Bahamut Lagoon [Model SHVC-AXBJ-JPN]

Bahamut Lagoon © 1996 Square Company, Limited.

Bahamut Lagoon is a strategy/Role Playing game released by Squaresoft in 1996 and is often regarded as the most underrated game ever released by the famous company. Bahamut Lagoon takes place in a world made of floating islands called Lagoons. The player is put in the shoes of Byuu, a young dragon rider and captain of the Kahna Squad. The game starts when the evil and tyrannical Sauzer from the Granbelos Empire decides to take over the Dragon Kingdom of Kahna and to kidnap the young princess Yoyo. Our hero, along with his friends, decide to hide for sometime and train their dragons to form a group of resistance - they hope that some day they will be ready and strong enough to attack the invader and rescue the princess. They soon all embark on a journey to unite the power of the Holy Dragons, ancient beasts supposed to defend the Lagoons, and use them to defeat Emperor Sauzer. Or this is what they think... The limited Role Playing side of the game gets the player to control Byuu and the story unfolds as the game progresses - he can talk to people or buy new equipment and items. Out of the battles, the game also features an expansive dragon feeding system that raises the animals' stats and change their aspect overtime. However, and unlike traditional role playing games, the player gets to control multiple parties of four and their respective dragons during battles. Players don't get to control the beasts directly though - they have to be told what to do and three commands are available to do so. The first one is 'Go!' and tells the dragon to attack, the second is 'Come!' and gets him to fly close to his master then the final one is 'Wait!' and forces him to stay put and wait. Characters, on the contrary, can attack using traditional weapons and magic spells. Battles follow a traditional turned based system and all the enemies, or in some cases the enemy's general, need to be defeated to win a fight.