Dragon Valor

Dragon Valor is a 1999 action role-playing game developed by Now Production and published by Namco for the PlayStation. It is the second sequel to Dragon Buster. In the Dragon Valor world, dragons are powerful monsters. The player's role as a Dragon Valor is to slay them with a magical sword passed down through successive generations. Similar to Phantasy Star III, Dragon Valor differs from other platform action games of the time because who the protagonist marries changes future playable characters, plot events, and which ending the player receives.

Dragons and gods waged war against each other at the cost of everyone else's lives. Four magic swords were created to both stop the war and prevent others. Azos, Kadum, and Soul were created from angels while Igunis was created from a god. Dragons lost the war and many were killed off. Dragons found a way to survive through an unusual form of shape shifting. They can manifest themselves from the "evil in the human heart." When a person is consumed with hate this allows a dragon to manifest itself by turning that person into a dragon or dragon halfling. This creates an internal struggle for humans which is overcome by thinking of their loved ones. The most powerful dragon and main antagonist-Dahaka-could not be killed and was imprisoned behind the Gates of Gehenna. These Gates can only be unlocked using Azos, Kadum, and Soul together. Each generation of playable characters follows a similar plot. The protagonist has an external threat (either a human political rival or a dragon) where they use a magic sword to eradicate it. If they do not have a magic sword they go out in search of one. If they already have one they will often search for additional magic swords. As they travel from one location to another the protagonist will face a variety of enemies. Some enemies are one-offs (animal-, fungi-, humanoid- and plant-based in design) while others are re-occurring, such as the dragon halfling Halfas. Re-occurring enemies are after political power, the power of Dahaka, or both. Re-occurring enemies are working to get the magic swords for Dahaka's release from the Gates of Gehenna. Multiple protagonists struggle with their hatred from the harm several antagonists cause and have to fight against turning into a dragon. Once their goals are achieved the protagonist goes home and puts in to place who will be the next protagonist. Some protagonists will have the option to save a damsel-in-distress mid-adventure. If they choose to save her she will marry him and their child will be the next chapter's protagonist. If they choose not to the protagonist will choose another woman from their chapter to marry or will adopt a child.