Hironobu Sakaguchi, Nobuo Uematsu and Akira Toriyama; they are some of, if not the most recognized names in RPGs. Among other things, the names surely conjure up images of small, spritely Final Fantasy characters, memorable victory music, and a distinct art style. If RPGs are your thing, you have without a doubt, experienced at least one of their creations. This is the second time all three of these RPG gods have come together since Chrono Trigger (though Uematsu left that project early on) , a highly acclaimed RPG for the Super NES. Microsoft is hoping that Blue Dragon will push Xbox 360 sales in Japan by feeding its gamers so hungry for the next rival to Dragon Quest/Final Fantasy.
And the name of the game is Blue Dragon. This keeps in line with what seems like a fascination that Toriyama has with the mythical beast (Dragon Quest, Dragon Ball, and now Blue Dragon).
After playing through about 6 hours of the game, I can say that it looks like Mist Walker has a hit on their hands.
The graphics are beautiful. I found myself smiling at how gorgeous the game looked. It felt like I was watching an animated movie rather than playing an RPG. The characters have that trademark Toriyama look and feel. This works for the game and holds that bit of nostalgia that a lot of us would have with RPGs and anime.
The story thus far hasn't been too thought provoking. This is no Final Fantasy XII, where you are given a multi-layered plot that often forces you to question just who or what is wrong. This is just a simple story of a young boy and his friends on their way to save the world. Maybe it gets more involved further on, but for now, it's just a fun story of good and seemingly evil. Though to be fair, the main villain appears to hiding his true intentions.
The battle system is a welcome change to the role playing formula. Once you gain control of your shadow (the big blue monsters that reflect your "feelings"), you will be able to begin arranging abilities. There are different categories of skills that you can learn and they range from assassin to monk and your more traditional white and black magic. Once you select a skill for your shadow, you will then earn sp points for it in the same way you would gain experience points. As you gather more points you begin to unlock new skills.
The fighting itself is turn based but there is a function that allows you to hold the "A" button so that you can select when your character will strike. A bar appears with your characters' and enemies' pictures positioned above it. Each character's turn position is placed on the bar. Holding down the "A" button will cause the bar to fill up and move your character's turn position. The problem is that you cannot predict the speed at which the bar will fill so you need to be careful.
I unfortunately don't have much time to go into many more details but I do want to include one issue I had with the game. Although it doesn't prove to be a complete nuisance, I found that the camera angles can sometimes keep you from knowing where the action is and it often takes a few seconds to regain your orientation. Other than that however, Blue Dragon has so far turned out to be a vibrant, exciting and imaginative journey. I hope that it just keeps getting better.
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