Blue Dragon Review

Blue Dragon Review | February 1, 2013
Xbox 360 Exclusive Title

Blue Dragon turned out to be a great update to a traditional turn based RPG. From the creator of Final Fantasy Hironobu Sakaguchi and outstanding music from Nobuo Uematsu who has done the musical scores for the Final Fantasy series, Blue Dragon comes from good stock. Having the games roots in the Final Fantasy series we had high expectations when it came to storylines and gameplay. We are happy to announce that the game pulls off both. The gameplay is so interactive. There is no random battles you can just walk up and attack and then it turns into a turn based system.

We love that all five main playable characters are used at the same time. You can get bonuses by attacking several enemies at once and fight them back to back (we were only able to get four at a time). You get job classes to power up which makes each character feel and play different. We really liked this feature it reminded us of Final Fantasy V. The gameplay and combat is nothing new, we have seen and played systems like this before. However, the battle system is so smooth and done so well that it helps the game stand out. There is even some 1st person shooting elements for a change of pace and it is fun and intense. The best part is the Magical Shadows that each character gets. This adds to the gameplay and is the main part of the fighting system.

The story works and makes sense. That is because of how well the voice acting is. The hero’s on the journey are likable and feel like real people that you know. Even Marumaro who is high strung and energetic comes off as funny and goofy and not annoying or immature. Shu, Jiro, Kluke start off in their village and they are trying to stop a land shark at the start of the game when they find out the Nene was the one who sent the shark in the first place. Nene is also attacking the kingdom that Zola (the fifth and final playable character) is sworn to protect. The five of them are all playable at the same time and each have a different shadow depending on their personality.

This is a great game and it is still out there. We play a lot of RPG’s here and despite that this game came out in 2006 it is still one of the games we think about as one of the top traditional swords, magic, turn based RPG for Xbox 360 and the other gaming systems in the generation. You want to play just to level up and max out the job classes. You want to get the achievements and do all of the side quests because they are fun and not just filler. It is still worth the money in the store or online and it is a must for RPG gamers who have an Xbox 360, the game is that good.

9.0 out of 10
Worth your Money