Blue Dragon
Blue Dragon (BLUE DRAGON-ブルードラゴン- ?, romanized as BLUE DRAGON in Japan) is a console role-playing game developed by Mistwalker and Artoon and distributed by Microsoft Game Studios exclusively for the Xbox 360. Blue Dragon is based on a design by Final Fantasy series creator Hironobu Sakaguchi, who also supervised development and wrote the plot.[1] The game was released in Japan on December 7, 2006, in Europe on August 24, 2007 and in North America on August 28, 2007.
Blue Dragon follows the story of five friends: Shu, Jiro, Kluke, Zola, and Marumaro, as they travel across the world to confront the evil King of the Grand Kingdom, Nene. The setting inspired separate anime and manga adaptations, although these follow the story to different degrees and feature a different cast of characters. The game follows a traditional role-playing design, based around exploration and turn-based combat, with turn speed modified by characters' agility.
Blue Dragon is the first Xbox 360 title to make use of three disks.[2] It was also the longest Xbox 360 game until Lost Odyssey was released with a story spanning four disks. Overall, the game has received a positive reception, with an average score of 79% on the review aggregator website Metacritic.[3] Blue Dragon was both applauded and criticized for its excellent adaptation of the traditional elements of role-playing games.[4] In Japan, Blue Dragon was sold both as a standalone game and in a bundle with the Xbox 360 (including the game, the Xbox 360 system itself, and a Blue Dragon faceplate).[
[edit] Gameplay
This section may require copy-editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone or spelling. You can assist by editing it now. A how-to guide is available. (July 2008)
The gameplay of Blue Dragon is more traditional than many modern console role-playing games,[1] because the game uses turn-based combat and a number of genre-standard elements. The game world consists of a mix of towns and dungeon-like areas,[1] with the former having places to rest and purchase items, while the latter contain numerous foes to be defeated. Shortly after the beginning sections of the game, players gain the ability to "warp" to locations which they have previously visited, greatly reducing the amount of time spent wandering on foot.[1]
[edit] Exploration
The player can see (and potentially avoid) enemies while exploring the game world, unlike other games that rely upon random encounters. In some cases, specific foes will block a path or desired treasure chest and must be defeated to proceed. Other foes will pursue the player characters once spotted, but players can elude them if they flee far enough away. Frequently, a single enemy or monster displayed on the screen actually represents a number of different foes (of potentially different types).
Combat begins somewhat differently depending on how the player avatar makes contact with the monster. If the avatar strikes an enemy from behind, a "Back Attack" is initiated. Similarly, if the avatar is struck from behind, an unfavorable "Surprise Attack" occurs. Players can also choose to fight several groups of monsters at once, with each combat taking place immediately after the previous one. This is encouraged by awarding bonuses to the player after successfully defeating groups of monsters. In rare cases, two groups of monsters may be bitter enemies, in which case a "Monster Fight" will occur, with both monster groups appearing at once in a battle against each other.[1]
[edit] Shadows
The core mechanic in Blue Dragon is the use of magical shadows, with each player character having a distinct shadow modeled after either a dragon, a phoenix, a bat, a minotaur, or a Saber-toothed tiger. Each shadow can be assigned to a single character class (from a number of such classes) at a time, taking on the attributes and abilities of that class. Class levels or "ranks" are earned only for the active class, but players are free to change classes at any time except in combat, allowing the group's shadows to be customized in order to achieve the desired combination.[1]
As shadows increase in rank in a given class, they learn new skills, which can then be assigned to a limited number of skill slots. Shadows can be assigned previously learned skills regardless of their current class. For example, if a shadow is currently set to be an "Assassin", but has previously learned the ability to cast "Barrier Magic" while acting as a member of that class, the "Barrier Magic" skill can be set as an active skill. This allows mixing or hybridization, with the player able to pick and choose from among the skills known to a given shadow.[1]
[edit] Combat
Although combat in the game follows a strictly turn-based formula, the turn sequence of the combatants is calculated based on the agility of the character, and characters are allowed to take multiple turns before enemies can act if they are sufficiently quick. Different actions take different periods of time, so the turn order is not fixed even within a given combat session.[1]
One gameplay addition which adds to combat strategy is the "Charge Meter", which allows players to "charge up" spells or attacks by spending additional time preparing them. This meter is always used for spell casting, as well as when using the "Charge Attack" skill of the "Monk" class. Although players can choose to act immediately, an ability will become more effective the longer that the player charges it. Depending on the ability, this will result in more damage or a greater area of effect. However, the greater the amount of time one charges, the greater the time before the next turn. As a result of this, players can choose to charge up an ability so that the ability triggers shortly before an enemy acts, or can instead aim for a special "red area" on the bar (dubbed as the "Sweet spot" in game) indicating a charge that allows for less time until the next attack, as well as a smaller mana cost. Despite this, the "red area" is not always ideal. Overall, deciding on the correct amount of charge (and letting go of the button at precisely that time) can greatly influence the effectiveness of each character's attacks during combat.[6]
[edit] Plot
[edit] Characters
Main article: List of characters in the Blue Dragon series
From left to right: Marumaro, Zola, Kluke, Shu, and Jiro.The five main characters of Blue Dragon are Shu, a 16-year-old boy;[7] Kluke, a mature and serious girl;[8] Jiro, an intelligent young man;[8] Marumaro, a member of the Devee Tribe;[9] and Zola, a powerful warrior of the Jibral Blademasters.[9] Both Shu and Kluke's parents were killed by the "Land Shark". The antagonists include Nene, an old alien-like man who runs the Gran Kingdom;[10] Destroy, who enjoys his master Nene's malevolence;[11] and General Szabo, a robotic servant of Nene leading his robotic army.
[edit] Story
Blue Dragon takes place in a fictional open-world environment where every year for the past ten years, purple clouds have mysteriously appeared in the sky, signaling misfortune and disaster for people across the world.
For years, a terrifying beast dubbed the "Land Shark", came with the purple clouds, killing thousands of people and destroying a number of villages. At the beginning of the story, once again the purple clouds have arrived in Talta Village. As the clouds engulf the village, the villagers rush to seek shelter. Among them is Fushira, the grandfather of Shu. As he arrives at an emergency evacuation area, he asks the villagers if they've seen Shu, but none of them have. Then, as Fushira attempts to leave the area, he discovers friends Shu and Jiro confronting the Land Shark within the heart of the village. Working together, Shu and Jiro slow down the land shark, but encounter troubles and find themselves saved by Kluke. Together, the three lead the Land Shark into a net trap that they've previously set up and Shu closes in for the kill. However, as Shu approaches, the Land Shark breaks free from the net and rushes away, with Shu, Jiro and Kluke dangling from its back.
The three friends are dragged into an area of ancient ruins which they briefly explore. Shu discovers that the Land Shark wasn't actually a shark, and that it was instead a machine, a "mechat". Once more, the mechat comes to life, only this time sailing into the sky, again carrying the three with it. The party arrives at a giant mechat base in the clouds and are tossed into the throne room of Nene, the apparent leader. Nene explains to them how he enjoys hearing the screams of the dying victims of the Land Shark. Outraged, the party confronts Nene in battle, but is easily defeated. They are thrown out of the base and start to fall to their deaths, but Shu's determination saves their lives, with him shouting that he "will never give up". The party awakens back in the base. They then find three floating spheres in the middle of the room, where a voice commands, "Swallow the spheres". The party refuses and is forced to fight an army of Nene's robots. As they attempt to flee, they discover another mechat, which is their last hope of escape. Given no other choice, and with the unseen voice promising them knowledge of how to pilot the mechat, the party eats the spheres. As they consume the spheres, a strange transformation occurs to each, changing the forms of their shadows. Shu's turns into a blue dragon, Jiro's, a blue minotaur, and Kluke's, a blue phoenix. They escape the base and crash in a desert.
Following this, they must journey through the world, locate the survivors of Talta Village, find and defeat Nene, and shut down his multiple mechat bases.
They travel to Talta village, Marumaro joining along the way. Once at Talta, they find the survivors have left for Jibral. The party leaves for Jibral, meeting Zola along the way. Once there, they implement a plan to destroy one of Nene's bases near Jibral, Zola joining the team. After the base is destroyed, the party heads north in search of Nene. Kluke is captured by Nene, and fitted with a collar that Nene alleges will explode. When the party attempts to remove Kluke's collar, Nene absorbs all their shadows (except Zola's, who had been separated from the party earlier). Shu (who should not have any magic left at this point) teleports the party (except Zola) to Devour village.
They find themselves unable to escape the village without their magic (which came from the spheres which were in fact from Nene). Shu has an epiphany and finds himself able to summon his dragon shadow without his sphere. Eventually all the party are able to summon their shadow again. The party can then meet back up with Zola, who supplies an airship (Land Shark).
When the party goes after Nene in the airship, the world undergoes a radical change in shape. The party follows Nene to the primitive cube. As Nene is defeated, it is revealed that Zola was working for Nene all along and she was the voice that told the rest of the party to swallow the spheres. Zola then betrays Nene. With Nene's death, Deathroy, the small creature that has been on Nene's shoulder all along, escapes, and is revealed to be Destroy, the biomechanical weapon that destroyed the ancients. The party defeats Destroy, and the characters now adjust to their different world.
[edit] Development
Blue Dragon was first revealed on February 24, 2005 as one of two unnamed role-playing games in development by Mistwalker Studios for the console which later came to be known as the Xbox 360.[12] In an IGN interview following the unveiling, Peter Moore stressed the importance to Microsoft of having Japanese games available on the system, commenting "... It's a main priority for me in the next 12–18 months to ensure Japanese developers are our partners."[13]
Contributors to Blue Dragon include a number of well known Japanese figures in the gaming industry. The title's original story was written by Hironobu Sakaguchi, the game director of the first five Final Fantasy video games. It also features art from Akira Toriyama, the creator of Dragon Ball and visual character and monster designer and illustrator of both the Dragon Quest series and Chrono Trigger.[14]
Much of the actual software development work on the game was done at Artoon, with Takuya Matsumoto serving as director and Manabu Kusonoki responsible for the game's world view.[15] Matsumoto previously worked as a designer on Blinx 2: Masters of Time and Space, while Kusonoki is known for his work at Sega, including the world of Panzer Dragoon.[15] Near the end of November 2005, roughly a year before the title was released in Japan, Artoon's Naoto Ōshima indicated that the game was around 40% complete. He also pointed out that Artoon had previously been known primarily for action titles, so that responsibility for Blue Dragon was originally somewhat frightening.[16] Following this, a relative lack of media information for most of 2006 resulted in speculation that the title would be delayed until 2007, but Microsoft's Takashi Sensui confirmed in August 2006 that the game would indeed see a year-end 2006 release.[17]
In a November 2006 interview with IGN, Sakaguchi confirmed that the sequel, Blue Dragon 2, was in the planning stages, and would presumably start development shortly thereafter.[18] Later in an issue of Weekly Shōnen Jump, it was announced that Blue Dragon Plus is in the works for the Nintendo DS. This game will be a real-time simulation RPG and feature 2D sprite graphics.
[edit] Audio
Blue Dragon's score was produced and composed by Nobuo Uematsu, who is famous for composing much of the music in the popular Final Fantasy series. One of the boss themes, "Eternity", was written by Sakaguchi, composed by Uematsu, and includes vocals by English singer Ian Gillan.[19] Blue Dragon Original Soundtrack was released on December 13, 2006 and was arranged by Satoshi Henmi and Hiroyuki Nakayama. Music from Blue Dragon was performed live at the Play! A Video Game Symphony concerts in 2006.
[edit] Cast
[edit] English Cast
Joey D'Auria - Hineto, Lago Village Chief, Talta Village Chief
Richard Epcar - Heat-Wave Sai, Jeelala, King Ghost
Melissa Fahn - Kakura, Lago Village Child, Noluta Village Child, Suru-Suru
Nika Futterman - Marumaro
Richard Herd - Nene
Will Matthews - Deathroy/Destroy
Mona Marshall - Shu
Michael McConnohie - Jiro's Father, Marumaro's Father, Yasato
Tara Platt - Child, Female Villager
Philip Proctor -
Sam Riegel - King Jibral, Turbulent Mai
Cindy Robinson - Zola
Philece Sampler - Child, Female Villager
Stephanie Sheh - Paches Town Child, Samila
Steve Staley - Jiro, Raging Kesu
Ellyn Stern - Jiro's Mother, Marumaro's Mother
Kim Strauss - Guru-Guru, Paches Townsperson, Silent Ku
Tara Strong - Kluke
Fred Tatasciore - General Szabo, Guard, Soldier
[edit] Crew
[edit] English Crew
Richard Epcar - Voice Director
Liam O'Brien - ADR Script Writer
[edit] Manga and anime
See also: Blue Dragon Ral Grad and List of Blue Dragon episodes
On November 12, 2006, Shueisha announced that a manga adaptation of Blue Dragon would be produced. Blue Dragon: Secret Trick is drawn by Shibata Ami and was scheduled to premiere in Monthly Shōnen Jump in January 2007.[20] Takeshi Obata, the illustrator of Death Note is handling Blue Dragon Ral Grad, which began serialization in issue 1 2007 of Weekly Shōnen Jump.[21] Viz Media later released the first volume of the manga as simply "Ral Grad" in February 2008.[22]
An anime adaptation directed by Yukihiro Matsushita, animated by Studio Pierrot and co-produced by SKY Perfect Wellthink, TV Tokyo and Pierrot was announced in November 2006. The anime began airing April 7, 2007, featuring a different vocal cast than that used for the game. It also ignored most of the game's plot. It airs on TV Tokyo, and ran for 51 episodes. A second season of Blue Dragon Blue Dragon: The Seven Sky Dragons (BLUE DRAGON 天界の七竜 ,Burū Doragon: Tenkai no Shichiryū?) premiered on TV Tokyo on April 5, 2008.
On April 16, 2007, Viz Media announced that it had licensed the anime for release in North America and Europe.[23] An edited English language dub of the series premiered in the United States on Cartoon Network, on April 5, 2008 where it aired until it was canceled in July 2008.[citation needed] Episodes continued airing on Toonami Jetstream until the Jetstream was cancelled on January 30, 2009. The English dub also aired on Canada's YTV from September 6, 2008 through December 6, 2008. After a three-month hiatus, it has been returned to YTV at 1pm on Saturdays as of March 7, 2009. Viz began releasing the edited English dub episodes to DVD in 2008.[citation needed] The series is also licensed for release in Australia and New Zealand by Magna Pacific.
[edit] Reception
[hide] Reception
Aggregate scores
Aggregator Score
GameRankings 78%[3]
Metacritic 79 out of 100[24]
Review scores
Publication Score
1UP.com C+[25]
Eurogamer 5 out of 10[26]
Game Informer 9 out of 10[6]
GamePro 4.4 out of 5[27]
GameSpot 6.0 out of 10[28]
GameSpy 4 out of 5[29]
IGN 7.9 out of 10[30]
Official Xbox Magazine 7.5/10
X-Play [4]
Pre-orders of Blue Dragon bundled with a limited edition Xbox 360 Core system were sold out in Japan well before the December 7, 2006 release date.[31] Microsoft and Mistwalker initially hoped to sell over 200,000 copies,[32] which would break their record for sales of an Xbox 360 game in Japan. The game did manage the goal, with almost exactly 200,000 copies sold as of December 27, 2007.[33] Creator Hironobu Sakaguchi was pleased the game sold as well as it did.[34]
Reviews for Blue Dragon have been somewhat mixed, although generally favorable. On the review aggregator Game Rankings, the game had an average score of 78% based on 64 reviews.[3] While many of the reviewers praised the game for its traditional approach, a few reviewers criticized it for that very reason, with one reviewer remarking "In fact, there is very little you can point to in Blue Dragon that hasn't been done multiple times over before".[30] The story also came under scrutiny from some reviewers for being too generic and too similar to existing Japanese RPGs, with slow pacing during the beginning of the game.[30] Eurogamer noted that the apparent lack of effort put into the facial animations for each character resulted in a limited ability to express emotion. They also noted that the mouth movements are well timed, but that the rest of the characters' facial movements are "static".[26] Game Informer commented that Blue Dragon lacked "jaw dropping" moments and was missing a nebulous "key element" to make it perfect.[6] 1UP.com also picked up on this, adding that Blue Dragon was missing "strong characters, gripping storytelling, and excellent pacing".[25] X-Play noted that the game was very visually pleasing but they said the game was like any other role-playing game.[4] Though most of the reviewers criticized the title in one way or another, they also all complimented it for its excellent graphics and music. Game Informer also noted that "the characters look like sculpted figurines wandering around a world built to scale".[6] GameSpy complimented the title's music and graphics saying the game had "phenomenal music; and magnificently rendered cutscenes".[29]
[edit] References
^ a b c d e f g h "Blue Dragon: Expanded Information". GameStop. http://www.gamestop.com/Catalog/ProductDetails.aspx?product_id=64383. Retrieved on 2008-07-01.
^ Gantayat, Anoop (2006-12-06). "Blue Dragon Arrives". IGN. http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/749/749490p1.html. Retrieved on 2008-07-22.
^ a b c "Blue Dragon Reviews". Game Rankings. http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/927950.asp. Retrieved on 2008-03-21.
^ a b c Sewart, Greg. "Blue Dragon". X-Play. http://www.g4tv.com/xplay/reviews/1597/blue_dragon.html. Retrieved on 2008-06-14.
^ Ashcraft, Brian (2006-10-06). "Blue Dragon Faceplate To Slay Japan". Kotaku. http://kotaku.com/gaming/blue-dragon/blue-dragon-faceplate-to-slay-japan-205680.php. Retrieved on 2008-07-23.
^ a b c d Juba, Joe. "Blue Dragon". Game Informer. http://www.gameinformer.com/NR/exeres/34B9976A-CE26-4DDE-BCBB-F771A75A5AEB.htm?CS_pid=200270. Retrieved on 2008-06-15.
^ Prima Games's Blue Dragon Official Game Guide Page 4
^ a b Prima Games's Blue Dragon Official Game Guide Page 5
^ a b Prima Games's Blue Dragon Official Game Guide Page 6
^ Prima Games's Blue Dragon Official Game Guide Page 7
^ Prima Games's Blue Dragon Official Game Guide Page 8
^ Perry, Douglass (2005-02-24). "Former Square President to Create Xbox 2 Games". IGN. http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/607/607196p1.html.
^ Perry, Douglass (2005-02-24). "Peter Moore on Mistwalker's RPGs". IGN. http://xbox.ign.com/articles/590/590733p1.html.
^ Gantayat, Anoop (2005-05-02). "Blue Dragon Revealed". IGN. http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/609/609260p1.html.
^ a b Gantayat, Anoop (2005-05-13). "Pre-E3 2005: Blue Dragon Revealed". IGN. http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/613/613389p1.html.
^ Gantayat, Anoop (2005-11-30). "Blue Dragon Progress Report". IGN. http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/672/672680p1.html.
^ Gantayat, Anoop (2006-08-30). "Blue Dragon Still On Track for 2006". IGN. http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/729/729386p1.html.
^ IGN Staff (2006-11-21). "Mistwalker Plans Blue Dragon Sequel". IGN. http://uk.xbox360.ign.com/articles/747/747023p1.html. Retrieved on 2007-03-28.
^ Game Informer (166): 50-59, February 2007
^ Ashcraft, Brian (2006-11-15). "Blue Dragon: The Manga". Kotaku. http://kotaku.com/gaming/japan/blue-dragon-the-manga-214815.php. Retrieved on 2006-11-30.
^ Simmons, Alex (2006-11-20). "Blue Dragon Manga Announced". IGN. http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/746/746805p1.html. Retrieved on 2006-11-28.
^ "Ral & Grad Volume 1". SimonSays.com. http://www.simonsays.com/content/book.cfm?tab=31&pid=592325. Retrieved on 2008-06-15.
^ "VIZ Media Named Master Licensor for Blue Dragon Anime Series". Anime News Network. 2007-04-16. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/press-release/2007-04-16/viz-media-licensor-for-blue-dragon-anime. Retrieved on 2007-07-12.
^ "Blue Dragon (xbox360: 2007): Reviews". Metacritic. http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/xbox360/bluedragon. Retrieved on 2008-06-14.
^ a b Fitch, Andrew (2007-08-24). "Blue Dragon (Xbox 360)". 1UP.com. http://www.1up.com/do/reviewPage?cId=3162317. Retrieved on 2008-06-15.
^ a b Fahey, Rob (2007-08-24). "Blue Dragon". Eurogamer. http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=81972. Retrieved on 2008-06-15.
^ Ouroboros (2007-08-28). "Review: Blue Dragon". GamePro. http://www.gamepro.com/microsoft/xbox360/games/reviews/131488.shtml. Retrieved on 2008-06-15.
^ VanOrd, Kevin (2007-08-30). "Blue Dragon for Xbox 360 Review". GameSpot. http://uk.gamespot.com/xbox360/rpg/bluedragon/review.html?sid=6177861. Retrieved on 2008-06-15.
^ a b Graziani, Gabe (2007-08-17). "Blue Dragon Review". GameSpy. http://xbox360.gamespy.com/xbox-360/mistwalker-rpg/813556p1.html. Retrieved on 2008-06-15.
^ a b c Brudvig, Erik (2007-08-15). "Blue Dragon Review". IGN. http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/812/812365p1.html. Retrieved on 2008-06-15.
^ Davies, Jonti (2006-12-07). "Blue Dragon sets Japan Ablaze". Joystiq. http://www.joystiq.com/2006/12/07/blue-dragon-sets-japan-ablaze/. Retrieved on 2008-07-10.
^ Orry, James (2006-12-14). "Blue Dragon sells 80,000 in Japan". Pro-G. http://www.videogamer.com/xbox360/blue_dragon/news-4299.html. Retrieved on 2007-02-03.
^ Boyer, Brandon (2007-12-27). "Blue Dragon Tops Lifetime Xbox 360 Software Sales In Japan". Gamasutra. http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=16768. Retrieved on 2008-06-15.
^ GameSpot Staff (2007-03-16). "Q&A: Mistwalker's Hironobu Sakaguchi". GameSpot. http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/rpg/bluedragon/news.html?sid=6167571&om_act=convert&om_clk=gsupdates&tag=updates;title;1. Retrieved on 2007-06-18.
[edit] External links
Official Blue Dragon website
Xbox.com | Blue Dragon - Game detail page
Official Studio Pierrot's Blue Dragon website (Japanese)
Official TV-Tokyo Blue Dragon website (Japanese)
Official Viz Media Blue Dragon website
Official Cartoon Network's Blue Dragon website
Blue Dragon (anime) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia
[show]v • d • eBlue Dragon series
Initial video game series Blue Dragon (Characters) · Blue Dragon 2
Spinoffs Blue Dragon Plus · Blue Dragon: Ikai no Kyojū
Adaptations Anime (Episodes) · Blue Dragon: Secret Trick · Blue Dragon Ral Grad
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Dragon"
Categories: 2006 video games | Mistwalker games | Role-playing video games | Video games developed in Japan | Viz Media anime | Viz Media manga | Xbox 360 games | Xbox 360-only games | Shows on Toonami Jetstream
Blue Dragon follows the story of five friends: Shu, Jiro, Kluke, Zola, and Marumaro, as they travel across the world to confront the evil King of the Grand Kingdom, Nene. The setting inspired separate anime and manga adaptations, although these follow the story to different degrees and feature a different cast of characters. The game follows a traditional role-playing design, based around exploration and turn-based combat, with turn speed modified by characters' agility.
Blue Dragon is the first Xbox 360 title to make use of three disks.[2] It was also the longest Xbox 360 game until Lost Odyssey was released with a story spanning four disks. Overall, the game has received a positive reception, with an average score of 79% on the review aggregator website Metacritic.[3] Blue Dragon was both applauded and criticized for its excellent adaptation of the traditional elements of role-playing games.[4] In Japan, Blue Dragon was sold both as a standalone game and in a bundle with the Xbox 360 (including the game, the Xbox 360 system itself, and a Blue Dragon faceplate).[
[edit] Gameplay
This section may require copy-editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone or spelling. You can assist by editing it now. A how-to guide is available. (July 2008)
The gameplay of Blue Dragon is more traditional than many modern console role-playing games,[1] because the game uses turn-based combat and a number of genre-standard elements. The game world consists of a mix of towns and dungeon-like areas,[1] with the former having places to rest and purchase items, while the latter contain numerous foes to be defeated. Shortly after the beginning sections of the game, players gain the ability to "warp" to locations which they have previously visited, greatly reducing the amount of time spent wandering on foot.[1]
[edit] Exploration
The player can see (and potentially avoid) enemies while exploring the game world, unlike other games that rely upon random encounters. In some cases, specific foes will block a path or desired treasure chest and must be defeated to proceed. Other foes will pursue the player characters once spotted, but players can elude them if they flee far enough away. Frequently, a single enemy or monster displayed on the screen actually represents a number of different foes (of potentially different types).
Combat begins somewhat differently depending on how the player avatar makes contact with the monster. If the avatar strikes an enemy from behind, a "Back Attack" is initiated. Similarly, if the avatar is struck from behind, an unfavorable "Surprise Attack" occurs. Players can also choose to fight several groups of monsters at once, with each combat taking place immediately after the previous one. This is encouraged by awarding bonuses to the player after successfully defeating groups of monsters. In rare cases, two groups of monsters may be bitter enemies, in which case a "Monster Fight" will occur, with both monster groups appearing at once in a battle against each other.[1]
[edit] Shadows
The core mechanic in Blue Dragon is the use of magical shadows, with each player character having a distinct shadow modeled after either a dragon, a phoenix, a bat, a minotaur, or a Saber-toothed tiger. Each shadow can be assigned to a single character class (from a number of such classes) at a time, taking on the attributes and abilities of that class. Class levels or "ranks" are earned only for the active class, but players are free to change classes at any time except in combat, allowing the group's shadows to be customized in order to achieve the desired combination.[1]
As shadows increase in rank in a given class, they learn new skills, which can then be assigned to a limited number of skill slots. Shadows can be assigned previously learned skills regardless of their current class. For example, if a shadow is currently set to be an "Assassin", but has previously learned the ability to cast "Barrier Magic" while acting as a member of that class, the "Barrier Magic" skill can be set as an active skill. This allows mixing or hybridization, with the player able to pick and choose from among the skills known to a given shadow.[1]
[edit] Combat
Although combat in the game follows a strictly turn-based formula, the turn sequence of the combatants is calculated based on the agility of the character, and characters are allowed to take multiple turns before enemies can act if they are sufficiently quick. Different actions take different periods of time, so the turn order is not fixed even within a given combat session.[1]
One gameplay addition which adds to combat strategy is the "Charge Meter", which allows players to "charge up" spells or attacks by spending additional time preparing them. This meter is always used for spell casting, as well as when using the "Charge Attack" skill of the "Monk" class. Although players can choose to act immediately, an ability will become more effective the longer that the player charges it. Depending on the ability, this will result in more damage or a greater area of effect. However, the greater the amount of time one charges, the greater the time before the next turn. As a result of this, players can choose to charge up an ability so that the ability triggers shortly before an enemy acts, or can instead aim for a special "red area" on the bar (dubbed as the "Sweet spot" in game) indicating a charge that allows for less time until the next attack, as well as a smaller mana cost. Despite this, the "red area" is not always ideal. Overall, deciding on the correct amount of charge (and letting go of the button at precisely that time) can greatly influence the effectiveness of each character's attacks during combat.[6]
[edit] Plot
[edit] Characters
Main article: List of characters in the Blue Dragon series
From left to right: Marumaro, Zola, Kluke, Shu, and Jiro.The five main characters of Blue Dragon are Shu, a 16-year-old boy;[7] Kluke, a mature and serious girl;[8] Jiro, an intelligent young man;[8] Marumaro, a member of the Devee Tribe;[9] and Zola, a powerful warrior of the Jibral Blademasters.[9] Both Shu and Kluke's parents were killed by the "Land Shark". The antagonists include Nene, an old alien-like man who runs the Gran Kingdom;[10] Destroy, who enjoys his master Nene's malevolence;[11] and General Szabo, a robotic servant of Nene leading his robotic army.
[edit] Story
Blue Dragon takes place in a fictional open-world environment where every year for the past ten years, purple clouds have mysteriously appeared in the sky, signaling misfortune and disaster for people across the world.
For years, a terrifying beast dubbed the "Land Shark", came with the purple clouds, killing thousands of people and destroying a number of villages. At the beginning of the story, once again the purple clouds have arrived in Talta Village. As the clouds engulf the village, the villagers rush to seek shelter. Among them is Fushira, the grandfather of Shu. As he arrives at an emergency evacuation area, he asks the villagers if they've seen Shu, but none of them have. Then, as Fushira attempts to leave the area, he discovers friends Shu and Jiro confronting the Land Shark within the heart of the village. Working together, Shu and Jiro slow down the land shark, but encounter troubles and find themselves saved by Kluke. Together, the three lead the Land Shark into a net trap that they've previously set up and Shu closes in for the kill. However, as Shu approaches, the Land Shark breaks free from the net and rushes away, with Shu, Jiro and Kluke dangling from its back.
The three friends are dragged into an area of ancient ruins which they briefly explore. Shu discovers that the Land Shark wasn't actually a shark, and that it was instead a machine, a "mechat". Once more, the mechat comes to life, only this time sailing into the sky, again carrying the three with it. The party arrives at a giant mechat base in the clouds and are tossed into the throne room of Nene, the apparent leader. Nene explains to them how he enjoys hearing the screams of the dying victims of the Land Shark. Outraged, the party confronts Nene in battle, but is easily defeated. They are thrown out of the base and start to fall to their deaths, but Shu's determination saves their lives, with him shouting that he "will never give up". The party awakens back in the base. They then find three floating spheres in the middle of the room, where a voice commands, "Swallow the spheres". The party refuses and is forced to fight an army of Nene's robots. As they attempt to flee, they discover another mechat, which is their last hope of escape. Given no other choice, and with the unseen voice promising them knowledge of how to pilot the mechat, the party eats the spheres. As they consume the spheres, a strange transformation occurs to each, changing the forms of their shadows. Shu's turns into a blue dragon, Jiro's, a blue minotaur, and Kluke's, a blue phoenix. They escape the base and crash in a desert.
Following this, they must journey through the world, locate the survivors of Talta Village, find and defeat Nene, and shut down his multiple mechat bases.
They travel to Talta village, Marumaro joining along the way. Once at Talta, they find the survivors have left for Jibral. The party leaves for Jibral, meeting Zola along the way. Once there, they implement a plan to destroy one of Nene's bases near Jibral, Zola joining the team. After the base is destroyed, the party heads north in search of Nene. Kluke is captured by Nene, and fitted with a collar that Nene alleges will explode. When the party attempts to remove Kluke's collar, Nene absorbs all their shadows (except Zola's, who had been separated from the party earlier). Shu (who should not have any magic left at this point) teleports the party (except Zola) to Devour village.
They find themselves unable to escape the village without their magic (which came from the spheres which were in fact from Nene). Shu has an epiphany and finds himself able to summon his dragon shadow without his sphere. Eventually all the party are able to summon their shadow again. The party can then meet back up with Zola, who supplies an airship (Land Shark).
When the party goes after Nene in the airship, the world undergoes a radical change in shape. The party follows Nene to the primitive cube. As Nene is defeated, it is revealed that Zola was working for Nene all along and she was the voice that told the rest of the party to swallow the spheres. Zola then betrays Nene. With Nene's death, Deathroy, the small creature that has been on Nene's shoulder all along, escapes, and is revealed to be Destroy, the biomechanical weapon that destroyed the ancients. The party defeats Destroy, and the characters now adjust to their different world.
[edit] Development
Blue Dragon was first revealed on February 24, 2005 as one of two unnamed role-playing games in development by Mistwalker Studios for the console which later came to be known as the Xbox 360.[12] In an IGN interview following the unveiling, Peter Moore stressed the importance to Microsoft of having Japanese games available on the system, commenting "... It's a main priority for me in the next 12–18 months to ensure Japanese developers are our partners."[13]
Contributors to Blue Dragon include a number of well known Japanese figures in the gaming industry. The title's original story was written by Hironobu Sakaguchi, the game director of the first five Final Fantasy video games. It also features art from Akira Toriyama, the creator of Dragon Ball and visual character and monster designer and illustrator of both the Dragon Quest series and Chrono Trigger.[14]
Much of the actual software development work on the game was done at Artoon, with Takuya Matsumoto serving as director and Manabu Kusonoki responsible for the game's world view.[15] Matsumoto previously worked as a designer on Blinx 2: Masters of Time and Space, while Kusonoki is known for his work at Sega, including the world of Panzer Dragoon.[15] Near the end of November 2005, roughly a year before the title was released in Japan, Artoon's Naoto Ōshima indicated that the game was around 40% complete. He also pointed out that Artoon had previously been known primarily for action titles, so that responsibility for Blue Dragon was originally somewhat frightening.[16] Following this, a relative lack of media information for most of 2006 resulted in speculation that the title would be delayed until 2007, but Microsoft's Takashi Sensui confirmed in August 2006 that the game would indeed see a year-end 2006 release.[17]
In a November 2006 interview with IGN, Sakaguchi confirmed that the sequel, Blue Dragon 2, was in the planning stages, and would presumably start development shortly thereafter.[18] Later in an issue of Weekly Shōnen Jump, it was announced that Blue Dragon Plus is in the works for the Nintendo DS. This game will be a real-time simulation RPG and feature 2D sprite graphics.
[edit] Audio
Blue Dragon's score was produced and composed by Nobuo Uematsu, who is famous for composing much of the music in the popular Final Fantasy series. One of the boss themes, "Eternity", was written by Sakaguchi, composed by Uematsu, and includes vocals by English singer Ian Gillan.[19] Blue Dragon Original Soundtrack was released on December 13, 2006 and was arranged by Satoshi Henmi and Hiroyuki Nakayama. Music from Blue Dragon was performed live at the Play! A Video Game Symphony concerts in 2006.
[edit] Cast
[edit] English Cast
Joey D'Auria - Hineto, Lago Village Chief, Talta Village Chief
Richard Epcar - Heat-Wave Sai, Jeelala, King Ghost
Melissa Fahn - Kakura, Lago Village Child, Noluta Village Child, Suru-Suru
Nika Futterman - Marumaro
Richard Herd - Nene
Will Matthews - Deathroy/Destroy
Mona Marshall - Shu
Michael McConnohie - Jiro's Father, Marumaro's Father, Yasato
Tara Platt - Child, Female Villager
Philip Proctor -
Sam Riegel - King Jibral, Turbulent Mai
Cindy Robinson - Zola
Philece Sampler - Child, Female Villager
Stephanie Sheh - Paches Town Child, Samila
Steve Staley - Jiro, Raging Kesu
Ellyn Stern - Jiro's Mother, Marumaro's Mother
Kim Strauss - Guru-Guru, Paches Townsperson, Silent Ku
Tara Strong - Kluke
Fred Tatasciore - General Szabo, Guard, Soldier
[edit] Crew
[edit] English Crew
Richard Epcar - Voice Director
Liam O'Brien - ADR Script Writer
[edit] Manga and anime
See also: Blue Dragon Ral Grad and List of Blue Dragon episodes
On November 12, 2006, Shueisha announced that a manga adaptation of Blue Dragon would be produced. Blue Dragon: Secret Trick is drawn by Shibata Ami and was scheduled to premiere in Monthly Shōnen Jump in January 2007.[20] Takeshi Obata, the illustrator of Death Note is handling Blue Dragon Ral Grad, which began serialization in issue 1 2007 of Weekly Shōnen Jump.[21] Viz Media later released the first volume of the manga as simply "Ral Grad" in February 2008.[22]
An anime adaptation directed by Yukihiro Matsushita, animated by Studio Pierrot and co-produced by SKY Perfect Wellthink, TV Tokyo and Pierrot was announced in November 2006. The anime began airing April 7, 2007, featuring a different vocal cast than that used for the game. It also ignored most of the game's plot. It airs on TV Tokyo, and ran for 51 episodes. A second season of Blue Dragon Blue Dragon: The Seven Sky Dragons (BLUE DRAGON 天界の七竜 ,Burū Doragon: Tenkai no Shichiryū?) premiered on TV Tokyo on April 5, 2008.
On April 16, 2007, Viz Media announced that it had licensed the anime for release in North America and Europe.[23] An edited English language dub of the series premiered in the United States on Cartoon Network, on April 5, 2008 where it aired until it was canceled in July 2008.[citation needed] Episodes continued airing on Toonami Jetstream until the Jetstream was cancelled on January 30, 2009. The English dub also aired on Canada's YTV from September 6, 2008 through December 6, 2008. After a three-month hiatus, it has been returned to YTV at 1pm on Saturdays as of March 7, 2009. Viz began releasing the edited English dub episodes to DVD in 2008.[citation needed] The series is also licensed for release in Australia and New Zealand by Magna Pacific.
[edit] Reception
[hide] Reception
Aggregate scores
Aggregator Score
GameRankings 78%[3]
Metacritic 79 out of 100[24]
Review scores
Publication Score
1UP.com C+[25]
Eurogamer 5 out of 10[26]
Game Informer 9 out of 10[6]
GamePro 4.4 out of 5[27]
GameSpot 6.0 out of 10[28]
GameSpy 4 out of 5[29]
IGN 7.9 out of 10[30]
Official Xbox Magazine 7.5/10
X-Play [4]
Pre-orders of Blue Dragon bundled with a limited edition Xbox 360 Core system were sold out in Japan well before the December 7, 2006 release date.[31] Microsoft and Mistwalker initially hoped to sell over 200,000 copies,[32] which would break their record for sales of an Xbox 360 game in Japan. The game did manage the goal, with almost exactly 200,000 copies sold as of December 27, 2007.[33] Creator Hironobu Sakaguchi was pleased the game sold as well as it did.[34]
Reviews for Blue Dragon have been somewhat mixed, although generally favorable. On the review aggregator Game Rankings, the game had an average score of 78% based on 64 reviews.[3] While many of the reviewers praised the game for its traditional approach, a few reviewers criticized it for that very reason, with one reviewer remarking "In fact, there is very little you can point to in Blue Dragon that hasn't been done multiple times over before".[30] The story also came under scrutiny from some reviewers for being too generic and too similar to existing Japanese RPGs, with slow pacing during the beginning of the game.[30] Eurogamer noted that the apparent lack of effort put into the facial animations for each character resulted in a limited ability to express emotion. They also noted that the mouth movements are well timed, but that the rest of the characters' facial movements are "static".[26] Game Informer commented that Blue Dragon lacked "jaw dropping" moments and was missing a nebulous "key element" to make it perfect.[6] 1UP.com also picked up on this, adding that Blue Dragon was missing "strong characters, gripping storytelling, and excellent pacing".[25] X-Play noted that the game was very visually pleasing but they said the game was like any other role-playing game.[4] Though most of the reviewers criticized the title in one way or another, they also all complimented it for its excellent graphics and music. Game Informer also noted that "the characters look like sculpted figurines wandering around a world built to scale".[6] GameSpy complimented the title's music and graphics saying the game had "phenomenal music; and magnificently rendered cutscenes".[29]
[edit] References
^ a b c d e f g h "Blue Dragon: Expanded Information". GameStop. http://www.gamestop.com/Catalog/ProductDetails.aspx?product_id=64383. Retrieved on 2008-07-01.
^ Gantayat, Anoop (2006-12-06). "Blue Dragon Arrives". IGN. http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/749/749490p1.html. Retrieved on 2008-07-22.
^ a b c "Blue Dragon Reviews". Game Rankings. http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/927950.asp. Retrieved on 2008-03-21.
^ a b c Sewart, Greg. "Blue Dragon". X-Play. http://www.g4tv.com/xplay/reviews/1597/blue_dragon.html. Retrieved on 2008-06-14.
^ Ashcraft, Brian (2006-10-06). "Blue Dragon Faceplate To Slay Japan". Kotaku. http://kotaku.com/gaming/blue-dragon/blue-dragon-faceplate-to-slay-japan-205680.php. Retrieved on 2008-07-23.
^ a b c d Juba, Joe. "Blue Dragon". Game Informer. http://www.gameinformer.com/NR/exeres/34B9976A-CE26-4DDE-BCBB-F771A75A5AEB.htm?CS_pid=200270. Retrieved on 2008-06-15.
^ Prima Games's Blue Dragon Official Game Guide Page 4
^ a b Prima Games's Blue Dragon Official Game Guide Page 5
^ a b Prima Games's Blue Dragon Official Game Guide Page 6
^ Prima Games's Blue Dragon Official Game Guide Page 7
^ Prima Games's Blue Dragon Official Game Guide Page 8
^ Perry, Douglass (2005-02-24). "Former Square President to Create Xbox 2 Games". IGN. http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/607/607196p1.html.
^ Perry, Douglass (2005-02-24). "Peter Moore on Mistwalker's RPGs". IGN. http://xbox.ign.com/articles/590/590733p1.html.
^ Gantayat, Anoop (2005-05-02). "Blue Dragon Revealed". IGN. http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/609/609260p1.html.
^ a b Gantayat, Anoop (2005-05-13). "Pre-E3 2005: Blue Dragon Revealed". IGN. http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/613/613389p1.html.
^ Gantayat, Anoop (2005-11-30). "Blue Dragon Progress Report". IGN. http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/672/672680p1.html.
^ Gantayat, Anoop (2006-08-30). "Blue Dragon Still On Track for 2006". IGN. http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/729/729386p1.html.
^ IGN Staff (2006-11-21). "Mistwalker Plans Blue Dragon Sequel". IGN. http://uk.xbox360.ign.com/articles/747/747023p1.html. Retrieved on 2007-03-28.
^ Game Informer (166): 50-59, February 2007
^ Ashcraft, Brian (2006-11-15). "Blue Dragon: The Manga". Kotaku. http://kotaku.com/gaming/japan/blue-dragon-the-manga-214815.php. Retrieved on 2006-11-30.
^ Simmons, Alex (2006-11-20). "Blue Dragon Manga Announced". IGN. http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/746/746805p1.html. Retrieved on 2006-11-28.
^ "Ral & Grad Volume 1". SimonSays.com. http://www.simonsays.com/content/book.cfm?tab=31&pid=592325. Retrieved on 2008-06-15.
^ "VIZ Media Named Master Licensor for Blue Dragon Anime Series". Anime News Network. 2007-04-16. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/press-release/2007-04-16/viz-media-licensor-for-blue-dragon-anime. Retrieved on 2007-07-12.
^ "Blue Dragon (xbox360: 2007): Reviews". Metacritic. http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/xbox360/bluedragon. Retrieved on 2008-06-14.
^ a b Fitch, Andrew (2007-08-24). "Blue Dragon (Xbox 360)". 1UP.com. http://www.1up.com/do/reviewPage?cId=3162317. Retrieved on 2008-06-15.
^ a b Fahey, Rob (2007-08-24). "Blue Dragon". Eurogamer. http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=81972. Retrieved on 2008-06-15.
^ Ouroboros (2007-08-28). "Review: Blue Dragon". GamePro. http://www.gamepro.com/microsoft/xbox360/games/reviews/131488.shtml. Retrieved on 2008-06-15.
^ VanOrd, Kevin (2007-08-30). "Blue Dragon for Xbox 360 Review". GameSpot. http://uk.gamespot.com/xbox360/rpg/bluedragon/review.html?sid=6177861. Retrieved on 2008-06-15.
^ a b Graziani, Gabe (2007-08-17). "Blue Dragon Review". GameSpy. http://xbox360.gamespy.com/xbox-360/mistwalker-rpg/813556p1.html. Retrieved on 2008-06-15.
^ a b c Brudvig, Erik (2007-08-15). "Blue Dragon Review". IGN. http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/812/812365p1.html. Retrieved on 2008-06-15.
^ Davies, Jonti (2006-12-07). "Blue Dragon sets Japan Ablaze". Joystiq. http://www.joystiq.com/2006/12/07/blue-dragon-sets-japan-ablaze/. Retrieved on 2008-07-10.
^ Orry, James (2006-12-14). "Blue Dragon sells 80,000 in Japan". Pro-G. http://www.videogamer.com/xbox360/blue_dragon/news-4299.html. Retrieved on 2007-02-03.
^ Boyer, Brandon (2007-12-27). "Blue Dragon Tops Lifetime Xbox 360 Software Sales In Japan". Gamasutra. http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=16768. Retrieved on 2008-06-15.
^ GameSpot Staff (2007-03-16). "Q&A: Mistwalker's Hironobu Sakaguchi". GameSpot. http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/rpg/bluedragon/news.html?sid=6167571&om_act=convert&om_clk=gsupdates&tag=updates;title;1. Retrieved on 2007-06-18.
[edit] External links
Official Blue Dragon website
Xbox.com | Blue Dragon - Game detail page
Official Studio Pierrot's Blue Dragon website (Japanese)
Official TV-Tokyo Blue Dragon website (Japanese)
Official Viz Media Blue Dragon website
Official Cartoon Network's Blue Dragon website
Blue Dragon (anime) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia
[show]v • d • eBlue Dragon series
Initial video game series Blue Dragon (Characters) · Blue Dragon 2
Spinoffs Blue Dragon Plus · Blue Dragon: Ikai no Kyojū
Adaptations Anime (Episodes) · Blue Dragon: Secret Trick · Blue Dragon Ral Grad
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Dragon"
Categories: 2006 video games | Mistwalker games | Role-playing video games | Video games developed in Japan | Viz Media anime | Viz Media manga | Xbox 360 games | Xbox 360-only games | Shows on Toonami Jetstream
