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
