. I would NEVER want to see a remake or remaster of LOD, no way. Great games were a TIME and PLACE and you can't get that back. Creators of today can't ever replicate the times of old and they will only ruin what was so great with all of it's flaws. Just look what they have done to FF7. I never wanted that.
@@TheKessi1000 Great points. I would never want to see a Xenogears remake. My favorite scenes involving Fei and Elly only needs to be accompanied by text, polygon sprites, and Mitsuda's beautiful score. Although contrary to fans of FF7, I actually enjoyed the Remake. Thats just me though. Then again my enjoyment probably comes from not being a Huge FF7 diehard. I have FF9 as my fav and wouldn't want to see it remade the way FF7R basically became something of a sequel to the original. FF7R seems awfully like a sequel to the finale of Advent Children as Sephiroth states he will not become a memory ~ so he resists the lifestream and travels against the flow of time or something.
You summed up my thoughts on this game pretty well. It's this fascinating mix of good and bad, of unique and cookie-cutter, of rough and polished. It really feels like there's no middle ground with it -- either you tolerate the weak aspects enough to enjoy the strong ones, or you don't. Not an enviable position to be in, but one worth remarking upon. Looking at the TV Tropes page informed me on something regarding Shana that never sat well with me before. Her White Silver Dragoon armor being so wildly different from Shirley's and Miranda's felt like an art inconsistency, but it's likely not. It's physically different because the Spirit isn't properly aligned to her; she's using her powers as the Moon Child to make it work, so her appearance is thusly corrupted to include moon-based influence and coloring.
I still remember when I played this as a kid and I got up to the part where Lavitz dies, I was SO upset and I *hated* Albert for taking his place, but eventually I warmed up to Albert and I accepted him. Edit: oh my god, I had forgotten sooo much about this game. I can't finish this video, now lmao I need to go play LoD again :{D
"I love Zenebatos so much!" Glad to see I'm not the only one, decades later and I still remember that part of the game fondly, it's so well done and hilarious it's amazing!
I'm elated every time someone mentions Dragoon because the moments are far and few between. I played this game near it's release and have replayed it a couple times since then. It and FFX got me into JRPGs (aside from Link to the Past and Ocarina of Time), and into diving into that realm. I'm at a point where I can laugh at the garbage aspects of the game, and I can also fall in love with the world, story, and character moments in whole new lights every time. This was a perfect recap, a perfect telling of it's terrible and great aspects, and a perfect explanation of why it can be loved, and why I personally love it. Thank you for this video.
My favorite part is that was 100% real! I was 6ish hours into recording voiceover, my voice was starting to strain, and I honestly just couldn't remember which pronunciation was the one that research said was the most likely "correct" one, so I just said screw it and went with whatever cane out from then on, lol
Why the Addition System never caught on will forever remain a mystery to me. Combat became a large bit more difficult but mastering it made victory exponentially more glorious! RIP Ser Lavitz Slambert
It's kind of the same reason why junctioning didn't catch on with Final Fantasy, it's really annoying. People, myself included are just too used to original combat.
Additions were the precursor to Quick Time Events that most modern gamers know and love. I never had any issue with the Addition system, probably because I grew up playing fighting games. It made the combat much more engaging.
@@Zadok83 No it didn't. If you honestly believe that, then you didn't understand how junctioning worked. No matter what spells you used, you can easily get more of it. No spell is finite. You can always make more of any spell in the game,(not counting ultima, which you have to pay for) with very little effort. They give you more than enough materials to convert into magic.
@@FF8Irvine_Fan Yes it did as it actively lowered your stats using them, and the game never intuitively taught you how to get spells easily. So yes it was a badly implemented shit system.
I got it when it came out, 4 freaking discs! But damn i wasn't disappointed. They don't make games like this anymore. It takes a long time to beat for sure.
That's how I used to judge games. "How many disc's does it have? 4? Oh, good game. " I remember being shocked that Chrono Cross was so good and only 2 discs.
I replay this game every Christmas since this game came out. I still have my disks and play them on my PS2/PS3. Hands down I prefer this game over FF7 and think it’s is one of if not the best game I’ve ever played. Thanks for this retrospective. It’s always good to see this game talked about.
I'll give a ton of credit to VII Remake, I absolutely adored the tweaks and changes, and it made the world of VII even more fascinating. That said, like I said at the very end of the video, Dragoon will always be my first proper JRPG, and I'll always love it and want to come back to it for that reason!
As a hype dood once said, "Your first RPG will always be the best one to you." This game definitely has problems, but it does so many other things so well that I can't help but love it, flaws and all. Also, EXPLOSION! HUUUUUURRRRRRRRRGH!
I love your use of Dart's Theme during your wrap up. It fit so well. I grew up playing this game, and it's so nice to see someone properly both the good and bad of this game.
OMG i can't believe finally someone did a comprehensive on my actual favorite RPG by a long mile. Thank you my good sir for the wonderful video and maybe one day we will get a rebirth of TLOD!
I still remember getting fussed at because I was past my bed time in the middle of that 40min+ final fight. Trying to get my mom to understand why I couldn't just "turn it off" while struggling to stay alive. I was on my last character (Dart of course), had used the last of my magic items and had no way of healing. Ended up winning with like 6hp left. Thought I was going to have a heart attack when I finally struck the final blow. Still my most memorable boss fight ever. To have a properly remastered version one day would be amazing. Flaws and all, new graphics and (maybe) better voice acting would be more than enough. Although, those addition names/shouts will forever be engraved in memory, so any voice changes might be hard to accept!
i love LOD and this was a great throwback everything was on point thank you for that. I've liked and subscribed because of the video and because you actually take time out of your life to answer comments which a lot of you-tubers do not, that shows character keep up the good work .
Well, I'll admit I haven't been as good about going back to LoD comments lately - YT sometimes doesn't send comments to my Studio app inbox on older videos - but thankfully this one popped up for me! Thanks for the kind words, my friend, it means a ton!
The fact that u even made a video on this game I'm subscribing. This game is my childhood n the game is still amazing. I still beat this game on a regular. #RemakeTLOD!
Amazing!! Thank you for bringing back so many wonderful memories and giving me something commiserate over with a childhood friend. We played through this game together and I sent him this video and we had a great chat about the game.
Loved this game when it came out. I still play it today from time to time. Everyone should really give this game a full playthrough as it leaves the feeling of an epic story. Definitely deserves a re-master or re-make and a sequel.
The thing I look at is this game, as a remake, could make so much more use out of the dragoon forms. Winged combat in an rpg has never felt right, that could be fixed! Continuing the addition combat style as combos could work, but I think would work better as interactive skill moves with a cooldown. Give dragoon forms a designated time and maintain the massive stat boost, but also allow you to cancel out and reserve atleast a portion of your time. The upside is between the games many mechanics and modern tech you could create an absolute behemoth of a title that would both feel fresh and familiar. I think they'd be able to make a game that could expect a solid return of investment, there's plenty of gold left in that mine.
One of the best games I am casually playing till now. Just played it from scratch again 2 months ago. But to correct you, Disc 4 has side quests too, Shirley ask you save the former Dragoons before meeting Zeig in the end of disc 3 and you fight Faust as well as the last 4 stardusts are located in disc 4 in order to get the Agate apperision mirror or something like that.
That's a fair correction, I'd argue it both ways personally! To go back to Vellweb I believe works either only on Disc 3 or on both 3 and 4, so I'm personally calling it a Disc 3 sidequest since it starts there even if you can't finish it right away! Same for Faust, the content might be located on Disc 4 as well and the last few Stardusts are on Disc 4, but the area itself is found on Disc 3! I'd argue Faust is really an entire-game quest more than a Disc 3 one, you've got a good point!
The Golden Bolt Yeah the map of Vellweb and Tower of Flanbell are accessible via disc 3 only but to proceed you need to be on disc 4. It a gray area TBH as you can't do with without proceeding to 4 but the map data is on 3. It's the limits of the technology in that period. You have a good point as well.
When I was a kid I genuinely considered this one of the best JRPGs on the PS1 - and easily the best non-Squaresoft one. I was really surprised to learn that its reception is so divided. Sure, the localization is janky and the story hits a lot of tropes, but I loved the character interactions and the battle system is one of the most fun I've ever played. (I think it's really cool how Haschel is the best character in the game but also has, at least for me, some of the trickiest Addition timings to figure out. It's like you have to earn that power) I think the low inventory space is to balance how powerful healing items are - you can get full or party-wide heals super easily and it would break the game if you could carry 99 of them. I do agree that it's probably a bit too small though.
The npc that teaches you how to use attack items in the beginning of the game also teaches you about elements and affinities and the name color highlighting this trait
*WATCH NEXT:* Parasite Eve Retrospective: Square's Resident Evil RPG - ua-cam.com/video/BBokBXQ2GVo/v-deo.html
*Common questions are addressed at the bottom of this comment, so make sure to read this before commenting!*
Thank you SO much for watching - hopefully I've reminded you about this gem of a game, or hopefully I've inspired you to give it a shot yourself! This video took well over 100 hours to make altogether, which is by far the most time I've devoted to any one project. If you especially enjoyed it and would like to support future videos, including ones of this massive scope, even a dollar a month at www.patreon.com/TheGoldenBolt goes a huge way! If not, that's cool too!
*COMMON QUESTIONS/COMMENTS*
*What about the Charm Potion?!* That's the item I refer to at 13:40! I called it an escape rather than a repel for some reason, or y'know, by the actual name. I caught it while editing the video, but by that point I would've had to re-record several lines on a shredded voice, so I just left it as-is, figuring only 1000 people would see the video anyway. I was _very_ wrong about that last part!
The Charm Potion as I mention around that timestamp brings about even more issues rather than fixing the one it attempts to address - you'll at best only be able to carry about 12 Charm Potions unless you go out of your way to avoid picking up other items, and that's not really enough to get through a dungeon!
*It's not a Final Fantasy Killer though.*
Correct, hence the "quotes" on the thumbnail! Sony positioned the game in that way, and the press around that time used the "Killer" phrase as often as they called FPS games "Doom Clones." Of course LoD didn't kill FF - not a single game marketed as a "_____ Killer" has ever successfully killed another the franchise off of which it's mooching press!
*Will you do [GAME] next?*
Next? Probably not! At some point? Absolutely, I'd love to! I've seen a lot of requests for Legaia especially, which is a game I'm completely unfamiliar with. It all comes down to time - I work a full-time job and am currently a full-time student on top of this hobby and other part-time endeavors related to UA-cam, so to keep on a good schedule, these long videos are for now gonna be mostly limited to games with a huge impact on me personally. As the channel grows, and with the generous support of my Patrons, I can take progressively more time out of my day job to work on these projects, which means they can get bigger and better! I'd like to do one large-scale video every few months until that point comes, at least!
I love you man. You did. And there's a remake on the works can't wait for the show cases!
Great video! Same as you
I love LOD
BTW i am not sure if you know but I highly suggest you review and play Legend of Legaia another amazing JRPG from Sony and from PS1
Legaia is one I saw suggested in another comment too. I can't say I'd be able to get around to it soon, but it's on my watchlist now for sure!
Great video about a great great game. You earned yourself a like and a subscriber with this one.
I have called this game "The best Final Fantasy game Square never made", and this retrospective makes me stick by that statement.
My little brother and I would pool our chore money to buy video games and buy solely based on the box art to mixed results.This was one of those purchases. Life defining game. Had a dedicated fan to keep the ps1 cool when we got dragged away by our parents.
19 years ago when I was in grade 5 and my brother in 6, my parents let my brother buy any game he wanted. He chose Resident Evil Survivor. I had a temper tantrum because I didn't get anything so my mom let me also choose a game and I didn't know what I wanted. I picked out Legend of Dragoon just based on its cover art. It was one of the best decisions I ever made. To this day my brother and I laugh at how bad RE Survivor was and talk about the fond memories we have of LOD and how great it was.
Wholesome thread moments
This thread is awesome.
@@Br0oham Absolutely!
I miss this game. This is my childhood. I loved the combo system.
COOL Boogie!
I'm not saying you should emulate it, but... 😏
I got through the first two disks with only Double Slash. Imagine that....
Eric Venturoso I enjoyed the shit out of this game, imagine that. You must suck at the combos hahaha 😂
I have ps3 to just play this
Man, every 5 or so years I end up playing this game after randomly seeing a comment or video. Guess it's that time again.
Same here, for both!
Do it! And I'll do it
Same
I couldn't make it all the way through the video without starting up a new file lol
Same I have it downloaded on my PSvita. Now I can play it anywhere!! 🙃😇
I have to admit I can only view this game through nostalgia goggles. The music touched my soul so profoundly as a child I'll forgive any flaw it has and insist it's a masterpiece. I cant help myself
The music set the tone for the setting so perfect
I feel the same way. Every sad song and every happy song has somewhere to be
Jesus loves you
Romans 3:23
John 3:16-17
Romans 8:35-39
Luke 23:42-43
The ps4/5 version is identical. Hopefully if there’s a remaster they don’t F it up. Seems like every game that gets remastered is not true to the original and just ruins it for the players who have these fond memories of the game.
@@mikem7928 something tells me there aren't enough of us fans to justify making one. But if they did I'd also hope they don't botch it 👍 the ratio of good to bad remasters isn't great to say the least x)
This is that game that everyone who played it felt like they were the only person in the world that played it and it was completely insane it didn't get more recognition. Holy shit I was a hipster at 6...
@@AcousticOlli may I direct you to the top post on this video, there are two types of people.
MrOlliguitar you both have valid opinions. Although I agree with the original comment in this thread. This was my favorite jrpg.
MrOlliguitar Trigger has a barebones story. It’s characters don’t become interesting until Chrono dies
Tbh I always found that to be interesting about the game. If you look up sales figures, at least just for North America, it sold more copies than some other more famous Squaresoft games. So unless it happened to sell more copies in say Canada than the US, it always baffles me how so many people apparently bought the game, yet it wasn't brought up.
Well said, especially in my country, people barely played FF, let alone this
This game needs a remaster so badly.
Also even at the young age I was at when I played this it was blatantly obvious Rose is the Black monster and Shana was the moon child
Remaster is fine. But remake does it justice for this generation.
the color theme also helped queued you in.
They need to remaster but need to keep all the terrible voice acting and lines. I don't care what anyone says, those two items make the game stick with you and make it stand out. It was one of those rare instances where the product was so bad it became AMAZING.
agreed i couldnt finish it that time i want to play it again but i don't have a ps3
I think this game needs a proper remake. My idea for a proper magic system is one where every time you d-lvl up, you unlock basic magic spells that are normally items.
It makes perfect sense because the game straight up says that the dragoon spirits can draw power from each other.
Let me SEE that in action, damn it. Also, add an elemental opposite to thunder. The game needs it.
And for Shana/Miranda, give them 5 additions. Also, every character except Dart gets 1 or 2 more additions.
It brings tears to my eyes every time I hear someone talk about The Legend of Dragoon. I have such a regard for this game, I have played it dozens of times. Surely, The Legend of Dragoon is #1 at the top of every LoD fan's remake list.
Joshua Morris beautifully said man. That’s exactly how I feel and you said it perfectly!
It’s #1 for me too bro. I miss it so much
This is also my top RPG and the only one I've played probably 8 times. Simple but amazing. Great music, characters, and environments.
Ditto. I've played the game to completion 13 times that I remember. I have said for years if Sony remakes this I will buy the console it comes out on.
I have hunted for any other game that might feel like Legend of Dragoon, but no one has the Addition combat system and no game seems to have an answer for the Dragoon transformation abilities.
So far, there is nothing that I can find even close to this game.
I like old but ff7 is still going to be my number one favorite game lod is my 3rd while shadow hearts is my 2nd
37:40 I never played the Japanese localization of LoD, but I’m 99.9% sure “that’s life” was a translation of “shouganai” or “shikataganai” which is a very common Japanese expression. It can translate to, “it can’t be helped”, “there’s nothing we can do about it”, “it’s no use worrying about it”, or some approximation thereof.
Translating it to “that’s life” can be an appropriate idiom depending on the context, but yeah not in this case; one of the other translations would have been a much better fit.
I appreciate the insight, that makes a lot of sense actually! With how stilted the translation tends to be, I can 100% believe it's a direct translation causing trouble.
For direct comparison, Breath of Fire IV had a recurring line translated in English as "Whatever will be, will be."
@@Stratelier It eees how it eees
Let's be real here. There are two types of gamers: those who liked The Legend of Dragoon; and those who are wrong.
Indeed xD legend of dragoon lover here
It's true.
Key word "liked"
Has not aged well.
Exactly
my first ps one game ever, 20 years later still better then most recent games
If there’s any game that could do with a remaster...it’s The Legend of Dragoon.
I just don't understand why. The amount of voices that want SOMETHING!!! ANYTHING!!! INVOLVING l.o.d is impossible to not be aware of. It's like they blantantly refuse to do it. For whatever reason. I really hope it wasnt a situation similar to ff8, where the original code was lost. And they had to back up multiple lines of it from the staff that worked on its various computers and piece it back together. It's kind of concerning me that that's the case with l.o.d
Personally I've disliked every remaster that's come out, and would rather just play the originals. I'd be much more happy with a prequel showing off the Dragon Campaign and the previous heroes.
Yes!!! Maybe with some actual archery combos and powers that were more useful with that particular dragoon stone.
I would like a remaster but only because the port on psp/vita has to many bugs that makes the game freeze. Still can pass it but anoying when it freezes. For example if you transfrom to dragoon in water dragon fight after fight the game softlocks
@@hinatalovetonaruto what? No way. That SUCKS.
The single most underrated game ever made. My favorite game of all time
Agree
Alundra is pretty underrated too
Im sorry but i absolutely disagree with every fiber of my being. This game is often praised today as being a masterpiece and overlooked classic. The reality is that this game came out at a time where Square set the standard for overall package in a full big budget rpg, of which this game did not hold a candle. It was a B tier rpg masquerading around as a contender for the likes of games such as chrono cross and ff8-ff9 (this game launched in the same window of time roughly). Production value wise, it was simply subpar on almost every level. The environments were washed out and uninspired, the world map was simply hideous, and the environments for battles were equally bland. The audio, while having some interesting tracks was almost entirely midi and had no volume or sound stage to it. The story was serviceable at best and largely predictable. The power rangers approach to making everyone dress the color of thier unknown dragoon affiliation was cute i guess but still lame.
The combat system was incredibly linear and offered zero amount of player customization or expression. You chose the combo you wanted to use wherein each new combo trumped the previous one on all fronts where by the end game it was the same thing over and over again ad nauseum. The post game challenges were non existent, and while this isnt always a requirement, in a world where you had less production value in assets with meaty as hell post game and replayability via Enix games at the time (valkyrie profile, star ocean 2nd story) where you could sink 100s of hours into taking on bonus dungeons with tons of scaling and variable difficulty options for play throuhgs, or you had high production value assets in the main final fantasy entries that were a bit less flexible in terms of replayability and post game challenges, LoD offering none of either side made it a weaker game overall.
Judged by its peers for which it was directly comparing itself, LoD was not nearly on the same level and is grossly overrated today.
@@Exeeter1234 not sure how you don't think the combat is any less repetitive in ff8/9. i know for me it was, in ff9 i attacked every turn with every character, used black magic with vivi and white magic with garnet/eiko. i like ff9 just as much as lod, but the combat was every bit as repetitive, it was just more fun in lod because you had additions instead of simply choosing attack. in nearly every game of this type random encounters pretty much just become muscle memory.
i think lod has some faults, but considering this was their first attempt at a game of this type, it was very impressive. if they had not given up after a single game and had continued the series, improving on each installment, it easily could have rivalled ff. it's just sad that they gave up after a single attempt. ff already had 8 games across a few console generations and already had a pretty large, loyal fan base, they were never going to catch or surpass it with a single game.
@@Jack_80 On production value alone it absolutely could not have rivaled what Square was churning out at the time. When i critique the combat i am specifically referring to the lack of any semblance of depth both moment to moment and outside of combat with character progression / player option. Yes every FF game can easily be gamed to an extent where the combat just becomes spam attack until you get to the next boss fight, but that is completely missing the point. LoD had zero dimensions to its combat system outside of muscle memory. Timed attacks work great and keep players engaged when its paired with interesting mechanics beyond it.
And frankly, you dont get to sweep inexperience under the rug when comparing an RPG that was VERY much marketed to players as a big deal game and say "no its ok, Square has more experience so we should forgive the abysmal end game or lack thereof and the abysmal world map design, or the abysmal low definition midi soundtrack" Hell even capcoms bof4, released 4 months after LoD was infinitely more robust of a game with a tenth of the budget Square had for vagrant story or chrono cross. LoD was a mediocre attempt at trying to sell an RPG as something more than what it was. They wanted to be viewed in the same light as Squares main releases with half the effort. They could have easily went the enix route with budget and focused on variable depth and replayability instead of trying to ape final fantasy on ps1
To this day, Legend of Dragoon is still one of my favorite RPGs of all time. I first fell in love with the demo, walking through the Wallmart back in the day.
It said legend of dragoon so I clicked.
ikr
Best RPG ever!
@@fernandogonzalez6140 U dmn right it is!
Same.
Same lol
i really wish they’d remake this game. one of my faves back in the day. :(
I'm wondering now if they haven't remade it, instead keep releasing it digital, because of possible lawsuits. Or if they were planning it but the ffvii remake took the wind out of it's sails.
@@wonder_prawn9182 i did not even realize they re-released it digitally. is it available on the PS? and seems plausible that they would hyper focus on big ticket items like FF. :/
@@impIicit I know for sure it's on the store for the vita and ps3 because it have it for both. Not sure about the 4 or 5 though.
@@wonder_prawn9182 ahh gotchya. alright; thanks appreciate it! i have the ps4 so i will do some digging.
@@impIicit If all else fails you can always emulate as well. If your pc has a disk drive you can play it straight from disc. Best way to play in my experience.
I remember finding this in a pawn shop in 2001. Bought it for 5 bucks and I couldnt stop playing it. Incredibly underrated game.
Holy crap! That's my story!
I was at a flea market type deal in the middle of no where and bought it on a long family trip and read the booklet over and over again til I got home and played the shit out of it
Same found it for cheap loved it ever since! It's so underrated & it deserves more!
"No one ever has been intimidated by a guy named Lloyd"
Florida: "Hold my gator my meth and my beer"
I demand that in all future references to Lavitz Slambert, his full name must be spoken.
I cried when he died.
That’s Sir Lavitz Slambert.
That's sir lavitz slambert of basil to be precise
i have never in my gaming career got mad at any character dying but lavitz really made me mad i really liked lavitz and to take him from my team i had plans for lavitz his replacement was not good enough
16 million dollar budget and they name monsters, "trent" and "runs fast"
The main characters name is "Dart" lmao. I love this game but I heavily agree with you. 🤣😂
I feel like most of that budget went into cinematics. When I played this on my ps2, I thought the graphics were so next level lol. And they were for the time.
@@jamesson1154 but..... This is a PlayStation game... Not ps2
Tommy Allen yee, I never had a ps2 wups
Assassin cock
Legend of Dragoon. This game man, took me a decade to finish this game.
Mainly due to the fact that my ps1 was modded (most in the Philippines were at that time), bootleg copies of this game came from 1 source who effed up with the last disc.
From PH moving to the US, this was the game that kept me from going insane as a 13 year old teenager moving to foreign land, experiencing jet lag for the firdt time and seeing the sun still up at 830pm.
I remember finally finishing it on the PSP and what a satisfying feeling it was. This and Grandia were games that really show how games dont have to be perfect, with their flaws turning out to be charming and memorable.
If ever someone comes up to me and shouts "Volcano!", I would know that person played this gem.
Thanks for the video man. You and your friends have given this justice.
As someone who grew up in the Philippines, and then moved to the nothern hemisphere, and played this game.. so much of this resonates
@@Iamthenoi cheers pare. Glad to know there are people who can relate to my experience.
First time I beat it, it took 3 months, after beating it three times, I got it down to three weeks ;)
CRUSH DANCE!
Anyone remember how bootlegs of Year of the Dragon were all PAL copies with the Paradox crack that didn't work to bypass anti-cheat? Good times.
Grandia... Aw man. I need to pick up the remasters, because I loved 2 but never finished it. Still holding out for Grandia 3 to be remastered someday too.
Sadly, LoD was not one of my childhood games. I just never got to try it.
39:15 In original Japanese, if I remember correctly, they're called 有翼人 (yuuyokujin). The literal english translation would be "winged people", which still sounds awkward, but in japanese it's actually a perfectly decent sounding name.
"The Winged" could have played incredibly well, too - it's even got some "wicked" mouthfeel to it that'd help push the little twist that Winglies are mostly pretty cool, not evil!
@@TheGoldenBolt could also do the "they called us "the winged ones" but we call ourselves winglies" sort of thing, everyone saw them as a wicked race thus a name that sounds intimating while they call themselves something more.... well normal in comparison lol
This game holds such a big part of my heart and childhood
*laughs in Suikoden*
Legend of Dragoon, Final Fantasy (7,8 & 9) and Chrono Cross. These made such an impact in my childhood. Loved it!
Same here brother, my all time favourite game
My parents got me this game when it first released. My first RPG ever. Little 8 year old me went absolutely bonkers for the entire storyline. Even 20 years later I have yet to find a game that could compare to the greatness LoD had to offer. Still play it to this very day
Same here
I have to agree with you on that one. It’s literally the most iconic game of my childhood. I’m 29 now and have been playing this game for years. Doesn’t matter how many times I play this I’ll keep coming back to it
It does have an incredibly deep story. I like it better the ff7,8 and 9. And that's pretty insane come to think of it.
Neves WH I just wish they went with a different commercial to convey a different vibe so as to have a larger fan base. Maybe then we would’ve gotten a sequel or even a prequel
@@anthonyprevost3968 possibly. I feel it's not too late though. Just frozen till the fire gets hotter.
"I have some criticism of the gam-"
Me: *I H A D A D R E A M T H A T I C O U L D F L Y*
I C A N F E E L E A C H M O M E N T A S T I M E G O E S B Y
20 years already? Wow. We need a remake. Love this game.
My late Uncle 20 years ago when I was 8 got me started with final fantasy, legend of dragoon, and resident evil
My uncle also introduced me to ps rpg's. Would watch him play for hours and hed let me play when he needs to hustle for exp or item hunt.
@@unknownunknown5244 jrpgs
When Lavitz died, I was not ready.
No one was. I cried the first time.
I cry every time.
I stopped playing the game at that point and never went back. I might someday, but I’m still mad. I have the action figures though.
I still never forgave lloyd
I was so hardened from Final Fantasy 7 that my 9 year old heart couldn't break anymore.
As someone who played the The Legend of Dragoon when it first released I can not come to a conclusion of why I enjoy this game so much more than any Final Fantasy game, all I can say is that I do. I will continue to wish for a sequel probably until the end of my time because realistically, I do not expect them to make one. All I can hope is they decide to do a remake but even then who knows.
The story and the battle system are the biggest things. The battle system in LoD is a huge factor, because you're always learning new additions and trying to level them up, so random enemy encounters are more fun and more useful. In most FF games you're just hoping and praying that there's a boss battle coming up because the random enemy encounters feel like a chore sometimes.
It was the battle system and Dragoon transformations ;)
definitely the story and lore of the gameplay. The game is rich in lore from many difference species, thousands of years civilization, countries feeling like countries, cultures with different gods and tradition and much more
. It also helped that the game looked charming and displayed all the lore quite well. Its full of themes such as revenge, politics, destiny/fate, war, love, racism, and of course friendship (why not lol). There are other underlying themes as well but my point it has some dark themes if u think about it. Not to mention, gameplay was actually a fun turn based games that required skill. Not many turn based games that u can say that about.
-
I am even more convinced of how Sony doesn't forget this IP, especially since Bluepoint Games was teasing us months ago with a potential remake of this title in line with projects such as Shadow of the Colossus and the recently announced Demon's Souls in PS5.
@@louieverrtorreon684 with the success of Remake, it's not unbelievable that they are looking back at the era. The problem would be updating the combat system. The story is solid enough to just be repackaged but the combat system is a very active bit of micro managing that I just dont see translating well. It's the same problem with repackaging Legend of Legaia, turn based combat is just too slow by today's standards and alot of the innovation that makes them stand out is their take on keeping you busy during combat. That said if they use the button patterns as 'limit breaks' as opposed to basic attacks.... well copying success is basically the hallmark of Sony
This is my brother and I's childhood. My mom almost didn't buy it because money was tight back then and 4 CDs weren't cheap. If we get a remake of this game, I will cry as an adult man out of nostalgia and happiness and play it multiple times.
Best RPG ever, unique interactive battle system, lore, characters and audio. Ghost ship owns. Ive allready emailed remake studios numerous times to remake this 1. Al we can do is hope. tx for uploading this gem
The ghost ship creeped me out in the best kind of ways when i was a kid.
I really loved the battle against the ghost knights who will revive if you don't bring them all down fast enough!
@Firion Al'Hade wow!!
I would love a remake coming to PS5...🙏🏻
Actually i prefer a prequel
Remake remake
Yess!
@@AlexJoint93 Yes! a remake then the prequel. Hopefully then a sequel
Dingo dyno I already did!
The Bromance between Dart and Lavitz was the most fantastic bromance ever. Often ruined by Shauna.
And also ruined by Lloyd. Permanently :/
Legend of Dragoon 2: Bros Before Hoes
RIP Lavitz
the moment when you can do all their end combos perfectly. Demon dance and Perky step, my favorite.
Rose's an Albert's were some of the hardest for me too, it was all the odd timing and there was one of Haschel's that I could never get down pat if I didn't have the No Counter accessory equipped. For some reason I rocked at Meru's though
I love that you're even talking about this game in 2020. It was a true classic for the PS1 and one of my favorite games of all time.
I agree with most of your points except for swapping out party members in combat. That did not bother me as much, nor did I ever really have a problem with healing or guarding as needed. Most often times, I'd have too many healing items and no real use for them.
In fact, the Final Fantasy series to which this game is often compared to will not have the active party member switching and clear indication of what character's turn it was until the following year in 2001 on the PS2 with FFX which is another of my favorites.
OMG i finally found someone who is covering this game. i just want a modern remake
Same bro
Same!
It doesnt even need to have the best graphics, better voice acting is a necessity though, maybe with more spoken lines of dialogue. Leave everything else alone cause it's perfect. That's the one thing I worry about every time a game gets a remake or reboot, changing the things that we loved and didnt want altered.
Can we get a fuckin remaster of this game its literally been 20 years. Seriously the best rpg ever made
if the remaster came out tommrow....i buying LITERALLY AS FAST AS I CAN!
Yes please. Here they are remastering shit games like COD which is a dumpster fire that gets rehashed every year while this goldmine goes untouched.
or a Remake where Lavitz live ♥
The best? I don’t know about that easily top five and that’s coming from a hardcore jrpg fan. I’ve got to put xenogears over this as well as legend of legaia and chrono cross.
Not a remaster, i want a remake like they did FF7
The reason Meru can't use magic, despite being a Wingly, is explained in the flavor text when you get to her home town by talking to several NPCs.
Her magic teacher explains that since Wingly magic in general has weakened over the centuries (due to being cut off from the Virage Embryo), many of the younger Winglies are losing the power to use magic as powerfully as they could in the past.
Meru can use magic, but whenever she does, she gets a splitting headache and sometimes passes out, so it isn't safe for her to use it in real combat.
Nice lore digging, I'd always wondered
"where do you go when you've killed god"
You didn't kill god. The divine tree didn't make itself. It was Soa. There is an entire god who's will was defied that is left unaccounted for. There also is the issue that dragoons are tools of war, what happens when you find times of peace? What would happen when a god plants another divine tree? There is a lot of directions to go for a sequel.
Well technically it was supposed to create the God of Destruction. However, it is never truly created and thus you don't kill a God (as you stated).
However, you could play on this with a sequel as well.
@@kritikalgamer yep, to add, there was 10k years inbetween from the dragon campaign and the start of game. There could be tons of lore added, new enemies, and legends never told arising.
Screw a remake or dragoon campaign precuel, lets make modern day LoD set 10k years in the future lol
Lets not forget the 109th fruit i believe you end up fighting thats a moth showing more than 108 meaning like most legends some of it was skewed.
The unhatched 109th fruit was a subspecies of insect set to hatch AFTER the purge of the existing life. However given the 10,000 year delay, it is only natural it woke up early, pissed tf off that it woke up just to die. It was Soas design to destroy all life, and reintroduce life in different forms, much like Noah's ark.
Okay. No room for a sequel huh? Ha! We forgetting something?!
Life after the birth of and purge by, the god of destruction, is apparent! Also, its 10,000 years late, putting a HUGE damper on Soas timeline! The winglys knew that the 108th fruit was to be more powerful than they, but as a newborn species, how the fuck were they to know its purpose?? Melbu Frahma was a dictator hungry for power... a master manipulator. Uhhh... duh. (10,000 years is a long time for someone like this to plot his revenge just to be overthrown the same exact fucking way.)(And besides that, why did rose kill all those who came in contact with the moon child as well? Oh yeah, because they'd be corrupted into doing its bidding)(The wingly dictator drew most of his power from the moon child)(the divine tree has the power to birth such horrific creatures...)(who's to say that melbu didnt conspire with the "voice" of the virage embryo, to create for itself a body even stronger than it's original, giving control over its body to melbu to test drive it against the dragoons, knowing itd be secure inside of shana?)(Melbu transmigrated into Zeigs dragoon spirit, okay, but where is Kadessa? How far is it from neet? Didnt the winglys seal it off? How did Zeig know where to find the other spirits? How did he get them? How much did time did he spend searching? In 10,000 years, what was melbu up to? How did Zeig meet claire? There's a lot to go on about Zeig just in himself with that) The spirit of this "god of destruction" is still alive inside of shana... who's to say it doesn't do to darts soldier squirts what melbu did to its body?? Oh shit! Look ma! A new baby body for me to hijack! Someone said something, about someone creating a new divine tree... well guess what bitch. It's now a time of peace, the dragoon spirits are all but scattered, it's safe to assume that melbu is waiting somewhere as a sublime soul, hell he did it once, why not again? And the 108th species is now a shadow of its former designation as a halfling, a human with unknown powers and unlike shana, accessibility to these powers, and the capability to control, nurture and grow them. Together with the dragoon spirit inhabited by papa, can anyone say hello new divine tree and hello melbu frahma? New celestial body, eternal soul, hijacks the tree to ascertain his rebirth, with similar powers to that of the new trees creator.
There ya go. A base plot line for a sequel. Fill in the blanks, and dont fuck with me. I've played it through for the record 400 times.
I haven't ever forgotten this game, I bought an old PlayStation and re-bought the game again because of how much i missed it. I've always considered this game as one of the greatest. I appreciate someone talking about it. Thank you.
I did that and got an original copy of FFVII, both games are so memorable because of how they attacked the RPG genre. I also love how both games were completely different from each other. If I was stranded on a desert island with only those two games and a PS1, I'll be more than happy to suffer that fate. I wish story writers in the industry today would take an example from LoD and write better stories. The closet game I've encountered was Lost Odyssey.
I love Legend of Dragoon, faults and all. This was a great and very fair retrospective, thanks a lot for making a video on it :) Personal likes about this game are the music, the story/lore (particularly the first half of the game), the additions, the various settings/background art, and my own nostalgia for it. Dislikes include the experience point distribution, the item bag restrictions, the cg cutscenes (I always thought character models looked very awkward in them, I'd actually rather have those in-game model cutscenes after boss fights instead), and Miranda (say what you want about Kongol, I personally think he had more plot-relevant and character developing moments than Miranda, who feels like she came in out of nowhere and replaced a plot-critical character for a pretty dumb reason). Not sure if I could recommend trying the game out to someone now, unless they enjoy this era of RPGs/PS1 history, but I think it's fair to say it was a decent part of the console's history for enough people. Looking forward to whenever I revisit this game! :D
Yeeeah, I didn't get to touch too much on Miranda since this video was already ballooning too much, but god there's so little character there it's almost sad. I definitely like Kongol more as a character, as much as I jokingly dunk on him!
In all honestly Miranda was there just to replace Shana, to create drama as to whether Dart would have to kille her. Since Shana was the Silver Dragoon the healer, you can't just take away the healer.
You guys are right about Miranda, I never realized it before, but I agree
The swordmaster at the beginning of the game/ town graveyard talks about elements during his impromptu tutorial
I also wanted to point this out but wasn't sure how many others might have done so already, but most major elements such as this were explained in great detail, by either the sword Master who taught Dart, the first item peddler you encounter in the forest after leaving Seles, various other merchant and npcs along the way, and especially Rose herself. You just gotta talk to everyone you meet and pay attention and you can learn pretty much anything you wish to learn. I'm glad that more people understand this than not.
That’s my point. This guy just wanted to run through the game, wanted to be able to fast travel instead of exploring and running into mobs. He doesn’t have a true love for the game and is talking shit about unimportant things. For the time of its release this game created thousands and thousands of gamers
@@EnZyKaHd I'm not so sure. I really like fast travel these days, but back when Dragoon came out it was truly one of a kind and I'm still learning new things every single play through. I appreciate how highly you seem to appreciate it, but what it means to others isn't always so clear so I personally wouldn't jump to assuming they are talking shit just because it was a completely different time for gaming and they just don't understand. I still think it was every bit as good if not better than ff7, though they are both fantastic stories, but due to the massive franchising and following that had already been established for ff, the former stood little chance of gaining the same traction as the latter, unfortunately, though I'm still hopeful it makes a come back as it's obvious I'm not the only one.
When ps2 comes out, i wish they had a sequel for this game.
When ps3 comes out, i wish they will remake this game.
When ps4 comes out, still i wish they remake this game.
Now ps5 will comes out, still nothing eh?
Really want this game to be remake, made a sequel, or a prequel when old Dragoons fighting winglys. Still a best game for me❤️
Meaningless garbage.....
Lol
I hope they do it. After I finish playing Trails of cold steel 2 imma start a new file
fans been begging for the dragon campaign for ages!
A Dtagon Campaign game would be dope. Playing as Rose, Zieg and the others
Jared Francis yea that would be dope! 🔥🔥🔥
Loved this game. I had this instead of FF7. VOLCANO!
Madnessss...HERO!!!!
Burning RUSH!!
HIYA! RAAAGH! DOUBLE SLASSSSH!
@@pipezjani6929 GRAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!! FLAME BURST!!
BLAZING!! DYNAMO!!
Legend of Dragoon is the most memorable ending for me. last guy alive had less than 100 HP and i had given up so i just threw a grenade and it killed him
I got lucky 7777 to activate on Emerald weapon when I was like 11. FF7 takes the spot for me but Legend of Dragoon takes second and Legend of Legaia in close third. Love these old games.
I play this so much and still do .i grinded over 100k gold and had all item in game
@@sicwriter A fellow man of culture. Legend of Legaia was one of my favorite games when I was young. It was probably one of the first JRPGs I played after FF7
@@NaquadahEOD lts all nostalgia honestly. Those graphics were terrible honestly
@@sicwriter That's why I never go back and replay them. I have fond memories I don't want ruined lol
How Dragoon devs pick character names: "Let's take votes on names we like best."
How Final Fantasy devs pick character names:
"cid"
Look at this point Cid's become a meta joke itself on par with other your ever returning NPCs Biggs and Wedge. And well you just need a Cid to do Cid things. Who else is gonna own the airship? Steve?
Before you crap on FF character names, look at the names for the enemies in Legend of Dragoon.
Albert: "Gust of wind d-dance!"
Love this game for all its flaws
"Spinning Cane!" 😊
Lol ikr, he sound like he gonna cry.
So satisfying pulling off his combos
Man, I forgot Lavtiz died in this. That broke my heart as a kid.
Almost as bad as aries in ff7. Fucked me up
I was 8 years old crying in my xrocker chair full surround sound. He was my favorite character as well. Plus green is my favorite character.
@@rickyspanish4550 Arieth'Ss death I did actually see coming Lavitz however really did hurt. 💔
@@Melodyofthesea78 I kind of saw lavitz coming as well. There were subtle hints, aries messed me up cuz you know sephiroth is after her so you're racing to get there just to fail lol
@@rickyspanish4550 Yeah I think I didn't pay attention to the death flags for him. As for Aeirth there was enough reason why I saw it coming she was a awesome healer for one and you get her last limit break very VERY early on so....yeah. I braced myself I figured A.) She'll be kidnapped because she might be useful to Sephiroth. OR B.) Sephiroth will just kill her because she's not only useful to the Cloud and his team but she's going to be a huge problem for his plans.
I'm one of those in the camp that loves this game more than it deserves. It remains one of the ONLY rpgs i've replayed and more than once. To me.... it's beautiful.
The same I think I played it like 7 or 8 times
I've completed this game 4 times, but I have 7 or 8 playthroughs that I got mid-way through disc 3 and either decided to start over or lost the save.
You dont have that much love in you, boy
"I'm sort of gust of wind dancing around this topic"
I'm now going to like, subscribe and activate the notifications for your channel just for this one pun, I loved it
The physical, _visceral_ cringing while writing and delivering that line was all worth it now
Also "gives you a burning rush" lol
@@TheGoldenBolt your point about the additions was my favourite in the video and probably why it's best the voice acting was shit
in the latter portion of the video i couldn't help but hear "crush daance" every time it popped up
I actually found Loyd was a good name for that character, he's the only one who can make that name be badass lol.
Play Tales of Symphonia 1 and 2, the main character is a kid named Lloyd who is also a badass.
Fire Emblem called. The Black Fang wants to challenge your statement.
@@ThePontiffofPonWolf me too actually
It's sad that we will never see a remaster of this game. One of the best RPGs ever made.
legendofdragoon.org/petition/
U speak to soon Patrick, u know the saying
Don't say that bro
@@dingodyno9016 I did my part - now if we can only get a few more thousand. XD
@@TzNara I know I shouldn't. But I think I may be right.
My biggest complaint about this game: That divine dragoon armor. Poor Dart, he looked a hunchback mutant.
Dude, I thought it was gonna look awesome before I used it, goddamn was it ugly.
Idk I think it's kinda badass with the huge canon and all. I like that they went for that kind of crazy deformed but alien like type of design for it, it really fits the look of the Dragons and creatures in this game which is another great, unique point about it.
My biggest complaint.. too short though it was decent length... just didn’t want the adventure to end
@@ALGOChannel Agreed, I actually really like its clunky awkwardness. It feels like something a human shouldn't even be able to wear.
but he shoots universe and galaxies
This is my all time favorite game. I go back and do a full play through once ever year or two. It’s what really got me hooked on jrpgs. I’d love to se a remastered or remake version of this.
Same, there are very few games I could ever call "All-Time Favorites" but this one has sat at the top of my list for over 20 years
Why transform Haschel into Dragoon? Because... THUNDER GOD ATTACK!
I'll give you that one!
My dude has a move called atomic mind
With Bluepoint releasing the Demons Souls trailer, I decided to binge the TLOD ost and found this video. The director acknowledged a Dragoon remake and hinted that he'd love for it to be a project. I hope it happens one day, this game had so many FANTASTIC ideas that other RPGs haven't even tried to implement.
I will say that the Bluepoint director's comments definitely seemed more like a "man, it's awesome how passionate you LoD fans are!" than a serious consideration. That said, I hope I'm wrong!
legendofdragoon.org/petition/
I did that yesterday and I swear every time a new track started I knew where it was from and it brought back so many good memories.
Dude makes it sound like the random encounters are torture when they are one of the things i love most about the game.
This game and Shadow Hearts series. In both games you have to be engaged during any battle.
Plus he said there is no way to avoid random encounters. But there is a way to do that very easily. I love the combat but I'm surprised he said there isn't when there is.
Hating on the additional aspect just because they don't understand it.
@@mattmeeker7076 yep charm potions
To some, they are torture. To others, they're awesome.
You like them, he doesn't. Not really that hard to understand.
I've had this game on my backlog for years now, and you have given me every reason to play it. Thank you.
Well did you play it???
@@bookuroooverwatch161 Unfortunately no, computer issues have been a bitch.
@@johandori7795how do u even ply it? emulation?
36:19 oh hey that's me. Really enjoyed watching the whole thing. My favourite part is where you mention something bad about a gameplay mechanic and I was like "oh we have mods (or upcoming mods) for those now".
Mods, you say? That's amazing to hear, I was thinking that somebody cracking/modding the game would be the big perfect moment for fans to get a fixed/definitive version! Also, I appreciate you and the others in the community going so far to give everybody info about the game! You don't know how many times I'd wonder what the hell the damage stats were supposed to mean lol
There are mods now?
I remember when lavitz died, my brother (we played on the same save file) loaded the game and grinded out every single fucking attack that lavitz had. He loved that character.
After a few playthroughs I eventually did the same, and grinded Lavitz up to level 5 Dragoon and all his additions. So worth it.
The part where Lloyd steals the divine dragon's spirit with the Moon Dagger, awesome
Rose awakening Dart's dragoon was my first HOLY FUCKING SHIIIT childhood gaming moment.
Loved this game. My lil bro would watch me play it when he was little. A year ago, he beat it by himself and I sat back and watched him do it. Nostalgia hit me hard that night. He even asked me at times in boss fights what should he do.
A remake would make us both overjoyed
The first time I ever played LoD was on one of the pizza hut demo disks waaay back in the day (Also where I first played FF8 and Ape Escape among some others). I replayed that demo numerous times but was never able to convince my parents to buy the game for me.
Many years later I wanna say 2011-2012, I had a PSP and ended up buying it (alongside FF8) off the PSN store and played it on my PSP. I loved it so much. It wasnt even my first JRPG at the time, I had been playing Fire Emblems, a couple Final Fantasys (I wanna say 1, 5, 12, 13 and Crisis Core at the time), Shining Force, I had even gotten into RPGMaker and was making my own JRPGs (shitty ones but still), most of which took inspirations from FF5, Crisis Core, Shining Force, Fire Emblem and even Legend of Dragoon. I remember spending a lot of time trying to find a way to add Additions to my games because I enjoyed that system so much. It made random battles FUN, you were doing something other than mashing A (cough cough FF13 cough)
So even to someone who had other JRPG experience, I still loved my time playing Dragoon and I've really wanted to go back and play through it again and actually do all the sidequests this time. I had no idea there was a superboss, I may have known about the 4HP enemy farming thing because I do remember sitting around doing random encounters for a good amount of time but I dont remember if that was for XP or just maxxing everyone's additions. After watching this video I'm seriously considering dusting off my PSP again and going through it again. A remaster on PS5 would be the absolute dream and if they did announce a Legend of Dragoon remaster on it, I would actually have to buy a PS5.
I lucked out super hard as a kid my moms friend didn't want her playstation anymore and gave it to me with the only games being don't hawk 3 and TLOD I didn't have a memory card at first so I used to do super long play sessions leaving my PlayStation on for a day or two.
Same. Iirc that demo disc had metal gear solid on it as well. I probably have it sitting around in a box still somewhere
you mash A in every final fantasy game... people are still making that criticism towards 13? :/
Same ..the pizza hut demo was as far as I got though
51:10 - 52:22 Those dramatic stings nailed It, never I went "Huh?" So much in a game ever 😂
100%
So the opening is Golbez trying to capture yuna and using the Holy Materia. Got it..
This is absolutely one of my all time favorite games. Not saying it's perfect or anything, I just love it. Great video👍🏻👍🏻
But IT IS perfect and everything :(
does it need a prequel, no. Would it be awesome to play through the dragon campaign and see how the humans managed to claim the dragon souls and fought back against the winglies flying cities with giant rail guns? In my opinion, absolutely.
Honestly, that CG cut-scene was more than enough for me. Aeris' death in FF7 was surprising, to say the least and without question one of the most shocking moments in video games, period. The deaths of the original dragoons was downright brutal, bloody and savage. They had no problem intentionally dying/sacrificing themselves to take out the more powerful foes. My favorite part of the scene was the death of Belzac, as he is holding the gigantic pillar up to save the life of Shirley. A Virage shows up and impales Belzac, but he continues to hold up the pillar as he is dying. Shirley promises him that his death will not be in vain, as the Virage is about to energy blast them to death. Just before the blast you see Shirley fire her arrow to kill the Virage. The Virage's explosion killed them both (fact).
Kansas also had a great death. He was killing enemies and took on a Super Virage. He was seriously wounded in the fight and decided to cling to the Super Virage and self destruct "I'm Taking You With Me!!!!", killing them both.
Never in video games had I ever seen such brutality and sacrifice so well displayed on screen (I know it's dated now and I still get electricity moving through me during that scene), especially at such a fast pacing.
That scene is honestly all I ever need to let me experience the LOD past and Dragon Campain. I appreciate only hearing pieces of the lore in the game and discovering the artifacts of old. This game did it's story telling so well. You want to leave plenty of story up to the imagination of the reader/one who experiences it. We don't get that kind of writing much anymore. My friend and I came up with an excellent description of RPG's of old vs modern: PS1 Rpg's were like reading an excellent novel. PS2 and beyond were only like experiencing a movie.
Legend of Dragoon seems like it suffered from the same fate that Xenogears did. It may have been rushed and was not given the time it needed to Polish it. BUT, just like Xenogears, we have an incredible experience with TONS of well written story elements that make a person think so deeply.
I would NEVER want to see a remake or remaster of LOD, no way. Great games were a TIME and PLACE and you can't get that back. Creators of today can't ever replicate the times of old and they will only ruin what was so great with all of it's flaws. Just look what they have done to FF7. I never wanted that.
@@TheKessi1000 Great points. I would never want to see a Xenogears remake. My favorite scenes involving Fei and Elly only needs to be accompanied by text, polygon sprites, and Mitsuda's beautiful score.
Although contrary to fans of FF7, I actually enjoyed the Remake. Thats just me though. Then again my enjoyment probably comes from not being a Huge FF7 diehard. I have FF9 as my fav and wouldn't want to see it remade the way FF7R basically became something of a sequel to the original. FF7R seems awfully like a sequel to the finale of Advent Children as Sephiroth states he will not become a memory ~ so he resists the lifestream and travels against the flow of time or something.
@@TheKessi1000 Well said. For me personally, LOD has much more impactful characters and deaths than FF7.
"The whole is worth more than the sum of its parts"
-Aristotle
Honestly, the only way I know that quote is from the Civilization series lol
You summed up my thoughts on this game pretty well. It's this fascinating mix of good and bad, of unique and cookie-cutter, of rough and polished. It really feels like there's no middle ground with it -- either you tolerate the weak aspects enough to enjoy the strong ones, or you don't. Not an enviable position to be in, but one worth remarking upon.
Looking at the TV Tropes page informed me on something regarding Shana that never sat well with me before. Her White Silver Dragoon armor being so wildly different from Shirley's and Miranda's felt like an art inconsistency, but it's likely not. It's physically different because the Spirit isn't properly aligned to her; she's using her powers as the Moon Child to make it work, so her appearance is thusly corrupted to include moon-based influence and coloring.
ghost ship was always a good time to farm exp, money and addition levels.
That was God Tier level usage of a dramatic sting that I’ve ever seen in my life!
I still remember when I played this as a kid and I got up to the part where Lavitz dies, I was SO upset and I *hated* Albert for taking his place, but eventually I warmed up to Albert and I accepted him.
Edit: oh my god, I had forgotten sooo much about this game. I can't finish this video, now lmao I need to go play LoD again :{D
Might wanna put spoiler alert somewhere in there kid
D J it’s in the video, kid
"I love Zenebatos so much!" Glad to see I'm not the only one, decades later and I still remember that part of the game fondly, it's so well done and hilarious it's amazing!
I'm elated every time someone mentions Dragoon because the moments are far and few between. I played this game near it's release and have replayed it a couple times since then. It and FFX got me into JRPGs (aside from Link to the Past and Ocarina of Time), and into diving into that realm. I'm at a point where I can laugh at the garbage aspects of the game, and I can also fall in love with the world, story, and character moments in whole new lights every time. This was a perfect recap, a perfect telling of it's terrible and great aspects, and a perfect explanation of why it can be loved, and why I personally love it. Thank you for this video.
Bring back Legend of Dragoon to PS5
legendofdragoon.org/petition/
And Bloody Roar
I almost woke up my kids when you said “In Miley Cyrus” 😂🤣 you just gave up on pronouncing that village and I don’t blame you
My favorite part is that was 100% real! I was 6ish hours into recording voiceover, my voice was starting to strain, and I honestly just couldn't remember which pronunciation was the one that research said was the most likely "correct" one, so I just said screw it and went with whatever cane out from then on, lol
Nice lol at 44:55 😆
😆
Words fall short on how videos gushing on LOD motivate me to push through the difficult moments in the day. Great voice presentation is always a plus
I am an absolute sucker for videos that go this in-depth into nostalgic stuff that I loved as a kid.
Why the Addition System never caught on will forever remain a mystery to me. Combat became a large bit more difficult but mastering it made victory exponentially more glorious!
RIP Ser Lavitz Slambert
It's kind of the same reason why junctioning didn't catch on with Final Fantasy, it's really annoying. People, myself included are just too used to original combat.
Additions were the precursor to Quick Time Events that most modern gamers know and love. I never had any issue with the Addition system, probably because I grew up playing fighting games. It made the combat much more engaging.
@@elizabethchint6485 Junctioning was just dumb. It literally penalized the player for using their best spells.
@@Zadok83 No it didn't. If you honestly believe that, then you didn't understand how junctioning worked. No matter what spells you used, you can easily get more of it. No spell is finite. You can always make more of any spell in the game,(not counting ultima, which you have to pay for) with very little effort. They give you more than enough materials to convert into magic.
@@FF8Irvine_Fan Yes it did as it actively lowered your stats using them, and the game never intuitively taught you how to get spells easily. So yes it was a badly implemented shit system.
No one has been intimidated by a guy named Lloyd? You haven't played Fire Emblem 7.
Or tales of symphonia
I got it when it came out, 4 freaking discs! But damn i wasn't disappointed. They don't make games like this anymore. It takes a long time to beat for sure.
That's how I used to judge games. "How many disc's does it have? 4? Oh, good game. " I remember being shocked that Chrono Cross was so good and only 2 discs.
I replay this game every Christmas since this game came out. I still have my disks and play them on my PS2/PS3. Hands down I prefer this game over FF7 and think it’s is one of if not the best game I’ve ever played. Thanks for this retrospective. It’s always good to see this game talked about.
I'll give a ton of credit to VII Remake, I absolutely adored the tweaks and changes, and it made the world of VII even more fascinating. That said, like I said at the very end of the video, Dragoon will always be my first proper JRPG, and I'll always love it and want to come back to it for that reason!
@Tyler Faber I just wrote the same thing about how this is way better than FF7.
As a hype dood once said, "Your first RPG will always be the best one to you."
This game definitely has problems, but it does so many other things so well that I can't help but love it, flaws and all.
Also, EXPLOSION! HUUUUUURRRRRRRRRGH!
That's true, I still love Paper Mario.
Every game has problems.
I love your use of Dart's Theme during your wrap up. It fit so well. I grew up playing this game, and it's so nice to see someone properly both the good and bad of this game.
OMG i can't believe finally someone did a comprehensive on my actual favorite RPG by a long mile. Thank you my good sir for the wonderful video and maybe one day we will get a rebirth of TLOD!
I hope and pray we do
Between this and Legend of Legaia helped me fall in love with JRPGs
I LOVE LOL too. Such an awesome combat system😃
I love LOL too. Such an awesome combat system😃
I still replay Legaia every few years.
still can rmb the happiness when i discovered new skill in Legaia. :)
I still remember getting fussed at because I was past my bed time in the middle of that 40min+ final fight. Trying to get my mom to understand why I couldn't just "turn it off" while struggling to stay alive. I was on my last character (Dart of course), had used the last of my magic items and had no way of healing. Ended up winning with like 6hp left. Thought I was going to have a heart attack when I finally struck the final blow. Still my most memorable boss fight ever. To have a properly remastered version one day would be amazing. Flaws and all, new graphics and (maybe) better voice acting would be more than enough. Although, those addition names/shouts will forever be engraved in memory, so any voice changes might be hard to accept!
Me as a kid. 'Staying in twin castle for hours and hours, just to listen to the soundtrack.' Pure nostalgia.
i love LOD and this was a great throwback everything was on point thank you for that. I've liked and subscribed because of the video and because you actually take time out of your life to answer comments which a lot of you-tubers do not, that shows character keep up the good work .
Well, I'll admit I haven't been as good about going back to LoD comments lately - YT sometimes doesn't send comments to my Studio app inbox on older videos - but thankfully this one popped up for me! Thanks for the kind words, my friend, it means a ton!
I had to pause because I lost it at "Mild Seasoning"
"After 11,000 years Im free, time to conquer.... what was the planet called again?"
he never forgot
Lol
Hyrule?
I feel likes they gonna say Hyrule.
after 10,000 years i'm free, it's time to conquer earth.. Alpha, Rita is escaped.. prepare 5 teenagers with attitude.. go go powder la la la
Soa
The fact that u even made a video on this game I'm subscribing. This game is my childhood n the game is still amazing. I still beat this game on a regular. #RemakeTLOD!
Amazing!! Thank you for bringing back so many wonderful memories and giving me something commiserate over with a childhood friend. We played through this game together and I sent him this video and we had a great chat about the game.
Loved this game when it came out. I still play it today from time to time. Everyone should really give this game a full playthrough as it leaves the feeling of an epic story. Definitely deserves a re-master or re-make and a sequel.
The thing I look at is this game, as a remake, could make so much more use out of the dragoon forms. Winged combat in an rpg has never felt right, that could be fixed!
Continuing the addition combat style as combos could work, but I think would work better as interactive skill moves with a cooldown.
Give dragoon forms a designated time and maintain the massive stat boost, but also allow you to cancel out and reserve atleast a portion of your time.
The upside is between the games many mechanics and modern tech you could create an absolute behemoth of a title that would both feel fresh and familiar. I think they'd be able to make a game that could expect a solid return of investment, there's plenty of gold left in that mine.
This video made me summon 4 gods.
You and me both
Dont you mean Whip Smack lol
made me pull off an astral drain
A fantastic video and honestly i can not agree more with everything about this wonderful and bizarre game
I'm glad to hear it! Hopefully I helped bring you on a fun trip down memory lane, we can definitely all use that right now.
Watch out what you call bizarre 😠😂😂😂
I'm going to act like I didn't just go through an entire range of emotion. Subbed
One of the best games I am casually playing till now. Just played it from scratch again 2 months ago. But to correct you, Disc 4 has side quests too, Shirley ask you save the former Dragoons before meeting Zeig in the end of disc 3 and you fight Faust as well as the last 4 stardusts are located in disc 4 in order to get the Agate apperision mirror or something like that.
That's a fair correction, I'd argue it both ways personally! To go back to Vellweb I believe works either only on Disc 3 or on both 3 and 4, so I'm personally calling it a Disc 3 sidequest since it starts there even if you can't finish it right away! Same for Faust, the content might be located on Disc 4 as well and the last few Stardusts are on Disc 4, but the area itself is found on Disc 3! I'd argue Faust is really an entire-game quest more than a Disc 3 one, you've got a good point!
The Golden Bolt Yeah the map of Vellweb and Tower of Flanbell are accessible via disc 3 only but to proceed you need to be on disc 4. It a gray area TBH as you can't do with without proceeding to 4 but the map data is on 3. It's the limits of the technology in that period. You have a good point as well.
When I was a kid I genuinely considered this one of the best JRPGs on the PS1 - and easily the best non-Squaresoft one. I was really surprised to learn that its reception is so divided. Sure, the localization is janky and the story hits a lot of tropes, but I loved the character interactions and the battle system is one of the most fun I've ever played. (I think it's really cool how Haschel is the best character in the game but also has, at least for me, some of the trickiest Addition timings to figure out. It's like you have to earn that power)
I think the low inventory space is to balance how powerful healing items are - you can get full or party-wide heals super easily and it would break the game if you could carry 99 of them. I do agree that it's probably a bit too small though.
The npc that teaches you how to use attack items in the beginning of the game also teaches you about elements and affinities and the name color highlighting this trait