Blue Dragon Reviews

• A poo-blackened, shining example of "childish" done wrong.

  
  By A1ZX4B566H5BCN on 2007-09-04
  "Nene tries to use his power to make others do whatever he wants them to. People like that are no good!" exclaims some character at some point of this story. It's hard to tell which character, because any of them could have said that. Instead of differentiating the characters subtly, Sakaguchi and Toriyama have designed a game with characters whose personalities are differentiated according to nothing but personal quirks: Shu and Maro are overzealous, Zola is sultry, etc. Blue Dragon has somehow managed to achieve a T rating while employing a form of storytelling that would insult the intelligence of players far below the recommended age range for the game. It is often said that in order to appreciate Blue Dragon, one must be familiar with "old-school" JRPGs. I am, but that doesn't make the story or characters any more interesting.
  
  In terms of gameplay conventions, Blue Dragon is anything but old-school, and that is one of the game's huge pluses. Enemies can be avoided on the field screen, your party can fight multi-round battles by challenging several enemies simultaneously, and items are mostly scavenged for rather than being irrationally dropped by defeated monsters. All of the characters can use all of the abilities in battle, once trained properly, and there are several action sequences mixed into the gameplay. None of these elements suggest that Blue Dragon's design is anything other than hyper-modern, and the "old school" pretense seems to be nothing other than an excuse for consistently employing sloppy, dull narrative.
  
  Blue Dragon is quite fun to play. The graphics are consistently excellent, and although there is no noticeable slowdown per se, the entire game seems to run about 20% slower than it would if the motions depicted in the animations were animated fluidly. This seems to suggest that the developers decided to slow down the entire game, to keep the slowdown created by technically-demanding areas from becoming noticeable. The fun gameplay of Blue Dragon would be all the more enjoyable if everything was sped up by 20%, with a proportionate framerate increase, rather than frame-skipping, to preserve the fluidity of the motions. The XBox 360 was clearly designed to be able to polygon-push more than fast enough to achieve this.
  
  Nobuo Uematsu's score for this game is surprisingly good, and the piano track played at ruined Talta Village, for example, exceeds the quality of most of his work for the Final Fantasy series. I don't care much for the musica machina motif that runs throughout this game's score, but it is appropriate for the large number of metal complexes and robot fight scenes. It's hard to recommend a game like this entirely for its soundtrack, when it's so easy to get the music seperately, and when during the play of the game, 10% of the music fills up 90% of the playtime. The vocal tracks are great, especially the epic final battle theme, which subtly pays homage to a similar track from Final Fantasy VII.
  
  This is basically the best-looking JRPG ever, by virtue of the fact that it's the first large-budget JRPG to appear on a current-gen console. But even this honor can seem underwhelming at times, since the degree of graphical improvement this game offers over some of the better-looking PS2 RPGs is nowhere near the degree of graphical improvement historically offered several times by Squaresoft, whenever it bested its previously most graphically-advanced JRPG. The art design for some of Blue Dragon's locations, such as Pachess Town and Wither Village, is incredibly beautiful, while the remainder of the locations appear to be heavily copied and pasted together.
  
  I would give this game 2.5 stars really, but I've rounded up to 3, because of Uematsu's great musical contribution. For an example of a good video game featuring blatantly childish design, check out Lunar: Silver Star Story. That game comes from the Blue Dragon school of design, but adds a lot of flavor to the formula, and would certainly be remake-worthy on a current-gen console.
  
  

• some of the best the genre has to offer.

  
  By A2OR09N5HH20PY on 2007-09-06
  Blue Dragon brings back a lot of good memories of classic RPGs ive played over the years. While not groundbreaking in any way, Blue Dragon takes all the eastern rpg conventions to near-perfection.
  
  This may come off as a kids game when you see the childlike characters and cartoony animation style, but for every time you see some cute animals dancing you hear someone yell "that bastard!" or you encounter some ridiculously challenging boss. even the hardcore RPGer will find a challenge in some of these bosses.
  
  The music is always fitting and usually quite beautiful. when you have the composer of FF I-V would you expect any less? i gotta say though, the boss battle theme feels a bit out of place. the total cheezemetal wouldnt be as bad without the vocals, and i know Ian Gillan (Deep Purple) is capable of much better. the voice work was all done exceptionally well though, with the main character Shu being voiced by the same actor as Izzy from the original cast of digimon. very recognizeable voice. i hadnt seen that show in at leased 5 years and i knew who it was right away. thats kind of pointless info, but i thought it was cool.
  
  The main thing that drew me toward this game was the job system. If you've played Final Fantasy V you'll feel right at home with this job system. you select a class (sword master, black mage, ect) for each character. you can freely change class when not in battle, and as you grow in each class you learn the skills and abilities associated with that class. as your characters grow in level you can unlock new classes for them, although there are only 9 classes total, which i found a little disappointing; however, the job system is still my favorite aspect of the game. character growth and trying to balance the right mixes of classes for each is done better in this game than most others ive played. its simple yet very effective, like most aspects of this game.
  
  Graphically, i think this game looks great. the world is full of unique and beautiful environments. from the characters to the environments and buildings, this is Akira Toriyama art all the way. this is one of the most cinematic games i have ever played. impressive pixar quality cutscenes and animations abound.
  
  Blue Dragon plays out in the standard turn based style, however, there are no random encounters. you see your enemies walk around the areas as you explore. making contact with them will start the battle. when the battle starts you have a list of commands (attack, defend, spell, ect) and you choose one for each character. i feel a much stronger sense of strategy in this than any other game like this ive played. there is a list at the top of the screen showing you the next 4-10 turns. certain skills can be charged to increase power. the more you strengthen the attack, the more turns you have to wait for it to actualy happen. the charging is done with a mini game similar to the 3 click swing of golf games. little things like this add some extra depth to the combat.
  
  the story itself doesnt shatter any conventions by any means. if you've played Japanese RPGs before you know the idea. evil being trying to overthrow the world/ragtag group of young heros set out to stop him and meet new friends along the way. its just that, like the gameplay, the characters and their underlying stories are done so well. i find myself actually caring what fate is in store for these characters. nearly everyone in this story has such a strong sense of charm and perseverance that you cant help but root for them.
  
  The experience offered by Blue Dragon will make the seasoned RPG player remember exactly what got them into these games in the first place. For those who havent played one of the many Japanese RPGs over the last 20 years, this is one of the best places to start.
  
  

• Unleash the Dragon (3.5 Stars)

  
  By A29BQ6B90Y1R5F on 2007-08-31
  Blue Dragon is yet another highly anticipated XBOX360 title. Not completely for hype, however, but more because of the men behind the game. Hironobu Sakaguchi, Akira Toriyama and Nobuo Uematsu. Sakaguchi is, of course, the famed created of the never-ending Final Fantasy series, Akira Toriyama is a famous character designer for the Dragon Quest series as well as Dragon Ball and Nobuo Uematsu is the music composer for the Final Fantasy games and a contributor to several other games. The only man missing from this "dream team" is Yuji Horii, the producer for Dragon Quest. The last time these men teamed up we got what is arguably one of the greatest RPGs of all time: Chrono Trigger. So, of course, with a game like Chrono Trigger under your belt, as well as the Final Fantasy series, expectations for Blue Dragon are high. Do they live up? If you lower your expectations they do, but for the most part, this game is more of an introduction for those who aren't familiar with Japanese RPGs.
  
  You play as Shu, and as the game begins you fight a Land Shark, a monster that's been terrorizing the village of Talta. Shu and his friends Kluke and Jiro have a plan to get rid of the Land Shark by leading him into a trap. Not everything works out as perfectly planned however and before he knows it, Shu is waking up in some ruins alongside his friends. This is where your journey ultimately begins.
  
  The reason it seems as though Blue Dragon is an introduction to Japanese RPGs is simple: Everything about it is simple and basic, and there's really nothing too "deep" here. When I say simple and basic, I'm not kidding. The story is pretty basic. Mostly because you just don't feel like it's going anywhere. The characters don't help either and neither does the writing. However, sometimes simplicity is key. Because of how simple the game is, the learning curve isn't so steep here. And while the story and characters are nothing special, the gameplay elements are.
  
  Akira Toriyama's work here is obvious. The characters look like they were pulled straight out of Dragon Ball, the monsters look like they're pulled straight out of Dragon Quest. The characters are obviously children, and a lot of the game is rather "cute" looking but the game is very beautiful looking. The cutscenes are great, and some of the voice acting is pretty good (albeit at times annoying).
  
  Gameplay wise, Blue Dragon is like most of your traditional RPGs. There are no random battles, just enemies out on the field that you battle upon making contact with them. This means battling is largely optional. There are, of course, times when monsters are in your way and you'll be forced to fight, but for the most part, there are no random encounters and that's a blessing. In battle is rather simplistic. It's a lot like battling in the NES installments of Final Fantasy and the Dragon Quest series. It's entirely turn based. This means that there's some time for strategy, and the game encourages it. You know when your enemies are going to attack and you can plan accordingly. Blue Dragon adds a little something to its field system though. The Attack Circle. Outside of battle you can make a circle to engage multiple groups of enemies at once. This helps to clear out areas faster, but the real gem of this is to get two enemies that hate each other into battle and watch as they attack each other before they attack you. In the long run, this really isn't something you'll do a lot. Blue Dragon is by no means a hard game.
  
  A slight problem with the battle system however is framerate issues. Turn based battles are usually slow as it is, but here you'll find they're even slower and it isn't because you have to spend time watching every action, it's because the framerate dips and the game lags.
  
  The abilities system is quite unique at least. You select a job, learn the abilities in that class and once you learn abilities you can mix and match them all you want. You can change jobs whenever you want as well. It's a great and interesting system that allows for tons of customization. It also a great way to provide some strategy in the long run. This is because certain classes will have a direct effect on your stats. For example, a sword master gets a large boost to his attack and defense. Mages get a boost in magic abilities. The system is very similar to the job system found in Final Fantasy V
  
  Blue Dragon isn't a bad sounding game, but Nobuo Uematsu has certainly done better. For the most part, what you get in terms of music is actually pretty good, though you won't find yourself humming most of it any time soon. As I said earlier, the voice acting isn't so bad, but there are some moments when it can be pretty annoying.
  
  Blue Dragon is by no means a bad game. It's just a game that didn't reach as high as it could. It sticks to simplicity and basics. Basic storyline and basic characters. Certainly that's not always a bad thing, but in this day and age, no RPG can survive on gameplay alone. It needs a good story and good character development. Both of these things, Blue Dragon lacks.
  
  Pros:
  
  +Some nice visuals
  +Simple gameplay elements
  +Battles encourage strategy
  +No Random Encounters
  +Job system allows for a lot of customization
  +Great cutscenes with some decent voice acting
  
  Cons:
  
  -The story is not interesting
  -The characters are nothing special, either
  -The game is far too easy for veterans of the genre
  -Dips in frame rate in battle are annoying
  
  

• Suprisingly good

  
  By A1SKSWWQT1CFP7 on 2007-10-01
  OK, I am not an anime fan. Not even a little. I tried Blue Dragon simply because I was jonesing for an RPG, and this was about all there was after Oblivion for the 360.
  
  Well, much to my suprise, I ended-up thoroughly engrossed in the darn thing.
  
  Since I have limited time, I'll do a short and sweet Pro/Con summary:
  
  PROS:
  
  Absolutely stellar graphics. It really seems like you are playing a Pixar movie at times. Colorful and inventive, Blue Dragon is a pleasure to look-at, and lets face it, that matters.
  
  Very simple and intuitive interface. Almost everything you need to access for your inventory, stats, spells, etc are logically located in one, succinct menu, with the map in another. Very quick and easy. Makes you wonder why after 10+ years the otherwise excellent Resident Evil series can't figure this out.
  
  The storyline is predictable silly, even juvenile, but it's done with enough charm and originality to more-or-less make up for it. Somehow, I still wanted to see what would happen next, and I am one cynical sod ;)
  
  Tons of content. Lets face it, 60 bucks is a lot of dough, and I would usually shy away from buying a plotted game. Normally I rent them, as the replay value, at least for me is low. But this thing is so darn huge, that it will keep you playing for a month probably. At least as long as Oblivion from what I can tell.
  
  Technically, the game seems nearly flawless. I have experienced no graphic gitches or frame-rate slowdowns at all.
  
  Soundtrack. The score and incedental music is excellent, if not slightly incongruous. There's a main leitmotif that sounds almost exactly the same as the one from Godfather II. There's also a very cool uptempo original metal track from Deep Purple's Ian Gillan that plays during the boss fights. Cool track, except that I wish they had more than one in the game :/ I noticed a couple of teen reviewers noted the "cheese metal" boss-music. I found this pretty hilarious. They are playing a game that looks like a carebears cartoon, what do they want, Slayer? The song that's there is heavy and fast enough to fit the action, without being out-of-place.
  
  
  Cons: (These are largely subjective)
  
  Frustrating content decisions. Although I haven't quite finished the game yet, (I'm on disc 3) so far this has been an almost entirely innocent and innocuous game, that I would highly recommend for any child. The gameworld is whimsical and charming, without the slightest hint of "adult content", with the bizarre addition of the occasional use of the word "b*stard". Now stop me if this doesn't seem weird to you, but why on earth would they have these cuddly, carebear-like charcters suddenly feel the need to yell that? It's not only unintentionly funny to an adult, (picture a lady smurf suddenly flipping-up their shirt for no reason)but it's keeping me from letting my 9-year old play a game that ordinarily would be fine. Like the game would be less fun if they didn't say "b*stard" a few times per disc. Just seems like a stupid business decision. "Hey! Let's limit millions of potential little-kid buyers from spending their 60 bucks so we can cuss a few times! They make a good, cute, kiddie game, then make it off-limits for much of their target audience. Weird. Glad they aren't handling my mutual fund.
  
  Repetiton. Any long-time fan of Japanese console RPG's is used to the somewhat repetitive combat, so it won't be news to you, but to any people more used-to western-style combat, fighting essentially the same battle 10,000 times can stretch your patience. After 20 hours or so of play, I found myself running past most of the mobs just so I wouldn't have to battle anymore. Although to be fair, they did add more depth and strategy to the fighting than normal, otherwise, i would have started avoiding the fights much sooner :)
  
  Overall, highly recommended.
  
  
  

• Overrated and overshadows more deserving titles.

  
  By A2QG76Z4LBNG64 on 2008-01-15
  I know no one's going to agree with me and I'm probably going to end up having something like "1/300 people found this review helpful," but I couldn't live with myself if I didn't even make some attempt at trying to tell you why I think this game is terrible.
  
  Okay, it's not the worst game ever. It could even be good, depending entirely and solely on your personal taste in games. If you like:
  
  Simplistic storyline
  Anime style visuals
  Anime style voice acting
  
  Then you might like this game. However, the visuals and voice acting isn't cutsie-anime, like Eternal Sonata is, instead it's much more generic. One of the characters is modeled after Gohan, one character is voiced by Garaa of the American anime. How much more generic can you ask for?
  
  The story goes little beyond some kids acting tough around each other and trying to save the world. Come on, Shu, you can do it! And that Gohan guy always seems to have an eternally angry face, rarely if ever having a facial expression change. Kill the landshark, go on a grand adventure... There's very little depth from what I saw.
  
  The only reason I give this game a 2 instead of a 1 is the battle system is decent. It's very slightly like Xenosaga in that you walk on the map and can either head straight on into a fight, or attempt to walk around them and avoid, but you engage them instead by basically getting in range, then opening up a menu and selecting to fight - which is a lot more work I want to ask for.
  
  Another thing that bothered me about this game is that, as mentioned in the title, it overshadows games that are way better. Enchanted Arms is better in almost every conceivably possible way. It has a storyline that goes into great depth that emphasize on the importance of the characters, not because they are legendary chosen stupid generic heroes, but because they each have their own deeply explained backgrounds that tie them into being motivated to wanting to save their kidnapped, lost friends - but being unable to. Blue Dragon, however, has none of that depth in storyline nor character personalities, yet somehow everyone who owns an Xbox 360 loves the Hell out of this game way over EA. I honestly can't understand why.
  
  
• skip it
  By A1JD2GXVKK2VCW on 2007-08-30
  Blue Dragon is not a game that is going to elicit a strong reaction from you. It's not terrible, or particularly great or memorable, so the most remarkable thing about it is how unremarkable it is. It's big: three DVDs big, thanks to loads of cutscenes and voice clips. But it isn't grand and sweeping, and it isn't particularly charming, either. Blue Dragon is simply "there." If you wanted to play a Japanese role-playing game on your Xbox 360, this will get the job done. If you wanted to play something that makes an impact, you'll need to keep waiting.
  
  
  
  
• Engaging fun
  By AK95AUC8SRHMP on 2007-09-06
  Blue Dragon has a simple story line, straightforward characters and a great system for skills and advancement. You can customize the character pretty nicely with this system, making it seem that you have more control over them than is typical. I have enjoyed it quite a bit, and would put it up against the Final Fantasy games any day, though from what I read the FF snobs are disagreeing. While I understand the complaints about the characters being flat, I have yet to see a console JRPG game where they weren't so perhaps expectations are a little off. The one disappointment to me is the music, there is some sort of 80s hair band metal that plays through many scenes and it is completely out of place.
  
  
• All Star Lineup
  By A3V6Z4RCDGRC44 on 2008-02-16
  The first game by Mistwalker Studios, the new project of Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi, Blue Dragon also features art by Dragonball/Dragon Quest artist Akira Toriyama and music by Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu. Does this all-star lineup lead for a quality game?
  
  The story's main character is Shu, a young boy from a remote village. Every year, the village is attacked by a massive "land shark". One year, Shu and his friends decide to attack the land shark to avenge those it killed. Catching onto it as it tries to flee, they find a cavern full of ancient machines. The land shark turns out to be the fin of a great airship, which carries them up to a sky fortress. The story's villain, Nene, reveals himself and indicates that he had the land shark attack the village to amuse himself. The heroes are quickly defeated by him and removed from the ship, but an unknown benefactor carries them back up to the ship and grants them each a power hidden in their shadows. The friends work their way through the world, trying to gain strength and find allies to fight against Nene.
  
  The game plays like almost any other RPG, with the same hit points, magic points, and turn-based system found in so many other games. There's a couple things that set Blue Dragon apart, though. Firstly, there are no "random" battles - like a few other games, Blue Dragon has enemies that appear on the map and can be avoided or pre-emptively attacked (or you can get attacked, too). Blue Dragon's main innovation in this part is that you can corral your enemies together in a radius around you before you start a battle, or specifically choose only one enemy when you are surrounded by a multitude. The main purpose of this is that sometimes enemies will fight each other - usually the strong preying on the weak - which means that you can level the playing field by finding monsters that dislike each other and grouping them together so that they fight amongst themselves.
  
  In the battles themselves, Blue Dragon's main feature is the charge system - certain spells and attacks have a bar that, if stopped when they're full or close to full, do more damage but take longer to cast (whereas if it is empty or close to empty it takes less time but does less damage). There is also a class system, but rather than the characters the classes are assigned to the characters' shadows - the giant creatures that fight for them. These classes are nothing special - the usual mix of fighters and mages. There are different spells that can be bought at stores throughout the game.
  
  The graphics in the game are really nice - they're in a smooth, non-gritty style appropriate for Toriyama's artwork. Everything feels "right" - the effects, characters, and environments all seem appropriate, and none of them have the problem that some games have where they feel too artificial. The designs in the game are definitely Akira Toriyama's style, the characters and airships especially are reminiscent of his designs in the original Dragonball.
  
  The sound is nice - as expected of Nobuo Uematsu - but not really exceptional in any way. There were no songs that made me really take notice of them. During some boss fights, there are rock-and-roll type songs with actual singers and lyrics, which was pretty neat. There is voice acting in English, French, and Japanese, which is a pretty wide choice for such an expansive game. Each seemed to be pretty decent in quality, though none of it really stood out as being particularly well-acted.
  
  As a whole, this game is "more of the same" for RPGs. It's good, but it's not different. If you like traditional RPG gameplay, then that's great, but it doesn't bring enough to the table to really distinguish itself. By itself, though, it's a pretty solid package.
  
  8/10.
  
  
• Good Fun, but needs more content for leveling up
  By A39NOQJQ1SO8JM on 2007-10-20
  My son and I have been playing this game together and have really been enjoying it. He's almost 9, and yes, they say the word bastard a few times, but he's so engrossed in the storyline that it hasn't been an issue at all.
  
  The game itself has been quite fun (we aren't done yet, currently on disc 3). The only problem is that we are up to boss fights now, but our levels are suddenly not near high enough. So now we are just putzing around grinding levels. I have WoW for that =P It's much more fun to follow a storyline than grind, especially in this game, so I wish they had planned out the leveling better.
  
  Other than that no complaints.
  
  
• Amazing... Wake Up People...
  By AJWV230JYDYFI on 2007-09-07
  If you own a 360, you've probably heard of the Japanese style RPG, Blue Dragon. Just to give you a high level overview of the game, it was created by the originator of the Final Fantasy series, Hironobu Sakaguchi. The character design was by Akira Toriyama (think Dragon Ball Z). The soundtrack is by Nobuo Uematsu (who worked on the RPG projects of Final Fantasy, Chrono Trigger, etc). Pretty much a superstar line-up of this genre.
  
  The game has received "average" to "good" reviews, but I'm telling you people this is a very good if not great game. Not a perfect, not a classic, but the next best thing. Western RPGs are the flavor most US gamers seek who are fans of the RPG genre, and as I love both Western and Japanese styles, I tend to be more in favor of the turn-based RPGs (such as Blue Dragon).
  
  The game has so much to offer. Don't let the cartoon type characters and environment turn you off, this game can be appealing to anyone. The storyline is described as "weak" and "simplistic" by some US reviews, but that's b/c the storyline is not as abstract as many RPGs today. The storyline is somewhat simple, but it's very heart-warming and unique in its own right. The storyline fits the game perfectly.
  
  There's more than 75 hours of game-play, and even more if you want to unlock the Achievements. I'm thinking the ones who reviewed Blue Dragon did not play through the entire game, hence the "average" to "good" scores. If you play enough (I'm at 11 hours) you'll easily become enchanted in the story.
  
  The battle system is superb. Very innovating to the genre. I'd also like to highlight to soundtrack - it's simply flawless.
  
  Just wanted to share!
  
  
  
• Great J-RPG classic experience
  By A3EHCJPZ53YNSD on 2007-08-31
  The game looks great, the story its ok(could be better), but the gameplay, strategy in battles and playing it on hardcore it's amazing, plus watch the anime and tou'll enjoy the game a lot more. And this is the beginning i expect them to get blue dragon 2, pretty soon, with story and everithyng when they're older, this is the new dragon ball. AMAZING!!!!
  I almost forgot play the game with japannesse voice acting and english subtitles, otherwise the game experinece it's not as great.
  
  
• Old is new again.
  By A2DJRWJARPIWJ9 on 2007-09-04
  A lot of what the reviews out there say are correct. This is not an innovative game, it does not reinvent the genre, nor is it edge of your seat compelling. But you know what?
  
  That's what makes it great.
  
  With the utter drought of RPGs, (especially JRPGs) this generation, everything that is "old" is actually extremely refreshing. The fact that you cannot find another game like it on the Xbox360 makes it a must-buy in itself.
  
  The gameplay is classic JRPG, including leveling up and classes. It does make improvements by eliminating random encounters and battle animations are very smooth. The story is luke warm at times, but you can't help but caring about what happens to the characters after spending so much time with them. The graphics and visual presentation are top notch and is basically the reason for it's three disc span. It's an extremely lengthy quest, taking somewhere from 15-20 hours just to complete the first disc.
  
  Blue Dragon is a fantastic game that unfortunately is probably going to get lost in the flood of Fall games. If you're looking for a fantastic gem, pick this title up now!
  
  
• Awesome game
  By A11FAVRMXUV7IM on 2008-01-14
  This is an awesome game!
  
  I am typically the FPS or Action gamer, and this was my first RPG. But now I've played a few others in this gen and can confidently say that Blue Dragon is outstanding.
  
  A few high points:
  
  + Outstanding visuals. The most sprawling, detailed game world I've ever experienced. The blur engine is a success and provides realistic 3D. The cut-scenes are simply eye-popping. This is one of the strongest points of the game!
  + Music. With the exception of the standard "boss music"-- which is super-cheesy except for the final boss-- the music is great. The main piano theme and mood music throughout are just eerie enough to suit this fantastic world. Another strong point!
  + Value. There are at least 60 hours of gameplay here, and many more if you're chasing achievements.
  + Battles. A reoccuring criticism of this game has been that it has very traditional (old-school turn-based JRPG) battles. Which is true. It is what it is... if you like strategy and integrity to the genre ('thinking' instead of 'button mashing'), then you will love this game.
  + Customization. Unlike some other RPG's on this platform, your party can be tuned to your specific style. There are several ways to beat the game.
  
  This is a translated Japanese game, and as such a lot is lost in translation. Sort of cheesy storyline, cardboard characters... there aren't many tortured anti-heroes here. And for the impatient player, Blue Dragon will no doubt seem like a grueling, hopeless (60 hr.) challenge. Not for everyone. I loved this game!
  
  
• It's OK
  By A288S7I52880CZ on 2007-09-04
  I am a little upset. I was really hoping that this game would keep me entertained for little while until Mass Effect is released. I agree with some of the reviews already written that this game isn't bad but it isn't great either. Personally, I found the fighting concept of the dragons interesting at first but it quickly became tiresome and quite frankly boring...as every fight seemed to be the same. I even tried changing my dragons' class but that didn't make it any more interesting. This I could have dealt with though if the story would have captured my attention but honestly after about 10 hours of play I gave up realizing the story was just never going to get that interesting. I must be honest, that over the past few years (especially after playing the KOTOR games, Jade Empire, Fable), games like this one where I feel like a by-stander watching a story unfold rather than shaping it just don't hold my attention for long at all. I think if I would have played this game 5 years ago I would've been blown away but things change and now I expect more from a game...especially an RPG. I mean how is it a "Role-Playing" game when I have no control at all over who my character is, where they go or how they react to people and situations. Here you kill some enemies till you get to a cut scene then run around kill some more enemies until you get to a cut scene.....repeat....repeat....repeat. To be fair though, it might have changed some after the first 10 hours though I doubt it. Again, since I feel like I am being a little too hard on such a "cute" game, it really isn't that bad of a game but I would highly recommend renting before committing to purchasing this one. Maybe I missed the point though and it was intended to be for the 13 and under crowd as this game really seems to be rather kiddish without much depth at all to the story or characters.
  
  
• Great, Solid, Oldschool RPG
  By AKYYOJEB1OCZL on 2007-09-24
  This isn't a game for everybody, but if you're a member of this games target audience it's probably EVERYTHING you've been wanting in a console RPG for the past few years. The story is somewhat reminiscent of Dragon Quest in that its driven by catastrophe rather than Final Fantasy-esque plot twists. Similarly the art style is reminiscent of Dragon Quest, but that's no surprise as the artist in charge of Blue Dragon is the same guy that's handled the art for Dragon Quest, and Dragon ball Z for that matter.
  
  The battle system is darn good as well, it may only be a take on the Job Class system that's been used many times throughout the years, but its probably one of the best implementations of the system out there, providing a good balance between allowing your characters lots of abilities while making it almost impossible to make your characters masters of everything without absurd amounts of power leveling.
  
  All in all, its a darn solid title and fully worth the price, so long as you're the sort of person that likes quirky, old school, Japanese RPG titles.
  
  
• Awesome!
  By A1OOW5OXZLNEC6 on 2007-09-27
  I loved playing this game. As a huge final fantasy fan, I was worried this game wouldn't come close to being as good as the final fantasy series. Final Fantasy 7 is still my favorite, but I think Blue Dragon has now taken the #2 spot over the other FF titles! Of course, the story and music come from the same people as FF, so I shouldn't be surprised. If you are a RPG fan you should definitely buy this game and the guide, which was very helpful.
  
  
• Blue Dragon Blues
  By APVDG9YWPLMZY on 2007-12-04
  Blue Dragon
  
  New to the Japanese RPG genre I was both excited and a little apprehensive about Blue Dragon. I put disk one in and much to my surprise was completed engrossed and enthralled.
  
  The graphics are gorgeous, the environments however are a little bland.
  
  Pros: Good story, great graphics, like playing through an epic Anime cartoon, not a smidgen of adult anything, sweet and a tad saccharine.
  
  Cons: There is nothing new or different to be experienced, peopled with magic folks and anthropomorphic creatures, you fight the baddies, get this item, go here, go there, do this quest etc...
  
  Can you say repetitious? I knew you could. You can not take two steps without having to do battle and it is the same battle over and over again, even the finishing animations repeat. It is tiresome, I want to explore and open the chest I just beat a baddie for, not battle eight more Poo Snakes every three seconds. That is just annoying.
  
  There is not a save spot to be had during a level, you must play the entire level through. Well, maybe I don't want to play for three hours. Put a save some place, that is just poor game design. The in game maps, world or level, are near useless as they give you an ants eye view of where you are without giving you any indication of where you have been or where you need to go. This is frustrating at best when trying to navigate through a level.
  
  If you can stand the repetitiveness, and have the patience give Blue Dragon a go for the story if nothing else.
  
  
  
  
• A lot better than I thought it would be.
  By A39Z52KPAO8YR7 on 2007-09-14
  While reading about this game over the last year or so before it came out, I was interested in it even though it seemed like a child's RPG. While it is geared towards younger players, it's certainly not a child's RPG and will appeal to older gamers as well who grew up playing RPG's in the 8 and 16 bit era.
  
  The only two complaints I've really heard people gripe about for this game is that the story is cliche and it doesn't offer anything new. I agree to a point, the storline is cliche, but it is still full of plot twists and has a rather flushed out story. True, the characters aren't really flushed out, but the story of the gameworld and its inhabitants is. While the game is totally turn based, a majority of the story oddly takes place via numerous in-game and cutscene action sequences. There always seems to be something flashy and exciting going on, so if that talkes the place of flushed out characters, it's almost an even tradeoff. The gameplay doesn't offer much new either, but it does do things other RPG's have done before better. Getting enemies to battle eachother really helps your party out in battles. Another cool thing is almost every rock, tree, table, cable, etc., anything casual lying around has items or gold in them. Sometimes you'll even find experience points lying in places, and I've never seen that before. The boss battles are awesome as well, and they can be a bit tough unless you know their weaknesses. Most bosses are tough to beat if you simply attack and attack, they usually have numerous weak points you should try and exploit.
  
  There are a few things I didn't like. One is that the in-game tutorial doesn't explain very well how to do some things. Like I thought you had to equip Lv. 2 Lv. 3, etc. skills in your basic skill slots to use lv. 2, lv. 3 spells, but I figured out later on you can just automatically use then as soon as you're alerted of the fact you acquired that skill. The other problem I had was the uneven difficulty of the enemeis. Some areas had mosnters so tough that every battle was a tough fight, then the next area would be full of enemies that I could plow through with no problem.
  
  In the end, I think most people say they don't like this game simply because they played the awful demo. The demo dropped you into the middle of things with no backstory, not much interaction and a sense of being lost. I really love this game, and I find it kind of odd that I was looking forward more to Eternal Sonata, but everywhere is giving Blue Dragon a higher score. I guess it's true better graphics don't mean a better game!
  
  
• Entertaining, though possibly too tame for Adults.
  By ADHUFYUE1UQOV on 2007-09-23
  I am a big RPG fan and I picked up this title since I saw it had potential. I am currently about 45 hours into the game. The graphics are great and the storyline is easy to follow. It's very easy to figure out what to do next. I have enjoyed both the gameplay and the graphics. The reason I gave only 4 stars is that it just seems too easy. It maybe that I am a very thorough player, but so far the battles have been no challange. I've tried to maximize my characthers, so at 45 hours I'm close to the end of Disc 2 and I'm Level 45 and each Char has max'd atleast 2 or 3 Classes. At this rate all my Char will Max all the Classes Each. Possibly I'm too used to Oblivion in which your Oponnents are always the same level as you. I am enjoying the game and will see it to the end.
  
  
• Blue Dragon.....may be old school but, boy, is it fun!!!!
  By A3GKMQFL05Z79K on 2007-11-20
  Given the fact that the majority of online reviews at certain gaming sites weren't too favorable for Blue Dragon; I, myself, really enjoyed it. The game itself is a traditional turn-based roleplaying game that lasts over 3 DVDs. That's well over 60 hours of gameplay and, considering turn-based RPGs are starting to be a thing of the past, I couldn't have been more happier. The thing people will notice most about the game is the fact it was created by Hironobu Sakaguchi, Akira Toriyama & Nobuo Uematsu...the Dream Team that created Chrono Trigger.
  
  It tells the story of a young boy named Shu and his friends whos' town is ravaged by a land shark. That begins the tale that sends him and his friends on their journey to stop a great evil.
  
  The game itself looks quite stunning on the Xbox 360 and, as I've said before in another of my reviews, is a reason I bought the system. Yet, it is the gameplay that takes center stage in this game. These heroes possess the power to control phantoms that mirror the actions of their masters, giving Shu and his friends miraculous strength and magical powers.
  
  If you're into long turn-based RPGs, you won't go wrong with Blue Dragon. True, it might not win any awards for originality & whatnot but it's a fantastic game that I really enjoyed.
  
  
• A journey down the middle of the road
  By AT576Z9DC6HJ0 on 2008-01-28
  [...]When Blue Dragon was released in Japan and I saw some actual game footage, I was a little taken aback. Rather than an ambitious next-gen RPG, it seemed like a typical Miyazaki-inspired bright-eyed youthful "We'll NEVER give up!" romp/quest that I've played seemingly hundreds of times over the last 15 years or so. Then the demo came out a few months ago, and after playing it a couple of times I had completely lost all interest in Blue Dragon. And that was that... or so I thought.
  
  [...]For the most part, all of my fears were confirmed. The story and characters are as dull, banal and insipid as I thought they'd be. The characters are a half step away from being literally blank slates. The story is incredibly dull... even when it predictably picks up a bit of steam in the final act. The battle and abiliity systems aren't exactly old school or old fashioned, but they're certainly not cutting edge, unless you still consider ideas from 2001 to be cutting edge. I must admit, the battles are much more fun in the full game than they were in the demo. (Giving you access to pretty much every single ability in the game in the demo was a huge mistake.)
  
  The two things I find myself truly enjoying are exploring the dungeons, and the graphics. The dungeons are very well designed and laid out, and the the whole affair is very easy on the eyes. We've finally reached the point where an in-game engine looks as nice and solid as FMV cutscenes... from 1997.
  
  EDIT: I apologize for the bracketed sections and bizarre disjointedness of this review. I try to provide some background to give my opinions context, but Amazon's editorial dept. found them to be objectional in this case for some reason... and apparently decided butchering my review was the solution.
  
  
• Great Game
  By AG7XC6PGABFPX on 2008-03-04
  I love RPG's and this one is a good mix of old turn-based play and new graphics. I don't know how I feel about the Dragon Ball Z style characters yet, but they do show off the 3D rendering power of the X Box 360. I bought the game along with the 360. My wife and I spent an entire weekend playing and wanted to continue but when you're over 40 life still gets in the way of the important things. We definately expect more good things out of microsoft...a company that large should be able to afford good gaming engineers.
  
  P.S. Buy from Amazon.com, you'll always know where and when your stuff is. They even e-mailed me of a shipping problem and they took care of it at no cost to me...good to know a company still cares about service.
  
  
• blue dragon = fun!
  By A3SHWEXUR0YAQR on 2008-03-24
  I decided to buy this even after all those average reviews on the web or in magazines.
  Believing that if you liked jrpg you can't do much wrong.
  And i'm glad to say i was right. This is a jrpg in the truest sense.
  I really can't understand why this game got so much undiserved critism.
  Sure it doesn't do anything new but it does the things it does right, and this is very important.
  Don't get me wrong it isn't a perfect game, like all game it has its good and bad sides. But the good far outweighs the bad in my eyes.
  The bad points so far i encountered ( i played about 18 hours)is that it doesn't have that epic feel games like FF and recently Lost Odyssey has.
  And the story takes a long time to get going and only starts to get interesting after about 10-15 hours into the game.
  And there are no mini games to complete or side quests to undertake(at least i have not encountered any so far). There is just the main story which will i guess last for about 40 to 50 hours depending on your addiction to level up your characters of course. Those are the bad points that really comes to mind.
  As for the good points i can summon this up really easy, it is fun!
  The battlesystem is traditional in every sense of old school jrpg.
  Turn based and with all the usual elements included. Magic attacks physical attacks and items usage. Every character can choose from different classes from white and black magic users to warrior, assasin, monk and many more. And each has its strong and weak points. What is also worth noting is that every character can switch between all of the classes which they unlock througout the game.
  I think i gave a good impression of what you can expect from this game.
  Without revealing anything you can better discover for yourself.
  I will sum this up easily.
  People who can't get enough of turn based jrpg can't do much wrong with this game. Is it a classic? No not really but it a very enjoyable game that can stand it own in its genre.
  People who are searching for something new won't find it here, and it won't change your view or turn you over to the jrpg genre if your not a fan of it.
  
  I hope i have been helpful, and made your desicion a little bit easier.
  
  
  
• the Best RPG for XBOX 360 yet!
  By A1VSK3XAMT5KOL on 2007-10-06
  if you are in love with RPG games and looking for the best game to play on you XBOX 360 console, this is what you need to buy.
  
  
• Old skool fun in a new skool package
  By A1CUZCWANFNWVB on 2007-10-11
  Wow this is a classic roleplaying game. It's turn based and everything. The graphics are really well done and the whole dragonball-esque style was exhilarating. Of course the replay value is quite low since the side stories and quests are quite few and very short. The entire game has a ton of fmv clips so if you don't like a little roleplaying with your story, this is not the game for ya.
  
  
• the final boss was too easy
  By AQSGLW46UXA5S on 2007-10-21
  I even didn't give it a chance to counter-attack...but overall, still a fun game, especially for Dragon Ball fans back to the day~
  
  
• It's a great game but it doesn't have the polish of a Final Fantasy title
  By A3CIW9X6NJ7KNC on 2008-01-14
  I have to say after owning the game for about a month and getting so far into it that I am only mildly interested in finishing the game. The story is fairly decent but the delivery seems more aimed at children. The game play is great over all, but I could not understand why there was so much slow down so often. I think that if you like final fantasy type rpgs then this one will be an okay addition to your collection. Just don't expect it to compete with any final fantasy title.
  
  
• Innovative and exciting
  By A2Q992OCL0T823 on 2008-01-17
  Blue Dragon ultimately is a stepping stone in the right direction for Xbox 360 in the japanese RPG genre. Some people might agree that it is not anywhere near the final fantasy series but thats because it IS NOT final fantasy. I would agree that it is not in the same caliber as final fantasy but considering it is the first of its kind on the 360, it deserves more credit than many people would argue. I love the characters in the game as you will find that the story drags you into each and every character. The game is packed with a lot of sidequests to do and i love the leveling up system. If you been waiting to play an RPG on the 360 wait no more!
  
  
• above average.
  By A27JQF1XKVCEBR on 2008-02-08
  I'm not an avid gamer anymore, but i do know a good game when i play one. This one in particular is above average, as far as fun factor goes.
  Graphics are good,( there are some slowdown issues at times, and skipping in some scenes) sound ranges from ok to really good,( if your not under 16 you will find some of the voice work to be really annoying), gameplay is as easy and traditional as a japanese rpg can be. Story is nothing special, same ol good kids versus a terribly evil villain, there are some small twists here and there for good measure. For me the most enjoying part is character upgrades. everything else was above average.
  
  
• Great Mechanics with Horrid Story
  By A14NA0W8ESGDSI on 2008-05-22
  One of the first things you'll notice as you begin to play Blue Dragon is that the game's story revolves around a simple good versus evil dichotomy with little variation in character outlook from that. The good characters are sickly good and the evil characters are deviously evil --- there are no characters with real depth. It's for this reason I find it hard to see in any of the characters human characteristics or relate to any of them.
  
  The models as well are childish in nature and make the characters (which the manual states are in their late teens) look like they're all under the age of 10.
  
  The plot from the very beginning is also easy to read and lacks any sort of depth or any form of twist to keep the player engaged. It's like reading a story after reading a summary of the plot --- you just don't find yourself surprised when something happens because you knew it was going to happen. If an RPG doesn't shake your worldview in the slightest I consider it a complete failure.
  
  As for the great mechanics I mentioned in my title --- I found the game design to be wonderful despite it's flaws with an actual story. The usage of the charge bar keeps the user engaged and I found the enemies to level up progressively at a reasonable pace similar to your own growth so it kept things somewhat enjoyable. The idea behind making random encounters random but allowing the user to attack them was also very cool (Secret of Mana style meets Final Fantasy < 12 JRPG battle system sort of thing).
  
  The real problem with the mechanics, however wonderful, is that it's very very very easy to get higher levels simply because the enemies tend to be plentiful but easy to kill in one or two rounds from the start on once you've gained any sort of advantage. Your fighters will have mow down techniques which hit the whole first row for nearly the life of the enemy which could easily allow you to rack up experience points if that was your intention.
  
  Quickly want to mention the shadow system. It allows users to attach a different class to their shadow to gain skills which can be set to other shadow classes they use. To put it simply I level up my black magic class and get the ability to use black magic level 1 spells on my fighter class by assigning it the skill I learned. The classes all have their own stats so it does have variations in terms of attack power in or out of the class but as others have mentioned can also allow you to create 5 distinct clones of each character with little trouble. I didn't, however, and found the system to be fun so it's really whether or not you take advantage of the system which will affect you in that regards. It could have been made better though, I agree, and more class selections would have given a more unique feel to the process as well.
  
  Music was wonderful though and the graphics were pretty despite its cartoon feel. In general it's a good game and had the story been even somewhat decent would have been an unforgettable JRPG.
  
  

• Blue Dragon: Prima Official Game Guide (Prima Official Game Guides) (Prima Official Game Guides)
• The Official Xbox Magazine [1-year]
• Electronic Gaming Monthly

• Blue Dragon: Prima Official Game Guide (Prima Official Game Guides) (Prima Official Game Guides)
• Eternal Sonata
• Lost Odyssey
• Mass Effect
• BioShock