The Legend of Dragoon[a] is a role-playing video game developed by Japan Studio and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation in 1999 in Japan, 2000 in North America, and 2001 in Europe. Set in a high fantasy fictional world called Endiness, the game follows a group of warriors led by the protagonist, Dart, as they attempt to stop the destruction of the world. The player controls a party of 3D character models through pre-rendered, linear environments. Combat uses a combination of turn-based mechanics and real-time commands. Notably, the game includes a quick time event called ”addition” during each attack, requiring the player to press a button when two squares converge.
Development began in 1996 and took three years with a production team of over one hundred, and cost $16 million, notably high for the time. The game’s use of realistic CGI cutscenes drew attention from the press. On release, The Legend of Dragoon received mixed reviews, with critics comparing it unfavourably to the Final Fantasy series. The Legend of Dragoon sold over one million copies worldwide, with most of those sales coming from North America. An album of the game’s soundtrack was released in 2000, as well as a novel and manga inspired by the game.
