Starting Legend of the Dragoon: Any advice?

[deuxhero]

Missable things are the most important.

 

[Damned Registrations]

Missable things are important? You're fucked then. Short of reading a walkthrough the whole way you're going to miss some stardust (which is needed to fight a secret boss). There's probably a bunch of unique items too, I can't remember too well. It's that kind of game.

 

[ForeverdarkWoods]

Any advice? Pass on it. It's crap. Not even a "good for what it is" type of thing, but a thoroughly below average jRPG that's been hyped to the high heavens by deranged fanboys because it's a little like FF7, except more retarded and shitty. QTE turn based combat sucks major donkey anus, and this is a really bad offender. It's not really even difficult, it's just annoying as hell that ALMOST EVERY FUCKING THING YOU CAN DO IN COMBAT IS BASED ON FUCKING QUICK TIME EVENTS TO BE EFFECTIVE. Story is also gay and stupid.

 

[Monocause]

I remember playing the game back when I still had a PS1. QTE combat was actually more enjoyable than in the combat in the two FF games I played (7 and 8). Still, it was kinda meh. The plot fell awfully infantile and all-wapanese in the worst ways even for my thirteen-year old rendition, which is telling.

A crapload of time passed since I last touched it but I seem to recall that it got somewhat better in the second act or however it was called; I think it was the time when you became a dragoon.

 

[Whisky]

It's not very good. The battles are horrendously slow and have a terrible implementation of QTEs in them. The plot is pretty boring too.

I have no idea why so many people liked it. There are a lot better PS1 RPGs to play.

 

[Norfleet]

This thread title reminded me about how the Japanese also have no idea what a dragoon is. You see them in these games, but then you realize that at no point does this guy ever actually go anywhere on a horse, and indeed, there's no evidence he even has a horse or other similar critter. This makes him, well, regular infantry.

 

[MaroonSkein]

This thread title reminded me about how the Japanese also have no idea what a dragoon is. You see them in these games, but then you realize that at no point does this guy ever actually go anywhere on a horse, and indeed, there's no evidence he even has a horse or other similar critter. This makes him, well, regular infantry.

The Final Fantasy wiki says that the Japanese word for dragoons literally means "dragon cavalry", so dragon-related characters tend to be called that.

 

[Damned Registrations]

What the hell is the etymology for dragoon anyways? I mean, it's not like there are any other sort of soldiers named after mythical beasts.

But yeah, dragon knight or some such would be more appropriate in english. You can't even blame this on translators or the language since the japanese title is Rejendo obu Doragun - in other words the japanese title is also in english, just romanized so they can spell it with moonrunes. Their only excuse is that japenese people have no reason to know the meaning of the word, so it's the equivalent of using bogus science words to describe things those words have nothing to do with.

 

[deuxhero]

And it turns out to be pretty damn crap, dropped after the prison. Unplayablly slow even with a throttle button. Weird, given the source of the suggestion is normally good about that sort of thing.


Valkyrie Profile any good?

 

[SuicideBunny]

What the hell is the etymology for dragoon anyways? I mean, it's not like there are any other sort of soldiers named after mythical beasts.

dragon, of course, but the detailed origins are kinda unknown.
the most likely reasons for the name are the french calling the firearms their dragoons used dragon because they spit fire like one (so in french you have dragon the mythical beast, dragon the firearm named so because it spits fire like the beast and dragon the dragoon named so because he uses said firearm, all three same word) or the draconari soldiers that accompanied the pope called so because of the dragons on their shields, and dragoons being mainly used to beat protestants into submission, plus there is the draconarius who is the roman standard bearer of the draco also used by christians to denote the crossbearer in a procession or the bearer of the labarum in battles which could again tie in with the fact that dragoons were used against protestants.

or so wikipedia told me once.

 

[Suicidal]

Tried it some time ago but didn't like it. The QTE combat is what kills it, IMO. It was fine at lower levels but as you get better skills the QTEs become longer and longer and more frustrating.

 

[ForeverdarkWoods]

And it turns out to be pretty damn crap, dropped after the prison. Unplayablly slow even with a throttle button. Weird, given the source of the suggestion is normally good about that sort of thing.

If the source is a Legend of the Dragoon fantard there is a fair chance he/she/it will tell you to keep playing because it gets better after the first disc. Don't listen to him/her/it, because it really doesn't.

 

[Whisky]

Valkyrie Profile any good?

Fuck yes it is.

Very different, but fuck yes.

 

[Clockwork Knight]

So good, it shall be engraved upon your soul.

actually the gameplay itself is kinda average

 

[Damned Registrations]

Valkyrie Profile any good?

If you do play VP play it on hard, no reason not to and several reasons to do so.

 

[nihil]

I recently started this, too. What I do like about it is the static backgrounds with 3D characters akin to FF7-9 (and some other games of the era). The locations pack some nice atmosphere. I also like that you could find some semi-secrets if you looked around, but sadly they just contain crap so far, like healing items and such.

But yes, now that it's starting to sink in, I'm pretty disappointed.

 

[SCO]

Valkyrie Profile any good?

VP is only interesting for a while because of the combat and combat voice acting (it never gets old hearing Jennifer Hale screaming like a maniac or putting on a dom voice), but the 'true' story is puke worthy (it's a Japanese version of a 13 year-old girl 'romance'; ie: not the real thing + a side dish of character rape). Since the game is episodic for reasons that will become apparent if you play it, this... taint... is only relevant for small but critical parts of the story.

The music is terrible, awful
The combat is like xenogears+chrono trigger (mildly QTE-ish+combination attacks) so you might not like it. It's amusingly over the top though.
As a platformer it's mildly terrible - mostly only horizontal movement + a vertical movement skill used on 'puzzles'. You mostly can't grind (there are two places where you can grind on the game and on both you are 'grinding' for low exp values) - indeed, it's very easy to avoid most enemies since they appear on the scenario, and as a loot game... well you'll see.

 

[Murk]

I too suggest you skip on it entirely and, if need be, try another jRPG.

Below are some PS1 jRPGs, in no order, that have some capacity for fun but, generally speaking, are still in the "eh, whatever, time was killed range".

Star Ocean 2, Tales of Destiny 2, Chrono Chross, Breath of Fire 3, Suikoden 1 and 2, Saga Frontier 1 and 2 (these 4 are actually pretty good), Valkyrie Profile (also pretty neat), Wild Arms 1. I tried to only include those games that are relatively typical of jRPGs (party based, not fully real time or if they are there's some gimmick to it, etc.)

 

[mediocrepoet]

I played this back when it was new. I don't remember much about it other than thinking it sucked even back then. I finished the game and sold it which is something I almost never do since I like to collect them.

I agree: skip this game and find something worth wasting time on.

 

[Sam Ecorners]

I played this game 16 or so years ago. It was my first jRPG and I remember beating it and liking it. SO I got it for PS Vita and started playing it again. I actually don't mind it, but then again, I like FFVIII, so something is clinically wrong with me

 

[index.php]

There's a PC port for LoD now.
https://legendofdragoon.org/projects/severed-chains/