The Legend of Dragoon (Legend of Dragoon (PS))

Member Name: Orenthal

Product:	Legend of Dragoon (PS)
Date:	12/01/09 (13 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Excellent storyline and combat, good characters and good CGI movies

Disadvantages: Sometimes too much filler in the story before anything major happens

The Legend of Dragoon.

Set in an medievil and mythodical time where over a hundred races inhabit the earth all living together in peace, disruption hits and the real truth is to be found out by a young man named Dart. His village, Niet, is torched to the ground and his mother and father presumed missing, Dart is forced to deal with life alone, protecting his closest and only true friend Shana.

All throughout his life, Dart has been seeking revenge on the one named 'The Black Monster' who supposidly was behind the unprovoked burning of his village. On one of his adventures, just before Dart would have made a terrible mistake in trying to slay out a Dragon by himself, he is rescued by a woman named Rose who joins him in his struggle to find The Black Monster.

All throughout the game you learn about the Dragoon campaign and lots of history about the earth in their time, how all the different races live together and what each of their specialities are, home citys etc. For example you have humans, dragons, winglies etc, and also some hybrids, such as Dragoons (Humans and Dragons).

The game follows the same system as the Final Fantasy series, using turn based combat with special moves, limit breaks and attacks while still keeping to the 3rd person roleplaying. Being able to shapeshift into a Dragoon keeps the fights interesting and adds strategy and tactics in new and unique ways. I found the Dragoon animations very well done and they do look good.

The game has unique combat moves called Additions for each character which goes alongside their normal attacks. I found this system pretty easy to get on with, its just all about timing. They're basically just combos and you have to time them correct to do more damage.

There are a wide range of characters to pick from when choosing your team of 3, each with their own elements and advantages/disadvantages. For example, Dart is the Fire Dragoon, Lavitz/Albert is the Wind Dragoon and Rose is the Darkness Dragoon. Each of them have set magic spells they can used based on their element, aswell as an elemental attack which has to be charged up. I found this pretty easy to do as its just like additions, all about timing.

The story line is very detailed and keeps you thinking all the time. It spans out over 4 discs and takes quite a while to complete, but is well worth it for just the story alone. If you're a Final Fantasy fan, you will not be dissapointed.

It took me around 30 hours of play time to beat the game and I don't think thats too bad. I'm sure it can be done a lot quicker but it's an enjoyable game with a very interesting storyline.

The game is also dual-shock compatible and vibrates the controller when things start to get rough during fights and cutscenes which adds to the feel of the game and makes you feel more involved somehow.

Summary: Overall a very very good game, Final Fantasy fans would LOVE it.