User Review : Blue Dragon

Ups

• A good battle and skill advancement system{Gorgeous graphics
• character models, cut scenes and environments look great{A lot of hours of gameplay for those who are interested

Downs

• Game offers almost no challenge{Story is not very deep and was clearly designed for a child{Annoying dialogue that lacks any substance

The easiest game ever?

I have always been a Japanese role playing game (JRPG) fan. Ever since the first time I got my hands on a Final Fantasy game I have been completely hooked. I don't know if it's the story, the strategy, the side missions or a little bit of everything, but I am always on the look out for the next great JRPG. When I did some research on Blue Dragon, and realized that the father of Final Fantasy's company was developing the game my interest level went through the roof; from that point on I knew this was a must play.

Blue Dragon follows a group of heroes on their quest to save their world. The story starts out in a small village that is attacked every couple of years by what the inhabitants refer to as a "land shark". Shu, Kluke and Jiro are all tired of seeing the destruction and suffering the land shark causes so they devise a plan to get rid of it. When the plan doesn't go as planned they find themselves in the middle of an adventure that will take them to all corners of the planet. Honestly I don't think Blue Dragon tells a bad story it's just a story that was clearly designed for children. From a corny script that feel like it was written by the creators of Sesame Street, to the villains that are anything but fear inspiring, Blue Dragon's story is probably not going to appeal to an older crowd.

Blue Dragon offers a new spin on an old favorite when it comes to the skills system. Instead of the traditional leveling up of characters and learning new abilities, the character levels up and the shadow learns new skills, and they work independently of each other. It's not too different from anything we have all seen before but it works very well and it allows you to get creative with your characters from the get go. I would not at all mind seeing this skills allocation system utilized again down the road. The battle system is not too complex but it does function well and it is easy to pick up for gamers of all skill levels.

Sadly Blue Dragon is a lot of good ideas wrapped up in a game that was designed for children. The battle system is fun but unfortunately it is integrated into a game that offers no challenge whatsoever. Blue Dragon is probably one of the easiest games I have ever played. Everything from random enemies to boss' could be easily defeated. About 15 hours into the game I started a new game on the hardest difficulty I had available at the time and was still not offered much of a challenge past the initial levels. Maybe it's just me but I like a challenge from JRPG's, and role playing games in general. There is something appealing about being out classed and having to out think or out strategize your opponents, and Blue Dragon simply does not offer this experience.

I can't really call Blue Dragon a bad game, but I also can't really recommend it to anyone. If you are looking to get your younger siblings or children interested in the JRPG genre then by all means check this game out; there is more than enough content for the price of admission. For everyone else, you may want to pass.

Score

7.7

Graphics

A good battle system that is overshadowed by boring gameplay due to a lack of challenge.

9.8

Sound

Everything looks great and I experienced no frame rate issues.

7.2

Gameplay

The music is solid but you will constantly wish all the characters would just stop talking.

6.3

Fun Factor

Initially it's not too bad but as the game trudges on it becomes overwhelmingly boring. Complete lack of depth may cause some people to loose interest before it's finished.

Overall

7.0

[DomUltra]

A lot of grammar errors who approved this? Next to that, who cares.

[fenderputty]

LMFAO ...

I don't understand how you're going to criticize his grammar and then post a butchered comment like that? That makes no sense what so ever.

Obviously someone cares about his reviews ... I'm here.

You're a class "A" tool.

[BeaArthur]

Don't worry about his dumb comments, he's just pissed off because I reported one of his reviews earlier. It makes me laugh that you point out the same thing I did when I reported his review, he had bad grammar and poor punctuation. Instead of taking the feedback like a man and proofreading and correcting it, he has been crying like a child all day long. You would think he has something better to do then troll around looking for me, but I guess not.

[DomUltra]

"loose interest before it's finished."

Loose?

Seriously there are some obvious grammar errors through out your review. Next time before ridiculing mine and make sure your content is passable. For all I know you could be doing an impression of Morgan Freeman reading a novel, that's how exciting this review is.

5/10

[BeaArthur]

DomUltra...yep it's a grammatical error, and had you let me know before it got approved I would have corrected it, but you didn't so it will have to remain like that. But it would appear that mine is passable because it got approved. Seriously, go find something better besides troll after me all day.

[Tmac]

After looking at the argument, I went to check out his review. Everything honestly seemed fine. BeaArthur I think your over reacting.

[BeaArthur]

He has corrected a lot of the stuff I initially had an issue with. So yes it would look like I was overreacting, but you didn't see the original review before he corrected some of the mistakes.

[DomUltra]

No shіt he over reacted and it pissed me off. He needs to lay off the ego trip.

[BeaArthur]

What's "over reacted"; I know what overreacted is. It's not an ego trip, it's a review that I reported and now you have been crying about it for about 2 days. Maybe I had a point though, since you seem to still be having spelling issues.

[Ace Ventura]

I hated this game. I liked the style of it and like the anime feel... but the levels sometimes looked so last generation and gay. I would have given this game about the same score.

[BeaArthur]

At first I thought it was okay but it became very repetitive.

[PS360WII]

I liked it due to the freshness and dbz inspired look. I agree that the battle system was insanly easy :( I haven't had that many one hit kills in an rpg before. The theme of 'never give up' never got old though. The plane bits were kind of fun as well as everything and anything could have an item or money. The 'nothing' guy was a brilliant move giving you prizes for finding nothing ^^

The thing that really got me peeved was button mashing parts in the game :( I really hated that

[BeaArthur]

I just wasn't a huge fan in general. Like I said I can't call it a bad game but it would have been a lot better if it was designed for an older demographic.

[PS360WII]

Oh for sure but that's where Losy Odyssey comes into play ;)

The Xbox isn't well known for its rpg catalog so Blue Dragon was probably a way to easy people into the rpg realm while Lost Odyssey is there for the ones who know what rpgs are all about. My take on it.

If the main characters weren't kids the game would of been better off in the eyes of many but that would of taken away from the story they were getting at. True it's not a bad game and could of done better but not all games need to have older main characters with doom and gloom settings to appeal to the older demographic.

I don't mind playing as up and coming heros with a will like no other. Yes I wanted to shoot marumaru but he was still a kick butt monk :) Along with what Nene wanted to do in the game is what is found in your traditional story. It's just the art style that made it seem cute

[BeaArthur]

I actually have to disagree with you about Lost Odyssey. Although a better game, it had fundamental flaws in the battle system. Status effects worked maybe 5% of the time so it wasn't so much a matter of strategy, as it was beating them into submission.

[PS360WII]

ha yeah I'll agree with that. I was just saying that between Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey it would be LO that has the mature theme to it.