Ludography
75/100
Players8 ratings
Dragon Valor cover

1999 · Action role-playing · Beat 'em up

Dragon Valor

PlayStation exclusive

Dragon Valor is a 1999 action role-playing game developed by Now Production and published by Namco for the PlayStation. It is the second sequel to Dragon Buster.

Released
2 December 1999
Platforms
PlayStationPlayStation 3PlayStation Portable
Genres
Action role-playingBeat 'em upPlatformerRole-playing
Developers
—
Publishers
Namco
Modes
Single-player
Perspective
Third person
Themes
ActionHistorical
Country
Japan
Age ratings
ESRB TUSK 6ACB G

About

Dragon Valor (ドラゴンヴァラー, Doragon Varā) is a 1999 action role-playing game developed by Now Production and published by Namco for the PlayStation. It is the second sequel to Dragon Buster.

In the Dragon Valor world, dragons are powerful monsters. The player's role as a Dragon Valor is to slay them with a magical sword passed down through successive generations.

›Story

Dragons and gods waged war against each other at the cost of everyone else's lives. Four magic swords were created to both stop the war and prevent others. Azos, Kadum, and Soul were created from angels while Igunis was created from a god. Dragons lost the war and many were killed off.

Dragons found a way to survive through an unusual form of shape shifting. They can manifest themselves from the "evil in the human heart." When a person is consumed with hate this allows a dragon to manifest itself by turning that person into a dragon or dragon halfling. This creates an internal struggle for humans which is overcome by thinking of their loved ones.

The most powerful dragon and main antagonist-Dahaka-could not be killed and was imprisoned behind the Gates of Gehenna. These Gates can only be unlocked using Azos, Kadum, and Soul together.

Each generation of playable characters follows a similar plot. The protagonist has an external threat (either a human political rival or a dragon) where they use a magic sword to eradicate it. If they do not have a magic sword they go out in search of one. If they already have one they will often search for additional magic swords.

As they travel from one location to another the protagonist will face a variety of enemies. Some enemies are one-offs (animal-, fungi-, humanoid- and plant-based in design) while others are re-occurring, such as the dragon halfling Halfas. Re-occurring enemies are after political power, the power of Dahaka, or both. Re-occurring enemies are working to get the magic swords for Dahaka's release from the Gates of Gehenna. Multiple protagonists struggle with their hatred from the harm several antagonists cause and have to fight against turning into a dragon.

Once their goals are achieved the protagonist goes home and puts in to place who will be the next protagonist. Some protagonists will have the option to save a damsel-in-distress mid-adventure. If they choose to save her she will marry him and their child will be the next chapter's protagonist. If they choose not to the protagonist will choose another woman from their chapter to marry or will adopt a child.

Keywords

  • medieval
  • 2.5d
  • female protagonist
  • brawler
  • side-scrolling
  • multiple protagonists
  • multiple endings
  • sequel
  • playstation network
  • world map
  • polygonal 3d
  • psone classics

Media

Dragon Valor screenshot 1

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

In each chapter of Dragon Valor the player character travels from one location to another, defeating a variety of enemies along the way, eventually ending the chapter by fighting a dragon. Players usually control one character per chapter, while some characters may be played twice. Basic commands remain almost the same with each character.

Players can collect items to boost their hit points, magic points, attack, and defense. Players can also obtain 'tomes' after defeating specific enemies which grant access to spells.

Story

Note: These events happen before the game story begins.

Dragons and gods waged war against each other at the cost of everyone else's lives. Four magic swords were created to both stop the war and prevent others. Azos, Kadum, and Soul were created from angels while Igunis was created from a god. Dragons lost the war and many were killed off.

Reception

The game received "mixed" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. Chet Barber of NextGen said, "It may not blow your socks off, but Dragon Valor is a solid title worthy of any gamer's attention." In Japan, Famitsu gave it a score of 25 out of 40.

GamePro said of the game, "With dismal features and an unexciting storyline, this is one RPG that doesn't have any valor to its name."

Releases by platformdates and regions as published

PlatformReleasedRegions
PlayStation2 December 1999Japan · Europe 30 June 2000 · North America 16 October 2000
PlayStation PortableDigital Compatibility Release26 March 2014Japan
PlayStation 3Digital Compatibility Release26 March 2014Japan

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Collections4 collections

Publishers

Description adapted from its source, CC BY-SA 4.0.