Blue Dragon (Xbox 360)

A shiny, next-gen exterior reveals masterful classic gaming beneath.
2/12/2008 12:00 AM | 0 Comments | Page 2 of 2

The nuts and bolts of Blue Dragon's play will be instantly familiar to anybody who's mucked around with an RPG. It's also accessible enough to be newbie-friendly. There's just enough treasure to make players feel like they're scoring better outfits every so often, but not so much that they spend more time futzing around with menus than adventuring. And players are never outclassed by enemies, suddenly finding themselves too weak and ill-equipped to survive a fight. The dreaded necessity to "grind" to gain strength never rears its head, though the game does give players just enough rope to hang themselves if they're the type that likes to buff up their characters rather than drive the story forward.

Fretting over these fiddly gameplay details is all well and good, but to focus on them is to miss the bigger picture -- and what makes Blue Dragon so great. There's a level of artfulness, a mastery of the RPG as a creative medium, on rare display here. The game moves at a swift, assured pace. Just as the party dynamics start to feel stale, a new playable ally, like the diminutive (and frequently shrill) Maru Maro or the sexy and mysterious Zola, drops in to freshen the team dynamic. Scenery changes are frequent and dramatic. Toriyama's designs take imaginative detours away from his signature style. There's a colorful race of two-dimensional creatures who live in the murals on the sides of cliff faces and the walls of ruins. Their alien, ornate shapes seem to take more than a little inspiration from American independent cartoonist Jim Woodring. Even if the similarities are coincidental, these lovely creatures are a sign that Toriyama isn't resting on his laurels, cranking out heroes and villains from the Dragon Ball Z template. Blue Dragon shows a willingness to explore and experiment within the context of the turn-based RPG. Uematasu, known for his charming melodies and rousing, orchestral scores, throws in the occasional cheesy power metal tune to keep us on our toes. Action sequences, like a shooting mini-game and a gauntlet run that tasks Shu and company with protecting a wagon train, pop up every so often as palate cleansers between courses of adventuring.

Sadly, the game's localization may be its Achilles' heel. The English voice actors are typical anime talent -- and the script they've been given doesn't inspire them to rise above their station. The stilted, humorless translation is a little more palatable when the game is played with the original Japanese audio. Granted, some of the problems come from the source material. Sakaguchi's scenario is populated with its fair share of paint-by-number archetypes. Still, a game with top-notch music, eye-popping next-gen visuals and rock-solid action would be better served with a slightly more nuanced dramatic take. A Blue Dragon blessed with the witty scribes that grace a Paper Mario or a Portal would be unmissable. As it stands, there's a lot to recommend this fresh perspective on a classic way to play. Too bad you've got to sidestep a handful of caveats, exceptions and trip mines first.

This review was based on a retail copy of the game provided by the publisher.