A Lovable, Complicated Mess

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, welcome to this edition of Now Loading… The Video Game Canon! It’s the only weekly column on the Internet that takes games from the past and decides whether they’re worth remembering forever. Trust me when I say that, although it can sometimes be a harrowing experience, looking back at these old games with a critical eye is ultimately fun. In some cases, this series is just a way to play old video games and judge how they contributed to the art of video games as a whole. And in other cases, it’s an excuse to put on rose-colored glasses, dive into games filled with childhood memories, and subject them to the gauntlet of rigorous and unforgiving analysis that isn’t always kind to them. These are nostalgic little gems of the past. Canonization is sometimes a dirty job, but damn, even the brightest lights of childish wonder need to be taken with a pinch of salt every now and again. With all that in mind, let’s take a look at The Legend of Dragoon.

The Legend of Dragoon was developed by SCE Japan Studio and released for the Sony PlayStation at the turn of the millennium. It’s a prime example of a game that spends a lot of time (in this case, four whole discs) creating a complex and interesting world full of lore, history, and a set of complex fantasy rules that follow literally. Much like comprehensive fantasy worlds like Game of Thrones and The Lord of the Rings, The Legend of Dragoon creates a world that is so detailed that those who take part in the story feel as if they are really characters who live there. In this respect, The Legend of Dragoon is very similar to Final Fantasy VII, the first game we considered canon. Both games offer players worlds that are very easy to get lost in, with amazing visual environments, memorable character designs, and expansive world maps to explore. But whereas Final Fantasy VII’s vast world allows players to overlook some nonsensical plot inconsistencies, The Legend of Dragoon has the exact opposite problem: players are presented with so much backstory, history, and a plot so convoluted, the world in which the game takes place becomes a sweet, overwhelming place.

If you’ve read previous entries in this series, you may be wondering why “too much plot” is a problem when it comes to video game storytelling. “After all,” you say coyly behind your knitting, “didn’t Fallout 3 suffer from a lack of world-building due to a lack of plot? Well, that’s the problem with video games, dear reader.” They strike a balance between building a rich world that makes the player want to play and presenting enough information to make the player say, “I want to know what happens next” if the video game shocks the player too soon. Too much fantasy jargon and the average player will tire of all the trivia and abandon the story. You can have a complex story climax with all those fantasy jargons, but you have to draw the player in and get them involved early in the story so they earn it later in the story.

Take the example of Kingdom Hearts, a game series that you will undoubtedly be playing in the near future. Simply put, the story and world of Kingdom Hearts are totally insane. Those who have been following the series for the past few years will have noticed the following:

• The concept of nothingness
• What it means to have no emotions
• The body-swap storyline
• Characters with multiple states, literally and figuratively Consciousness within the housing of mind and body
• The ever-expanding mythology of a sword that holds the key
• The most confusing explanation for time travel ever devised by man, regardless of whether it involves living or dead people

However, most fans of the series have accepted these fantastic additions because the story in the first game was so simple and beautifully crafted. At its core, the first Kingdom Hearts game was a boring tale of light and dark, and good and evil. The series slowly evolved into the crazy state it is today, and whether you like it or not, it’s hard to deny that after 15 years and almost as many games, it hasn’t gotten any weirder.

But what happens when a game developer tries to pack all that excitement and fantasy insanity into one game? What happens when a story that spans multiple discs tries to accomplish the difficult task of captivating players while simultaneously creating a fantasy world on an almost Tolkien scale? Well, The Legend of Dragoon is finally here.

Story and Characters: Go for the Bullseye, Dart

If you look back at our entry on Final Fantasy VII, you may remember my brilliantly funny retelling of that game’s convoluted plot. You’ll remember that the recap was so funny that it rocketed into the stratosphere of public opinion, forever changing the face of comedy as we know it. But you may also remember that I basically pointed out that Final Fantasy VII is a story with brilliantly realized themes wrapped up in a convoluted and sometimes nonsensical plot package.

In this respect, The Legend of Dragoon is very similar, except that it’s harder to think about the life-changing themes it presents. The game uses what I call the “Japanese RPG pattern”: you start with a few likable characters, then gradually zoom out until the universe itself is in danger, and only you and a band of misfit heroes can save it. This is a tried-and-true way of telling a video game story, and for the most part, The Legend of Dragoon does it well. The characters are all well defined and well written, and their interpersonal relationships have enough twists that by the end of the game, you feel like you’re interacting with real, fleshed out characters. Unfortunately, the story is so simple yet incredibly complicated at the same time, too often distracting from the characters.

The story, in a nutshell, is a typical JRPG “save the world” story. It begins with the protagonist, Dart, returning to his hometown after a five-year journey hunting a beast called the “Black Monster.” The monster killed his parents and destroyed his birthplace. So Dart left his home and his childhood friend, Shana, to pursue the monster that killed his family, as soon as he was old enough to hold a sword as big as his grudge. On his way home, he is chased and nearly killed by a giant green dragon, but is saved by a character named Rose, who tells Dart that the dragon is being used by one side of a massive civil war to destroy the other. Coincidentally, Dragon has just returned from an attack on Dart’s homeworld. Having escaped Rose, he finds his homeworld, Ceres, completely destroyed. To make matters worse, Shanna has been kidnapped by the Imperial forces who destroyed the city.

At this point, we’ve had a great introduction to the world of Dragoon. Our protagonist knows nothing about the civil war, but it’s close to home as he’s been on a journey of revenge for five years. There are dragons being controlled by the evil Imperial forces, and Rose, a woman who clearly knows more than she’s letting on. And finally, there’s a very personal reason why Dart is caught up in the civil war and is against the Empire: his childhood friend and her lover have been kidnapped by the Empire for mysterious and nefarious reasons. This is a great introduction not only to the world of the game, but also to the characters we’ll be playing throughout the story.

I wish I could tell you that the momentum of the opening sequence continues throughout the entire game, but there are still nearly four discs to go, and the word “Dragoon” doesn’t appear until halfway through this first disc. An incredibly complex and layered plot in which Dart rescues Shana, makes new friends, forms a group, and confronts a mysterious hooded figure named Lavitz with vaguely sinister motives. The second disc is somewhat complete. The game is fast and slow in places, and expects the player to figure out all the intricacies and simply move forward when prompted by the story.

After it is revealed that Dart and his friends are harboring the souls of ancient warriors called “Dragoons” who can control dragons and harness their energy, the game gradually reveals that there was a conflict a thousand years ago between the Dragoons and an angelic elven people called “Winglys”.

Yes, that’s right.

Winglies believed that the powerful were just, and that the powerful had a divine right to rule over those who could not easily defend themselves. The Dragon Knights, eternal defenders of free will and justice, harnessed the power of dragons to fight the oppressive Winglies regime. As the war neared its disastrous end, a Winglies leader inexplicably named Melv Flama unleashed the power of something called “Village Embryo”, who is more or less the ultimate god of destruction. The Dragon Knights were able to stop Village Embryo by splitting its body and soul, turning its lifeless body into a moon that never sets in the sky, and forcing its soul to be reincarnated into the body of a pathetic, unsuspecting human every hundred years. It has been eight years.

Did you follow me this far?

So it turns out that Rose, the woman who appeared at the beginning of the game, and Dart’s father Jeeg (also a dragon knight) vowed to stay alive until the soul of the unborn child of Village was destroyed, meaning that this soul could never be recovered and the apocalypse would come. Melv Flama, that cocky Wingly, heard about this plan and basically took over Jeeg’s body. He then pretended to be Emperor Diaz, who ruled the empire for god knows how long. Meanwhile, Rose wandered the world as a Black Monster, how surprising, for thousands of years in search of the soul of the unborn child of Village. Yes, Rose killed Dart’s mother, but not his father, because his actual father is a dragon man from thousands of years ago who carried the soul of the medieval angel Voldemort. Merv Flama actually ends up using Shana to restore the Village Embryo, but is able to insert his own soul into the dead shell, effectively becoming the God of Destruction. Dart and the gang take out his actions and the story ends with Dart and Shana rebuilding Ceres while the world experiences a Wingly/Dragoon-free peace.

I’ve tried to make this story as short as possible to fit into this limited article, but trust me when I say there are even more wild fantasy names, terms, and events in this massive game. In many ways, the plot of this game is similar to that of Final Fantasy VII.

• There are characters with severe memory loss
• One of the main party members dies at the end of the first disc
• The villain’s plan is essentially to kill the god

But unfortunately, there are just as many storylines that go nowhere, make little sense, and really confuse the player as they progress through the game’s many medieval towns and regions. If the game had been as well-paced as the opening sequence, it would have offered a highly interesting story that kept you hooked at every turn. Unfortunately, the big picture the writers were trying to create was so dense and packed with detailed world-building ideas that players get lost in the details. And when the ultimate villain and his plans are revealed, it feels like a “wait, what?” moment rather than a satisfying twist, because players may have missed so many important storylines.

In terms of characters, the only three that really stand out are the ones I mentioned earlier: Dart, Shana, and Rose. These three seem to be given the most interesting characterizations because they are so important to the plot, but even so, Dart and Shana (as well as other characters who eventually join the party) feel like they are just bystanders in the story. This story ended almost thousands of years before the game takes place. Breaking it down, this story is not about Dart and Shana, it is about Rose and Jeeg, two characters whose motivations we don’t really understand until almost the end of the story. People we should care about are often relegated to the background, and the game instead tries to draw you into the vast story. Unfortunately, he does not succeed in this, and as a result, our characters often fall by the wayside.

Gameplay, music, and visuals: BURNING RUSH!

What this game lacks in story and characters, it more than makes up for in all three attributes in this section. Since this is a JRPG, most of the gameplay revolves around the character stats and the combat system. But where this game really excels is the quick-time element it adds to the turn-based combat.

In most games, quick-time events that require you to press certain buttons at specific times to progress in the game don’t earn you points, but in Legend of Dragoon those events are fully implemented into the combat system. Of course, there are standard attacks and items, but there is also the ability to increase damage by controlling the timing of when to press certain buttons, allowing you to perform more combos. For example, pressing a button precisely during an attack will extend the attack, allowing you to potentially hit an enemy 8-20 times in one combo attack by the end of the game.

Unlike other RPGs where you can naturally perform longer combos as you level up, in Legend of Dragoon you must press the button at the right time to get better combos. In some cases, your character will be punished for not doing so, with enemies at best unharmed and at worst taking recoil damage. This is an interesting mechanic that adds a layer of active play to a traditionally inactive combat system.

This is only explored further later in the game when the character receives the Dragon Knight Spirit, an item that allows him to transform into an armored dragoon with weapons imbued with the power of the dragon. To use the Dragoon Form, simply build up a gauge through various battles and release it during combat. This form gives players even more combo attack options, as well as the ability to use powerful attribute-based magic attacks. The Dragoon form not only gives players a sense of Dragoon’s strength in this world, but also allows for more interesting boss encounters towards the end of the game.

The soundtrack was composed by Dennis Martin and Takeo Mirazu and is a perfect mix of traditional medieval instrumental music and late 90s guitar riffs. It may seem like a strange combination at first, but the bizarre mix of synthesized video game music and thumping metal riffs makes the whole game sound like an amazing heavy metal album cover. There is a large music library with over 100 tracks, each one fitting beautifully into its assigned scene.

Finally, the visual effects in this game are the best that the PlayStation could offer at the end of the century. The characters are nicely rendered in and out of combat animations, and the pre-rendered backgrounds rival the PS1’s later Final Fantasy titles. There are also a lot of little visual flourishes that contribute to the overall atmosphere of the game, like the way your character moves through points on the world map as if you’re plotting a course for an adventure on the high seas, and the way the field of vision looks. There are small animals in the background throughout natural areas, and people can be seen going about their business. Small details like this, combined with the overall quality of the environments, make the world of Dragoon feel more alive.

Impact on Video Gaming and Culture: A Huge American Hit   

In this section we will get to the heart of the matter and see why this game is ultimately so problematic. If you read more about this game, you will see that mathematically it was about four times more successful in North America than it was in Japan. With only 280,000 copies sold in Japan and just under one million in the US as of late 2007, there is no doubt that The Legend of Dragoon found a better home in America than it did in its home country.

In my opinion, the reason for this is simply role-playing fatigue in Japan and a thirst for games like Final Fantasy VII in America. As I mentioned in the first article of this series, the genre has probably never seen such a surge in popularity as when VII hit American storefronts. Sure, Japanese RPGs had been popular before, but they never achieved the rock-star status that Final Fantasy VII did. The game opened so many doors for role-playing game players, old and new. When a game came out in the mid-2000s that promised similar graphics, four CDs, and an equally epic story, people jumped at the chance and bought it. Play The Legend of Dragoon.

The Legend of Dragoon capitalized on the hype for this RPG and received fairly positive reviews, but it lacked the staying power of other RPG series at the time. Plus, the developers had put so much effort into designing a large, immersive world that it seemed like a foregone conclusion that many sequels would follow. But with less-than-stellar sales in its home country of Japan and the impending launch of the more polished PS2, talk of a sequel quickly died down and then disappeared altogether. The closest we ever got to The Legend of Dragoon 2 was when the game was released on the PlayStation Network Store a few years ago. Cult popularity boosted sales somewhat, but it clearly wasn’t enough for Sony to win the game. Please consider reviving the franchise in some way.

The Legend of Dragoon seemed like it had everything it needed to be the next big series, but poor sales and an overstuffed story meant this little gem of the PS1 era was sent off RPG fans’ shelves and into the dust collector. Oh, and there’s also a manga series for some reason.

BONUS LEVEL: That is Not…Your Concern.

I’ve raved about the opening sequence of this game before, but since I wanted to discuss it here, I forgot to mention the actual opening sequence. The pre-rendered cutscene that starts this story is probably one of the best beginnings to an RPG I’ve ever seen, and may even rival the beginning of Final Fantasy VII, which I discussed in the Bonus Level section of this article.

She’s absolutely amazing.

It fades in to show the city of Ceres being bombarded with flaming projectiles while a somber piano melody plays in the background. Footage of a statue in a church courtyard watches solemnly as the projectiles destroy people’s homes left and right. Townsfolk are seen running for their lives, and elderly people stop, putting themselves at risk to save children who cannot walk on their own.

As the artillery barrage continues, a general in strange armour walks menacingly towards an unconscious girl lying on the ground. “Is that her?” he asks one of his men, and then he removes a small jewel from his pocket. Placing his hand under the girl’s head, he places the jewel on her forehead and holds it up towards the enormous moon that towers high in the night sky. Suddenly, the bright light of the moon shines through the jewel and onto the girl’s forehead. The General places the gem back in his cloak, mutters “Indeed,” and retreats to his horse.

As the General approaches his horse, he is approached by a man in a black cloak. The General asks the mysterious man who the girl is and what he wants from her. The cloaked figure replies that it is none of his business, and reminds him to just follow the orders he is given. The figure leaves, and the General orders his men to mount their horses and flee the destroyed city of Ceres with the mysterious girl in tow.

Not only is this scene visually stunning, perhaps the best track in the entire game, “Ruined Seles”, perfectly sets the mood, but it also introduces us to this fantasy world… to great effect. Insight into how they work. We witness the power and brutality of the Empire as it destroys defenseless cities, but through the general’s hesitation, we also see that the power of the Empire is not always absolute. Even those in the military have doubts about the mysterious conspiracy. It is said that a girl named Shanna is important to the Empire, and the mystery of the hooded figure hints at a much bigger story behind it all. This movie, along with the opening sequence introducing Rose and Dart, is undoubtedly the most memorable part of Legend of Dragoon.

VERDICT: If Only It Were a Series…

This was a difficult decision for me because The Legend of Dragoon is truly one of my all-time favorite games, a game I spent more than a few weekends obsessed with when I was in elementary school. The gameplay, graphics, and music are some of the most memorable the PlayStation-era JRPG world has to offer, but the story is so vast and demanding that it inevitably overwhelms players with its complexity.

I really think this game would have been better as a series if it had been given a little more breathing time in the climax of its more complex story. I believe that if the entire game had been handled with the same subtlety and masterful pacing as the opening sequence, The Legend of Dragoon would have undoubtedly lived on into the 21st century as a long-lasting, popular, and great RPG series. But as it stands, the game falls into an unforgiving no man’s land between many interesting elements and non-canon.