When I originally got the game I played about 8 hours before I realized that it wasn't a very good game. The dungeons, the plot, and even the battles didn't seem too entertaining. Recently I figured I'd give it a second chance and I'm actually glad I did.

It turns out that the game started to pick up around the 15th hour and I''m shocked to say that it's actually getting good. Blue Dragon has a very slow start, but it seems to really be picking up the pace right now. Even the battle system is more fun now that I've dabbled around with the different Shadows (the skill system in the game) and really understand how the setup of the game actually works (like when you get to the point in a game were you know exactly what you want your characters to get/be or how to best use them). The one thing that bothers me (do to me being compulsive for some reason) is the fact that every freaking object in the game can be clicked for items/exp/gold/medals/nothing. Even getting "nothing" is valuable in this game. You can check almost every rock, stick or even random pipes on the walls for stuff. That is more me than anything, but there is just way too much stuff to click in this game and I "have" to click it. The battles also tend to be on the easier side, but I know there is a hard mode if you are looking for a bigger challenge.

I'm currently 21 hours into it (on disk 2 now) and recommend the game simply for the fact that it's now going for $20-$30 and it's actually not that bad once it starts to pick up.

Blue Dragon is an underrated game mostly because people usually turn their noses up at the art style. I have to admit it's not to my taste either but underneath all that there's a really decent RPG in there. OK, it's not as good as Lost Odyssey but they are like night an day plus it's a damn good first effort from Mistwalker and for now it's one my favourite games on the 360. Also as the 360's first exclusive Japanese RPG(in my opinion) it hands down slaughters the PS3's first effort in Folklore in every way.

The game was a bit far to kiddy but even that did not stop me playing and enjoying the game. It is not the best game, nor is it the worst. Before I lost my copy I did reach the last disk. It was worth the buy.

exactly what is wrong with multiple discs..you lose one and you are screwed... best just to go 1 disc..

from what i saw of this game it looked pretty good and the art style didnt bother me too much. If i had a 360 i would give it a go..what is the battle system like?

The battle system is the basic turn-based system and choosing attack, magic, item etc. The clay texture design of the game is actually quite nice and fits very well. The voice acting is not the best, but is much better than some of the drubbish that is around on other games and I am sure the main characters voice is the same as Izzys from Digimon.

If you lose that one disc you're screwed too I see what you mean though man some people put the discs down without thinking during a swap but all my discs stay in the case when they aren't in the machine, so the odds of me losing a disc from a set of four is the same as a disc of one.

As for the battle system exactly what Phisix said lol!

The disks could also scratch easier that way too, and Lost Odyssey had that problem with the 4th disk too, I don't see why they could have not made the case bigger to accommodate the disks.

Oh god yeah that b@stard sh!tty white envelope for the fourth disc!! How cheap was that? Thinking about that does make Blu Ray seem a lot more practical. Didn't the Japanese get a really smart and decent sized case for all four discs?

Unfortunately, yes they did. I would have thought the Europeans would have the same thing as we always wait longer for things but just that pouch like everyone else. If it is not Japanese it does not matter as much I guess. If a PS1 case can accommodate 4 disks like that of the Final Fantasy's etc, this generation cases should also be remoddled for games with a high disk count and that should not really cost much more.

yea i remember hearing about the disc in the sleeve and that seemed a little bit odd to me.. So what RPG's could you compare this one to?

It kind of feels a bit like Dragon Quest(But not as great) at times, but that is most probably down to the Akira Toriyama character models. It is still a good and worth while RPG to play so you should pick up a copy. The boss music is quite funky too.

The art style is like a more refined Dragon Quest VIII cell shading with better looking scenery (very nice graphics overall). There are quite a few CG scenes that look pretty damn awesome (this is probably why it's 3 disks). The music is like an SNES FF soundtrack without having a midi feel to it and the boss battles use a bizarre rock song. The voice work gets the job done except for Maru Maru's (such an annoying character) voice which makes my ears bleed profusely.

The story has more of an old-school feel to it in that you don't have to take the story seriously to enjoy it (lots of adventuring). All enemies are visible on screen so you can see where they are. A cool feature is that if many enemies are close to each other you can use the ring selection(this allows you to fight multiple enemies at once) to fight them all. At times the enemies will start to fight each other and you can sit back and watch (there is an Achievement if you do it 100x and I'm currently at about 30).

You can customize your characters by trying different jobs (similar to FF job system), and then set what skills you want your character to use for the jobs you've gained experience in (you get new skills depending on job level). The battle system is a traditional turn-based mechanic where your agility determines when you go (battle stops when your are selecting commands). Some special moves/attacks require you to tap the button at the right time to gain extra effects, but it is not mandatory (it is helpful however).

I bought and lent it too a friend. Ill be gettin it back soon, I've liked what I seen in it.

I've been meaning to pick this up since getting hold of the console but both this and Eternal Sonata were on sale so decided to pick ES up instead. Sounds like a fairly solid game so will definitely be getting hold of it at some point - depends what happens with Spectral Force and ToV I suppose.

thats not good i hated Dragon Quest... bored me to tears

A problem indeed. The best course of action in this instance would be to go rent Blue Dragon out and see whether this is your thing or not.

oh i dont have a 360, i was just curious about the RPG, wanted to know more about it

Ah, I see. No Matter. It is a worth while RPG to play in any case and I never regretted buying it. I guess it is a game you will either like or hate to a degree.

I still have to finish the third disk myself, but my sister has it at the moment and willl not give it back until I give her Kingdom Hearts II back.

yea, my friend has it, and says it's an awesome game.
I borrowed it from him once, but only played for about 3 hours
I'll have to borrow it from him again over the summer, and give it another try n_n

Beat the game yesterday. It was actually a cool ending. I played it a total of 70 hours since I was trying to go for many of the achievements (you can probably beat the game in 40 hours if you run through it). I was only able to get 475/1000 achievements in that time frame. There are a ton of bonus quests and I had quite a bit of fun doing them (King Poo kicked my a$$ and I'll only re-try him after some serious grinding). Some of the achievements are Secret so I'm not sure what I need to do to get them. As for the visible ones, max all character levels and max all character Shadows would take some time to do (although I have accessories that boost EXP and SP). I probably won't get them for quite some time , but I will eventually go back for them. Really an awesome game once you get through the first few hours (which drag a bit). I really hope they make a sequel or at least make another game like it since I really did enjoy it.

PS. I collected 1829 Nothings, but you stop getting new items at 1800 Nothings (looking for those made me go slightly insane).