Reviewing looked like fun to me, so I decided to give it a shot
The Legend of Dragoon
System: Playstation
Genre: Role-playing game
Year: 2000 (PAL) ,2001 (NTSC)
This is the first RPG I ever played, and the first video game review I've ever done. Don't hurt me if you think it sucks
If you don't want to read the whole thing, there is a quick review at the bottom quickly summarizing my thoughts on the game. To get there quickly, press CTRL+F and type "UNTS304"
Plot:
This game has a very good plot, which gets better as you go along. The game begins in a peaceful forest, where a villager, the main character, Dart, is reading on a nice, quiet day. (I think, it appears he is holding a paper) All of a sudden, he begins to hear horses galloping. He finds out that they are soldiers, then, Dart is attacked by a dragon, and while running away, meets a mysterious woman, who saves his life, and also tells him that the soldiers were coming from Seles, Dart's home. He gets there to see that his friend Shana has been kidnapped. The journey begins.
Music/ Sound:
Starting from the first battle, or even, the scene where Dart is chased by a dragon, you will notice that the soundtrack is very good, and could compete with game like Final Fantasy and Chrono Trigger. So, the Battle/Field music is very good. The voice acting, although 99% of it only appears in battle after doing an addition (we'll go deeper into that later) is very annoying and repetitive.
Battle System:
This battle system is one of the reasons I love this game, and why it is my favorite game. The game is not just like any other RPG. You don't sit there and constantly press the X or A button. You get "Additions" as you level up. Dart starts out with Double Slash, which is a basic addition composed of 2 attacks, meaning you have to press the X button once to execute the second attack. Dart will gain his second addition by leveling up one combat level. From there on for Dart, the additions will be leveled up, and when an addition is leveled up, it gets stronger. Level an addition up enough times, and you will unlock the next addition. Some of these additions can be very hard to do, such as Dart's Madness Hero and Albert's Gust of Wind Dance. After a certain point in the game, you will gain the ability to transform into a Dragoon, a flying warrior with the ability to control dragons (not until later) and the ability to do some deadly damage with magic spells. You can also do attacks called Dragoon-Additions, which are essentially the same thing, but they do more damage, and the timing is different.
Length:
Sometimes the game is hated on for being too long, but personally, I think it's great. The game is 4 discs long, all of which are a decent length. The final boss has at LEAST 4 forms.
Graphics:
Nowadays, the graphics could look out dated. But, for a PlayStation 1 game, the graphics are quite nice, especially the FMVs and battle scene graphics.
Characters:
********************************************SPOLIER ALERT********************************************
IF YOU HAVE NOT COMPLETED THE GAME SCROLL DOWN UNTIL YOU SEE THESE STARS AGAIN.
There are 9 characters that will join your party throughout the game: Dart, Lavitz, Shana, Rose, Haschel, Albert, Meru, Kongol, and Miranda. Only 7 or these 9 will be playable from the time you get them, to the end of the game , though.
The reasoning for this is that Lavitz is killed by Lloyd, one of the main antagonists and is replaced by Albert. Shana mysteriously faints in Disc 3 and is replaced by Miranda.
Classes:
Dart: Swordsman (Uses a sword)
Lavitz: Knight (Uses a spear/lance)
Shana: Archer (Uses a bow and arrow)
Rose: ? She uses a Rapier... Tell me if you know what to call this.
Haschel: Martial Artist (Uses his hands/ brass knuckles)
Albert : Knight (Uses Lavitz's Spear after he is killed)
Meru : .... Kid? (Uses a giant mallet O.O)
Kongol: Tank? (Uses a giant axe)
Miranda: Archer (Uses Shana's bow and arrows after she faints,wakes, and feels she cannot fight)
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Quick Review (UNTS304)
Positives: Pretty graphics, nice story, awesome music, good, unique battle system.
Negatives: Voice acting can get annoying, some bosses are VERY difficult, and this game REALLLLLLLYYYY needs a sequel. It's too under-rated
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Final Thoughts:
This is my favorite game OF ALL TIME, and I HIGHLY recommend it if you liked Paper Mario, due to the battle system needing brains, timing and skill.
Thanks for reading my first ever review, feel free to correct me on any parts.
