Blue Dragon got its start as a sort of icebreaker for Japan's none too enthusiastic 360 crowd. Microsoft's system hasn't done so hot overseas, and in an attempt to bring something a bit more "JRPG" in nature, Blue Dragon was born. While the 360 still isn't seeing the success Microsoft would like, however, Blue Dragon as a franchise has flourished, including a manga series, anime, and now a DS sequel in Blue Dragon Plus.
Headed by Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi – and his newfound Mistwalker Studios – in conjunction with developer Brownie Brown (Magical Starsign, and Children of Mana), the franchise is now getting a serious push into the world of handheld gaming.
As always, Russ hunts down the best places with the best prices for your RPG needs.
When Ignition picked up the rights for Blue Dragon Plus back in 2008, it wouldn't be far wrong to admit a few eyebrows were raised across the gaming scene. Not only had the aesthetically pleasing 360 original Blue Dragon failed to launch the JRPG genre on the new hardware, there was little indication that a sequel would be making an appearance so soon, especially on the smaller screens of the DS, and in the form of an RPG/RTS hybrid.
RWM writes: "Blue Dragon is a strange series. Decent game ideas but nothing new or innovative. Enjoyable game play with unbelievably irritating characters. The shadow ranks are interesting but only need to be levelled to around 36 in the 360 version - making any further advancement pointless beyond the achievements gained. Why do that? Why not reward people for slaving away at your game for hours? Where's my ultimate shadow skill for hitting rank 99? I'll do it for the right reward…I bred Chocobos for DAYS to get Knights of the Round. Reward me for my dedication damn you! These and other frustrations led to me getting very close to the end of Blue Dragon, but never finishing it."
