Tempest
09-11-2007, 3:49 PM
Title: Blue Dragon
Genre: RPG
Rating: http://forums.explosm.net/images/smilies/indiffheya.gifhttp://forums.explosm.net/images/smilies/indiffheya.gifhttp://forums.explosm.net/images/smilies/indiffheya.gifhttp://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y131/tempestdevil/halfheya.gif/http://forums.explosm.net/images/smilies/indiffheya.gifhttp://forums.explosm.net/images/smilies/indiffheya.gifhttp://forums.explosm.net/images/smilies/indiffheya.gifhttp://forums.explosm.net/images/smilies/indiffheya.gifhttp://forums.explosm.net/images/smilies/indiffheya.gif
When Akira Toriyama, Hironobu Sakaguchi, and Nobuo Uematsu get together, only good things can happen, right? For those of you who aren't complete RPG nerds, this is the team that brought us the little gem known as Chrono Trigger for the Super Famicon. Ring any bells? Yeah.. Well, saying that, I can state just how disappointed I was with Blue Dragon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Dragon), an RPG for the Xbox 360 created by just that group. I mean, don't get me wrong, it's a good game (at times), and I believe so far it was worth my 60 dollar investment, but lets nitpick its problems in true Media Funhouse fashion. That is, of course, after I tell you why the game is GOOD. Innovation, graphics, and soundtrack, in a few words. No random encounters, instead you can SEE your enemies on the field, and choose when to fight. The big feature here, however, is the "line of attack range" sort of system. By pressing the right-trigger, you create a small circle, and you are able to attack any monsters in said circle. Often, if you have two different kinds of monsters, their names will highlight yellow. This means if you choose "Fight All Enemies!" with them in your circle, they will begin what is known as a Monster Fight, and essentially kill each other off for you. The "Shadow" system they use is very intriguing, and the ability to switch classes after levelling one up, and still use your old skills, reminds me very much of Final Fantasy Tactics. Now, on to the nitpicking.
First off, character development. We have some very interesting characters in this game.. Marumaro, a small bat-person called a Devee who is on a mission to save his village from a plague and seems to have problems speaking quietly. You have Zola, and older mercenary who tries to help the party out, but is cold, distant, and stereotypical mercen.. whoops, got off on a tangent. Then you have the 3 main characters. They are kids. That would be about all there is to define them truly. You have Shu, the main character, a reject from Dragonball Z who seems to have The Little Engine Who Could syndrome (I won't give up! x30). Jiro, his emo-haired nerdy best friend who calculates shit more than an accountant. And finally there's Kluke, Jiro's crush throughout; Her parents died and she has abnormally large tits for a 16 year old, that's about it there. Oh, and lets not forget the ultimate bad-guy to defeat all bad-guys, Nene. Equipped with a mechanical parrot and a robotic bodyguard, this baddie is absolutely rotten! He delights in bringing pain to the innocent simple people of your world. Why, you ask? Umm.. Does he need a reason? If so, maybe he's not such a good bad guy.. He states his reason, early on, as wanting to "hear the people scream." Yikes. What a certified badass. [/SARCASM]
The second big gripe here is storyline progression. Let me make something clear to people, because I didn't state it earlier.. This game is THREE DISCS LONG. That's right. 3 discs. On the Xbox 360. 70+ hours of gameplay. Now I know what you're thinking, "Oh Tempest, I love games that are long!" So do I my friend, so do I.. The problem is, you spend much of the first disc with your thumb up your ass, wandering around trying to figure out what the game wants you to do, because it DOESN'T TELL YOU. Your basic instructions are to meander aimlessly until a cutscene informs you that you've stumbled upon the next part of the game.
Aside from these two points that I felt the need to run into the ground, however, this is a pretty well-polished game. The fighting feels a bit drawn-out and sluggish at times, but if you own an Xbox 360 and have played the shit out of Oblivion, I don't know that you have much choice.. If you are an RPG fan, it's well worth the purchase price.
Genre: RPG
Rating: http://forums.explosm.net/images/smilies/indiffheya.gifhttp://forums.explosm.net/images/smilies/indiffheya.gifhttp://forums.explosm.net/images/smilies/indiffheya.gifhttp://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y131/tempestdevil/halfheya.gif/http://forums.explosm.net/images/smilies/indiffheya.gifhttp://forums.explosm.net/images/smilies/indiffheya.gifhttp://forums.explosm.net/images/smilies/indiffheya.gifhttp://forums.explosm.net/images/smilies/indiffheya.gifhttp://forums.explosm.net/images/smilies/indiffheya.gif
When Akira Toriyama, Hironobu Sakaguchi, and Nobuo Uematsu get together, only good things can happen, right? For those of you who aren't complete RPG nerds, this is the team that brought us the little gem known as Chrono Trigger for the Super Famicon. Ring any bells? Yeah.. Well, saying that, I can state just how disappointed I was with Blue Dragon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Dragon), an RPG for the Xbox 360 created by just that group. I mean, don't get me wrong, it's a good game (at times), and I believe so far it was worth my 60 dollar investment, but lets nitpick its problems in true Media Funhouse fashion. That is, of course, after I tell you why the game is GOOD. Innovation, graphics, and soundtrack, in a few words. No random encounters, instead you can SEE your enemies on the field, and choose when to fight. The big feature here, however, is the "line of attack range" sort of system. By pressing the right-trigger, you create a small circle, and you are able to attack any monsters in said circle. Often, if you have two different kinds of monsters, their names will highlight yellow. This means if you choose "Fight All Enemies!" with them in your circle, they will begin what is known as a Monster Fight, and essentially kill each other off for you. The "Shadow" system they use is very intriguing, and the ability to switch classes after levelling one up, and still use your old skills, reminds me very much of Final Fantasy Tactics. Now, on to the nitpicking.
First off, character development. We have some very interesting characters in this game.. Marumaro, a small bat-person called a Devee who is on a mission to save his village from a plague and seems to have problems speaking quietly. You have Zola, and older mercenary who tries to help the party out, but is cold, distant, and stereotypical mercen.. whoops, got off on a tangent. Then you have the 3 main characters. They are kids. That would be about all there is to define them truly. You have Shu, the main character, a reject from Dragonball Z who seems to have The Little Engine Who Could syndrome (I won't give up! x30). Jiro, his emo-haired nerdy best friend who calculates shit more than an accountant. And finally there's Kluke, Jiro's crush throughout; Her parents died and she has abnormally large tits for a 16 year old, that's about it there. Oh, and lets not forget the ultimate bad-guy to defeat all bad-guys, Nene. Equipped with a mechanical parrot and a robotic bodyguard, this baddie is absolutely rotten! He delights in bringing pain to the innocent simple people of your world. Why, you ask? Umm.. Does he need a reason? If so, maybe he's not such a good bad guy.. He states his reason, early on, as wanting to "hear the people scream." Yikes. What a certified badass. [/SARCASM]
The second big gripe here is storyline progression. Let me make something clear to people, because I didn't state it earlier.. This game is THREE DISCS LONG. That's right. 3 discs. On the Xbox 360. 70+ hours of gameplay. Now I know what you're thinking, "Oh Tempest, I love games that are long!" So do I my friend, so do I.. The problem is, you spend much of the first disc with your thumb up your ass, wandering around trying to figure out what the game wants you to do, because it DOESN'T TELL YOU. Your basic instructions are to meander aimlessly until a cutscene informs you that you've stumbled upon the next part of the game.
Aside from these two points that I felt the need to run into the ground, however, this is a pretty well-polished game. The fighting feels a bit drawn-out and sluggish at times, but if you own an Xbox 360 and have played the shit out of Oblivion, I don't know that you have much choice.. If you are an RPG fan, it's well worth the purchase price.