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05-02-16 01:04 AM
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Bahamut Lagoon

 
Game's Ratings
Overall
Graphics
Sound
Addictiveness
Depth
Story
Difficulty
Average User Score
8.9
8
8
8
8
6
6
G789's Score
7.3
8
8
8
8
6
6

05-02-16 01:04 AM
G789 is Offline
| ID: 1267468 | 2324 Words

G789
Level: 25


POSTS: 85/122
POST EXP: 26965
LVL EXP: 82940
CP: 7354.7
VIZ: 324187

Likes: 0  Dislikes: 0



Bahamut Lagoon was published by Square in 1996 for the Super Famicom; a Japan-only release. The ROM listed here was translated by Tomato, and Neill Corlett. The game is primarily a strategy RPG, with turn-based RPG elements, and largely utilizes a dragon-raising system. Square had already gained well renowned recognition coming off of recent hits like Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy VI, and Secret of Evermore among others. How does Bahamut Lagoon's gameplay, story, and music compare to some of Square's older classics? The game is unique right off the bat by mixing up the genre as a strategy RPG. After having played through this title, it seems the bulk of the effort was put into the gameplay and the customization therein. Its music and story may not rival some of the classics listed above, but still stand strong in their own right. Bahamut Lagoon is a strategy RPG gem that any fan of the genre can appreciate. For newcomers to strategy RPGs, Bahamut Lagoon is on the easier side and makes an effort to introduce its new players on how to succeed throughout the game.


Graphics: 8/10

Bahamut Lagoon does a great job of its sprite-work. There are lots of different characters on the field, and they all have separate animations for the turn-based sections of the game. Some of the characters are dragons with multiple forms depending on how the player proceeds, all of which have detailed designs when showcased in battle. The spells are nicely animated; furthermore, they can affect the terrain so the player sees the reduction of mountains or the burning of forests on the overhead map when triggered. The animation really shines during the summon spells where a large portrait of the corresponding dragon appears with other effects. There are sections where the player can walk through the town/map in a non-battle setting (composing the interlude between a chapter/level) and the towns appear similarly to Square's contemporary RPGs like Final Fantasy VI.


Sound: 8/10

Bahamut Lagoon's soundtrack was composed by Noriko Matsueda. While she worked alongside other composers in Square's other games, this was the first game for which she largely created the music for solo. As such, the music is distinguishable in Bahamut Lagoon. Her music captures the vastness, emptiness, and sense of adventure the sky brings which is befitting as nearly the entire game takes place in the sky. The more mellow, somber tunes also suggest feelings of peace, romance, and nostalgia for bygone times. Sound effects were used appropriately to demonstrate magic (fire, ice, thunder, etc.) as well as any terrain changes incurred.


Addictiveness: 8/10

Strategy RPGs have a tendency to be addictive if done right, and Bahamut Lagoon succeeds in that category. Each level is a new chapter, separated by story elements and limited exploration in an area. Because of a large cast of characters with a variety of ways to customize your party, it's easy to spend lots of time trying out different teams, called formations, pairing them with different dragons and letting them loose on unsuspecting enemies. Also, how you raise your dragon (determined by what you feed it) will adjust its attributes, directly affecting the strength of that party's spells and abilities. At one point, the player has access to side quests. These are just bonus levels the player can revisit any number of times to get extra money or items. A lot of time can be spent trying to grind for an elusive item or just getting extra money to feed the dragons.


Story: 6/10

The overall story can be boiled down to the classic RPG trope: once glorious, peaceful kingdom is taken over by more aggressive, advanced rival empire. You take control of a group of rebels and recruit allies, liberate other areas under imperial rule, and finally take the fight to the empire's doorstep as you liberate your former kingdom. Meanwhile, you're tasked with fulfilling the mysterious prophecy of awakening the Holy Dragons before the enemy can.

The story isn't completely vanilla; there are plot twists along the way. I really appreciate the story for its side characters. Bahamut Lagoon actually develops a lot of their personalities. Through interacting with them, you learn about some of their histories, plus you have the amusement of hearing what they think about your other allies. The translation threw in a lot of humorous bits containing some crude, adult level material that I enjoyed and found hilarious. Needless to say, much of this would have been re-worded or perhaps removed entirely if Square released Bahamut Lagoon outside of Japan originally.

As a general note, I was a little disappointed that most of the side characters, whose stories were being developed throughout the game, don't really complete their character arc, save for a few. Understandably, the stories of hte main characters may have occluded them, but even the ending seems to leave a lot of them out with the appearance it was just sort of thrown on. Some specific criticisms of the story will be detailed a little more below in the spoilers section.



**Spoilers Section**

Still reading through the spoilers? Very well! The game starts with Emperor Sauzer, with his 2nd in command Palpaleos, invading everything then executing your king. Sauzer basically states he wants to conquer everything for the sake of controlling the world. Later, there is a scene with somber music illustrating that Sauzer and Palpaleos are childhood friends, and how he's always dreamed of them ruling the world together. The scene comes across as though we're supposed to care for Sauzer despite the fact we just saw him level entire kingdoms before storming yours. It's like if FF VII showed a scene where Sephiroth rescues abandoned puppies after murdering everyone in Nibelheim. Also, the real Final Boss seemed abruptly shoehorned in (plot twist: the apparent main villain isn't the real villain).

Initially, when your kingdom is taken over the king is murdered and his daughter, Princess Yoyo (your read correctly), remains as a prisoner. Through flashback scenes, it's implied there may be a romantic interest between your character and Yoyo. later in the game, you rescue Yoyo and much later, you recruit General Palpaleos. We then find out Yoyo and Palpaleos are in love with each other through a series of flashbacks. Reminder: Palpaleos was part of the empire that took over Yoyo's kingdom and murdered her father, then kept her as prisoner in her home: smells like Stockholm Syndrome! I'm not irked that your character doesn't get the girl in the end; I actually admired that plot point, but I felt Yoyo's character was weak overall.

**Spoilers End**



Depth: 8/10

Bahamut Lagoon provides a lot of depth due to the dragon feeding system while utilizing different formations. Before going into that, the basic flow of progression is as follows for most of the game:

Chapter > Interlude (story/shop section) > optional re-playable side quest > next Chapter

It's annoying that he only chance to save your game is right after a chapter ends; that means restarting a save file requires you to sit through the subsequent dialogue, and re-do any town shopping. I used save states before a chapter just for convenience. Players can save mid-chapter (suspend feature) creating a temporary save lasting until the file is loaded again.

The battlefield provides the strategy RPG element. Each character represents a party of 4 members, and each party has a dragon assigned to it. Characters move, can assign their dragon to one of 3 commands (Go, Come, Wait) and can cast spells or enter melee combat to attack an enemy. Field spells do damage without risk of retaliation (some exceptions) and ca be used to manipulate terrain. Fire spells burn forests or melt ice. Ice spells freeze water creating a bridge. Thunder spells destroy buildings and bridges. Meanwhile, being caught in a burning forest or poison area takes away HP at the start of your turn, while being on a building recovers HP. Using and manipulating the terrain is vital to success in many levels. Dragons cannot be controlled directly, their movements and attacks are automatic based on your command. Dragons set to "Go" move to attack an enemy no matter how far away they are; this is usually the riskiest maneuver. "Come" means the dragon stays nearby, but will attack enemies if they're close enough to you. Dragons on "Wait" will avoid combat and heal you if HP is low enough.

Melee combat leads to one round of turn-based RPG combat. This is advantageous because more damage can be done in melee combat as opposed to using the same spell on the field. Many units also don't have field spells so they're confined to doing damage this way. The biggest advantage of melee combat is that enemy item drops are better if defeated this way. plus, they give more money. The risk that since both sides attack in melee combat, your enemy can retaliate.

Dragon feeding is the most important aspect of the game. It's complicated, but can be learned (or looked up, if necessary). Dragons can eat any item and the stat increase usually corresponds to what they eat. They can even consume weapons and armor. Each party is assigned to a dragon and their abilities are affected by the dragon's stats. Dragons have stats ranging from attack/defense/speed to elemental attributes. For example, a team of wizards can only use magic for the elements their dragon has levels in; if their dragon has only fire element, that party can only use fire spells. Because holy is an element, priests MUST be with a dragon with some holy elemental or else they can't heal. When a dragon's stats are high enough or maxed out, they will transform. Your main dragon has a form that has infinite HP. The party assigned to that dragon still has finite health, but the dragon itself could just be set to "Go" and kill every enemy given enough time. Note that if you max a dragon's loyalty, it transforms into an "Uni Uni" form. The dragon's attacks become strong all-or-nothing attacks and the party loses all elements instead gaining an "uni uni" element that follows the scheme mentioned above. This is terrible for magic users. However, a dragon can change back by lowering its loyalty a little.

Formations are composed of parties of 4 (plus 1 dragon). This is an important mechanic because party strengths depend on their specific formation. For example, a party of 4 wizards using a field spell will do 4x more damage than a party with 1 wizard (since each wizard in the full party uses that spell). However, if an enemy catches this party in melee combat they will be vulnerable. In contrast, parties with diverse units tend to be more versatile at the cost of strength and specialization. An important note, there's a class called Light Armor. If their dragon has high agility, the movement speed of the party increases significantly.

These gameplay mechanics are the bread and butter of Bahamut Lagoon. During the interlude sections, your character can explore the surrounding area. There is no world map to exit to. One can find hidden items by exploring pots/furniture/general scenery (much like FF IV). There are some very important items that you won't have an opportunity to get more of which can only be acquired this way.

Fortunately, Bahamut Lagoon has a New Game+ feature where players have access to a new summon spell, and can experiment with different dragon types. Late in the game, you will have party members warming the bench, especially certain classes. This feature enables the opportunity to play around with different, crazy formations a second time through. There are some optional branches of dialogue that can be chosen, but they won't change the primary story.


Difficulty: 6/10

Difficulty is entirely dependent on how you care for your dragons and it's more than likely going to be on the easier side. It's possible to grind out numerous side quests early and get a head start towards maxing out your dragon's stats. Stronger dragons enhance the party's abilities, and for some classes open up the option for a larger magic arsenal. As mentioned above, the main dragon has a form with infinite HP. Combine this with the fact that dragons are immune to all status ailments, and the dragon mechanic: central to combat in Bahamut Lagoon, can be very game breaking.

The enemy AI seems to be really stunted too. There are many instances of the enemy trying to use status ailments on dragons and just generally targeting them over your party. When using field attacks, most have a radius that normally allow hitting more than 1 party by targeting between them, but enemies apparently don't know this leading them to target poorly and hit a minimum number of parties every time. There are select levels where the difficulty spikes up. I wish more levels had that. The only way to to make this game difficult is to artificially impose such limits on yourself. An example would be using only "Uni Uni" dragons.


Overall 7.3/10

Bahamut Lagoon is a hidden gem strategy RPG for the SNES. The main draws of the game come from its varied gameplay, especially the dragon feeding system. However, the very same feature can be used to break the game. For those looking to get into strategy RPGs, this is a decent pick, while veterans of the game will enjoy the game. With that said, while the story has certain flaws in its plot points, the side comments made by your ensemble of characters are oftentimes hilarious. great music and graphics also help to enhance the experience. This may not rank up there with Square's classics, but it's a great game, nonetheless. It's best to enjoy the ride and soak in Bahamut Lagoon for what it is. In some ways this is the paradigm Bahamut Lagoon itself seeks to put forth.





Bahamut Lagoon was published by Square in 1996 for the Super Famicom; a Japan-only release. The ROM listed here was translated by Tomato, and Neill Corlett. The game is primarily a strategy RPG, with turn-based RPG elements, and largely utilizes a dragon-raising system. Square had already gained well renowned recognition coming off of recent hits like Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy VI, and Secret of Evermore among others. How does Bahamut Lagoon's gameplay, story, and music compare to some of Square's older classics? The game is unique right off the bat by mixing up the genre as a strategy RPG. After having played through this title, it seems the bulk of the effort was put into the gameplay and the customization therein. Its music and story may not rival some of the classics listed above, but still stand strong in their own right. Bahamut Lagoon is a strategy RPG gem that any fan of the genre can appreciate. For newcomers to strategy RPGs, Bahamut Lagoon is on the easier side and makes an effort to introduce its new players on how to succeed throughout the game.


Graphics: 8/10

Bahamut Lagoon does a great job of its sprite-work. There are lots of different characters on the field, and they all have separate animations for the turn-based sections of the game. Some of the characters are dragons with multiple forms depending on how the player proceeds, all of which have detailed designs when showcased in battle. The spells are nicely animated; furthermore, they can affect the terrain so the player sees the reduction of mountains or the burning of forests on the overhead map when triggered. The animation really shines during the summon spells where a large portrait of the corresponding dragon appears with other effects. There are sections where the player can walk through the town/map in a non-battle setting (composing the interlude between a chapter/level) and the towns appear similarly to Square's contemporary RPGs like Final Fantasy VI.


Sound: 8/10

Bahamut Lagoon's soundtrack was composed by Noriko Matsueda. While she worked alongside other composers in Square's other games, this was the first game for which she largely created the music for solo. As such, the music is distinguishable in Bahamut Lagoon. Her music captures the vastness, emptiness, and sense of adventure the sky brings which is befitting as nearly the entire game takes place in the sky. The more mellow, somber tunes also suggest feelings of peace, romance, and nostalgia for bygone times. Sound effects were used appropriately to demonstrate magic (fire, ice, thunder, etc.) as well as any terrain changes incurred.


Addictiveness: 8/10

Strategy RPGs have a tendency to be addictive if done right, and Bahamut Lagoon succeeds in that category. Each level is a new chapter, separated by story elements and limited exploration in an area. Because of a large cast of characters with a variety of ways to customize your party, it's easy to spend lots of time trying out different teams, called formations, pairing them with different dragons and letting them loose on unsuspecting enemies. Also, how you raise your dragon (determined by what you feed it) will adjust its attributes, directly affecting the strength of that party's spells and abilities. At one point, the player has access to side quests. These are just bonus levels the player can revisit any number of times to get extra money or items. A lot of time can be spent trying to grind for an elusive item or just getting extra money to feed the dragons.


Story: 6/10

The overall story can be boiled down to the classic RPG trope: once glorious, peaceful kingdom is taken over by more aggressive, advanced rival empire. You take control of a group of rebels and recruit allies, liberate other areas under imperial rule, and finally take the fight to the empire's doorstep as you liberate your former kingdom. Meanwhile, you're tasked with fulfilling the mysterious prophecy of awakening the Holy Dragons before the enemy can.

The story isn't completely vanilla; there are plot twists along the way. I really appreciate the story for its side characters. Bahamut Lagoon actually develops a lot of their personalities. Through interacting with them, you learn about some of their histories, plus you have the amusement of hearing what they think about your other allies. The translation threw in a lot of humorous bits containing some crude, adult level material that I enjoyed and found hilarious. Needless to say, much of this would have been re-worded or perhaps removed entirely if Square released Bahamut Lagoon outside of Japan originally.

As a general note, I was a little disappointed that most of the side characters, whose stories were being developed throughout the game, don't really complete their character arc, save for a few. Understandably, the stories of hte main characters may have occluded them, but even the ending seems to leave a lot of them out with the appearance it was just sort of thrown on. Some specific criticisms of the story will be detailed a little more below in the spoilers section.



**Spoilers Section**

Still reading through the spoilers? Very well! The game starts with Emperor Sauzer, with his 2nd in command Palpaleos, invading everything then executing your king. Sauzer basically states he wants to conquer everything for the sake of controlling the world. Later, there is a scene with somber music illustrating that Sauzer and Palpaleos are childhood friends, and how he's always dreamed of them ruling the world together. The scene comes across as though we're supposed to care for Sauzer despite the fact we just saw him level entire kingdoms before storming yours. It's like if FF VII showed a scene where Sephiroth rescues abandoned puppies after murdering everyone in Nibelheim. Also, the real Final Boss seemed abruptly shoehorned in (plot twist: the apparent main villain isn't the real villain).

Initially, when your kingdom is taken over the king is murdered and his daughter, Princess Yoyo (your read correctly), remains as a prisoner. Through flashback scenes, it's implied there may be a romantic interest between your character and Yoyo. later in the game, you rescue Yoyo and much later, you recruit General Palpaleos. We then find out Yoyo and Palpaleos are in love with each other through a series of flashbacks. Reminder: Palpaleos was part of the empire that took over Yoyo's kingdom and murdered her father, then kept her as prisoner in her home: smells like Stockholm Syndrome! I'm not irked that your character doesn't get the girl in the end; I actually admired that plot point, but I felt Yoyo's character was weak overall.

**Spoilers End**



Depth: 8/10

Bahamut Lagoon provides a lot of depth due to the dragon feeding system while utilizing different formations. Before going into that, the basic flow of progression is as follows for most of the game:

Chapter > Interlude (story/shop section) > optional re-playable side quest > next Chapter

It's annoying that he only chance to save your game is right after a chapter ends; that means restarting a save file requires you to sit through the subsequent dialogue, and re-do any town shopping. I used save states before a chapter just for convenience. Players can save mid-chapter (suspend feature) creating a temporary save lasting until the file is loaded again.

The battlefield provides the strategy RPG element. Each character represents a party of 4 members, and each party has a dragon assigned to it. Characters move, can assign their dragon to one of 3 commands (Go, Come, Wait) and can cast spells or enter melee combat to attack an enemy. Field spells do damage without risk of retaliation (some exceptions) and ca be used to manipulate terrain. Fire spells burn forests or melt ice. Ice spells freeze water creating a bridge. Thunder spells destroy buildings and bridges. Meanwhile, being caught in a burning forest or poison area takes away HP at the start of your turn, while being on a building recovers HP. Using and manipulating the terrain is vital to success in many levels. Dragons cannot be controlled directly, their movements and attacks are automatic based on your command. Dragons set to "Go" move to attack an enemy no matter how far away they are; this is usually the riskiest maneuver. "Come" means the dragon stays nearby, but will attack enemies if they're close enough to you. Dragons on "Wait" will avoid combat and heal you if HP is low enough.

Melee combat leads to one round of turn-based RPG combat. This is advantageous because more damage can be done in melee combat as opposed to using the same spell on the field. Many units also don't have field spells so they're confined to doing damage this way. The biggest advantage of melee combat is that enemy item drops are better if defeated this way. plus, they give more money. The risk that since both sides attack in melee combat, your enemy can retaliate.

Dragon feeding is the most important aspect of the game. It's complicated, but can be learned (or looked up, if necessary). Dragons can eat any item and the stat increase usually corresponds to what they eat. They can even consume weapons and armor. Each party is assigned to a dragon and their abilities are affected by the dragon's stats. Dragons have stats ranging from attack/defense/speed to elemental attributes. For example, a team of wizards can only use magic for the elements their dragon has levels in; if their dragon has only fire element, that party can only use fire spells. Because holy is an element, priests MUST be with a dragon with some holy elemental or else they can't heal. When a dragon's stats are high enough or maxed out, they will transform. Your main dragon has a form that has infinite HP. The party assigned to that dragon still has finite health, but the dragon itself could just be set to "Go" and kill every enemy given enough time. Note that if you max a dragon's loyalty, it transforms into an "Uni Uni" form. The dragon's attacks become strong all-or-nothing attacks and the party loses all elements instead gaining an "uni uni" element that follows the scheme mentioned above. This is terrible for magic users. However, a dragon can change back by lowering its loyalty a little.

Formations are composed of parties of 4 (plus 1 dragon). This is an important mechanic because party strengths depend on their specific formation. For example, a party of 4 wizards using a field spell will do 4x more damage than a party with 1 wizard (since each wizard in the full party uses that spell). However, if an enemy catches this party in melee combat they will be vulnerable. In contrast, parties with diverse units tend to be more versatile at the cost of strength and specialization. An important note, there's a class called Light Armor. If their dragon has high agility, the movement speed of the party increases significantly.

These gameplay mechanics are the bread and butter of Bahamut Lagoon. During the interlude sections, your character can explore the surrounding area. There is no world map to exit to. One can find hidden items by exploring pots/furniture/general scenery (much like FF IV). There are some very important items that you won't have an opportunity to get more of which can only be acquired this way.

Fortunately, Bahamut Lagoon has a New Game+ feature where players have access to a new summon spell, and can experiment with different dragon types. Late in the game, you will have party members warming the bench, especially certain classes. This feature enables the opportunity to play around with different, crazy formations a second time through. There are some optional branches of dialogue that can be chosen, but they won't change the primary story.


Difficulty: 6/10

Difficulty is entirely dependent on how you care for your dragons and it's more than likely going to be on the easier side. It's possible to grind out numerous side quests early and get a head start towards maxing out your dragon's stats. Stronger dragons enhance the party's abilities, and for some classes open up the option for a larger magic arsenal. As mentioned above, the main dragon has a form with infinite HP. Combine this with the fact that dragons are immune to all status ailments, and the dragon mechanic: central to combat in Bahamut Lagoon, can be very game breaking.

The enemy AI seems to be really stunted too. There are many instances of the enemy trying to use status ailments on dragons and just generally targeting them over your party. When using field attacks, most have a radius that normally allow hitting more than 1 party by targeting between them, but enemies apparently don't know this leading them to target poorly and hit a minimum number of parties every time. There are select levels where the difficulty spikes up. I wish more levels had that. The only way to to make this game difficult is to artificially impose such limits on yourself. An example would be using only "Uni Uni" dragons.


Overall 7.3/10

Bahamut Lagoon is a hidden gem strategy RPG for the SNES. The main draws of the game come from its varied gameplay, especially the dragon feeding system. However, the very same feature can be used to break the game. For those looking to get into strategy RPGs, this is a decent pick, while veterans of the game will enjoy the game. With that said, while the story has certain flaws in its plot points, the side comments made by your ensemble of characters are oftentimes hilarious. great music and graphics also help to enhance the experience. This may not rank up there with Square's classics, but it's a great game, nonetheless. It's best to enjoy the ride and soak in Bahamut Lagoon for what it is. In some ways this is the paradigm Bahamut Lagoon itself seeks to put forth.


Member

Affected by 'Laziness Syndrome'

Registered: 11-13-13
Last Post: 990 days
Last Active: 2 days

(edited by G789 on 05-02-16 12:40 PM)    

05-02-16 01:35 AM
G789 is Offline
| ID: 1267470 | 46 Words

G789
Level: 25


POSTS: 86/122
POST EXP: 26965
LVL EXP: 82940
CP: 7354.7
VIZ: 324187

Likes: 0  Dislikes: 0
My apologies on the formatting here. I copy + pasted from Microsoft Word. Even after trying to edit the post and re-format the paragraphs the end product remains the same.

Update: just re-typed the whole thing in here and that seems to have fixed its appearance.
My apologies on the formatting here. I copy + pasted from Microsoft Word. Even after trying to edit the post and re-format the paragraphs the end product remains the same.

Update: just re-typed the whole thing in here and that seems to have fixed its appearance.
Member

Affected by 'Laziness Syndrome'

Registered: 11-13-13
Last Post: 990 days
Last Active: 2 days

(edited by G789 on 05-02-16 12:42 PM)    

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