Official BLUE DRAGON (XBOX 360) Thread !

[MarkMan]

Blue Dragon is coming Dec. 7th in Japan! Hopefully soon in the US!


Famed game producer Hironobu Sakaguchi of Mistwalker and developer Artoon present the highly anticipated Xbox 360 exclusive Blue Dragon. Featuring the character design of Akira Toriyama of Dragon Ball Z and music by Nobuo Uematsu of Final Fantasy, Blue Dragon is an epic role-playing game that centers on a young boy named Shu and several of his friends.

These unlikely heroes possess the power to control phantom shadows that mirror the actions of their masters, giving Shu and his comrades miraculous strength and magical powers.

The warriors can create and develop their combat styles by utilizing different types of Shadow Change, including Sword, Assassin, and Power Magic. Shu and his friends must use the shadows as weapons and wield their skills to save their world from impending doom.

Encountering various people on a planet where numerous ancient ruins remain, the characters and their shadows travel through a world full of mysteries and illusions, where the slightest touch can cause reactions of unparalleled magnitude.

Features

Innovative RPG gameplay features: As their quest progresses, warriors can create original attack methods by utilizing several types of Shadow Change, including Sword, Assassin, and Power Magic. You can choose to focus the hero on certain areas of expertise. Shadows level up and gain new abilities associated with the job they are currently doing. Once gained, abilities are not lost and remain available to use when needed.

Massive scope and engrossing environments: Shu and his companions battle their way through an immense world filled with vividly illustrated remnants of ancient civilizations long forgotten.

Stunning graphics: Taking full advantage of the power of Xbox 360, Blue Dragon engages you in a world and characters that are brought to life with vibrant colors and detail, from Shu's wild hair to his martial arts-style garb, conveying the beautiful simplicity and sense of adventure found in this truly next-generation RPG.

Dazzling character design and effects: Toriyama’s unique influence is evident in the design of the game’s anime style characters, as their actions are enhanced with next-gen blur effects. Additionally, the game’s algorithmic animation system adds heightened realism to character and creature movements.

[MarkMan]

So yeah, I forgot to ask... anyone else excited? :)

[Biff_McFresh]

So yeah, I forgot to ask... anyone else excited? :)

Very. Looks promising, plus it's an RPG, so it automatically peaks some interest out of me :D

[MarkMan]

The Japanese version of this game is coming out on the 7th. I'm so excited I just may import it and try to play through!

[n.ooka]

Yeah, Blue Dragon looks great. Is the hype as big in Japan as Microsoft wants it to be?

On a side note, I wouldn't mind getting my hands on this:

http://myspace-259.vo.llnwd.net/01494/95/26/1494806259_l.jpg

*EDIT*
Achievments have landed!


# 1. Successful Back Attack - Successfully pull off a back attack (5 points)
# 2. 100 Back Attacks - Successfully pull off 100 back attacks (30 points)
# 3. Successful Simultaneous Encounter - Successfully pull off a simultaneous encounter (5 points)
# 4. Simultaneous Encounter, Over 10 Parties - Successfully pull off over 10 parties of simultaneous encounters and defeat all the monsters (30 points)
# 5. 100 Monster Fights - Set up over 100 monster fights (30 points)
# 6. Rare Monster "Ousama Unchi-kun" - Defeat Ousama Unchikun (30 points)
# 7. Rare Monster "Golden Unchi-Snake" - Defeat Golden Unchi-Snake (30 points)
# 8. Rare Monster "Gold Mecha Robo" - Defeat Gold Mecha Robo (30 points)
# 9. Mechat Shooting, ST1, Perfect - Clear Mechat shooting with no damage (30 points)
# 10. Wagon Defense, Perfect - Clear wagon defense with no damage (30 points)
# 11. Dragon, 1 Category Rank MAX - Max out the rank of one category for Dragon (30 points)
# 12. Minotaur, 1 Category Rank MAX - Max out the rank of one category for Minotaur (30 points)
# 13. Phoenix, 1 Category Rank MAX - Max out the rank of one category for Phoenix (30 points)
# 14. Dragon, All Category Rank MAX - Max out the rank of all categories for Dragon (50 points)
# 15. Minotaur, All Category Rank MAX - Max out the rank of all categories for Minotaur (50 points)
# 16. Phoenix, All Category Rank MAX - Max out the rank of all categories for Phoenix (50 points)
# 17. All Characters Level MAX - Get all characters to level 99 (50 points)
# 18. Rare Item "Ultimate Weapon Bracelet" - Find the rare item Ultimate Weapon Bracelet (10 points)
# 19. Rare Item "Ultimate Conflict Necklace" - Find the rare item Ultimate Conflict Necklace (10 points)
# 20. Rare Item "Dragon Bracelet" - Find the rare item Dragon Bracelet (10 points)
# 21. All Warp Clip Set - Activate all warp monuments (25 points)
# 22. All Barriers Released - Release all barriers (25 points)
# 23. Monster Dictionary Complete - Complete all entries in the monster dictionary (25 points)
# 24. Item Dictionary Complete - Complete all entries in the item dictionary (25 points)
# 25. 1,000,000 Gold Accumulated - Accumulate 1,000,000 gold (25 points)

[LiquidPolicenaut]

I am also VERY excited about this game. Ive been anticipating ttitle for awhile now and cant wait forit either. Im also looking forward to Eternal Sonata by Namco.


The Japanese version of this game is coming out on the 7th. I'm so excited I just may import it and try to play through!

I was actually thinking about importing too since there is still no release date in the US for it. One question lingers...will it be region locked?

[MarkMan]

We should find out sometime this week! As a heads up over at www.play-asia.com the Asian version of the game is $44.99!

[Daria]

I love how the achievements are all actually bonus things and not just story milestones.

[Richter Belmount]

I thought the day I would ever see a sakaguchi xbox game, would have never come , thank god i was completely wrong.

[hezeuschrist]

This game hasn't even been annoucned for overseas yet has it? I personally don't have any faith that it'll actually make it out of Japan.

[TurboGenesis]

I am VERY excited about this game. Blue Dragon (and Lost Odyssey) are prime reasons why I bought 360. Blue Dragon is slated for first quarter release in the US and Lost Odyssey is slated for summer release. My 360 will finally see heavy use.

[LiquidPolicenaut]

Even though I have yet to see any real confirmation from Microsoft on a US release date, Namco actually did announce awhile ago that Eternal Sonata would be released here Q1 '07. Both titles are currently my top 2 most wanted for the 360 and THESE two games are my reasons why I bought a 360 :)

[MarkMan]

Does anyone know if there is any confirmation that Blue Dragon is compatible with US 360s? Asian version?

[diskoboy]

3 DVD-9's? I'm guessing - $69 regular edition.

$79 for a limited edition. All US.

Add $10 for both in Canada.

[n.ooka]

3 DVD-9's? I'm guessing - $69 regular edition.

$79 for a limited edition. All US.

Add $10 for both in Canada.

I'd put my money on those estimates.

[jajaja]

This game is split onto 3 DVDs? Damn! MS should have included games on HD-DVD instead, no swapping :)

[PapaStu]

3 DVD-9's? I'm guessing - $69 regular edition.

$79 for a limited edition. All US.

Add $10 for both in Canada.

Merging since we've got one of these threads already!


@ jajaja If they put it on HD-DVD it would shoot MS in the foot. Forcing people to buy a 200 buck upgrade just to play 'A' game while the new DVD format wars are still just starting to go down is suicide.

[jajaja]

@ jajaja If they put it on HD-DVD it would shoot MS in the foot. Forcing people to buy a 200 buck upgrade just to play 'A' game while the new DVD format wars are still just starting to go down is suicide.

Sure, but i ment they should include the HD-DVD player in the machine from the very start, like Sony did with their BR player :) I wonder how the future games will be. Still 1 DVD or alot of multi discs.

EDIT: Anyone know why the game is so huge in size?

[MarkMan]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Asian release is not compatible with US region 360s.

:(

*Tempted to get that nice BD bundle*

[LiquidPolicenaut]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Asian release is not compatible with US region 360s.

:(

*Tempted to get that nice BD bundle*

*sighs* Figures. I was expecting this somehow. Now we either buy an import 360 or wait till god knows when and IF MS announces the game for the US....

[Crazycarl]

This game is split onto 3 DVDs? Damn! MS should have included games on HD-DVD instead, no swapping :)

Just read this article:
http://www.gamesfirst.com/?id=1132

[n.ooka]

http://xbox360media.ign.com/xbox360/image/article/749/749490/blue-dragon-arrives-20061206020841846-000.jpg

http://xbox360media.ign.com/xbox360/image/article/749/749490/blue-dragon-arrives-20061206020847768-000.jpg

Frothy pictures.

I hope the box art stays the same when Microsoft decides to release BD here in the states.

[jajaja]

Just read this article:
http://www.gamesfirst.com/?id=1132

Well.. that article is written mostly on statistics on how much Xbox1 games have grown in size from 2001 to 2005 and the article nearly 1 year old. Im not saying that DVD9 is too small for games in general, but when suddently a 360 game split into 3xDVD9 discs arrives this early (only ~1 year after the console came out), whats the chances for other games to do this too?

I see the article compares size with sequels like SH2 is like 5gb, but SH4 is like 3.2gb. Sure, they probly used better compression in SH4, but you can only compress so much. Beside the size doesnt only count on this, for what i know SH2 can be a bigger game than SH4, like more 3d model etc. They also mention that Splinter Cell 3 grow well over 1gb from Splinter Cell 2 due to change of developers. I feel like they indirectly say that SC3 could be about the same size as SC2 if the developers were the same, which is seriously doubt.

I also doubt that Blue Dragon is that poorly programmed and compressed that they had to put it on 3 discs and in 2-3 years they can fit it on 1 disc due to new and more improved programming/compressing techniques. Thats why im interested in knowing why Blue Dragon is so much bigger than the rest of the 360 games. On the other hand, GoW is actually suprisingly small size due to the great new way the Unreal 3 engine can handle textures so i shall never say never :)

The question is also how long this generation consoles will last before the next consoles come. Will DVD9 be enough in 3-4 years? I would hate to see many games on multi discs. I hope the developers take the space seriously (maybe not the best word, but dunno the english word hehe) and do whatever they can to fit the game on 1 disc if possible. Its impossible to say what will happend for sure, only time will tell.

[n.ooka]

Here are some early impressions from IGN:
http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/749/749510p1.html

Awesome article from 1up about the bundle (Warning: BD Porn inside):
http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3155686