Bahamut Lagoon

"Square's attempt at an SRPG more than succeeds."

Tactics Ogre, Ogre Battle, and Final Fantasy Tactics are the games that come to mind when you hear "Strategy Role Playing Game." Bahamut Lagoon, Squaresoft's first attempt at a strategy RPG, is just as good as any of the aforementioned.

Story - 10/10
The game starts out with Byuu, a former captain of Kahna Kingdom's Dragon Squad, flying towards his friends. All of them are pleased to see him, for they believe he can lead them to victory over Sauzer, the Granbelos Emperor, who is trying his hardest to conquer the world with the help and strength of the Holy Dragons. However, Sauzer, trying to fulfill the prophecy of the Dragnar, believes he is capable of gaining the dragons support. Byuu, the silent protagonist, and the rest of his crew know that only Yoyo, the Princess of Kahna and a summoner, can get help from the dragons, for she can read the minds of the troubled dragons. Byuu and his team go from continent to continent, releasing cities and countries from the grasp of Granbelos, only to realize Sauzer isn't the only evil being they have to worry about.
All in all, the story is more than solid, and with the wide variety of interesting, witty, and odd characters the game has to offer, it only makes the game better.

Gameplay - 10/10
A strategy RPG runs different from the normal role playing game, because you have control of many people, and you have to move around a grid, choosing actions wisely, and predicting what the enemy will do in it's turn. In Bahamut Lagoon, battles rotate from Player Phase, to Enemy Phase. In player phase, you can choose to move (which you'll have to if you want to destroy the opposition,) call your dragons, use techs, summons, black, white, or red magic, and items, and of course, attack. Techs, summons and magic all have ranges, so you can snipe enemies from afar with them, but you receive less experience than if you were to merely move over closer to the enemy and manually manhandle them. You also receive items based on the attack you end up killing the enemy with, for example, you can get a fire rod if you destroy an enemy with a fire attack. Each character has a class, and each class a different set of techs and such to go along with it. There are Knights, Cross Knights, Heavy Armors, Royal Guards, Black Mages, White Mages, Summoners, Dragnars, Light Armors, Assassins, Lancers, and Mini-devils. Each class uses their own particular weapon and armor, and has their own special tech, such as "Sword Tech," "Summon," and so on. Experience is gained after each turn, as long as you cast something or attack, which is basically every turn.
Your dragons also gain experience, and get stronger as they level. Each team has their own dragon, and their strengths correlate to those of the dragons. To increase the dragon's strength, you feed them. Feeding them fire items will increase their fire stat, and feeding them weapons will give them strength. Feeding them an Ice Armor will increase their ice stat and their defense, you get the point. The dragons also evolve depending on their strengths and weaknesses, which can help or hurt you on the field of battle. You have little control over your dragons, and can either tell them to "Come," "Go," or "Wait." Setting them on Come will make the Dragons come near you and attack enemies around you. You have no control over their attacking, just over where they go. Go will send them far to attack enemies distant, and Wait will make them stay back, and sometimes heal.

Overall, the gameplay is similar to other SRPGS, but Bahamut Lagoon and the Dragon system adds depth to the basic SRPG system.

Graphics and Sound - 10/10
Bahamut Lagoon's graphics rival those from other well known RPGs, and is very similar to the graphics of Rudra no Hihou in battle. Backgrounds and levels are all designed nicely, but character designs are reused a little, aside from more important characters. The sound is wonderful in this game, with memorable music and sound all around.

Conclusion
This is a great, immensely fun-to-play Strategy RPG game, and with nearly 30 chapters and an ex-play option, you can play it for a very long time. There are also side quests and a ridiculously hard dungeon you can go to to really lengthen your game. Each chapter starts with some story, and then you go to do battle, concluding the chapter, but battles are no walk in the park, and take a lot of time and thinking.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 08/14/06