GamingTrend Review: Blue Dragon Plus

GamingTrend writes: "When Blue Dragon appeared on the Xbox 360 in 2007, there was anticipation among gamers that this would be the title to really break JRPGs into the North American market. Created by Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi, Blue Dragon was an epic RPG filled with a cute, anime-style cast of characters. The game’s pedigree seemed foolproof.

Unfortunately, the game ultimately failed to make as big a splash as expected. While it garnered generally positive reviews, critics pointed out that it failed to bring any innovation to the genre. Blue Dragon was painted as a bit of a "by-the-numbers" JRPG, which lacked great storytelling or interesting gameplay mechanics. Others found the game too easy, and criticized some of its characters as annoying or unlikable.

For Blue Dragon’s entry into the portable market, Japanese developer Brownie Brown took a different tack. Rather than a straight-up RPG, Blue Dragon Plus plays out as a real-time strategy game within an RPG framework. While this take on combat isn’t completely new (Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings springs to mind), it is a bold new direction for a series that was firmly grounded in old-school turn-based gameplay.

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