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Famitsu loves them some Blue Dragon photo

Big-time Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu has handed in their reviews of the Xbox 360's greatest Eastern hope, Blue Dragon, and the results are rather positive -- in fact, in Japanese terms they are super duper sunshine happy day great! Yes Peter Moore, you are allowed to take a breath now. Here's what the editors there had to say:

4 editors reviewed Blue Dragon on a 1-10 scale and in total the score was 37/40

Grade: 9
From the meticulously-woven story to the easy-to-comprehend battles and gentle (game) balance, the title allows even the most basic of beginners to jump right in. Even so, the game’s battles offer a considerable degree of play depth, and other elements such as the enormous number of objects that can be examined will tickle the fancy of gamers. An RPG worthy of being labeled an evolutionary step in the right direction.

Grade: 9
This title shaped up to be a classic visit to the RPGs of old with the latest technology. Of particular mention is the light and gentle nature of the visuals and a (character) growth sytem that compells tinkering by the player with its high degree of freedom. While the presentation and movies in the game do not stand out in particular, the sense of balance experienced while progressing through the game’s story is exquisite.

Grade: 9
A well-balanced RPG that took the direct route and succeeded. Battles are an enjoyable experience thanks to the categories and skills belonging to (the character’s) shadows and a system that allows you to make the enemies fight each other. The moving story is complemented with a variety of events that gradually find their way into your heart. Given this, it was a bit odd to experience actions such as searching an enemy’s poop.

Grade: 10
A pleasing and meticulously-crafted RPG through and through, from the battles to the command setup throughout the game. It’s difficult to come up with another RPG title that barely induces stress even after long hours of play. Toriyama’s art comes to life on the screen, and can be experienced in all its glory in both the movies and battles. Let’s not forget the boss battle tune sung by Ian Gillan!

 

 


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14 comments | showing # 1 to 14

KyleGamgee's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/05/2006 17:30
KyleGamgee
Balance. Got it! Who am I kidding? I love RPGs. Very much looking forward to this game.
Dexter345's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/05/2006 17:33
Dexter345
I'm still skeptical. It looks like just another JRPG to me.
Namelessted's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/05/2006 17:38
Namelessted
It's good to hear good reviews coming in for Blue Dragon. If you guys couldn't tell I am pretty excited about this game. I am looking forward to a refreshing RPG that isn't .hack or those other JRPGs that all have 6 parts to them that come out every year that you have to buy all of them and play for 60hours to know what the fuck is going on.
Ishaan's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/05/2006 17:38
Ishaan
I'm not a terribly big fan of the art style in the game, judging from what I've seen of it so far. I wonder whether or not this will work as well in Japan as Microsoft wants it to. The Japanese are pretty damn adamant about not supporting the 360.
World Famous's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/05/2006 17:42
World Famous
Problem is, Microsoft never had those "just another RPGs." For 360 owners, Blue Dragon is a good thing.
ArrestedDeveloper's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/05/2006 18:15
ArrestedDeveloper
The game does seem to have some promise. I still think they could do more to draw Japanese gamers in if they could only figure out how to include asian women in catholic uniforms into more of their games.
Colette Bennett's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/05/2006 18:37
Colette Bennett
Finally...a reason for RPG players to give a shit about the XBox. I'm really glad and I think MSoft will see a lot of Japanese support for it, which it's sorely lacked up to now.

Personally I'm excited to see the XBox's power behind a solid RPG. If the story's as good as they say it is, it could really rock.

maximum0v3rdriv3's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/05/2006 18:55
maximum0v3rdriv3
I really hope it does as well as people here say it might. Currently i'm not a huge fan of xbox for the simple lack of rpgs that i love.

I see alot of "looks like just another rpg" Thats exactly what i like to see. Xbox seems to be lacking in the rpg genre and if they do well in japan they just might start throwing out handfuls of rpgs. If that happens i'll pick up a 360 soon after.
bethecoffeebean - inactive's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/05/2006 20:02
bethecoffeebean - inactive
One misses the point,
what this means is a rise in xbox 360 market share in Japan (of course due to the Japanese gaming pubic eating up this rpg off the shelves after the good reviews from Famitsu), which in turn leads to more Japanese developers jumping onboard the 360 bandwagon, thus giving us a greater choice and variety of games.
Vigor's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/05/2006 20:10
Vigor
Im excited about this ill be getting a 360 soon. And this game looks like a refreshing RPG. And i kinda like the art work and character design its done by the guy who does dragonball z. I think we need next gen RPG's until PS3 ever gets its act together.
Lord_Satorious's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/06/2006 01:57
Lord_Satorious
Given the big names involved with "Blue Dragon", I think it will be more than 'just another JRPG'. "Enchanted Arms" was another JRPG, but "Blue Dragon" is in the tradition of a diverse cast of characters, a huge explorable world, and a grand storytelling theme. Actually, that described a lot of RPGs in general, but you get the idea. It's more epic and engrossing than other RPGs.
Im OK's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/06/2006 01:58
Im OK
Some how, some way, this game has flown under my radar, despite the fairly extensive coverage of it that I've seen here and elsewhere. Maybe it's because I don't have a 360 yet, but now that I've taken a closer look at it, this looks like it could be pretty cool. When Mass Effect is finally released and I have my 360, I'll certainly be looking into this one some more as well.

And, I agree totally with bethecoffeebean. If this does well in Japan and gets the Japanese to open up to the Xbox, I can see only good coming from it.
Cardoweth's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/06/2006 07:58
Cardoweth
Alot of big names working on this one.

I believe some of the people behind Chrono Trigger are working on this, so right it has my intrest.

This is also a great thing for the 360 as some others said by bringing more developers into the mix hopefully we can expect to see a little more variety in the future.
Lider's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/06/2006 08:48
Lider
I can't wait to play this game, the only thing that makes em interest about the 360 is Mistwalker, and they being a first party studio, tells a lot.

I think it'll be a huge seller in japan for a change.
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