Blue Dragon

Randum

Platinum Member
Jan 28, 2004
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So I DLed the demo and gave it a shot. I went in with low expectations, not a big fan of the anime looking RPGs, did NOT like dragon quest for the ps2 (the demo at least) at all!!
Anyhow, did this demo remind anyone of FF7 a little? The fighting and music?? Or maybe the artistic style of the enemies?? And yes I was a person who was blown away by FF7, it was my first real RPG on the console...and I enjoyed it damnit!

Anyhow, I thought it looked worth renting or at least trying out to see if the story is any good. And I really, REALLY liked the graphics
Whats everyone else thinking?
 

tatteredpotato

Diamond Member
Jul 23, 2006
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I was a fan of FF VII too, but Blue Dragon didn't leave me wanting more in the Demo. I probably would enjoy it more if I had a clue about what I was doing, but as far as RPG's go it looked good.

Try DLing the Eternal Sonata Demo if you like JRPGs.
 

PricklyPete

Lifer
Sep 17, 2002
14,582
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Originally posted by: chrisg22
It's not really my type of game, so I hated the demo..

Ditto. I must be missing something as I played the demo for this and Eternal Sonata and I've yet to figure out the draw to these "Japanese" style RPG's.
 

R Nilla

Diamond Member
Jul 26, 2006
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I hated the fighting system for Blue Dragon, but I liked the Eternal Sonata demo. Probably at least worth renting depending upon reviews. I was excited about Blue Dragon but have lost all interest.
 

RaiderJ

Diamond Member
Apr 29, 2001
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I turned off Blue Dragon demo partway through. I'm a huge fan of the JRPG's on the SNES, but very few past that have interested me. I did like Dragon Quest VIII on the PS2.

Eternal Sonata was interesting, but combat seemed to be nothing more that button mashing.
 

DaveSimmons

Elite Member
Aug 12, 2001
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I'm still waiting for Falcon 360s so I've only seen trailers and pics, but controlling a party of what looks like 6-year-olds just isn't my cup of tea.

In most other JRPG games we at least get a party of teens.
 

Randum

Platinum Member
Jan 28, 2004
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Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
I'm still waiting for Falcon 360s so I've only seen trailers and pics, but controlling a party of what looks like 6-year-olds just isn't my cup of tea.

In most other JRPG games we at least get a party of teens.


that is what turns me off from JRPGs soo, I'll give it a try from a rental, and if its like Drangonquest was..you can bet i wont be buying it or finishing the game!
 

Dacalo

Diamond Member
Mar 31, 2000
8,778
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Originally posted by: Randum
Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
I'm still waiting for Falcon 360s so I've only seen trailers and pics, but controlling a party of what looks like 6-year-olds just isn't my cup of tea.

In most other JRPG games we at least get a party of teens.


that is what turns me off from JRPGs soo, I'll give it a try from a rental, and if its like Drangonquest was..you can bet i wont be buying it or finishing the game!

Disappointingly, the game has been receiving mediocre reviews considering it was developed by a star studded group. I just received my copy of EGM and they said the battle system is clever and well done but the story is just meh; the characters are not too interesting. IGN said it's good, but not great.
 

Aikouka

Lifer
Nov 27, 2001
30,383
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I can't stand the boss fight music. I mean, I love a lot of Uematsu's work, but why did they have to use J-Rock as boss fight music!? It just doesn't fit at all and really ruins it for me. What makes a game good is how I can remember scenes from the game... picture them in my head with the music playin'... because the music is that damn good. This ain't the 30's, I don't want me a silent film in my head; I need head music!

I'll still buy it anyway.

Oh and the anime was a little boring too... I just couldn't connect with Shu at all in it, which disappointed me a bit. Also, who the hell cares how old your characters are? Are you not going to play Fable 2 because you start out as a young lad?
 

Phobic9

Golden Member
Apr 6, 2001
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Originally posted by: R Nilla
I hated the fighting system for Blue Dragon, but I liked the Eternal Sonata demo. Probably at least worth renting depending upon reviews. I was excited about Blue Dragon but have lost all interest.

Yeah, I feel the same way. Blue Dragon's combat is just too slow and while I tried really hard to get past the character design, I just couldn't. I wasn't able to connect with the boy and his blue puppy or whatever at all. Meh. I really hope they do better with Lost Odyssey.

Eternal Sonata on the other hand is exactly what I was looking for. Great visuals and faster gameplay.
 

DaveSimmons

Elite Member
Aug 12, 2001
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Originally posted by: Aikouka
Oh and the anime was a little boring too... I just couldn't connect with Shu at all in it, which disappointed me a bit. Also, who the hell cares how old your characters are? Are you not going to play Fable 2 because you start out as a young lad?
Key part there.

I'd most prefer to have interaction with adult NPCs in my games, since I'm long past being a teen myself. A party of teens is a compromise I accept because of the games market.

A party of little kids (in an RPG) just ruins the immersion for me.
 

EvilComputer92

Golden Member
Aug 25, 2004
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I never could get into JRPGs as well, probably why I've stayed on the 360 and PC for gaming. It's beyond me why they have little kids and teens wielding swords and magic spells.
 

Aikouka

Lifer
Nov 27, 2001
30,383
912
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I was debating whether to necro this thread or create a new one, and I guess it's evident what I decided! Now, onto the business at hand...

So, I finally started playing Blue Dragon. As you can tell by the dates on this thread (and my own post in it), I am rather late to the game. I'm about six hours in so far (looking for some plant
to heal Maru's villagers
), and it's actually not nearly as bad as I thought it would be... four years ago. Hell, I even kind of like the boss battle music... it's a bit catchy!

I don't think it was very evident in the demo, but I actually really like the class system in the game. It isn't terribly complex, but with the few classes you have available, you're able to gain abilities and essentially create hybrid classes. For example, I was considering messing around with Guardian + White Magic + Barrier Magic to create what's essentially a Paladin.

It's even easier as some classes provide skills that boost your attributes to the level that the class would provide regardless of what class you are: Monk provides attack power, Assassin provides agility and Guardian provides defense. Right now, both Shu and Maru use a Monk, Swordsman hybrid that allows them to counter and gain health when they (direct!) attack. It works ridiculously well at keeping them alive without expending any MP on heals. I also found that getting Black Mage to level 8 is almost necessary for a caster to get the MP regain while walking.

What I don't like about the game? How you have to hit 'A' on almost every god damn object in the game to see if something is hidden there. While it's sometimes a worthless item that you'll never use or gold (1-500 gold is what I've seen so far), you can get permanent stat boosts (EXP, MP, HP, SP or even a full job level) from them as well.

Reading this thread again actually makes me wonder about the character art. People complain about how young they are, but the instructions actually list the main three characters as being 16. They definitely look younger (maybe about 12)... especially when you compare them to Crono from Chrono Trigger (another game that Toriyama did the art for). I almost wonder if they aren't supposed to look young, but rather weak. In the beginning of the game, they make sure to spell it out for you that they are weak without their shadow guardians. It's also possible that they were originally meant to be younger, but that was considered unpopular.
 

exar333

Diamond Member
Feb 7, 2004
8,518
8
91
Holy necro!

I always wondered about Blue Dragon, honestly. I heard it was really popular in Japan, but never got a chance to play it myself.
 

Aikouka

Lifer
Nov 27, 2001
30,383
912
126
Holy necro!

Just wait until I start playing Lost Odyssey. :p

I always wondered about Blue Dragon, honestly. I heard it was really popular in Japan, but never got a chance to play it myself.

I'm around 12 hours in, and it's not too bad so far. I think the story is a little too slow, but I recently got to the point (at around 10 hours in) when they started explaining little tidbits of the back story. I guess it also feels odd that I've spent 12 hours and I haven't really done much story-wise.

Oh, and one piece of advice... I swap jobs a lot, and I recommend not using a "fresher" job on a boss fight. :p I still won, but it was definitely a lot rougher. A job will directly affect your stats, and an example is how Shu dropped from ~150 defense to around 110 while I was swapped to working on Generalist.