• Publisher: SCEA
  • Release Date: Jun 13, 2000
User Score
8.8

Generally favorable reviews- based on 395 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Negative: 29 out of 395
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  1. NateD
    Aug 27, 2009
    10
    Beck in '01, i got this game in hopes of satisfying my thirst for RPGs. It had awesome graphics (For a PS1), a good story, and a dude in red holding a huge sword!! all that said, i must tell you: if you started playing this back in 2000-2001, chances are you HAVEN'T FINISHED THIS GAME!! honestly, as I look at my 360, my PS3, and my Wii, i tend to cry at how far games have come, Beck in '01, i got this game in hopes of satisfying my thirst for RPGs. It had awesome graphics (For a PS1), a good story, and a dude in red holding a huge sword!! all that said, i must tell you: if you started playing this back in 2000-2001, chances are you HAVEN'T FINISHED THIS GAME!! honestly, as I look at my 360, my PS3, and my Wii, i tend to cry at how far games have come, yet how unsatisfying Next Gen RPGs are. I pull out my PS2 and pop in Legend of Dragoon and i'm back in 2001 with my PSX experience!!! Expand
  2. christianb
    Sep 23, 2009
    10
    An amazing and original RPG. Pretty much the only people who dont like it are pretentious FF7 fanboys who cant accept that dragoon is a superior game in every aspect. the music is great, the graphics are off the charts, the storyline is intricate, the gameplay is innovative and the the art was beautiful. People like to bash this game for no real reason. it is not a ripoff of anything. it An amazing and original RPG. Pretty much the only people who dont like it are pretentious FF7 fanboys who cant accept that dragoon is a superior game in every aspect. the music is great, the graphics are off the charts, the storyline is intricate, the gameplay is innovative and the the art was beautiful. People like to bash this game for no real reason. it is not a ripoff of anything. it is a great game that stands alone and easily surpasses FF7 in every aspect. Expand
  3. Kidaj(1)
    Jul 23, 2002
    10
    This is a perfect game. read the reviews of gamepro and see what i mean. and would every one STOP comparing this game to ff 7,8. not every RPG that comes out is taking sh*t from chrono cross or finally fantasy. This game has a very cool style of game play that actually requires some skill not like the other RPGs. And the graphics are almost as good as ps2. the game play graphics also, This is a perfect game. read the reviews of gamepro and see what i mean. and would every one STOP comparing this game to ff 7,8. not every RPG that comes out is taking sh*t from chrono cross or finally fantasy. This game has a very cool style of game play that actually requires some skill not like the other RPGs. And the graphics are almost as good as ps2. the game play graphics also, areas are beautiful and casting spells is a site, and there is like 20 types of spells. Plus this game is long very long, about 50 hours of gameplay(and thats for sort of good players) This game offers every thing unique, sometimes the cities,the folks in the and battles are so very unique that you don't want to leave. This game is nothing like ff7. I think it's LITTLE better. Expand
  4. GameGuy
    Apr 26, 2004
    10
    This is far most the best game in history!!!It has a great story line ,awsome music & effects! And last but not least the characters & attacks SO TOTALY ROCK DUDE(Finding Nemo line)!!!!!!!!!!!!To the people who don't like this game,STICK A BOOT UP YOUR A,ware was I,oh. To those people who want a movie,I'm just a kid and when i'm an adult i'll make a Legend of Dragoon This is far most the best game in history!!!It has a great story line ,awsome music & effects! And last but not least the characters & attacks SO TOTALY ROCK DUDE(Finding Nemo line)!!!!!!!!!!!!To the people who don't like this game,STICK A BOOT UP YOUR A,ware was I,oh. To those people who want a movie,I'm just a kid and when i'm an adult i'll make a Legend of Dragoon movie for You guys and it's gana rock and be sooooooo sweet!!!!!!!!!!! Expand
  5. QasimM.
    Feb 24, 2005
    10
    GR8 Game.
  6. MichaelS.
    Nov 21, 2008
    10
    Even though many say this game is a FF7 remake with a new name, it stands to reason that all RPG games are the same but in the field of the genre in and of itself this games stands high in the ranks with breath-taking graphics, a battle system that constantly grows, and a story to shake the ages. Inevitably making LoD a must own for all RPG fans world wide.
  7. MitchF
    Dec 1, 2008
    10
    It's got to be my favorite of all video games when it comes to story line. I think it would make for an amazing show on Adult Swim or something along those lines with the other animes. I truly want to see it turned into a TV show.
  8. EricK
    Dec 4, 2008
    8
    Definitely a classic RPG by any standards. Yes, yes the story line seems to follow a very conventional line of typical RPG storylines and yes the main characters are sort of reminiscent of power rangers but this games was truly great for the interactiveness of the battle system. This game was shorter than FFVII and much more linear and restrictive. But its the only game that got the Definitely a classic RPG by any standards. Yes, yes the story line seems to follow a very conventional line of typical RPG storylines and yes the main characters are sort of reminiscent of power rangers but this games was truly great for the interactiveness of the battle system. This game was shorter than FFVII and much more linear and restrictive. But its the only game that got the battle system down to precise button connections that didn't over complicate the game (*cough**cough* magna carta). The story although a little predictable still threw in a few twist which revealed itself in the end which made the story kinda engaging despite the fact you lose Lavitz early in the game and Shana is replaced with Miranda (*questionable*). I loved the game back when it was released and still put up with the lack of options as a dragoon and linear exploration. This games really has something there that captures a gamers attention although not the most polished game of its time it was more enjoyable that FF8 drawing magic system. It may sound like a trashed this game quite a bit but realistically it had its flaws but still the one of the best RPGs to come out on the PSX 2nd only to FFVII and a tie with FF8 since the story in FF8 was better but the battle system was more annoying. Expand
  9. A.B.
    Dec 26, 2005
    9
    although not as good as chrono cross, its still a very good game. the only bad thing is when you do your attacks and you get them all right then it gets sort of corny. its sorta embarasing when people come in and the main charecter is screaming at the top of his lungs CRUSH DANCE!!!! not the coolest thing to do. but a good game...buy it now!
  10. MagmarFire
    Dec 16, 2008
    10
    I tell you the truth, this is one of the best RPGs I've ever played, and it's definitely among my top favorites of video games. For me, this is around the same caliber of nostalgia as Ocarina of Time when I play it; I love the latter very, very much--definitely one of my favorite Zelda games. That should definitely tell you something about how much I love this game, too. The I tell you the truth, this is one of the best RPGs I've ever played, and it's definitely among my top favorites of video games. For me, this is around the same caliber of nostalgia as Ocarina of Time when I play it; I love the latter very, very much--definitely one of my favorite Zelda games. That should definitely tell you something about how much I love this game, too. The graphics are subpar compared to games today, but truthfully, I could care less about them. For me, it's mostly about the story and the gameplay, and this game phenomenally excels in both. We have Dart, who starts out as a bit of a lone ranger seeking revenge, joining up with more freedom fighters throughout the land of Endiness who deal with things amiss in their respective countries and ultimately banding together to defeat a being that threatens them all at once. The concept of fate (or destiny, rather) is a motif in the story, and it becomes impossible to think that all that happens is by mere coincidence. The music is also very well written, even if it may be MIDI. Couple the music with the aforementioned epic story, and you have yourself a game that no one could ever forget. If you find a copy and absolutely love RPGs with memorable characters, locations, and music, get it and enjoy it. It seems almost impossible to even THINK that one could regret making an investment like that! Expand
  11. Sep 28, 2015
    8
    Just completed this game a couple of days ago for the first time, and felt like giving my first impressions. This is a good game, and I liked it, but it's far from perfect.

    I'll start with the negatives. First off, the Dragoon class design is a bit limited and feels unbalanced. You only get a handful of spells with each character. Some spells are useful, but others are just plain
    Just completed this game a couple of days ago for the first time, and felt like giving my first impressions. This is a good game, and I liked it, but it's far from perfect.

    I'll start with the negatives. First off, the Dragoon class design is a bit limited and feels unbalanced. You only get a handful of spells with each character. Some spells are useful, but others are just plain useless, and I felt I was generally repeating the same spells throughout the game regardless of the situation. Some examples: Lavitz/Albert - The only magic spell worth using in my playthrough was Rose Storm. His damage spells usually did far less than if I had just stayed out of Dragoon form and spammed attacks. Shana/Miranda: Only magic spells worth using were her healing spells. "Star Children" does crap damage and is a waste of MP. "W Silver Dragon" does have some utility in select situations, but generally you would stay away from it because it's not worth its hefty MP cost. Haschel was generally better off staying out of Dragoon Form completely. There are more examples, but you probably get my point.

    The magic spells and Dragoon transformations also get quite old after you've seen them for the umpteenth time. They mitigated this by allowing you to shorten the Dragoon transformation animations, but I wish they did this with the magic spells as well.

    Random encounters are drawn-out and tedious. They are highly frequent but take seemingly forever to load, and there is a pause between a monster's attack and the player's turn. The further you get into the game, the more you feel the delay and the more repetitive and annoying it gets.

    The translation. Holy **** it's bad. It's kinda hard to take the story seriously when it's full of colloquialisms and phrases that make no sense in the English language. It also makes items a bit confusing as well, because their descriptions are sometimes incoherent. The voice-acting as a whole is also god-awful. Where the hell did they find these guys to do the voice acting? I've never heard anything so over-acted in my entire life. And I've heard some pretty shoddy work. It's a good thing they kept the voice-acting minimal, or else I probably would not have been able to take the story serious at all.

    I'm not a fan of keeping such a small limit on your usable items (32). Since a lot of your magic spells are usable only through items, I was often stuck collecting a bunch of items and never using them because I never knew when I would need to use them. It's also really annoying when you can't see the items in the treasure chest in front of you, because you don't know what you are throwing items away for, and often I just left the items in the chests because I didn't wanna risk throwing anything important away.

    Now, for the good. The graphics, music, and story (when you look past the horrible translation) are quite good. The addition systems do add a new element that most RPG's are missing: skill, creating a more engaging experience for the player. Each character's additions were unique and adds some depth to the gameplay.

    There are some pretty cool music tracks in the game. I liked the boss themes and "Anger of the Winglies".

    People who say that the story is a rip-off of FF7 haven't played it all the way through. It does borrow some ideas at the start, but runs with them in completely different directions, which becomes apparent by the end of Disc 3. It introduces many plot twists throughout the game that beg you to keep playing. The characters are likable, and there are are some pretty good attempts at character development. I did feel happy and sad for the characters at some points in the game. The world is also very imaginative, well developed, and has a rich background story. This is the main strength of the game, and is the cornerstone of any good RPG. For this alone, LoD gets a lot of points with me.

    The turn-based battle mechanics are implemented well enough that they do force the player to think carefully about his next move, which I like. Even though the Dragoon system is a bit limited in its scope and balance, as I mentioned above, it does add some tactical elements to boss battles.

    Overall, I think I've said everything I've wanted to say about this game. Most people seem to either love it or hate it, but it seems somehow that I've fallen in the category of neither. I do like the game quite a bit, and am even considering a second playthrough, but I do not feel it is quite up there with the greatest RPGs of all time, with the likes of FF6-10, Chrono Trigger, Suikoden I/II, etc.. I would give this game somewhere around an 8.6/8.7 if I was allowed, but I rounded down because I do not think it's really worthy of a 9. I recommend this game for RPG enthusiasts, as it is a worthy game even by today's standards, but just be aware that it is not a perfect godsend like the fans would have you believe.
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  12. Oct 26, 2019
    10
    I love this game. I have beat it four times, and after years of being away, I have started playing it again. The battle system is so addicting, and exciting when you get it down. I love the music. As soon as I hear the in game menu music, it takes me back and is soothing. The story is good and has a few nice twists. There are side quests you can do if you feel like. You may have to lookI love this game. I have beat it four times, and after years of being away, I have started playing it again. The battle system is so addicting, and exciting when you get it down. I love the music. As soon as I hear the in game menu music, it takes me back and is soothing. The story is good and has a few nice twists. There are side quests you can do if you feel like. You may have to look them up. I genuinely love this game. It is quite possibly my all time favorite because it is awesome and is tied to a lot of fond memories. Expand
  13. Apr 12, 2020
    9
    Played on PlayStation 2.
    Gameplay: GREAT.
    Story: GREAT.
    Graphic: GREAT.
    Music/Sound: GREAT.
    Dialogue: GOOD.
  14. Jun 24, 2023
    9
    Not a perfect game. But effing close. Just, must play, get it if you have a playstation of any kind (though preferably not the PS1 version because that'd be expensive.) So, either the PSOne Classics for the PS3/Vita systems and PS4/PS5 if you own one of those. Old school, high fantasy, turn-based on speed (which is static only alterable with equipment).
  15. Apr 30, 2023
    9
    To me, this was a better version of FF7, and it has also aged very well because it has gameplay mechanics that even newer triple A games don't have. However, it is older and it would be awesome to get a remake. There was enough story in this game, to justify a prequel, and sequel.

    Get ready for some tears.
  16. Jul 24, 2020
    10
    Still my favorite game after all this years. Great games come year after year but none ever reach LoD.
    I replay it often and still can't get enough of it, it's majestic. One of the most underrated games in history. A true gem of the PlayStation unmatched catalog. If you want to give it a try do it with a open mind and you will know why this games is so loved by it's fans.
  17. Apr 27, 2016
    9
    Had this game since it came out, but never got around to playing it past the first dragon for reasons I do not know myself lol. Fantastic game though. Good to see the user base got this one right on score, and once again shows "critics" really have no idea what they're talking about. They're just writers, not gamers.

    Good: Level designs, story, character development, combat system
    Had this game since it came out, but never got around to playing it past the first dragon for reasons I do not know myself lol. Fantastic game though. Good to see the user base got this one right on score, and once again shows "critics" really have no idea what they're talking about. They're just writers, not gamers.

    Good: Level designs, story, character development, combat system (awesome for the first half), soundtracks, value.

    Bad: I didn't like how long a lot of the magic animations were, didn't like how magic was by using items (32 item limit for all items), and the combat got pretty tiresome after the first twenty or so hours, because having to perfectly time each strike becomes a burden after the excitement of it wears off.

    All in all it's a fantastic game and for five bucks on PSN a person would have to be crazy not to give this classic a try.
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  18. Apr 7, 2016
    10
    Words cannot express how much of an amazing game this is. the combat system, perfect. Storyline... could make a series of books. The character development, the visuals (for the time) were perfect. The music too, which is huge. This should be in the same level as FF7, Chrono trigger/cross, if not better. The storyline and lore goes much deeper than any other RPG for its time. Damn theseWords cannot express how much of an amazing game this is. the combat system, perfect. Storyline... could make a series of books. The character development, the visuals (for the time) were perfect. The music too, which is huge. This should be in the same level as FF7, Chrono trigger/cross, if not better. The storyline and lore goes much deeper than any other RPG for its time. Damn these critics for not spending enough time to actually play the game long enough to enjoy it. There are so many layers to it, it is insane. Expand
  19. Jun 24, 2019
    10
    el mejor juego de la historia
    argumento, personajes, banda sonora, combates, mundo, todo es perfecto

    ya no los hacen así, eterno y atemporal
  20. Sep 26, 2018
    8
    I think that this is truly a unique game and I would recommend that if you are a fan of this type of genre then I think you should give this game a try.
  21. Mar 10, 2019
    8
    A fun underrated JRPG that spans across 4 ps1 discs. I have never been very interested in this genre but this game managed to engross me in this world and engage me with its more active combat then other games of its type.
  22. Nov 27, 2020
    10
    Bellissimo sotto ogni aspetto! Grande storia grandi personaggi!! Molto divertente
  23. May 27, 2020
    9
    Su historia y banda sonora suplen cualquier defecto. De lo mejorcito de PS1.
  24. Feb 25, 2022
    10
    This is my favorite game of all time. Probably the best RPG on par of games like FFVII-VIII-IX.
  25. Jun 19, 2020
    8
    Great JRPG with good action, voice acting and soundtrack, not a bad story and slurred main character.
  26. Nov 15, 2020
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. After spending more than 55hours playing and finishing the game entirely this jrpg has a lot of drawbacks that affect the quality of the game.
    *There are a lot of chests items everywhere but there is only 32 items slots in total so if you have duplicate items each one takes its own slot
    *weapons equipment list could be more organized finding the right ring to wear for the selected characters is tiresome
    *combat rewards aren't enough to buy expensive weapons they give you few gold coins even for bosses battles
    *no escape casting all you're going to do is going forth and back redoing the same path it's very time consuming, zenebatos is the most boring part of this repetitive process where you need to teleport forth and back just to change a simple code and even the code input process is not that simple and easy
    *additions takes time to lvl up for the remaining characters and for the most part you need just two characters to rely on
    *load option is not available in the menu
    *long boring dialogs even if you speed them up
    *QTE with minor enemies is not fun but it's necessary to lvl up the additions that's why random encounters get annoyingly long and boring
    * some game crashes in dragoon form with some bosses
    *dragoon form can't be canceled once chosen and the physical attack is no different than the standard attack in human form unless you use special dragoon form for a character but for that all characters must have full sp
    *not so many memorable soundtracks except for one or two tracks

    Now for the good part of the game
    *magician faust and melbu frahma boss battle are the most interesting part of the game
    *bosses battles
    *beautiful visuals and cutscenes
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  27. Aug 12, 2021
    5
    I didn't get too far in, but Legend of Dragoon seems to be a mediocre rpg at best. The gameplay has a quick-time event system that makes it a bit more engaging than the basic jrpg style, but with little variety compared to other quick-time event combat systems like the Mario RPGs, it became a bit of an annoyance. I have more issue with the characters though who all come off very robotic,I didn't get too far in, but Legend of Dragoon seems to be a mediocre rpg at best. The gameplay has a quick-time event system that makes it a bit more engaging than the basic jrpg style, but with little variety compared to other quick-time event combat systems like the Mario RPGs, it became a bit of an annoyance. I have more issue with the characters though who all come off very robotic, the game feeling a bit soulless. The graphics and environments look good to pretty decent which is a plus, but the world didn't engage me at all. The world map is very simplistic, almost like Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles with the caravan moving between hub areas (which there are random encounters while traversing the small space between areas). Overall, while it might sound a bit base of a claim, I do feel this game was probably just trying to ride on Final Fantasy 7's success. I even heard the character names were dealt out almost in a raffle fashion during the game's production. Final Fantasy 7 does it's characters and world leagues better than what I've seen here in Legend of Dragoon. Expand
  28. Nov 13, 2021
    10
    haters will disagree, but the truth is that the addition system makes this game's combat quite unique, placing it on the list of the best RPGs ever created.
  29. Dec 22, 2021
    9
    Uno de los mejores JRPG que he jugado, aun hoy en día aguanta bastante bien. El sistema de combate, novedoso para la época, buena banda sonora, una historia interesante y personajes carismáticos.
    ¿Es perfecto? No, tiene errores como la traducción, el inventario, lo poco desarrollado que esta el tema de los dragoons, y que tal vez la historia no puede ser una locura narrativa, pero en
    Uno de los mejores JRPG que he jugado, aun hoy en día aguanta bastante bien. El sistema de combate, novedoso para la época, buena banda sonora, una historia interesante y personajes carismáticos.
    ¿Es perfecto? No, tiene errores como la traducción, el inventario, lo poco desarrollado que esta el tema de los dragoons, y que tal vez la historia no puede ser una locura narrativa, pero en aquel momento era un 9 bastante solido, hoy? tienes mejores opciones
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  30. Aug 14, 2023
    8
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. In Spanish.
    Me pasé el juego el año pasado.

    Es una gran historia con unas mecánicas sencillas, eso sí, tiene un gran inconveniente.
    Hay un jefe final que para que no te mate tienes que ganar mucho dinero y comprar ciertos objetos que cuestan 10k cada uno y precisamente necesitas mínimo 4 de esos equipos porque si no, ése bicho te matará fácilmente.

    Buena banda sonora, gráficos buenos para la época (yo lo disfruté muchísimo en 2022).
    Historia genial con postcréditos preciosos.
    Tiene trucos lo cual ayuda muchísimo a no enfermar por el grindeo de oro.
    Precisamente por ésta razón le doy un 8.
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  31. Aug 2, 2023
    5
    Legend of Dragoon seems to be very devoutly loved by its community. Its easy to understand why. LoD has a very good difficulty curve. It eases the player in not just with its combat system, but also its progression system, world setting, level design, characters, and story. All of these start off very simple, and it allows newcomers to the genre to ease into it. Its packaged in a game thatLegend of Dragoon seems to be very devoutly loved by its community. Its easy to understand why. LoD has a very good difficulty curve. It eases the player in not just with its combat system, but also its progression system, world setting, level design, characters, and story. All of these start off very simple, and it allows newcomers to the genre to ease into it. Its packaged in a game that seems to have been pretty cinematically impressive for its time.

    The problem is that in most things, Legend of Dragoon remains very simple. The characters remain one dimensional, the combat system adds more complex additions and magic but doesn't evolve beyond that, the progression system is nonexistent, the level design remains too straightforward throughout the game (with only one or two exceptions near the end), the world design remains extremely linear throughout.

    The story too, remains quite simple. I will say though that the lore behind the world is interesting and fleshed out. Unfortunately, the story itself unfolds through extremely robotic dialogue and ultimately might be the game's weakest point other than its linearity.

    The OST too, is largely quite simple. Some of the themes like Dart's theme or Meru's theme are like AI generated themes for 'brave warrior' and 'quirky girl' respectively. They are memorable in how goofy they are. But some tracks are actually quite brilliant.

    This game is pretty anime in a lot of ways. The characters shouting their moves is really goofy and cringe, but oh well. Its just one of this games many quirks.

    In general, Legend of Dragoon is a pretty simple JRPG. But its well packaged and it does manage to find strength in its simplicity. It has moments of greatness but admittedly does pale in comparison to games like FF7.
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  32. May 19, 2023
    10
    What a game, my friends! The game simply delivers everything you need to have fun. The battle system is interesting, the game's soundtrack is fabulous, the plot runs well on the 04 discs and the main thing is, it's done around the characters, so here you certainly won't see characters that join the group but that's with if it wasn't there, like several we can see in Chrono Cross or Gau inWhat a game, my friends! The game simply delivers everything you need to have fun. The battle system is interesting, the game's soundtrack is fabulous, the plot runs well on the 04 discs and the main thing is, it's done around the characters, so here you certainly won't see characters that join the group but that's with if it wasn't there, like several we can see in Chrono Cross or Gau in FF VI.

    It has one of the most beautiful endings in all RPG games, endearing characters. A story about love, about loyalty, and about how good RPGs should be.
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  33. Aug 21, 2023
    10
    The has to be one of the best JRPGs of All.
    Pros:
    -Great cast of characters
    -Great World Building
    -Great Nemesis and rivals
    -Great Plot Twists
    -Perfect Waifu
    -Ambitious game for the time with best graphics for the time with cut scenes.
    -Addition system needs some kind of skill to play the game
    Cons:
    -Nothing
  34. Aug 22, 2023
    8
    An incredibly underrated RPG. One of the best hidden gems on the PlayStation.

Awards & Rankings

32
3
#3 Most Discussed PS1 Game of 2000
4
#4 Most Shared PS1 Game of 2000
Metascore
74

Mixed or average reviews - based on 12 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 12
  2. Negative: 1 out of 12
  1. CNET Gamecenter
    60
    When all is said and done, The LoD is like your typical one-night stand: it's OK for a quick fix but it's nothing that will get you emotionally involved.
  2. To each his own opinion but for this one reviewer Legend of Dragoon is truly legendary.
  3. A fifty+ hour game, beautiful sound and graphics, and an interactive fighting system all wrapped in one great experience.