A breath of fresh air.
User Rating: 8.5 | Blue Dragon X360
I've been watching this game since the PLAY! concert came two years ago when they played some of the soundtrack by Nobuo Uematsu and I have to say it's everything I was hoping it would be. I feel that the game offers new insights into the RPG genre as there's new sources for attacking systems, but also bringing back the old class system of white mage, black mage, assassin, etc. and letting you pick. It isn't your typical RPG because since you fight with your shadows, there aren't any weapons to gather, customize, and equip, but the accessory option is still there to keep that feel to it. I think the animation style is extremely...how can I put this....Japanese, but that's okay because the style of the game is Japanese as well and it gives the game it's character. The art style really is part of the characters in Blue dragon, characters that I instantly loved. Things that I've noticed are bad is that the load times are a little slow. Sometimes you'll be in the middle of a video and then BAM it needs to load the next section--and aren't we supposed to be in next-gen? Another annoying thing is there's this voice that follows you and says things like "playable" or "join" or "gold" whenever you pick something up or characters join your team or what have you. It doesn't get in the way but I'm not going to lie, it gets pretty annoying. Another thing that could be good or could be bad is how easy it is to find items. I almost never run out of anything and I'm always finding gold all over the place. Another thing is that the game is on three discs. I mean, my god. I haven't played a multi-disc game since Final Fantasy 9. Maybe I just haven't played the bulk of good multi-disc games but still, wow. I thought we were past multi disc games and imagine my surprise when I open the case and find two extra discs that aren't for bonus content. It's not a bad thing, but it's something that should be acknowledged.
Anywho, the game is so far very enjoyable. I've had it one day and in that first day i played it for 6 hours (sad I know). I definitely recommend picking it up if you like rpgs. Kudos to Microsoft for finally getting some RPGs on the system. Let's hope Eternal Sonata does well too.
