Eh, I meant to write this a while ago and I had every intention of doing so. But I just couldn't find the time or energy to make the effort of getting this out here. Work is just draining, leaving me pretty much not wanting to do much of anything once I do get home.
But that is a different story for a different time, because this entry was meant for Blue Dragon. Has my opinion changed for the better? Or worse? To sum up my feelings, I am still generally unmoved from much of what I have said before. Certain elements in the game has gotten better, while others are unchanged. Oh and yes, I have moved onto disk 2, which happened sometime last week.
For starters, your team is pretty damn powerful (if you've been leveling them up) and towards the ending of disk 1, you get your fifth and final (I think) team member in Zola. Now having a four person team was pretty kick ass as it was, but adding in one more? Absolute domination! In my own experience, there hasn't been an enemy or boss that has given me enough trouble to warrant a mention here.
Then again, I have heard that this game was intentionally made easier... is this Final Fantasy 4 all over again? Do we need to be treated like RPG noobs? I guess someone out there felt that was needed, or maybe this was done for mass appeal? Well whatever the case might be, this game does feel a whole lot easier to nearly the point of insanity in some cases.
One thing that has been bugging me is the music. I mean yes, it is Nobuo Uematsu, but it seems to teeter into great or just outright annoying. Battle music never changes, nor does the boss fight music for that matter. It does sound good the first time, but after hearing it over and over again, it does lose its appeal. I will say that my favorite so far is the music played during your trek through Nene's flying fortress. Simply AWESOME.
One last thing and this part goes towards the characters and, as I had said during my first impression post, their lack of depth. Sadly, that part has not changed and very, very little is said about Shu, Jiro, Kluke, Maromaru and Zola. Maybe I should take on 'so far'? At this point, I guess it wouldn't be too wise to expect much in the way of any real background stories...
I think what hurts this game the most is the level of expectation that was set before it was released. I mean it was being toted as XBox 360's answer to Final Fantasy... which is something that I am not convinced of thus far. No, I am not a Final Fantasy Fanboy (maybe I am, just a little?), I mean I have enjoyed a great deal of other RPGs over the years that weren't initialed 'FF.'
Speaking of which, I kind of want to replay Earthbound.....
Anyway! Now don't get me wrong here folks, alone it (Blue Dragon) is a pretty good game. The English voice overs gave me a headache, but thank god for Japanese voice overs! Oops, getting off track again here. Yes! Blue Dragon is good! But as far as measuring up to a Final Fantasy? Blue Dragon, as of my experiences so far, falls pretty short of that mark. I still will say that this looks and plays something like Dragon Quest VIII, not saying as that is a bad thing but...
But my time is up! I will soldier forward and continue Blue Dragon in hopes that there is more to that world then meets the eye. I shall return! Eventually!
1 comment:
I believe that whenever an RPG comes out for the 360, it is going to get dumbed down. From the time that I've spent on XBL, I can understand why. Generally speaking, 360 owners are in a different classification than people who have played games like Chrono Trigger and Earthbound. I agree that they should make games that would challenge US, but the video game market doesn't want that. Gaming has become a normal part of the average household. It is no longer a niche market for "geeks" and "nerds" living in their parents' basements. It's TRENDY. As a geek living in my parents' basement (just kidding!), I'm not happy about this new trend of gaming, either. However, if it wasn't for the fact that gaming has become a bigger industry than the movies, I wouldn't have so many games to play. I have to admit, though, I really miss that feeling of excitement and anticipation I used to get when a new RPG I wanted was coming out. They were so few and far between that you REALLY savored them. Now we're spoiled. They come out all the time. Oh well, there's good and bad in everything. I'm still waiting for my 360 to come back from the repair center and when it does, I have no doubt that I will enjoy Blue Dragon for what it is: Fun. I'm not expecting a grand experience. For the most part, games simply aren't made for that anymore.
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