If there is one thing the Xbox 360 is lacking, it’s Japanese RPG’s. Sure, there are a few great games out there, such as Lost Odyssey, Final Fantasy XIII and Magna Carta II, but for the most part the Xbox is dominated by more than enough open world RPG’s and first person shooters. A long forgotten gem in particular is the ever so charming Blue Dragon! Most avid Xbox 360 gamers would consider Blue Dragon to be a “must-have” title, but is this really the case?
Story
Despite the fact that Blue Dragon is written by the mastermind behind Final Fantasy, Hironobu Sakaguchi, the story feels somewhat hollow. Whilst you do see a developing relationship between five friends as they pursue a tyrant known as Nene, the plot never really has that sense of urgency you would usually expect from a typical Final Fantasy, or any other JRPG for that matter! Feeling more like Eternal Sonata than a tense world threatened by a Sephiroth-type, Blue Dragon starts as three children oppose what appears to be Land Shark. Upon encountering such a mechanical monstrosity they soon discover the man behind all of the evil, Nene! The three then set out on a quest to put an end to the destruction Nene is causing in the world and along the way they encounter more likeable party members.
Blue Dragon sees you adventuring across all kinds of land as well as flying in a ship and helping a King with his assault on Nene’s robotic army. Thrilling as it may sound, it still manages to feel a little too child-like in comparison to other games in the genre.
Gameplay
Much like your average Japanese RPG, Blue Dragon will easily eat into your life as it offers around sixty hours of gameplay, spread over three discs. The combat system is turn based and instead of your characters doing the fighting for themselves, you’ll assign their ‘Shadows’ to attack for them using a time bar to determine when. Whilst this is a very fun way to fight, it’s not anything original since we’ve seen the same style of combat used in Grandia II and other classics.
You’ll often find yourself traversing the world map on foot for a large majority of the game. Usually such a task would become tiresome after the fourth or fifth battle, fortunately Blue Dragon offers you the chance to learn skills which you can use on the field. Barrier skills will allow you to instantaneously defeat opponents on contact in exchange for MP, whilst other abilities will see you scaring off weaker enemies. This is a fantastic way to cut out a chore which has plagued Japanese RPG’s for years.
Unfortunately, Blue Dragon is a game that starts off slow and repetitive and it isn’t until things start to pick up that you see a change in gameplay. From various challenging mini games to heart pumping boss battles, the more time you put into Blue Dragon, the more you’ll enjoy it.
Graphics
With Blue Dragon’s artwork produced by Mr. Dragonball himself, Akira Toriyama, you’d expect nothing less than amazing! Character designs are brilliant and Dragonball Z inspired, colours are bold and beautiful and each area is crafted in great detail. Unfortunately, the game is prone to a few frame rate issues when too many enemies appear on-screen at once, but this certainly doesn’t spoil the enjoyment the it offers.
Sound
Blue Dragon’s soundtrack was composed by Nobuo Uematsu – the genius behind most Final Fantasy games, Chrono Trigger, Romancing SaGa 2 and many other incredible soundtracks! Understandably, the boss music is something you’ll either love or hate, but for the most part Blue Dragon’s soundtrack is simply beautiful.
The voice acting on the other hand can be a little unbearable at times. With your main character feeling as obnoxious and cheesy as a Naruto episode, you constantly have to remind yourself of the games age rating. Thankfully, there is an option to change over to the Japanese voice acting or simply mute it altogether – either way will make the game a much more enjoyable experience.
Overall
Blue Dragon is a lighthearted, easy-going game that’s a nice experience but doesn’t offer much of a challenge. It’s a game that certainly won’t be remembered years from now, but it definitely deserves a rent at best – especially if you’re a modern day anime fan.
