(Image credit: Japan Studio)
While Sony’s late-era PS1 JRPG, The Legend of Dragoon, emerged as a cult classic, it often faced comparisons to the iconic Final Fantasy saga. The astounding success of Square’s role-playing series might have influenced PlayStation’s decision to finance its $15 million development budget, yet the project primarily came to life due to the genuine enthusiasm of its creators.
Former PlayStation Studios boss Shuhei Yoshida, who played a pivotal role as producer on Legend of Dragoon, demonstrated remarkable passion for the JRPG. He once made an unexpected appearance on a stream hosted by gaming personality Kyle Bosman. Bosman speculated that Legend of Dragoon was Sony’s attempt at crafting their own “Final Fantasy 7,” prompting Yoshida to set the record straight via Twitch chat: “No one told us to make any kind of game. We wanted to make this game.”
Reflecting on that memorable moment in a recent interview with Bosman, Yoshida recollected tales from the early development days. “One of the hires I made was from Squaresoft, before their merger with Enix,” Yoshida recounted. He referred to Yasuyuki Hasebe, a renowned battle designer for Mario RPG. “That’s a great game, right? He designed the combat, like the timing input for turn-based battles. So you can trace Legend of Dragoon’s roots back to his expertise.”
Yoshida emphasized that he “didn’t poach Hasebe-san from Square;” the designer applied independently to join Sony. Upon his induction, Yoshida asked Hasebe, “What do you want to do?” to which he replied, “I want to make a new RPG.” This sparked Yoshida’s mission to recruit more talent for creating The Legend of Dragoon.
During that era, Yoshida acknowledged, “Final Fantasy 7 had already announced revolutionary use of 3D graphics for combat and beautifully pre-rendered CG backgrounds. It was awe-inspiring to us, representing the next-gen of gaming. We were young, naive, and fortunately assigned the task to expand the internal team.” Yoshida was entrusted with enhancing the studio, enjoying seemingly limitless hiring freedom.
The $15 million budget and 100-strong development team for Legend of Dragoon were unusual, with Yoshida attributing the spectacle to the flexible finances Sony provided. “I didn’t even have a set budget initially since it was handled internally. I was just hiring personnel, though in Japan, few experienced individuals left their firms.” Hasebe was notably an exception, and the remaining team comprised mostly “young graduates or some from game schools.”
Despite Legend of Dragoon becoming a fan-favorite, Hasebe departed the gaming world shortly after its debut. The game’s PS5 re-release in 2023 affirmed its enduring fan base, substantiating that Hasebe’s influence outlived his industry tenure. Discover more about this legendary title on GamesRadar.
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