Legend of Dragoon for PlayStation 1

This Interview took place October 22, 2000 and involves Dart, Lavitz, and Shana: three of the main characters in The Legend of Dragoon.

As I walked through town to get to the forest, I got a sense of meloncholy. What would get a town, previously jolly, down? I had agreed to do the interview in an abandoned shack in a recently deserted part of the forest. When I arrived, Dart was resting outside the shack; I saw Lavitz taming a horse; and beautiful Shana was practing her bow and arrow techniques.

GTHOMP1: So tell me, what are your roles in all this?
DART: I'm the hero with short, spiky hair. I did not steal this style from Cloud of FF7...he copied from me.
LAVITZ: I'm Dart's friend. I was wrongfully imprisoned, but escaped and now have vowed to help Dart.
SHANA: Me? I'm the love interest. As children, Dart and I were friends. Then he left and now has come back after five years.

GT: Where did you go, Dart?
DART: Away. I had to become a man. There were many demons haunting me as a child. My parents died, my hometown destroyed...all because of the Black Monster.

GT: Is that like the Boogeyman?
DART: No. Now I am back to confront my past. But in the meantime, war is going on and unfortunately, I'm caught in the middle.

GT: Shana, what are you feelings after five years?
SHANA: Frustration. Confusion. I don't know how to feel. I mean, it's been five years! People change. Dart has changed. He has different motives and values than before. I've changed. Even that being the case, I am still interested in getting to know the new Dart.
DART: Awesome.

GT: What about graphics?
DART: Graphics? What?
GT: I mean, what can you tell me about your surroundings? The scenery?
LAVITZ: The world is magnificent. Lush landscaping, immense backgrounds. When traveling, you get a sense of space.
GT: So everything is prerendered and characters are just glorified sprites?
DART&SHANA: Huh?
LAVITZ: Uh, sure.

GT: So where and how do you gain experience?
DART: We fight. Sometimes for fun, sometimes for our lives. Our cruel God has punished us, though. We don't know when we are to fight because he just plops down enemies. But they are frequent and sometimes we are just too tired. We are a team and we do stick together.
LAVITZ: We did find the Charm potion, so that descreases our chances of encounters.

GT: Describe your first major battle.
SHANA: It was with a huge snake-looking thing with fangs and a long tongue. We had to pass through a mountain to take an alternate route to get back to town and he was guarding the exit.
DART: He was a quick little guy and we had to regenerate life a few times, but we pulled together and smashed his moulting little rear.
LAVITZ: As a warrior and leader of this group, I feel that we did a great job.
DART: Leader? I'm the hero.
LAVITZ: Well, you didn't do anything heroic with that battle. You just stood back there and wished us luck.
DART: You...
GT: Guys, settle it later and not in front of Shana.

GT: What do you have to say to the critics that you're a rip-off of the Final Fantasy Series?
DART: Look, I know Cloud. He's just a drunk. We have our own stories and paths to journey and different ways to get there. Every world has it's saviors just like every world has a madman wishing to destroy it. FF7 had theirs and we have ours.
LAVITZ: Just travel our land and enjoy the visuals. You're going to be here for 40 or more hours over four discs, so you might as well take in the sights.
SHANA: Our boss Sony has done a great job of putting together a great story with excellent characters. Everything molds into one fine experience. Take us for a spin. Go with us for the first 2 hours and see what we're like. I guarantee that you'll stay with us until the end.

GT: What are the chance of Dragoon II?
DART: A sequel? Who knows. I might retire.
LAVITZ: I'm up for one.
SHANA: I might retire with Dart. (smiles)

GT: Thank you guys. I'll let you be on your way.

I found them compelling and they interacted with each other well. I can agree with them about the visuals. Rich, colorful landscapes and deep, enchanting towns. I know I will stay for a bit.

But I also travelled the world of FF7 and can't help but wonder what influence it had on this world. It seemed this world was assimilated to FF7. But I got over it quickly.

See everyone later, I have a world to save.