The Very First Legend of Heroes - Dragonslayer: The Legend of Heroes (PC-88 Paradise)

[@goatbone]

18:25 That voice acting floored me.

[@pokehybridtrainer]

Ah man. Early video game voice acting is charming to me, like 80s VHS anime dubs.

[@Xpert74]

I never knew that you could use an arranged OST CD, and have its tracks play in-game while playing! That's amazing :D

[@NightWolve75]

Yeah, I really respect they implemented soundtrack changes like that! Must've been a real pain too, I've worked on similar ideas for Falcon PC games myself.

[@Conan_the_Based]

I'd always wondered what the deal was with all these "Arranged" soundtracks that mirrored the originals. I figured it was just the composers having some free time between OST composition.

[@neil689]

A fan translation of the pc-98 version of this has been released by some lovely peeps so if anyone wants to play the (almost) original version in English there's now an option to do so

[@shutter-chan]

Oh finally! I've been waiting for the review of this game.

[@RyuHayabusa06]

Great video! I love all the goodies Falcom packed into their games. I have this one along with the Ys games on the MSX. I love these old Japanese computer games. It's a part of gaming history that does get much attention. The artwork, music etc. I love it!

[@BasementBrothers]

Yep. Same. That's exactly why I wanted to make these videos. Thanks for watching.

[@NightWolve75]

Agree!

[@drowningin]

I love your channel. They are like a history documentary about Falcom. So much stuff I would never have a clue about

[@Tr3vor42532]

Good video. Pc-88 paradise is my favorite series on this channel, glad to see it come back.

[@BasementBrothers]

Really glad to hear that! Guess I'll have to get started on another video. :)

[@bowloflentils]

Great video! I really enjoy your overviews of these classic Falcom titles. It is cool to see the original versions of these games running on the original hardware. Stuff like this helps an English only fan like me get a better idea of what it was like to play these games when they were initially released in Japan. Thanks again!

[@BasementBrothers]

Thanks! That's exactly what I make this series for!

[@Chris-yj2di]

How does this channel not have way more views? Life's just unfair sometimes. Great content!

[@jpdlpokedigi10]

Indeed. This channel is absolute kino

[@chazmaru9583]

Now available on Nintendo Switch via EGG!

[@Xelbooru]

But is it in English?

[@chazmaru9583]

@ The game itself is untranslated. The main menu is available in English and contains a small guide and early walkthrough to help you around.

[@VisiV]

I'm eventually going to end up watching every single one of your videos, but I'm glad to pace myself. It's such a freaking treasure trove of great footage, and I like your commentary as well. This is all a great production. Please keep it up, at your own pace.

[@NeoTurboManiac78]

I like the packaging that came with the game. I played through this game on the Turbo Duo many times. The Super CD-ROM version moves at a very fast pace.

[@BasementBrothers]

Yeah, especially if you leave the battle music on PSG mode instead of CD the Turbo version is fast and slick. I love how the CD music picks back up after the battles instead of starting over at the beginning. Wish the PC-88 version could do that...

[@ArtemioUrbina]

Thanks for making these videos, I love your work.

[@starlightrevenant]

And now an English patch for the PC-98 port has just been released.

[@BasementBrothers]

Wow, that's weird! Didn't see that coming. Now of course I'm sure fans are itching for them to do the sequel.

[@Nitroxity]

Just beat the fan translation actually. It was very well done aside from a couple of untranslated things (I don't think the translator knew holding escape during auto-battle brings up a menu for turning it off or running). Very excited for the sequel to be translated (judging by how long the first took I'm guessing we're looking at a wait of a year or two?), especially as the cliffhangers were intriguing and I already have a few theories brewing in my head...

[@TheNOODLER100]

This guy is the Yun Ka Fei of Falcom fans. That means he's a legend for what he's accomplished in Trails fandom.

[@NightpireVideos]

Time to grab a snack and dive into this

[@Mogura87]

A bit beside the point of the original PC-88 version, but here goes. I played through the PC Engine CD version of this game as the first in the whole Legend of Heroes series some 5 years ago. As someone who didn't have access to any CD-based systems prior to the PS1 in the 90's, coming back to the early CD systems just retrospectively really blew my mind. Dragon Slayer, Dragon Slayer 2, Ys Book I and II, Ys III and Ys IV: Dawn of Ys, Emerald Dragon, and of course Tengai Makyo II Manjimaru, just to name a few of the JRPGs on the PC Engine CD. The soundtracks aren't just good, but uniquely fantastic, I'd argue. Ryo Yonemitsu's (aka Compozilla) arrangements literally drip with late 80's/early 90's nostalgia in a way that transcends the realm of games more than a chiptune soundtrack could. The music is so mesmerizingly beautiful it makes your jaw drop, and that's not even hyperbole. Then there are the cutscenes that show off the excellent 500+ simultaneous color capabilities of the PC Engine, brimming with vintage anime (mostly without the animation) charm in clean, real-time rendering glory. There's really nothing quite like that very particular vibe you get from the earliest CD system games of the early 90's. Already by the 3DO and even to an extent the Sega CD the focus was shifted quite a bit to FMV and digitized sprites with a very different feel.

[@AdamSommer70]

Excellent video, love the PC-88!!! Thanks for posting, will definitely have to check this game out.

[@Antedithulian]

Love the pc-88 series you do! I've recently gotten into the system for whatever reason and part of that is my love of early Falcom, and these deep dive videos! The more of these you do, the better!

[@BasementBrothers]

That's awesome! Same here. If it weren't for Falcom I probably wouldn't have ever gotten into retro Japanese PC's. Do you own a PC-88 system?

[@Antedithulian]

@@BasementBrothers As of this writing I don't since I'm just dipping my toes into classic PC hardware, but it's been on my list ever since I watched your video on it. I wonder what will be harder to find, a GTX 3080, or a PC-88 lol.

[@SymmRTA]

This is my favorite channel atm thanks for covering thwse games!

[@retroprojections]

You do great work. Thank you!

[@PlanetToborTV]

These videos are fantastic - thank you!

[@KingofCrusher]

Dude I had this game back in the 90's on Turbo, and it was so Lufia too me-- fun to play through, really short, and derivative. Yet I had a blast with it because it just really well-made.

[@Yuuretsu]

I started the PC Engine version of this game once back when my Japanese still wasn't good enough but I intend to pick it up after Burai 1 and 2. I prefer the PSG music instead of having the redbook audio load in and constantly restart. I never realized this was Falcom's first turn-based RPG. Very impressive if you think about it.

[@Zeithri]

I like to think that the Dragon Slayer series is what Adol's father read to Adol as a child that we see in some quick backstories of Adol's. Most notable in the anime version. And that's what spurrs Adol into wanting to be an adventurer - reading about Sorcerian and Legend of Heroes.

[@statesminds]

I love this series so much but have only played Gagharv on psp and the newer titles. Would like to try the old ones sometime

[@slimanemezdad4590]

This is best preview for this games.

[@Conan_the_Based]

The Falcom Neo Classics orchestral version of the theme (4:44) has been one of my favorite musics since I discovered it in the 90s. Also, Emerald Dragon video when? :D

[@BasementBrothers]

Emerald Dragon... yeah. Gotta do it someday.

[@Tasuke]

I came into Legend of Heroes during A Tear in Vermillion but I'm very interested in this first one! Hopefully one day we'll get an updated remake.

[@allisonh2048]

What an awesome video. I learned so much! It was very thorough and fascinating and well-structured.

[@KentaroMiyamoto21]

Hmm... it might be interesting to see this game remade in the style of the Trails games.

[@SuperOtakuKyo]

Never played the games before the Gagharv trilogy(though that was the poor PSP versions), but this made me want to check them out. After finally getting to play Cold Steel IV since it launched on PC a few days ago, I really want to explore their older catalog.

[@BasementBrothers]

I really hope you do! Falcom games new and old are all great.

[@IdentityCrisis1581]

I had this on turboduo. It was a good game. I wanted to order ys3 but it was out of stock so I got dragon slayer instead. I still enjoyed it. Played through it several times and the music was great. That's why I liked my Turboduo/Pc-engine cd. The music on all the games was pretty good. The scene where the pirate captain was scared of his mother because she was tougher and meaner than he was. And she caused him to have a heart attack. Then claimed he was faking it. That scene really got me laughing. What I am noticing from watching your channel is that a lot of the adventure/rpg games on the pc-engine scd are ports of pc-88 games. So if you want to play them on console the pc-engine is the way to go.

[@BasementBrothers]

Yeah, there are tons of PC Engine games that are ports of PC-88 and PC-98 games! All three platforms were made by NEC, so it seems to make sense (though I don't think there's any direct connection since NEC didn't charge licensing fees or anything to make PC games). But yeah, it makes sense that many Japanese RPG's began life on Japanese PC's. Thanks for watching!

[@mekman4]

Great Stuff, as always!

[@ereviscale3966]

That is the biggest forehead ive ever seen. 7:52

[@DakinRinone]

Damn, good review. Just got a subscriber outta me!

[@IkeSan]

You mean we are waiting for Dragonslayer VI: The Legend of Heroes IX: Trails IV Kuro no I. If you could talk about the Garghav trilogy it would be appreciate it since they are completely different from the PSP ones. I really like these videos.

[@BasementBrothers]

I've been wanting to make videos about the Gagharv games for a long time, but don't know if I'm ready to dive into making "PC-98 Paradise" yet. Perhaps someday. Who knows?

[@cyanrazorCel]

The amount of lore that the Trail series leads to is pretty insane.

[@marktheshark274]

Your PC-88 videos are really interesting. I didn't really care much for the PC-88 or any other 80's Japanese home computers before. After watching your videos though, I kind of want to try some of the games out. Also, how fluent are you in Japanese? I couldn't really find any other English-speaking youtubers that talk about untranslated Japan-only games that're text-heavy (technically this game got released overseas, but only on the Turbo CD.)

[@BasementBrothers]

I've lived in Japan for the last 20 years and speak only Japanese at home, so the language doesn't pose much of a barrier for me. :) Talking about games and hardware that most English-speaking fans are not very familiar with is my passion, so I'm really glad to hear that you enjoy my videos and that you became more interested in these machines after watching. Thanks so much. -Mr. Jakes

[@Haganeren]

Super cool ! I did a review on this one years ago but i'm trying to revisit it, giving it a little more details. I'm especially trying to complete the second The LEgend of HEroes which.... Nobody ever talk about. It has that fun "world building" perspective where you are still in the world you already know but there is additional area which doesn't have overworld and can be VERY annoying. Overall, it's a "good but not that great" game just like the first one but i think it's quality is less excusable because it was out later on the machine. At the time, Falcom had a lot of problems internally to resolve...... The Garghav Trilogy really saved them ! Well, i still need to clean up my notes, thanks a LOT for the video, it's especially great to see the original packaging !

[@BasementBrothers]

Oh, I have a lot to say about the second game...

[@Haganeren]

@@BasementBrothers Oh oh oh ! I'm eager to see that in the future ! I'm nearly at the end myself !

[@plewlonehitknown4812]

Never thought falcom had that advanced rpg's made in that time! Thanks! Now I can nerd through more games😅 I have a deep nostalgia for the first "digital playable rpg's"...Maybe it is my mind that carries me away each time, cause I like fantasy-stories from other countries. I don't know(there are some german awesome games also), but it is exciting each time I find out about more creative heads from the past! Cheerz

[@carlosaugustodinizgarcia3526]

13:32 hah ,you have Burai. A shame this game was never translated because the artwork is amazing. The artwork was done by Shingo Araki,the same character designer responsible for the anime versions of Cutie Honey,Rose of Versalles and specially Saint Seiya (the main character looks like Seiya as well). How this game never come to Europe and Latin America for the Sega CD?Saint Seiya was huge on those regions in the early 90's and Sega dominated the market.

[@BasementBrothers]

Yeah and the music for the first Burai was done by one of the members of the band SHOW-YA!

[@JBurtonPCExpress]

This man should be considered a straight up historian

[@SeafoamSmiles]

Re-released on the Nintendo Switch eShop as of about a week ago, but sadly it is largely untranslated.

[@BasementBrothers]

Yeah. Still gotta play the TurboGrafx CD version for English... ...Oh yeah or the PC-98 English patch that came out recently.

[@NightWolve75]

Very nice, better than that Lentil Bowl video on Falcom a while back! Make more! ;) Oh BTW, that was an epic voice-acting sample you picked from the TurboGrafx-CD port! I don't remember that, haha! I associate the game more with "A fine good mornin' to ya, milord!"

[@BasementBrothers]

I can't compete with Bowl of Lentils. His videos are amazing. Everyone uses the "Fine good mornin'" clip since it is not only hilarious, it is literally the first voice you hear when you start the game. I wanted to use a different one.

[@NightWolve75]

@@BasementBrothers Yeah, fine idea to vary it up, haha. I remember the other clip you used, the guy trying to sound like a street New Yorker! That's hilarious!

[@garethrns]

FWIW Mr. Jakes would be a great name for a cat.

[@Vulpas]

Oh man, I didn't know the Trails series went so far back... It's an even more intimidating series than I thought lol

[@BasementBrothers]

This isn't "Trails", but it is "Legend of Heroes". Trails didn't start until 2004.

[@Choops6969]

You ever figure out the fix for graphical/text issues with late 90'/early 2000 falcom games running on windows 10? played around with compatability modes and i have similar issues with Sorcerian Original + Complete.

[@BasementBrothers]

I'm afraid not. The footage I showed in this video is still the best I know how to manage..

[@thesercaptaincarhoonch6878]

As someone named Logan it was cool to see a character named Logan even if it was from a bad translation.

[@BasementBrothers]

The translation is actually really good!

[@sohousama]

a Simpsons scene, nice! You just earned a sub!

[@BasementBrothers]

Oh... if you like Simpsons scenes...

[@PhoenixNoKiseki]

I think like the original SMT games, the first Legend of Heroes is more notable for what it spawned rather than being ground breaking on their own.

[@demilembias2527]

Falcom in the 80s was like, please *do* make copies of our floppies

[@BasementBrothers]

Not really. Today PC-88 disks are pretty easy to make exact copies and images of, but there actually is some encryption on the disks. At the time there were pirates who made copy programs which could copy certain games, but you needed a copy program which supported the encryption for the particular game you wanted to copy. Popular pirate copy programs for PC-88 were "Magic Copy" and "Rats&Star" among others, and they had to keep releasing new editions of these programs in order to keep supporting new games. Falcom games typically allowed you to create a user disk, which would also work as a copy of the system disk, but you can't play the game with the system disk alone. All the other required disks required some considerable effort to copy at the time. Thanks for watching!

[@xnamkcor]

Was there a Sorcerian editor of some sort available to users?

[@BasementBrothers]

I think you had to have some knowledge of programming to make your own scenarios.

[@xnamkcor]

@@BasementBrothers Is there a website for them that you know of?

[@braillynn]

I think I prefer the character portraits in the original vs the Windows 95 version.

[@kingthorgrim1591]

any way i can play this besides emulation? Mednefan not working for me

[@solidusgrcsnakegrc3322]

Which versions do you suggest, for non Japanese speakers :D

[@BasementBrothers]

The TurboGrafX CD version is the only English version of the game!

[@GiordanDiodato]

now review the Turbo version

[@brutalworldvidzproductions2647]

This looks oddly similar to Zavas

[@texben123]

Some of the dragon slayer series(in it’s on the world.) legends of heroes1-2 (and it’s on world) Legends of heroes 3-5/ Legends of heroes(English version PSP) 2,4,3 Trails in the sky 1-3rd(Zumeria) Trails of zero and Azure (Zumeria) Trails of cold steel 1-4(Zumeria) Trails of reverie Trails of daybreak/Dark 1-2 Trails of Nayuta (artificial planet and next to Ys and Zumeria) Ys1-9(Elisis) Tokyo Xanadu(original earth)??? And the other Falcons games(in pocket dimensions around a planet) That’s pretty much the theory🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔 it is just so I can put it into words.

[@Walczyk]

Did you skip the story in this video? I feel like I missed it

[@BasementBrothers]

Yeah, true. I really didn't talk much about the story in this game... but that's because there really isn't much to it. It's pretty much the standard go slay the dragon kind of thing... though a post-apocalyptic angle is hinted at. I cover it all in my video about the second game though.

[@Walczyk]

@@BasementBrothers awesome, you got me hooked when i watched your video on legend of heroes iv!

[@momamario]

I’m a little sad that legend of heroes never kept the world map screens. I get that it’s their “thing” but I never liked the field screens

[@texben123]

Dragon slayer and legends of Heroes 1 is the original Earth 2 billion years in the future after humanity is attacked by an evil dragon called The Dragon King and baron Drax pretty much released an army of artificial monsters using ancient technology from 2 billion years ago to conquer the world. Until the King's son pretty much save the world and became the next king until the second game. Now I know that the legends of Heroes1&2 are in another dimension on Earth now because of the more recent games which was added to the different dimensions each planet or each game has an invisible barrier meaning each world is in a pocket dimension. And I know these two first games is back on Earth the original one. Legends of Heroes3-5 is in a different world similar to Earth but is light years away in a pocket dimension because in that pocket dimension the world will split into three worlds which are also in Pocket dimensions which is where they got the idea for the rest of the newer series the trail series that also in a pocket dimension cuz I know this is where they got the idea to create each World in its own dimension now a pocket Dimension is smaller than a normal universe which is actually possible. But in nature pretty much black holes are actually pocket dimensions pretty much miniature universes our entire universe is literally inside of a massive black hole it's pretty much the same concept as Multiverse Theory is just on a smaller scale black holes are small universes so making a pocket dimension with advanced technology is possible. Legends of Heroes 1-2( is back on Earth 2 billion years ago) Legends of Heroes3-5( is another Earth-like planet in a pocket dimension but was split into three worlds) Legends of Heroes/ trail series( takes place on another Earth-like planet called Zumeria also in another pocket dimension) the Ys series ( is that another Earth like planet Elisis is also in a pocket dimension) Nayuta's world( is definitely in a pocket dimension on a nearly destroyed world which was ruled over by Mythos) and Tokyo Xanadu( actually connects with a dragon slayer series which takes place 2,000 years after Legends of Heroes 2 because some of the boss is in that game are from the original game meaning it's the same Earth just in the modern day)

[@Ghennesph]

wow, PC games were way cooler back in the day.

[@philmason9653]

I felt so ripped off when I got the Saturn version. It's inexcusable to me that they were so lazy they couldn't even bother to implement proper scrolling. I'm cool with old school looks & design, but no way Falcom should've let them release it in a state worse than the PC-Engine version from a prior generation.

[@aibada6594]

So Dragon Slayer series was inherited by Legend of Heroes... wonder why they decided to change the series name

[@BasementBrothers]

The answer is actually in the video! "Dragonslayer" was basically the name Yoshio Kiya used for pretty much every game he directed. After he left Falcom they retired the Dragonslayer name.

[@geddonjt]

Rad

[@targuscinco]

This video is 3 years old. Unsubscribed!

[@franwex]

Please make a bootleg copy of this game to play, thank you.

[@blumiu2426]

I still feel the same about the series as you described from early installments. I don't mind the dated feel necessarily as it's a bit of nostalgia from JRPGs of old, yet I suppose the archetypes have lost their luster for me.