While nothing has been confirmed yet, Bluepoint Games and its Technical Director Peter Dalton have posted cryptic tweets on Twitter suggesting the possibility of a remake of the cult-classic Legend of Dragoon. There has been much debate among fans over the possibilities of different titles Bluepoint Games' November 28th tweet (seen below) may be cluing us in towards, which is the latest in a handful of possibly coded messages. While Legend of Dragoon is one of the suggestions, Demon's Souls is the more popular one, with Metal Gear Solid, Syphon Filter and Castlevania franchises also being suggested by fans to a degree.
However, in going further back, Bluepoint Games' Halloween tweet arguably comprises a stronger link to The Legend of Dragoon in the usage of the word "dart," which was the name of the main character in the game. Additionally, in August, a fan on Twitter was asking if Peter Dalton likes The Legend of Dragoon. It is hard to draw a strong linguistic assessment of his response when only simple text is available, but for what it is worth, Peter Dalton responded, "Perhaps it should be a project?" Whether Dalton meant nothing of it, other than sharing some casual solidarity with a fan of this cult-classic, or whether it was possibly a calculated response to invoke more buzz around the topic, is difficult to determine at this point.
The Legend of Dragoon originally released in Japan in 1999 on the original Playstation, followed by a 2000 release in North America, and a 2001 release in Europe. It was developed by SIE Japan Studio (formerly named SCE Japan Studio), which develops first-party video games for Sony's consoles. Bluepoint Games has developed a couple of remakes from the studio's library, including The Ico and Shadow of the Colossus games. Furthermore, the studio has worked on other first-party franchises of Sony's, including Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection, Metal Gear Solid HD Collection and God of War Collection on Playstation 3 and Playstation 4.
By 2007, The Legend of Dragoon had sold 823,000 copies in North America alone, which was far more than in Japan. It is difficult to determine how many of those purchases were made later on when the game would have been selling for a much lower price. However, with so many North American players having familiarized themselves with this potential sleeper hit, there is a case to be made for the development of a new game, as well as the possibility of success.
The Legend of Dragoon, despite receiving mostly mixed reviews on Metacritic, has partially survived the test of time with its cult-like following. The Legend of Dragoon's avid fans zealously proclaim its combat system as one of the best among RPGs, or at least very unique. Many fans felt the combat system was beyond its era and a standout from most JRPGs from its time. Contrary to the other reviews, its user-based reviews hold an impressive 9.1 user score on Metacritic.
While still turn-based, The Legend of Dragoon had a unique combat system for unleashing attacks based on time-sensitive activations, making it more than a choice of attack options on any given turn. Many fans felt this made for a more engaging and precision-based combat system. While newer games, such as Xenoblade Chronicles 2, offer all of these innovations in real-time combat with far more depth, The Legend of Dragoon was considered cutting edge by many of its fans at the time.
With Sony's rich and numerous library of JRPG titles released throughout the history of Playstation consoles, there is certainly potential in bringing back The Legend of Dragoon and giving it a second chance. Despite mixed reviews for The Legend of Dragoon, Bluepoint Games' track record of taking older games and vastly improving upon them to meet contemporary demands may prove to be the antidote which gives the game a healthy and new jumpstart. Only time will tell whether Bluepoint Games and its cryptic messages will confirm the rebirth of The Legend of Dragoon, and hopefully, it will be sooner rather than later.
A remake of Legend of Dragoon is rumored to be in development.
