Released to a surprisingly receptive Japanese gaming public, Blue Dragon has made an inroad for Microsoft in the land of the Rising Sun when it was thought impossible. Hironobu Sakaguchi’s Xbox 360 debut marks a shift for the console in the region, as much as it does a dramatically different direction for the legendary role-playing designer. Departing from his long-running Final Fantasy franchise, Mr. Sakaguchi strikes out with his first title—a totally original title that promises epic adventuring in a unique, whimsical world. Joining an impressive roster of role-playing games exclusive to Xbox 360, Blue Dragon stands out with its gorgeous artistic style, classic role-playing mechanics, and undeniable charm.

Blue Dragon follows a young boy named Shu who embarks on a journey to defeat the nefarious Nene. Heralding a massive purple cloud to blot out the sun, Nene has encouraged scores of monsters to terrorize the population and leave its cities in ruins. Only by tapping into the power of the creature that emerges from his shadow can Shu confront Nene and his army of evildoers. Shu won’t have to stand up to Nene alone though, as a number of friends accompany him in his quest to dispatch evil. Each character possesses a unique shadow creature that complements their personality, lending them special combat abilities. For example, Shu’s blue dragon is distinctly aggressive and direct, matching his personality; whereas, Shu’s friend Jiro is more reserved, lending his shadow creature healing abilities. Understand how to utilize each shadow creature’s unique abilities will enable you to better engage enemies and preserve your characters’ lives in combat.

Battles are turn-based, with a turn order indicator resting at the top of the screen. Enemies do appear on the exploration screen, but you’ll be taken to a battle screen when you encounter them. We witnessed a few simple battles against a horned lazy bear in a mountainous region and several flame guardians in a fiery cavern. Interestingly, if you’ve already defeated a particular type of monster, you will automatically defeat any enemies of that kind you might run into in the future. You’ll still gain experience points; you’re just spared the monotony of sitting through unnecessary battles.

When you do have to engage in battle, they have a surprisingly active feel to them. Much like the fast-paced battles of Final Fantasy X, combat clips a breakneck speed in Blue Dragon. In particular, we were shown a spectacular boss battle against a cybernetic red tyrannosaur. Shu and crew held nothing back with a flurry of special attacks, while the tyrannosaur made sure to counter in earnest. Mr. Sakaguchi demonstrated how filling a special power gauge attributed to each character’s shadow creature enables you to pull off a devastating attack. Once Shu’s power gauge had filled, he summoned his blue dragon to full form, launched into the air, and slammed a magic fireball against the tyrannosaur. The effect was both awesome in its power and theatrics.

Combat does have its rewards, granting you experience for leveling up your characters and unlocking new abilities. Each character possesses five basic attributes that increase through the course of the adventure: attack, defense, magic attack, magic defense, and agility. When leveling up, your core attributes will increase slightly; additionally, you’ll gain points for new abilities. Blue Dragon features a mind-blowing number of skills, which are best set together in groups tailored for specific locations. For example, barrier skills might be worthwhile in a fiery cavern, but not necessary when exploring a snowy mountain top. Ultimately, what skills you equip is left to you, but the game encourages complementary groupings.

It should come as any surprise that Blue Dragon boasts an impressive visual presentation. With artwork from famed artist Akira Toriyama, the game exudes charm. Seeing hundreds of characters mill about the streets of Jibral Castle Town or watching cutesy enemies attempt to attack Shu and friends in battle, there’s a lot of visual variety in Blue Dragon that keeps things fresh and exciting. Incidentally, the audio is sounding quite nice as well. In this first look at the localized version of the game, the voice acting was spot on; moreover, Nobuo Uematsu’s musical score seemed reminiscent of his fantastic work on the Final Fantasy series.

Beyond the core game, Microsoft plans on support Blue Dragon with three content packages in the six months following its release in North America, the last of which will introduce a new dungeon. Extending play even further is the option of starting a “new game plus,” which essentially imports characters from a completed game into a more difficult new play through. These added features simply sweeten the deal for what already appears to be an immensely entertaining role-playing game. Blue Dragon isn’t necessarily a revolutionary experience, but its classically-styled role-playing deserves attention in this new generation. - Tracy Erickson