May be a mistake, but I just started d/l'ing the demo. It's SO slow right now. Hopefully they don't retract it before we can all download it. :eek:

I'm at 51% right now.

Stuck at 5% here...

70% here I freaked out a little when I saw it was up. I was all like it isnt July 20th, Ill take it.

98% here

OK, it's basically a copycat of Final Fantasy with cartoony graphics.

The demo puts you in a battle situation very quickly. It's turn based, using pretty much the same menu system as Final Fantasy.

Could be good, if you like that kind of game.

Too tired to stay up. Downloading now. I'll check it out in the morning. Of course I already have the game preordered. Can't wait for this game!!!!!

just as i suspected, overhyped and while it will be a good game, it will NOT be as good as eternal sonata.

After playing kotor and oblivion I think I don't like jrpgs anymore

this demo did nothing for me and I used to LOVE final fantasy series

Could be good, if you like that kind of game.

I do not (my wife does) but FF has something of a following I hear. The irony... the console to own for JRPG's in 2007/2008: XBox 360

So far it is not up for download in Canada. Bummer! Hopefully, will be up when I get home. Have been waiting to try this game for quite a while.

damn IT when I woke up I made a point of going on and queing all the bg stuff I wanted. and it looks like my queue filled up before I found blue dragon either way I'll donwload it later.

Is it still up? I cant find it. Im Dl'dng Golden Axe, Sonic the hedgehog and Ace Combat but couldnt find Blue Dragon

OK, it's basically a copycat of Final Fantasy with cartoony graphics.

The demo puts you in a battle situation very quickly. It's turn based, using pretty much the same menu system as Final Fantasy.
Go figure... The original creator of the Final Fantasy series made a game similar to Final Fantasy.

I don't see it....bleh!

It's back...dl'ing it now

I tried it briefly this morning and am even more excited about the game. It definitely has that FF VII 'feel' to it (that was my first real RPG experience).

But if you're not into the earlier FFs or don't like the DBZ artstyle I can see why this game will not do it for you.

But as for me....I'm amped!

I think it's the dbz style that really turned me off this game.

Eternal Sonata's art style is very nice.

Eternal Sonata's art style is very nice.

Some of the screenshots I have seen for that game are just amazing. I am looking forward to playing that as well.

I do not (my wife does) but FF has something of a following I hear. The irony... the console to own for JRPG's in 2007/2008: XBox 360

Yep, Blue Dragon is like a more modern Fantal Fantasy with a different art style.

I don't know why it didn't work in Japan. It's clearly designed to please Japan.

This being said, Final Fantasy fans in the US will have a great time with this one.

I thought it went over quite well in Japan (to the order of something like 300,000 units)?

Ya, but I think MS needed a Halo scale game for the Japanese gamers. This was supposed to be that game, and despite using halo sized advertising, it didn't cut it. 300,00 units (if that is indeed the actual sales) was a lot lower than what I would guess MS had hoped for.

Ya, but I think MS needed a Halo scale game for the Japanese gamers. This was supposed to be that game, and despite using halo sized advertising, it didn't cut it. 300,00 units (if that is indeed the actual sales) was a lot lower than what I would guess MS had hoped for.

it pushed a lot of new console sales though so it was a sucess in many ways. Lost odessy will likely bring more.

Well I never cared for the FF series so I was not expecting much here and I was right , bored me to tears within 20 minutes ;) .

--- Jason

I thought it went over quite well in Japan (to the order of something like 300,000 units)?


has MS even sold 300,000 xbox's in Japan?

Some of the screenshots I have seen for that game are just amazing. I am looking forward to playing that as well.
Get the new OXM with disc.

has MS even sold 300,000 xbox's in Japan?

I believe they're at about 410,000 sold in Japan, but Blue Dragon is at about 190,000.

i'm beginning to think that the small niche of american JRPG fans care more about JRPG's than the japanese do.

i think the genre and style is kind of stale, if you look at all the people (myself included) who really loved chrono trigger and FF7, and etc, you'll notice that we're all a little older now, and looking forward to more mature RPG's with more control... not as simplistic. oblivion, mass effect, two worlds, etc.

I like it. I'm not a fan of JRPG/Linear RPG's anymore, but this looks interesting.

it pushed a lot of new console sales though so it was a sucess in many ways. Lost odessy will likely bring more.

If you consider a couple hundred thousand consoles a lot, then maybe. No matter how you look at it, the 360 has been an overwhelming failure in Japan. Nevertheless, I applaud their effort. This game is a testament to their commitment to the area. Sometimes it takes a lot of effort to break into an area. The Japanese sold a ton of cars at rediculously low cost in the states for over a decade before they finally got a foothold.

I enjoyed the demo a lot. This will be a game I pick up for sure, and not much longer to wait...just over a month.

OK....I am not sure what to think. I was a bit bored, somewhat intrigued and very confused.

Of course the only "tutorial" in the level I played was silent talking so people....which I got bored with so didn’t really do it much :p. Which meant I really had no idea what I was doing. Although, I did manage to get though a bunch of fights and get to the boss battle but ran out of time during it.

I feel this game could be interesting if I started from the beginning and had any freaking clue what was going on, what I am supposed to equip, what magic’s to setup and how to arrange the fights. I am just not sure the steep learning curve would hold my interest if it’s all done silently by reading\memorizing text.

The graphics were fine, the music was pleasant enough but did start to get repetative. The gameplay was repetative but I didnt have much strategy to consider since I didnt know what I was doing. With the exception of one character the kiddies voices really didn’t get on my nerves too much and their shadow warrior thingies were kind of cool.

Not sure what to make of this game. Worth a buy? Not worth a buy? I am not sure this demo will tell me so I may just have to take the plunge and see. Question is do I take the JRPG plunge with this or wait for Eternal Sonata. Will Lost Odyssey be like this or more like KOTOR? Should I wait for that one? The demo didnt make me lean away or toward the game just left it in the same maybe category... so by that I guess it was a decent demo.

it's a great game and a solid RPG. For the demo don't worry so much about configuring everything it sets up your charectars pretty well. For standard attacks you of course choose your target and then the meter appears the longer you hold A the longer it takes to attack(of course that move gets more powerful the longer you charge). most everything works with that system everything else is pretty much the useual RPG stuff. Magic items that damage, heal and have other properties.
I admit there's a lot to learn but it's a very deep game for such a kid friendly package. I'm impressed but I'll hold off considering I rarelly play straight up RPG's Lost odsyey has me drooling though.

The demo definitely smacks of FFVII for me. Same fight system, same dialogue patterns, same camera movemements, same random enounter system,even the same type of "power moves" with Corporeal attacks instead of megaspells. It looks VERY complicated, or perhaps "detailed" would be a better term. They start you off so high in level and loaded down with stuff I had no idea what did what. All I had to do though was wait for a guy to fall, use the corporeal attack that opened up, and whatever we faced was toast. Beat the floating cannon guy and all of his croanies with corporeal attacks, as they did so much damage I couldn't fight toe to toe.

Still, once I hear how the plot is, I will probably buy it. The art style doesn't bother me much, though I vastly prefer Lost Oddessy. I'm a little dissapointed at how barren the landscape is, moving around that guys big dome showed almost no detail other than the path you were on and the random creatures. Still, if you want a JRPG fix, this is certainly it and it is a 360 exclusive.

The demo definitely smacks of FFVII for me. Same fight system, same dialogue patterns, same camera movemements, same random enounter system,even the same type of "power moves" with Corporeal attacks instead of megaspells. It looks VERY complicated, or perhaps "detailed" would be a better term. They start you off so high in level and loaded down with stuff I had no idea what did what. All I had to do though was wait for a guy to fall, use the corporeal attack that opened up, and whatever we faced was toast. Beat the floating cannon guy and all of his croanies with corporeal attacks, as they did so much damage I couldn't fight toe to toe.

Still, once I hear how the plot is, I will probably buy it. The art style doesn't bother me much, though I vastly prefer Lost Oddessy. I'm a little dissapointed at how barren the landscape is, moving around that guys big dome showed almost no detail other than the path you were on and the random creatures. Still, if you want a JRPG fix, this is certainly it and it is a 360 exclusive.

The charging system wasn't in FFVII. And your spells had enough power to take care of most of teh enemies. I admit teh demo leaves you high and dry but just by trial and error I figured out what some of the otehr commands do like formation and meditation and such.

Its funny, I was all for this game until I actually played it. Maybe it would have been a better idea to have a simpler demo with a better tutorial, but I felt overwhelmed by the system (although it wasnt hard to beat enemies as someone said) and yet underwhelmed by the graphics.

Dont get me wrong, they are nice and animated extremely well, but I just wasnt moved.

Maybe I am becoming a graphics junkie, but for a JRPG I think Im going to stick with Eternal Sonata as a must buy.

I thought the demo did leave me a little confused, but I believe when you start the game from the beginning you will get a much better idea of what you should be doing.

I will be getting this one, but I think they should have thought more about how to do the demo.

Once you are able to use the Corporeal command any doubts will fade away. I have seen the bat, the bull, and the phoenix; each is classic DBZ style destruction and chaos.

Deep/detailed RPG's may be overwhelming at first but in my opinion these are the games that make turn based combat interesting. JRPG's where basically all you do is spam the attack button, what's the point in even playing instead of just watching a movie? Deep battles and customization options turn it into more of a strategy game and will hold my interest much more easily over the course of 40-50 hours.

Deep/detailed RPG's may be overwhelming at first but in my opinion these are the games that make turn based combat interesting. JRPG's where basically all you do is spam the attack button, what's the point in even playing instead of just watching a movie? Deep battles and customization options turn it into more of a strategy game and will hold my interest much more easily over the course of 40-50 hours.

exactly FFXII was an extremely complicated battle system and it made teh FF games fun again and really well laid out. The dmeo to me showed a lot of depth to the gameplay and some decent graphics where it counted. I'd also like to have teh option of teh apanese voice actors some of these english ones were kinda bad.

I played the first dungeon of the demo last night and I must say, I thought it was amazing, this game is a must buy for me now.

I don't know how fast everyone played through the demo, but in the beginning you can learn about how to battle if you speak with all the 'creatures' outside of the dungeon, it was a big help, but I can see it being overwhelming to those who haven't played many RPGs, but I'm sure if you play from the beginning of the game, they'll ease you into it.

I enjoyed the demo even more then the Eternal Sonata demo, and if this game actually has the original Japanese voice option it would put it over the top for me, although the English voice acting was growing on me as I played through my first hour.

I've played through both levels and decided to talk to some of the NPCs the 2nd time through. Their explanations helped ALOT. A little boring to go through but well worth the info.

I smoked FF7, but I found this game kind of difficult. I don't remember being attacked 9 times in a row in FF7... so why am I being attacked 9 times in a row with this game.

I went to the green and grey Robot boss the second time through and didn't even get a chance to attack before he took everyone out. I got revived with the one guy, did a Corporeal so that took out the big guy. Then the army of little guys popped up. Two hits (in a row, mind you) from them and I was out. How does a punch from a robot that's about 3 foot tall do 450 hp of damage.

The other boss wasn't that hard. Two Corporeals in a row did the job. I'm talking about the one that Nene shot the light through as he was complementing the kids on their magic or whatever.


I'm on the fence about this one. FF7 will always be one of my favorite games, but I think I've been spoiled by the ability to slay shizz on the fly in Oblivion.

How does a punch from a robot that's about 3 foot tall do 450 hp of damage.


Metal>meat :)

exactly FFXII was an extremely complicated battle system and it made teh FF games fun again and really well laid out. The dmeo to me showed a lot of depth to the gameplay and some decent graphics where it counted. I'd also like to have teh option of teh apanese voice actors some of these english ones were kinda bad.

haha... i thought the guy in the green(blue?) suit in your party was always a girl from watching the japan videos! Think i'll turn on the jap-talk and eng-sub.

I'm definitely going to turn on jap voices if available. The main characters voice seems way to deep. I thought these were supposed to be kids?

Once you are able to use the Corporeal command any doubts will fade away. I have seen the bat, the bull, and the phoenix; each is classic DBZ style destruction and chaos.

and full of frame drops with a severe lack of v-sync.

Well, I certainly hope the chick with the skull headband is not supposed to be a kid! She gives Kameo a run for her money in the "too developed to be a teen" category.

I saw the Eternal Sonata trailers yesterday. Wow, what an art style! Are all three of these games coming out this Fall (Blue Dragon, Lost Odyssey, and Eternal Sonata)? Plus Mass Effect? Not sure how many JRPGs I can take, but looks like the 360 has enough RPGs to keep me busy for a few years at least. Final Fantasy what?

To a lesser extent for RPGs you can count Two worlds and Dark Messiah. Kingdom underfire is supposed to be less on the RTS this time too. Next year Dungeon Hero looks good so far from the trailer.

and full of frame drops with a severe lack of v-sync.

I didn't see any v-sync issues. It is hard to say if the animation was stuttering or if that is the way the animation is supposed to be. Toriyama is known to draw fights and attacks out as long as possible, it is his style. Ever watch a DBZ episode where Goku and whichever villan just scream and power up for 30 mins?

That demo lasted about 5 minutes on my hard drive before it got deleted and i totally don't need the space.

Well, I certainly hope the chick with the skull headband is not supposed to be a kid! She gives Kameo a run for her money in the "too developed to be a teen" category.

She's supposed to be 20 while all the others are 15/16.

At least for me, turn based RPGs make crappy demos. Turn based RPGs are all about storyline and character development, which you get none of in a demo. I thought this demo sucked, but I still can't wait for the game.

It's been ages since I played a turned based game, which is why maybe I found this game to be better that I expected. Seems like some good ideas here and I really like the fact you can kill monsters you've killed before without having to go through the turnbased battle

I may have to pick it up

i'm beginning to think that the small niche of american JRPG fans care more about JRPG's than the japanese do.

i think the genre and style is kind of stale, if you look at all the people (myself included) who really loved chrono trigger and FF7, and etc, you'll notice that we're all a little older now, and looking forward to more mature RPG's with more control... not as simplistic. oblivion, mass effect, two worlds, etc.

The niche is definitely not small in the US and the Japanese definitely care about it. FF consistently sells 1.5-2 million copies. Though that is only a fraction of all PS2 out there, it is a huge number sold in the US alone. It pushes the same amount in Japan, making 3-4 million copies sold. That's not a small niche. Only other games that compare to it are Madden, GTA and Halo in terms of sold.

I downloaded and played it. For me the age of turn based games is dead. There is absolutely no chance that you can loose a battle if you play by the rules they set up. After about 5 minutes it totally bored the c@#$ out of me. Sure some of the graphics look interesting but I can't get by the lack of intensity. Give me a real time Diablo esqe game any day of the weak over this turn based stuff.

On a side not my young son played the game and really enjoyed it. The difficulty level is just right for him apparently.

I didn't like it very much. I like turn-based JRPGs but the battle system seems a bit choppy and unruly here. But I do love the art design of this game.

I'm actually kind of glad since it's one less game to worry about in the face of an onslaught of games coming this fall. Looking forward to Mass Effect, Eternal Sonata, and Lost Odyssey, which are already a bit too much for me already in terms of time.

I'll get Blue Dragon, eventually when I get the time. But now it's not a must-have for me.