Many fans wonder how to keep playing the game in present-day. Game companies generally don’t reprint old titles physically, and discs can become tougher and tougher to find as copies start to break down. Here are some options, each with their own pros and cons.
Important! If you have a physical copy of the game, it is strongly recommended that you make a legal backup of your game discs. Unless they are kept in a sealed case and never played, they will eventually stop working due to wear/use. See this guide on how to preserve your legal copy in digital form.
Option 1: Severed Chains (Port, Recommended)
Severed Chains is a reverse-engineered port for PC and SteamDeck. It’s built to go far beyond what’s possible with emulation. This includes restored asset quality, fast load times, and countless bugfixes. It also supports native 4K+ resolution, 60FPS (except battle for now), and true widescreen in battle. On top of this, SC doubles as an expanded modding platform. The sky is the limit: from a simple difficulty change, to a randomizer, to a mod in the style of DDR and Guitar Hero. Requires a legal copy of LoD provided by the user.
Benefits: see full list on the project page
Downside: Requires a device compatible with OpenGL and Java 25 (PC, SteamDeck, et cetera)
Option 2: PC / Mobile / Etc. (Emulation)
Although the legal requirements are a bit tricky, emulation has many benefits that cannot be boasted by any physical hardware. These benefits include: correcting hardware errors, improved visual fidelity, save states, and modding support. The main caveat is that a necessary bios file can only be legally procured by extracting it from your physical PS1 – this is the main barrier of entry for most people. For help with that, see this guide. PC Emulators can run both physical discs and digital disc images.
Benefits:
- Graphical improvements: more accurate 3D models, upscaled screen resolution, limited texture replacement.
- Other features like fast-forward
- More robust than on-console emulation.
- Some modding capability
Downsides:
- Legal requirements are a hassle
- mods are few and far between.
- high performance cost for small gains
Option 3: PS4 & PS5 Digital Store (Emulation)
As of February 2023, Legend of Dragoon is now listed on newer Playstation consoles via their digital store. You can buy the Japanese, North American, or European releases on their respective regional storefronts. This release is the same as the PS3/PSP release, in that it’s emulation (same game files as the original PS1 release).
Benefits: (Shared with other PS1 Classic titles)
- video filters / shaders (i.e. scanlines for retro feel)
- Save State slots aren’t restricted to save points on the map.
- Rewind, and partial improvements to graphic fidelity
Downsides:
- Save states, while convenient, are unstable.
- Forced model smoothing makes LoD’s 3D models lower-quality than the original PS1 appearance.
- Generally far behind emulation technology available for PCs and mobile.
- No modding support
Option 4: PS3 / PSP (Emulation, Legacy Stores)
Although Sony has started limiting its legacy storefronts, it should still be possible to purchase a digital copy of the game. Availability will vary by region. In the USA, the game can be bought on PS3 and PSP. In Europe, the game was not digitally released so far as we know.
Option 5: Original PS1 Hardware
The most straightforward choice is to buy a used PS1 and game discs through a resale website. eBay has the most listings and most stable pricing in general. With a physical PS1, game discs, and necessary cables/controllers you can try to play the game on a standard television or through a capture card on your computer. Note that capture cards usually have input delay, so completing additions may not be feasible.
Option 6: PS2 & PS3 (Emulation, Physical discs)
PS1 games should play well on every model of the Playstation 2 and Playstation 3 game consoles. Note that rare issues may still occur just like on PS1, such as softlocks. Save often and in multiple save slots!