The Legend of Dragoon Coming to PSN: RPG Classic Reborn May 1st

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The Legend of Dragoon Coming to PSN: RPG Classic Reborn May 1st

The Legend of Dragoon for PS3 and PSPps3_xmb

The Legend of Dragoon was one of the last projects I worked on as a producer in Japan Studio and by far the biggest team I managed hands-on. We started the project in 1996 with only a handful of people, hired one by one as we were building up teams for Ape Escape, The Legend of Dragoon, and Ico simultaneously. During the peak of the game’s development, we had well over 100 people working internally in the studio on The Legend of Dragoon — for a PSone game! We had roughly 10 artists dedicated just to drawing concept art for this gigantic RPG. As the game contained lots of pre-rendered maps and full-motion videos, we were forced to spread the content over four CDs, which was the maximum number of discs that the fattest PSone game case could hold.

It took nearly three years to build the team and develop the game, which was released in December 1999 in Japan and June 2000 in the US. As I moved from Japan to the US in March 2000, I was able to personally handle the game’s release in both Japan and the US. Following the game’s launch in Japan, we learned from players that certain parts of the game were too difficult. The team re-balanced the gameplay for the release outside of Japan, so the US version was the complete version of the game that we were all proud of.

I still occasionally hear from fans of The Legend of Dragoon, and many want to know if there is a sequel. LOD2 was put into preproduction after I left the Japan Studio, but was eventually cancelled for some unknown reason, and the team members moved on to different projects. Some people still work in the Japan Studio, so we talk about the memories of developing LOD when we see each other at company functions.

It’s great to see the game being prepared for release as a PSone Classic on PSN, which means that fans can revisit the world whenever they want. Maybe it’ll make a new fans, too. Long live LOD!

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253 Comments

  • Also, PLEASSSSE FOR HEAVEN SAKES, make a sequel to Legend of Dragoon (I’ll even take a prequel, if need be)! Thrown in a special/collector/limited edition, and you DEFINITELY got my money!

  • That’s awesome news! I always wondered why a sequel never came out. Hopefully interest in the re-release will convince Sony otherwise.

  • For some reason i suspect this post will only make people think the LOD2 is actually coming…

  • FINALLY MY PRAYERS HAVE BEEN ANSWERED I CAN’T WAIT THE GREATEST GAME IN THE WORLD IS FINALLY ON PSN!!!!

  • About time!. I’ve been waiting so long for this to come out on PSN.

    I’m just sadden that LOD2 was cancelled though.

  • Oh YEA HOW RUDE OF ME THANK YOU SONY!!!!!

  • About time SCEA! >_<

    The PAL and Japanese region had this game for a while now. Why is it that the US gets these epic games so late??

    Any word on Square-Enix remastering Final Fantasy III, V, and VI for the PSP? It would be a great way for Sony and Square-Enix to end the PSP's life cycle and move to PS Vita exclusively, and also, that way we would have all the classic FF games on the PSP. And I hope if this happens, we get UMD and digital release.

  • THANK YOU FOR THIS.I still own the original game will definitely be buying this game day 1 Oh memories

  • Thank you, Sony!! Now, we just need a price estimate on this.

    Probably will be $9.99, although $5.99 would be sweet.

  • So I can only guess, but this will be a 9.99 dollar game. I will pass until a sale.

  • OMFG!!!! Today is my bday and this is the best news i’ve heard all day!!! Just made my day!!!!

  • Why isn’t Sony investing in games for the Japanese market anymore? All the big studios are in the west, and games that appeal to Japanese gamers (mainly RPGs) have been neglected for too long.

  • Everything I post is subjected to moderation, wtf?

  • It’s been so long (and the expectations were so high) that it works like a beam cannon.
    Charging since Dec 22, 2010.
    The blast will be heard all over the internets. You’ll see.
    I can already hear the roars, screams and squeals.

  • This is awesome news! I never played it back in the day and now I don’t have an excuse not to!

  • Thank goodness. That’s one major blog complaint down.

  • Yes this is most awesome. I loved this game. Though I didn’t finish it. I would like to try again.

  • THANK YOU SOOO MUCH! this is the 1 game i have been waiting for since the ps1 classics started being released…cant say thank you enough….seriously…i cant…

  • Please give us a sequel! Good JRPGs are so rare these days! You’d be doing the world a service.
    I’ll buy this as soon as the Vita gets PSone support.
    I finally stopped splurging on these classics until support is added.

  • Holy awesome, I have very fond memories of this game (and the disc version is still on my shelf), but this remains a guaranteed purchase for me.

    Now, since we gamers are a needy and demanding lot, I have to mention how great this or Vagrant Story would look on the Vita’s OLED screen :)

  • My second favorite RPG of all time.. Right behind Persona 3 FES, which just got a digital release. It’s a good time to be a PlayStation fan.

  • I still have my original copy (Greatest Hits version) that I bought around ’02 or ’03 I think, but never finished it.

  • I always wanted a sequel to this game. Or at least a spiritual successor. I have fond memories of playing it at my dad’s place when I was in grade school.

  • At last!!!! I was wondering last week when this great game will be available, and now here it is… now I start thinking in Suikoden 2, 3, 4 and 5 :p

  • May 1st will be a very happy day. :D

    I played this once many years ago on a friend’s PS1 and have been wanting to play it again ever since. Now I can finally do it without resorting to a used copy.

  • Awesome! This is the game that actually got me into RPGs and it’s still the RPG that I truly treasure.

    I still have the game discs, but I may buy the digital version on PSN just to show support.

  • Excellent, as many people have been asking for this! Good move!

    Now, I will once again ask for even a hint of when PSOne classics are coming to my PSV?

  • Yoshida you are GOD!!!!!! Thank you!!!!! now please let it be playable on my VITA and my spring is set!!!!!

  • At the risk of sounding like Daniel Bryan…

    YES! YES! YES! YES!

    Finally my prayers have been answered! Thank you! Finally, a new reason to play my PSP!

  • great… but when can i play it on my vita?

  • Can Not Wait!

  • and no sequel, JRPG’s are not what they once where so making a sequel to LOD would not do any justice

  • All i can say is finally. this game should have been released a lot sooner, but its finally here and thats all that matter. now for us Vita users we just need to wait for ps1 support.

  • what happened to the Ape Escape team??? Does anyone know? I loved the original on PSX, it is one of the greatest IP’s created by Sony, what happened to it???

  • OMG, I’ve waited so long for this!
    Thank you for bringing this great news personally, Mr. Yoshida.

  • If the game wasn’t already sitting on my shelf next to the PS3 and PS2 games I play regularly I would buy this in a heartbeat.

  • This is one of my favourite RPGs of all time. I still have the discs… but I may buy it down the road. Too bad about the sequel. If a new one ever does get developed it would probably work best on Vita.

  • Finally!!

  • Yes i have been waiting to play thing for a very long time i am very excited right now.

  • Good news/ Bad news . Good news) I still own My pspGo, so I will be playing this. Bad news) I still have not purchased my Vita because of this. Sad but true.

  • This is great news! Now, to get all of us JRPG fans happier, you guys need to bring Wild Arms and Dark Cloud series to the PS2 Classics section! Not to mention, of course, make them all compatible with our Vitas (soon). :)

  • Still have my hard copy, but I’m so glad to hear this. More people should play this game. I may even double dip.

  • Would buy this if I could play it on my Vita. C’mon Sony, get on this ASAP!

  • FINALLY!!! This is still one of my most favorite games of all time. And it’s coming out the day before my birthday, so this is perfect. I’m still holding out hope for a sequel someday, by the way.

  • OMG. I do not know why this was not added a long time ago. Thank you so much for -finally- getting around to it!!!

  • You guys want a sequel to happen? Then BUY THIS GAME!! I know I will!

  • Just as excited as everyone else I can’t believe it! Personal #1 game of all time so I love that this is getting recognized and put back out there so others can try it finally. Now do I scrounge for my memory card and old PS2 or just buy and replay for ease…

  • Please make a sequel!!!

  • Hello, summer! I just hope that the vita can play PSone classics soon! This is awesome news excited to play this game again! THANK YOU Mr. President Shu Yoshida!

  • Why dropping the bomb that the sequel was cancelled????? T_T I was a happy ignorant before.

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