Bahamut Lagoon

Bahamut Lagoon is a tactical JRPG from Square that casts the player as young commander Byuu, fighting in the resistance against the empire of Kahna together with a party of dragons and their riders, while trying to rescue a kidnapped princess and turn the tide of a war his homeland became entangled in without warning. Unlike the action JRPGs of the time, the game is built on thought-out tactical strategy, where units move and fight on a grid-based battlefield similar to Ogre Battle or Tactics Ogre, with position, terrain, and unit formation deciding the outcome of every battle.

A peculiarity is the system of caring for the dragons that accompany individual characters into battle — the player must feed them, equip them with armor, and look after their mood and relationship with their rider, which directly affects their performance and behavior in combat. The combination of a political story full of betrayal and alliances, building relationships between rider and dragon, and demanding tactics creates a dense, well thought-out whole in which the player must plan several turns ahead. Visually the game benefits from detailed sprites and elaborate battle animations, above average in size and color for its time; the music was composed by Yasunori Mitsuda, whose compositions give the story an epic touch matching the scale of the military campaign.

Bahamut Lagoon was released only in Japan and for a long time remained a matter of fan translations in the English-speaking world, yet among genre connoisseurs it is valued as one of the most elaborate tactical JRPGs of its generation. Its emphasis on the relationship between units, dragon, and rider, and on thought-out strategy, makes it a title that still holds up today alongside more acclaimed genre companions like Final Fantasy Tactics. The lack of an official Western release also long made it one of the most sought-after import titles for fans of tactical RPGs on the SNES, who were willing to overcome the language barrier for the depth of its battle system.

Why play: For connoisseurs of tactical JRPGs who don't mind the language barrier, Bahamut Lagoon offers an elaborate battle system built on the relationship between unit, dragon, and rider that holds up even alongside more acclaimed genre companions.