Blue Dragon looks ok... but it's not the RPG for me... Eternal Sonata (Trusty Bell) looks more like something I'd actually play through.

The US demo of this is out FYI, and uh don't play it unless you want the entire second disc spoiled for you. What genius came up with introducing the demo at this point in the game? It seriously puts you right in the middle of one of the largest plot twists in the game.

I hate RPG demos that throw you in the middle of the game with every spell and attack in the book at your disposal. I'd rather play through the first dungeon of the game to see if its something I'd like or not.

I'm still gonna buy this game anyway. <3

Demo was definitely on the whole, rather shitty. I still have faith the actual game will be better. Am I the only one who thinks honestly this game has the absolute nerdiest looking main character in any RPG ever though?

I've played the game through, and I can tell you that THE plot twist isn't on the second disc. So relax!

Is the rather abysmal frame rate in the demo present in the final game? Because, damn. It's hitting single digits here.

You only get absymal framerates when you

(minor disc 3 spoiler, probably in the demo but whatever)


otherwise it's smooth sailing.

is in the demo, yeah, and that's the worst offender, but there are frame rate issues with just some of the fancier spell effects too.http://colonelskills.belkanairforce....ages/ace/1.gif

Yes, but in command based classic RPGs it doesn't affect your ability to play the game. It just makes it look shittier.

You won't be seeing most of those fancy spells until near the end of the second disc / third disc anyway. You probably won't even be using them afterwards -- considering that, once you're mid-level, second tier spells will already be sufficient (if your sweeping physical attacks haven't already ended the encounter).

So blah, is this game actually good? Could you compare it to a few other RPGs?

Well, it's "good", if you're just looking for something simple. Parts of the game will remind you of, say, Xenogears and Chrono Cross, but overall Blue Dragon never manages to rise to their calibre due to its lack of challenge and slightly dumbed down feel, including the story and dialogue which can get mighty embarrassing at times. The game does introduce some novel features but it wears off early.

The biggest problem with the game is balance. The highest tier spells are left unused because you can get much better efficiency with lower tier spells; you virtually never get to use your strongest physical attacks; with the right passive skills engaged you won't even need to use any items. Apparently there's a patch out in Japan that ramps up the difficulty level (and one that adds a New Game Plus feature) but it's not available in the Asia Pacific yet.

But otherwise it is a well polished game. You'll probably even like the characters, despite their designs. Story isn't anything you haven't seen in other RPGs, but that's to be expected. Music is awesome.

Just finished this game off. I have to say I liked it. I'll agree with Blah that it's by no means difficult, and after exploring the world later in the game the last few area and bosses didn't present much of a challenge at all.

But the story is entertaining enough, if a little dumb at times, and the presentation is well handled. I love the look of the game, especially the use of depth of field (for the most part). There's some unfortunate slow down at times during battles, but mostly the animation is pretty good. And yeah, the music is awesome.

How bad is the slow down? what about screen tearing, any of that?

Not that I have a 360 yet ;/ But I do want to play this game.

Not bad at all really, certainly not enough to cause any actual bother, it's just a shame it happens.

Been playing the game for 2 hours, and I'm enjoying it. Its a good classic turn based RPG thats enjoyable enough. Not too innovative than, say, Eternal Sonata is gonna be, but so far it feels solid.

I have no interest in this game. I don't like Toriyama's style, except for his work on Chrono Trigger, and I'm tired of the traditional JRPG. The story doesn't sound all that appealing and come on we have next generation hardware. Take advantage of its capabilities and do something with it.

Well I didn't have any expectation from the story either just by the look and feel of it, and reading some comments, the story is more simplistic with a villian that isn't motivated by some inner turmoil. Cartoonish? Yeah. But to me so far, this is a game that seems more about gameplay than it is about some deep story.

Still, I do see your point, and I personally do wanna see more innovativeness using next gen hardware, like the whole real time player-customised overdrive animation Square is supposdly working on for FF13. While its nice to have a traditional turn based game now and then from the slew of real time ones, I wanna see more good blends of real time and turn base combat. Like VP2 or the up coming Eternal Sonata.

Still, BD is still fun for me, and I like the various skills and classes I can mix up and customise with my shadows.

As for Toriyama, completly agree there, though I DO like Zola in Blue Dragon designwise. So gonna use her as field character when I get her in my party.

Well, they did

http://www.bigblah.net/upload/img_0179.jpg

http://www.bigblah.net/upload/img_0189.jpg


By the way, here's how to get one of the achievements:

http://www.bigblah.net/upload/img_0201.jpg

I thought I'd explored the world pretty thoroughly, but can't say I came across that sight. I did wonder about that 10 at the same time thing as I never came across any particularly big crowds like that.

Roballs pop out of the ground in the wake of the and they disappear after a short while, so you have to string them up using Attract Aura or the stink status (one of the accessories will inflict it). It takes a few passes to collect that many, and you have to dodge any that try to attack you. If all goes well, though, they'll stall at a distance just out of attacking range, and you can wait for more to appear.

To those who complain about the game being too easy, there's a patch out that gives you Hard, Impossible, and New Game + mode.

All you need to do is make a Hong Kong SAR based gamertag on your Xbox Live account, which requires a phoney or alternate email address. After you registered, download the patch, load it up, and its ready to go.

It should work on all versions, even Australian, but I will test it out later this week on my Aussie 360 just to make sure. It definitly works on NA, so you guys are covered.

Impressions on Hard mode etc is that its much better, battles get alot of strategic and the combat and skills systems truly shine in the harder modes. I say you guys need to get it. Its free and all you need is a broadband connection. What've you got to lose?

Oh right. I thought it looked like the Roballs who pop out after the aforementioned, but didn't think of 'collecting' them like that.

Kairi Li: I've heard about the downloadable pack to make it harder, and the New+ mode, and I don't know if I'd play through the game again (not for a while anyways), but it'd be nice if they released it as an available download for western gamers too.

Well if they dont, a Hong Kong Gamertag is all you need. After all, BD is getting overshadowed by other releases, I mean, sandwiched between Bioshock and Halo 3? Bad idea...

In the west true, though the idea of Blue Dragon was to try to appeal to Japanese gamers, so I doubt they were too concerned about where it fell in the US and Europe release schedule (I can't imagine they had hopes for huge sales for a very traditional JRPG styled in a very anime way). And anyways, there's loads of time between BioShock and Halo 3. I can't be alone in having found time to play it (and complete it) despite getting BioShock and having Halo 3 on order.