Let's face it: Role-playing Games have been very hit or miss in the past couple of years. It doesn't truly matter which platform you choose, the games have been above-average at best. Whether it be Xenosaga, Final Fantasy, or anything else, the games have fallen quite short of my expectations as a fan of the RPG genre. So, when I heard that Microsoft Game Studios was going to be creating an RPG for the 360, I wasn't about to hold my breath.
Then I heard who they were bringing onto the staff to create the game, and my outlook changed pretty quickly. When you are starting fairly fresh in a genre for your company, you better bring in someone who is a heavy hitter. Microsoft didn't mess around, bringing in Hironobu Sakaguchi, who is widely considered as the Godfather of Final Fantasy. Sakaguchi then brought in Akira Toriyama, widely known for creating the hit Anime series Dragonball Z, to do character design. Then, to finish the trifecta, Sakaguchi brought in one of his longtime friends, Nobuo Uematsu, who is considered to be one of the most successful music arrangers and composers for video game music.
Being a Final Fantasy fanatic ever since the first game came out for the original NES, this was a fairly anticipated title for me. After finally getting my hands on it, I can tell you that Microsoft did a fairly good job, but they have some work to do in order to be a FF-killer.
Gameplay
Blue Dragon, like any RPG, has to start out by painting a picture of a world in ruin or despair. In this case, you are being told the story of Shu, who is a young boy living in a village that is being terrorized by a creature known as a Land Shark. Along with his friends, Jiro and Kluke, you begin a journey to uncover the identity of the creature and figure out why it has been tormenting their village. A little trap takes the trio of friends deep into the ruins that are outside of the village, which leads them to discover that the creature is actually a mechanical device. Eventually, you find out that the creator of the machine is a madman who is simply out to drive people insane. It's not a very original storyline, but this is a tried and tested way of doing an RPG for about 15 years, so why question it? Every game needs a final boss...
Akira Toriyama's character design is about as you expect it to be. The characters look like off-shoots of his DBZ universe. This isn't a bad thing, because the design of each character is quite flawless. The characters move very fluidly on the field, whether it be when you're roaming on the overworld map or in an actual battle. The monster shadows (more on that later) that accompany each character are also very well designed, although I found that, due to the hue of each monster, it can sometimes be difficult to see them if you're in certain areas of the game. It could just be the television, but a little tweaking of the settings was needed.
The battle system is pretty straight-forward, as you would expect with any turn-based RPG. Your characters and the enemies you face will trade off turns on the battlefield until one group is dead. What differentiates this game from other RPGs is that your characters each have shadows that take on the form of a monster. Each of these simply correspond to a different character, but they can all eventually have the same stats and abilities, considering that the battle system is a mixture of straight turn-based and a job system for levelling up. Speaking of the job system, I'm normally against it, but it works in this game. The job system means that each character can take on a different set of abilities, no matter what point of the game you are in, so long as you have unlocked that particular job. So, for instance, you can have a character that is great at using attack magic (more commonly known as Black Magic in the RPG world), or you can have a character that is good at defending. There are various choices that you can pick from in order to customize your party, but that solely rests in your hands.
A beautiful world to explore...
The graphics are absolutely stunning. The world that you have been placed in for this game will boast very clean textures and smooth transitions from roaming the world to jumping into a battle. As you roam the world, you will find that there are no more random battles. Instead, all the monsters will be visible on the map, for the most part. There are times where approaching a treasure chest will cause a monster to pop out from the ground or from behind a wall, but there's nothing wrong with that. You will be able to decide what monsters to fight on the field, which you can also use to your advantage. A nice addition is the fact that you can increase your field of range and pick how many enemies you want to fight at once, so long as these enemies are within range. If you manage to get monsters that are not friendly towards one another, you can cause what's known as a "Monster Battle" and watch as the monsters attack each other, making your job easier.
The world of Blue Dragon, unfortunately, doesn't come without some flaws which hold it back from being better than the above-average titles I was referring to earlier in the article. First and foremost, the game itself comes on three DVDs. While this may be knit-picky to some extent, it still is an annoyance that I think the gaming industry should be beyond at this point in time. Also, you'll find that the meat of the game is pretty much situated on the second and third discs of the game. The first disc seemingly takes forever to go through, and really doesn't have too much to offer.
Going back to the characters of the game, the voice acting is very over-the-top and can get on your nerves. Characters suffer from odd delays in a conversation, or sudden raises in their decibel level, even if they're just having a normal conversation. Also, you will learn to despise Marumaro, the little cat-like figure that joins your party. His voice can rip through paper, and it makes me wish that I could individually mute a particular character.
The game's length is not really a negative, as it can go in upwards of 50-60 hours. However, as previously noted, you truly don't get into the guts of the game until about halfway through it. The first disc can be flat out mind-numbing with its boredom as the game continues to remind you about why you're setting out on this adventure, or to randomly have Shu yell "I won't give up!" for the 47th time. Once you get into the second disc, though, the game will have you hooked, and considering all of those achievements that there are to unlock, it's tough to pull away at that point. Also, have fun unlocking every last one of those achievements. Some of them are flat out impossible, it seems.
Final Thoughts
All in all, Microsoft Game Studios gave it a good run for their first true attempt at a turn-based RPG. Bringing in Sakaguchi, Uematsu, and Toriyama, seems to have paid off. The game will have enough to attract newcomers of the genre, while those hardcore RPG fanatics from years gone by will have something to try out that is more their speed on the 360, although those newcomers may be scared off by the fact that the game can eat up 60 hours. It can be tough at times to get going in the first 10-15 hours, but if you can get through the somewhat slow storyline in the first bit of the game, it will grow on you. Achievement freaks that want to boost their score may want to give this a good swing to see just how many of them they can unlock.
The final line is this: Blue Dragon is worth picking up if you're a hardcore RPG fan, but if you are new to the genre, rent it first to try it out....then buy it if you want to finish it off.
Scores/Ratings
Presentation
Blue Dragon offers a beautiful world to roam and very slick character design. The storyline starts slow, but it will grow on you the longer you play.
Score: 8.0/10
Gameplay
The battle system is pretty traditional, but the job system gives a nice little twist to the way you develop your characters. However, it's nothing original.
Score: 7.5/10
Features/Achievements
There are plenty of unlockables when it comes to achievements, some of which will drive you insane. Feature wise, it's a one-player game that has also been promised downloadable content in the future, some of which is already available.
Score: 8.0/10
Final Score: 7.7/10
Then I heard who they were bringing onto the staff to create the game, and my outlook changed pretty quickly. When you are starting fairly fresh in a genre for your company, you better bring in someone who is a heavy hitter. Microsoft didn't mess around, bringing in Hironobu Sakaguchi, who is widely considered as the Godfather of Final Fantasy. Sakaguchi then brought in Akira Toriyama, widely known for creating the hit Anime series Dragonball Z, to do character design. Then, to finish the trifecta, Sakaguchi brought in one of his longtime friends, Nobuo Uematsu, who is considered to be one of the most successful music arrangers and composers for video game music.
Being a Final Fantasy fanatic ever since the first game came out for the original NES, this was a fairly anticipated title for me. After finally getting my hands on it, I can tell you that Microsoft did a fairly good job, but they have some work to do in order to be a FF-killer.
Gameplay
Blue Dragon, like any RPG, has to start out by painting a picture of a world in ruin or despair. In this case, you are being told the story of Shu, who is a young boy living in a village that is being terrorized by a creature known as a Land Shark. Along with his friends, Jiro and Kluke, you begin a journey to uncover the identity of the creature and figure out why it has been tormenting their village. A little trap takes the trio of friends deep into the ruins that are outside of the village, which leads them to discover that the creature is actually a mechanical device. Eventually, you find out that the creator of the machine is a madman who is simply out to drive people insane. It's not a very original storyline, but this is a tried and tested way of doing an RPG for about 15 years, so why question it? Every game needs a final boss...
Akira Toriyama's character design is about as you expect it to be. The characters look like off-shoots of his DBZ universe. This isn't a bad thing, because the design of each character is quite flawless. The characters move very fluidly on the field, whether it be when you're roaming on the overworld map or in an actual battle. The monster shadows (more on that later) that accompany each character are also very well designed, although I found that, due to the hue of each monster, it can sometimes be difficult to see them if you're in certain areas of the game. It could just be the television, but a little tweaking of the settings was needed.
The battle system is pretty straight-forward, as you would expect with any turn-based RPG. Your characters and the enemies you face will trade off turns on the battlefield until one group is dead. What differentiates this game from other RPGs is that your characters each have shadows that take on the form of a monster. Each of these simply correspond to a different character, but they can all eventually have the same stats and abilities, considering that the battle system is a mixture of straight turn-based and a job system for levelling up. Speaking of the job system, I'm normally against it, but it works in this game. The job system means that each character can take on a different set of abilities, no matter what point of the game you are in, so long as you have unlocked that particular job. So, for instance, you can have a character that is great at using attack magic (more commonly known as Black Magic in the RPG world), or you can have a character that is good at defending. There are various choices that you can pick from in order to customize your party, but that solely rests in your hands.
A beautiful world to explore...
The graphics are absolutely stunning. The world that you have been placed in for this game will boast very clean textures and smooth transitions from roaming the world to jumping into a battle. As you roam the world, you will find that there are no more random battles. Instead, all the monsters will be visible on the map, for the most part. There are times where approaching a treasure chest will cause a monster to pop out from the ground or from behind a wall, but there's nothing wrong with that. You will be able to decide what monsters to fight on the field, which you can also use to your advantage. A nice addition is the fact that you can increase your field of range and pick how many enemies you want to fight at once, so long as these enemies are within range. If you manage to get monsters that are not friendly towards one another, you can cause what's known as a "Monster Battle" and watch as the monsters attack each other, making your job easier.
The world of Blue Dragon, unfortunately, doesn't come without some flaws which hold it back from being better than the above-average titles I was referring to earlier in the article. First and foremost, the game itself comes on three DVDs. While this may be knit-picky to some extent, it still is an annoyance that I think the gaming industry should be beyond at this point in time. Also, you'll find that the meat of the game is pretty much situated on the second and third discs of the game. The first disc seemingly takes forever to go through, and really doesn't have too much to offer.
Going back to the characters of the game, the voice acting is very over-the-top and can get on your nerves. Characters suffer from odd delays in a conversation, or sudden raises in their decibel level, even if they're just having a normal conversation. Also, you will learn to despise Marumaro, the little cat-like figure that joins your party. His voice can rip through paper, and it makes me wish that I could individually mute a particular character.
The game's length is not really a negative, as it can go in upwards of 50-60 hours. However, as previously noted, you truly don't get into the guts of the game until about halfway through it. The first disc can be flat out mind-numbing with its boredom as the game continues to remind you about why you're setting out on this adventure, or to randomly have Shu yell "I won't give up!" for the 47th time. Once you get into the second disc, though, the game will have you hooked, and considering all of those achievements that there are to unlock, it's tough to pull away at that point. Also, have fun unlocking every last one of those achievements. Some of them are flat out impossible, it seems.
Final Thoughts
All in all, Microsoft Game Studios gave it a good run for their first true attempt at a turn-based RPG. Bringing in Sakaguchi, Uematsu, and Toriyama, seems to have paid off. The game will have enough to attract newcomers of the genre, while those hardcore RPG fanatics from years gone by will have something to try out that is more their speed on the 360, although those newcomers may be scared off by the fact that the game can eat up 60 hours. It can be tough at times to get going in the first 10-15 hours, but if you can get through the somewhat slow storyline in the first bit of the game, it will grow on you. Achievement freaks that want to boost their score may want to give this a good swing to see just how many of them they can unlock.
The final line is this: Blue Dragon is worth picking up if you're a hardcore RPG fan, but if you are new to the genre, rent it first to try it out....then buy it if you want to finish it off.
Scores/Ratings
Presentation
Blue Dragon offers a beautiful world to roam and very slick character design. The storyline starts slow, but it will grow on you the longer you play.
Score: 8.0/10
Gameplay
The battle system is pretty traditional, but the job system gives a nice little twist to the way you develop your characters. However, it's nothing original.
Score: 7.5/10
Features/Achievements
There are plenty of unlockables when it comes to achievements, some of which will drive you insane. Feature wise, it's a one-player game that has also been promised downloadable content in the future, some of which is already available.
Score: 8.0/10
Final Score: 7.7/10
It's an awesome game Zapa, well worth it. It'll definitely keep you busy for a while
