GamesRadar - Blue Dragon

The 50 most overlooked games of this generation (Feature)

May 21, 2009

Some lie, dusty and forgotten, at the bottom of a bargain bin. Others are hard to find outside of an eBay auction. Some received rave reviews, but sold next to nothing. Others sold well, but received almost no attention or love from the hardcore audience. Some you’ve heard about. Others you probably haven’t. ...

2007 - The best gaming year ever (Feature)

Dec 20, 2007

20th Dec, 2007 Gaming is an up and down experience. Some years cram top quality titles into our every orifice until were bursting with videogame joy and have excess polygons dripping messily out of our ears, while some other years… Well, some other years are 1983. In 2007 though, weve had a very good year indeed. A scarily good year in fact. One which has provided us so much brilliance on every format that its a genuine worry that the laws of karmic balance will soon bring us a plague ...

Blue Dragon 2 (sort of) confirmed for '08 (News)

Dec 13, 2007

Dec 13, 2007 Japanese Xbox boss Takashi Sensui has said that the Xbox 360's 2008 game push "may" be spear-headed by a sequel to Mistwalker RPG Blue Dragon. In an interview with Jiji Press, the Japan home and entertainment boss said that Microsoft is aiming to double its number of Xbox 360 games in Japan to 500 next year and hinted that a sequel to the Sakaguchi RPG might be the front runner. Of course it's not the first time we've heard strong rumours of a follow up, Mistwalker boss Hironobu ...

Still playing Blue Dragon? (News)

Oct 29, 2007

Oct 29, 2007 Microsoft sends word that a new batch of Blue Dragon download content has arrived on Xbox Live Marketplace, which should excite anyone still trawling through the Mistwalker RPG. The very reasonably priced pack (200 MS points - £1.70 or $2.50) gives you a batch of new items including The Nothing Glasses, Spring Breeze Kerchief, Devee Phonograph, Whimsical Heart, Master Thief Manual, and Shuffle Helmet. Each does something relatively exciting (in RPG terms) such as the ...

Blue Dragon headed to DS (News)

Sep 24, 2007

Mistwalker's epic 360 RPG, Blue Dragon, is on its way to DS according to Japanese magazine, Jump. It is not yet known whether the game will be a brand new adventure or a port of the 360 version, and with the game yet to be officially confirmed, gameplay details are non-existent. If the news is indeed true, we'd say it's safe to assume it will use the touch screen functionality during battles, and with the 360 version taking on a relatively simple chibi-style anime look, the DS could probably ...

Blue Dragon (Review)

Aug 15, 2007

This game has a lot of expectations riding on it. It's a new RPG, born from the talent behind the storied Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest series - the two biggest names in Japanese RPGs. Thankfully, the game doesn't let either of those legacies down. At the same time, it may not deliver the gameplay or story experience you might be expecting. The promotional art you've seen tells the basic story. Though lead character Shu is supposed to be a teen, he comes off as about 12. This isn't a ...

Xbox 360 price-cut planned for BioShock? (News)

Jul 25, 2007

Next month Microsoft will cut the price of the Xbox 360 in the States by $50, in time for the release of BioShock and Blue Dragon, reports The Hollywood Reporter. According to the publication's retail source the reduction will be made on August 8, which it notes is traditionally a quiet time of the year for hardware sales. The timing of the cut is significant, notes the reporter, because it's also days before the release of EA's latest Madden, which sells like beer to college kids. Of course ...

All the Write Moves (Feature)

Jul 20, 2007

In 1983 you, like us, would have played a Commodore 64. It was also the year you could have picked up a copy of 2000AD in the UK, to read it for Skizz written by a young Alan Moore. Twenty-five years later, the worlds of comics and games have definitively separated in terms of experience - so why do we see so many of our favorite comic creator names appearing in the credits of certain games? Rebellion bought 2000AD and Judge Dredd Magazine, Top Cow is half-owned by Eidos and Rockstars marketers ...

Blue Dragon (Screenshots)

Jul 11, 2007

Blue Dragon dated for August 28 (News)

Jun 28, 2007

Blue Dragon has been given a launch date of August 28 for developer Mistwalker's highly-anticipated debut RPG. Coming at you with a retail price of $60, Blue Dragon made waves in Japan thanks to it being the new child of famed game producer Hironobu Sakaguchi, known for his work on the Final Fantasy ...

Blue Dragon - hands-on (Preview)

Jun 18, 2007

It's been months since we played through the final Japanese version of Blue Dragon and, thankfully, not much has changed for the US version. According to Microsoft's Hees Kyung, the company "strove hard to stay faithful" to the original version while implementing changes under the blessing of the game's original creative staff in Japan - such as reworking the tone of the character dialogue to help make characters such as the young know-it-all Jiro easier to relate to while preserving the ...

Sakaguchi lays into Kutaragi (News)

May 2, 2007

Hironobu Sakaguchi, Final Fantasy creator and founder of Blue Dragon dev Mistwalker, has laid his feelings on the table regarding "Father of PlayStation" Ken Kutaragi - he says he doesn't like him. In an interview featured in EGM magazine's latest issue, Sakaguchi was asked why he had no games in development for PS3. "The machine's architecture is tricky, and I don't like Ken Kutaragi," he replied. Meanwhile Microsoft, he said, needs to sort out its marketing strategy in Japan, calling the ...

Mistwalker takes Blue Dragon sequel online (News)

Apr 25, 2007

Mistwalker boss Hironobu Sakaguchi has told a Korean press conference that his studio is in talks with Microsoft regarding a Blue Dragon sequel for 360. Towards the end of March, Sakaguchi told us Blue Dragon "sold through more than 200,000 units in Japan and again it will continue to build momentum as we get into things like BD2 and BD3. And that's what we're hoping; to really build on the franchise. Maybe it'll take ten years (laughs)." Sakaguchi has now expressed his interest in the sequel ...

Blue Dragon anime heads west (News)

Apr 17, 2007

If you're a bizarre anime-type, you'll be delighted to hear that San Francisco-based manga op Viz Media has acquired the rights to bring the Blue Dragon anime to North America and Europe. The license includes television, home video and non-videogame rights to the series that's just begun airing in The Land of The Rising Sun, and follows the story of young Shu who protects his land with the aid of his big navy ...

Hironobu Sakaguchi (Feature)

Mar 27, 2007

If we decided to crown game designers as champions of their respective genres, Hironobu Sakaguchi would undoubtedly be glued to the RPG throne. Credited as the creator of Final Fantasy, which every stat-loving gamer has surely sampled in one form or another, Sakaguchi is now shaping a new series of RPGs under the label of his new non-Square studio, Mistwalker. We recently caught up with the man to discuss the recently-announced English version of his stellar Xbox 360 offering Blue Dragon as ...

Long future planned for Blue Dragon (News)

Mar 26, 2007

There's been talk of a sequel to Microsoft and Mistwalker's flagship Japanese RPG Blue Dragon for a while now, but series creator and RPG legend Hironobu Sakaguchi tells us his full vision for the series. "Blue Dragon has sold through more than 200,000 units in Japan and again it will continue to build momentum as we get into things like BD2 and BD3," Sakaguchi told us. "And that's what we're hoping; to really build on the franchise. Maybe it'll take ten years (laughs)." To date Blue Dragon ...

"Final Fantasy should come to Xbox 360," says Sakaguchi (News)

Mar 19, 2007

After leaving the company to bring his RPG duo Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey to Xbox 360, Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi says that Square Enix should bring Final Fantasy to Microsoft's console. The Mistwalker boss told GameSpot: "I feel that the Final Fantasy series should come to Xbox 360 as well. This is wise. It makes so much sense to me... it has so much potential in North America and in Europe. So there's a great chance for the series to succeed on 360 as well." Continuing the ...

Mistwalker: Blue Dragon demo 'maybe June/July' (News)

Mar 19, 2007

Mistwalker's Xbox 360 RPG Blue Dragon has been a big hit in Japan and we get to dive into its full delights this August. However, we could well be getting to dip a toe a couple of months earlier, Mistwalker's Hironobu Sakaguchi telling GameSpot in a recent interview that the studio is making a playable Blue Dragon demo "maybe for June or July" release on Xbox Live Marketplace. As we reported earlier, there will also be downloadable content pumped out over a five to six month period following ...

Blue Dragon - updated impressions (Preview)

Mar 7, 2007

American audiences have had to wait a long time for Blue Dragon. Japanese gamers - the select few who own Xbox 360s, anyway - have had the RPG since last year, but we're still contenting ourselves with a handful of screens and videos. Well, the wait is finally over... for an announced release date, that is. Blue Dragon will hit US shores in late August. Once it's here, however, the content will keep coming. When we sat down with famed creator Hironobu Sakaguchi at the Game Developers ...

Blue Dragon blowout (News)

Jan 24, 2007

Last Friday we put up a preview of Blue Dragon - make sure you check it out if you missed it. It's the hottest RPG for the 360 so far this year, a tale of adventure that blends the classic styling of pre-Final Fantasy VII role playing greats, with top-notch animation and art direction. We dig ...

Blue Dragon - exploring towns 01-24-07 (Video)

Jan 24, 2007

A touch more evolution might have launched this traditional RPG from extremely good to indispensable.

Blue Dragon - cutscenes 01-24-07 (Video)

Jan 24, 2007

A touch more evolution might have launched this traditional RPG from extremely good to indispensable.

Blue Dragon - boss battles 01-24-07 (Video)

Jan 24, 2007

A touch more evolution might have launched this traditional RPG from extremely good to indispensable.

Blue Dragon - hands-on (Preview)

Jan 19, 2007

That was an adventure. While we won't go so far as to assign a score just yet - hey, it's the Japanese version, and we're still waiting for an official US announcement - we've played through the entirety of Blue Dragon and have come out impressed by what Microsoft has brought to the table. Blending the hyper-traditional gameplay of the early 1990s Final Fantasy installments with the slick, detailed graphics the 360 can produce, it's a compelling blend of old and new. That's a neat trick, given ...

New Blue Dragon media sizzles with power (News)

Dec 8, 2006

The eagerly-anticipated role player Blue Dragon came out in Japan this week. We've scored our copy, but we're so busy over here that we've only been able to plow through the first few moments of this epic adventure. That didn't stop us from putting up some new screens and video for you, though. Ready to check it out? Just pick a screenshot below and you'll catch a glimpse of the game's beginnings. Click the Movies tab above and check out the one dated "12-08-06" if you want to see the game in ...

Blue Dragon launches in Japan (News)

Dec 8, 2006

A "launch party" was held at Yodobashi Camera Akiba (one of the biggest retail stores in Tokyo), where Japanese gamers waited to be the first to get their hands on the latest RPG from Hironobu Sakaguchi. To help ring in the occasion, top model Yoko Horiuchi was on-hand, showing her support as she is an avid fan of Akira Toriyama, the renowned artist behind the game (although she admits that she's never actually played the ...

Fresh look at Blue Dragon (News)

Dec 4, 2006

This is a big week for Microsoft in Japan as Thursday sees the release of Blue Dragon, its Japanese-developed RPG that's specifically aimed at tempting Japanese gamers towards the Xbox 360. Take a look at the new screens by hitting the Images tab and the game's intro on the Movies tab above, titled "Blue Dragon - playable opening 12-04-06." The original Xbox didn't perform that well in the Japanese market and many experts put this down to the lack of traditional RPGs available for the console, ...

Blue Dragon fired up footage (News)

Oct 30, 2006

Apart from staggering under the hefty title of the "game that is going to save 360 in Japan," Blue Dragon is also a rather stunning-looking RPG, as this clip of the combat system in action demonstrates. Created by Hironobu Sakaguchi, the mind behind the first editions of the Final Fantasy series, the game harnesses the same traditional elements of orthodox turn-based encounters, random battle and wailing guitar solos, while also adding next-gen graphics and spectacular effects. Sounds good, ...

Blue Dragon - impressions (Preview)

Sep 22, 2006

There's a lot of discussion about sucking in Japanese 360 gamers by putting RPGs on the system. But why should we care? Oh, right - they'll come out here, too, and when a lot of money is spent making high-quality games, we win (even if Microsoft loses). Case in point: Blue Dragon. It's a quality game, and though it's far from any sort of revolution in role playing, it's a cute game with a lot of personality and it's going to keep you busy for a good long while. What's there to complain ...

E3 06: Blue Dragon first look (Preview)

May 11, 2006

By now everyone's tired of hearing about the uphill battle the Xbox 360 has in Japan. But the upshot of it is the amazing games Microsoft is creating to try and lure Japanese gamers into the fold - after all, what's good for them is good for us too. Blue Dragon is the first to come from Mistwalker, a studio formed by Hironobu Sakaguchi, the original creator of Final ...

Blue Dragon steps out of the shadows (News)

May 10, 2006

Wednesday 10 May 2006 Microsoft has announced that Blue Dragon, a new role-playing game from Hironobu Sakaguchi - the creator of the Final Fantasy games - is currently in development for Xbox 360. Co-developed by Sakaguchi's Mistwalker studio and design company Artoon Co, Blue Dragon follows the fortunes of a young boy called Shu and his friends as they try to save their world which is under threat from an "antiquated race of people". While a bunch of kids doesn't seem like the most likely ...

Blue Dragon FAQ/Walkthrough (FAQ)

Jul 13, 2009

Go to GamesRadar to see the FAQ ...

Job And Skills Guide (FAQ)

Jun 25, 2009

Go to GamesRadar to see the FAQ ...

Achievements (Unlockable)

Sep 12, 2007

Go to GamesRadar to see the Unlockable ...