Review
Release Date: 08.28.2007
Platform:
Xbox 360Developer:
MistwalkerPublisher:
Microsoft Game StudiosReviewed by
Mikey Dowling on 10.31.2007
| Review Rating: 7/10 | User Rating: 7.67/10 |
Given that the three big names behind the game are Hironobu Sakaguchi (father of the
Final Fantasy series), Akira Toriyama (father of
Dragon Ball), and Nobuo Uematsu (video game music composer extraordinaire), and considering that the last game these three people worked on (
Chrono Trigger) was a masterpiece, you’d expect
Blue Dragon to be the end-all, be-all of Japanese RPGs. In reality, while not failing as a JRPG experience,
Blue Dragon doesn’t quite live up to the standards that have been set even just with more recent RPGs from Japan.
Blue Dragon tosses the player right into the fray when the main characters' village is attacked by what they call the Land Shark. It seems that whenever the purple clouds come, so does the Land Shark, and their village is usually taken apart by it. But Sho, Kluke, and Jiro (said main characters) have had enough and attempt to take on the Land Shark themselves. This doesn’t work too well, and they end up down in a hole with the animal. Yet they find that the Land Shark isn’t a shark at all, and instead is a ship. The ship brings them up to the main villain, Nene’s, ship. Upon being asked why Nene attacks the trio’s village, he responds with one of the greatest villain lines of all time, “So I can hear your screams.” Awesome. Nene is just evil. That’s all! No greater motive to go after someone for 50 hours has ever been given.
Yet although this totally spectacular motive results in you having to put a stop to the evil tyranny of Nene, the plot doesn’t move in a pace fast enough to make getting to that epic final battle seem like it was all worth it. The progression of the story goes something like this: go to new village, "Oh no, they’re being attacked by the purple clouds!", help them fight back, move on to a new village, wash, rinse, repeat until near the end when everything comes together pretty much all at once. Along the way you add two more characters to your entourage (one of which is possibly one of the most annoying characters in JRPG history). And while there are times when you will stray from that path, those times are few and far between.
Another element that will bog down progression in the game is just how huge some of the dungeons are. Some dungeons (if everything is explored, and all enemies are defeated) can take up to two hours to complete, and that’s just early on. Later dungeons have an almost never-ending feel while you explore countless rooms and corridors. This would be all well and good if there were more than two save points (one at the start, and one right before the boss). You could use warp points to warp to the beginning of the dungeon… if only going to the warp points always brought you back to the beginning; sometimes, they’re at the end, adding more to the want of just finishing the area to get it done with.
The length of dungeons probably wouldn’t be so bad if the battle system weren’t of the classic, “Spam attack” variety. While giving the characters shadows to do the fighting is novel simply in that it looks really cool, it is no different than if our protagonists were outfitted with swords and the like. Still, taking away random encounters is welcome, and being able to fight more than one round of enemies at a time is quite nice.
The pseudo-job system that has been implemented is rather fun as well. Sakaguchi has said that
Final Fantasy V was his favorite
Final Fantasy that he worked on, and it is evident in
Blue Dragon's system. You are able to level up certain classes in rank, and upon doing so gain abilities that you can add to your character to make them the way you want them to be. For those who like to grind,
Blue Dragon at leaves gives some pay-off when you finally get your character to where you want him/her to be. So even though the battle system is more reminiscent of one found in just about every other JRPG, it never seems to get old.
While having a plot and battle system that are basic to the core, graphically
Blue Dragon stands out in all marks. The draw distance is incredibly impressive. Villages that are vast actually feel and look that way while their denizens walk around rather aimlessly. It would be cool if they had routine patterns, but
Oblivion this is not. The lighting affects (especially when initiating a battle) are outstanding. The only problem comes in the form of slight slow-down while on the world map when more than one enemy appears. And speaking of world map, it would have been nice to move the camera up and down instead of just side to side, so you could get a better grasp of what is around you.
In terms of the game’s score… it sounds like an Uematsu score. While themes are melodic, you’ll often times wonder if you’ve heard some of the songs before. Some sounds seem ripped right out of
Final Fantasy VII which is kind of disappointing/odd since you’d think
Mistwalker would want to try and distance itself from sounding like a
Square game as much as possible). Then there is the boss battle music… Think butt-rock, hair band from the 80s with Deep Purple’s Ian Gillian singing on vocals. It’s really bad. Really, really bad.
Blue Dragon doesn’t offer a story that will change the world of JRPGs, but it does show rather well what a next-generation RPG can be like. The battle system, although basic, is appealing once you’ve added the right skills through ranking up your classes. And you’re able to interact with nearly every object in the background to find various items, gold, and medals that will keep the completionist gamer satisfied for hours on end. While not being great, it is fun. Plus, you can play through in French. Not too many games offer that.
