Anyone who knows me even slightly well knows what a huge fan I am of Final Fantasy. My first Final Fantasy game was Final Fantasy 4, played on the Final Fantasy Chronicles collection for PS1 (wow, what a great set of games). My first RPG, however, was Pokemon Blue (except for the Legend of Zelda and Link to the Past, which I've never seen as RPGs in the genre sense of the term). I've been a fan of the RPG genre, thus, from the second I picked Charmander. I picked up The Legend of Dragoon for cheap as it was one of PS1's greatest hits, and I had heard good things.
At the time I picked it up, I was hugely into Final Fantasy 7 and 9, and still loving Pokemon, but this one really grabbed me as being nearly a peer to those fantastic franchises.
However, due to my short attention span, I never finished it.
I am back to remedy my past sins!
I'm about two hours in, and am remembering why I loved this game. The soundtrack is almost as good as Uematsu's legendary work on Final Fantasy. The visuals are probably better than any Final Fantasy of the era. And the additions system changes battling from the mash-x fest that is Final Fantasy into a strategic, timing based combat that feels much more engaging than FF. The characters are fairly cool looking, and the battle animations are extremely well done.
It isn't perfect though. The dialogue is frequently beyond corny. The story is a constant JRPG cliche, although if you like JRPGs, as I do, you won't mind too much. The leveling system feels SO grindy, even for an old school JRPG. If you can grind out even one level on little minions between bosses, you are a more devoted human than I. Each level takes probably 30 random enemy encounters (estimate), the battles are fairly long, and encounters do not happen too often. So if you find yourself too weak to beat a boss, prepare to burn an hour or so to grab a level or two before fighting him.
Overall, I'd give it an 8.8/10. Far from perfect, but it feels great for a JRPG.
As for Link Between Worlds....oh boy. This one's incredible. So good, in fact, that I'll write a full review after completing the game. So hang in there!
-TRO
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