This is like,one of the best RPG i have ever played,and the most under rated one.This contain some spoilers of the game.
I give the Story a 10/10 because is f*c*ing unique! When you start the game, everything makes you feel it's like you are playing a medieval theme game, because the bad guy is a thief that steals and kidnap people, and in his base you meet a prince and all.But the story slowy(and at the same time, fast) gets deeper and deeper, The story posses many twists,i mean like A LOT, and if you don't pay really close attention you will s**t your pants...like i did..every once in a while.So as the story progress it stops being a medieval theme game and it becomes a, i don't know, something really magic and amazing.You will like it, i'm sure of it.The Story will consume you at least 40 hours. This game is replayable.
On another note, i want to say that the graphics are very similar to FF7(i think Legend of dragoon has better graphics), this game also has High Quality videos, which are really awesome, i mean, they are mostly for super cool fights which nice effects.The animation of the battles, the powers of your teams and enemies, the abilities, the effect when you are about to attack and you must press the combinations(wait i haven't talked about gameplay yet,ops), the atmosphere, everything is well done! And you can change the camera to your like(you have options to choose which camera you want to use) while you're in a battle. So for Graphics another 10/10 (don't expect i will give less 10/10 in anything, because i won't)
Gameplay, like you should now 10/10, why? Because the gameplay was freaking innovative, This is not a Turn based RPG where you click Attack and your character attacks, in this game you must do a combination of buttons to succesfully attack, which forces you to stay with your eyes on the screen, same to avoid or block enemy attacks.All this is awesome, because the attacks are not boring looking, in fact i loved to perform the attacks not only to hit properly my enemy but because the sound of the characters yelling "Double Slash ! " "Volcanoooo" was pretty freaking cool and made you feel like "Woah, i did it right ! ", the first abilities will be easy to make, but late on game you will have a hard time performing your attacks.For every successful hit make of the combination, you fill a bar that allows you to use your super ability(transforming into a Dragoon, a Half Warrior-Half Dragon) which is like a super saiyan.Freaking awesome feature i must say, the look of the Dragoon form is superb.But only last a couple turns so you must save it for final battles(which they will still kick your ass even if you save them).Also, you thought being in a Dragoon will help you get rid of the combinations to attack? No, they are even harder.The Dragoon form also have extra abilities and powers, which makes this game even more awesome.
The AI is strong,The game is hard if you don't train or pay attention to the weakness of your opponent, also you will have a hard time with some bosses(some regens themselves, and uses items such as max heal).Bosses are like in every 10-15 mins of gameplay, so there are a lot of them.If someone dies, they lose the exp of the battle, so try to win with all your team alive.Items are essential, i mean, you can only hold 32 items, which is very low, you must use strategy to make it balanced(and to beat the bosses, to which weapon use, i mean for practically everything in the game), the items can be used for attack too, such as throwing some dust that makes the enemy burn in fire, or get damage by cold,etc.You don't customize much things, but you don't need to, and you won't feel that you need, you can change only a couple of items such as sword,rings,armor and i don't know what else.
Now Sound because i got bored of writing the other thing, i give it a 10/10 because the OST is unbelievable, only some of the battles it became a bit boring, but because some battles are long.But i don't give it a 10/10 just for this, no no, what wins the 10/10 it's the voice acting, the voice acting was perfect, i mean, it's so well done, it shows emotion you know, it doesn't sound fake,it's great!. (My favorite scream from Dart is : EXPLOSION WOOOAAAARGH!!" *boom* *more booms*, in fact is my favorite attack too).Also the music really matched with the atmosphere and context of the game.
And i don't know what's next...Sound(10),Gameplay(10),Graphics(10),Did i say the controls were smooth? because they were.I guess this is all.
Well to finish this i just want to say that i'm begging for a remake, i wanted this game in my ps2, and i want this game on PS3.I have actually, never finished this game you know, i reach a place near the end of the game, where i can't go back and this Super Ultra Mega Strong Thing that regenerates itself keeps kicking my ass, there are no monsters around so i can't train to beat it.I got trapped there till i lost the CD.But a friend of mine told me the end, i don't believe him.So i tell you, train, train a lot, don't avoid walking or escape from fights.
When someone ask me a good game for PS1, the first game that comes up to my mind is this one.The Legend of Dragoon > Final Fantasies, and this comes from a guy that loves FF series.
10/10 Good night, Sweet Prince.I will wait for your remake.
PS: Shame on you GS, shame on your review.
PS2: I hate you Lloyd(character of the game), you bastard.