Feature

• 3 years in the making with a development team of over 100 members



• Transform into Dragoons and unleash extraordinary powers



• Incredibly diverse characters wield unique weapons and Dragoon attacks powered by the elements



• Totally unique and innovative tactical combat "Additionals" System



• Discover the truth about the Black Monster

The Legend of Dragoon Reviews

A four-disc RPG epic, The Legend of Dragoon is set in a time of swords, magic, and dragonsTen thousand years prior, the Dragon War pitted Dragoons--humans with the power to control dragons--against Enslavers, magicians who sought to enslave the humansNow Dart, a young warrior, is on a quest to find the demon that killed his parentsThe Legend of Dragoon features prerendered, 3-D backgrounds and detailed, polygonal figuresSeveral nonplaying characters and many full-motion video scenes take you through the complex storyThe game's turn-based battle engine allows you to increase the strength of an attack through repeated button taps and shows the percentage increase you've createdA timing feature in the battle modes allows you to add devastating combinations to your attacksThe Spirit Points you accumulate during your quest can be used to unlock a special power, known as the Dragon attack.

Editorial Review

Talk about going out with a bang! Sony Computer Entertainment released its four-disc The Legend of Dragoon for the PlayStation only months before the release of that console's successor, the PlayStation2This very absorbing role-playing game, with hours upon hours of story and inventive gameplay, might just be the last great title for the glorious PSX

The copious story begins with Dart, a vengeful young man with spiky hair and red armor who embarks on a desperate rescue mission to break his childhood sweetheart out of a castle prisonThe two join forces with a knight who is trying to end a war that's destroying the regionDart soon learns that he is a Dragoon--a human who's privy to the spiritual power of dragonsLike all RPG heroes, Dart is up against impossible odds, but his newfound Dragoon magic and battle skills go a long way toward making the bet even money

And that's just the beginningGrab a spare memory card and a comfy chair and be prepared to spend at least 20 hours getting through the first disk (there are three others just like it in the double-wide case)It's hard to sustain a player through this kind of time span, but The Legend of Dragoon takes chances and winsFor example, its battle system is turn based, so you can actually use some strategy, but it also features special "additions," or fighting combos that unfold if you match the X button to that addition's timing When handling three players' additions, each with unique sequences, it can be quite challengingYou can increase the potency of the elemental magic up to 160 percent by quickly tapping X during your castAlso, the perspectives often change between battles--players will direct the action from behind the heroes, behind the villains, looking down from above, and off to the side

There are a couple downsides to the gameFirst, the stylized transitions into and out of battle mode, while initially cool, quickly become exhausting--especially when running the gauntlet through lesser foes in the wilderness or lower ramparts of a castleThe game's story is built such that you're watching the sometimes goofy dialog as a spectator rather than participating in itThere are a few occasions when the game will prompt you to choose from two different responses, but often either response will bring about the same conclusionThat tightly controlled narrative, however, often works in the player's favor by keeping the game flowing instead of the wandering common in other RPGs, where players waste time looking to each townsperson for direction

Overall, the game's wonderfully illustrated sets, light exploration and problem solving, and a handful of jaw-dropping full-motion video scenes make The Legend of Dragoon fun to play and hard to put down--Porter Hall

Pros:

• Hours upon hours of story and gameplay
• Turn-based battle made more exciting by combo-attack-style "additions"
• Many different monsters, spells, weapons, and items

Cons:

• Very linear gameplay offers no chance to affect outcome
• Stylish pre- and postbattle sequences quickly grow tiresome

MTV Multiplayer's ever-interviewing Tracey John managed to speak with Bill Roper at length concerning his thoughts on Warhammer Online and the trials it and other like-minded online games are facing"I know many games out there that would love to have 300,000 subscribers." said Roper in regards to the recently revealed subscriber countAnd we'd have to agree with him there, it certainly is a number that several smaller-budget titles would love to have.