A Playstation classic rpg has been put on the PSN and is truly a fantastic game! It was competing with FF7 and that is some tough competition but in many ways, it was ahead of its time. It was expensive back in the day taking 3 years and 16 million to make with over a 100-person team. It had CGI of the transformations and some other new technology to gaming and pushed some new ideas with quick-time combat to make players feel more involved in the battles.
You play Dart, a boy who lost everything and is on a journey of retribution. He is joined by mates along the way who each bring a different power and skill which you can switch between and see what types fit the battles at hand. The game came out at a time when grinding random encounters is how you gain power and prepare for epic battles with the bosses.
The story kept me going and the battle mechanics are fun. It came from a simpler time and reminds me of Final Fantasy 7. It was Sony’s big-budget answer to Squaresoft. I found the boss battles not overly difficult and the scaling is pretty much perfect so you do not spend hours grinding because you are underpowered. The checkpoints are before boss battles but in the updated release you can save anywhere and a rewind feature is added if the battle is going poorly. These additions are nice as people do not have to grind for hours to be powerful enough to beat bosses.
The Dragoon powers are fun and can help tip the scales of battle. But you have to know what they can add as some are healers, some powerful dps, and others negate damage or buff skills. You build up power until you can use the Dragoon skill and it can last a few turns depending on how much built-up power you saved.
The game will take 50-60 hours and is broken up into chapters which there are 4. I recommend it if you enjoy old-school JRPGs and want to play the classics. I am glad I went back and checked out this awesome classic and it is free on the PlayStation Plus Premium tier.
Barzenak-4-8-2023
Gamer for 40 plus years starting with Pong, consoles and pc gaming. It has been a hobby I have enjoyed over the years for my stress relief and continues to be fun even at my older age. This site is for a lite impression of games I enjoy.
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