I still would use my own childrens’ reactions as a yardstick to any demo that I receive, and when my 16 year old son disappeared with a DS and the copy of Blue Dragon Plus for several days, I knew it was a going to be a good game!
Blue Dragon Plus continues the story of pint sized hero Shu and his young companions, Zola, Murumaro, Szabo etc. as they attempt to once again save the world from evil with the help of their shadows (mighty beasts born from each individual character’s heart who cast them). After Earth’s destruction all that remains are mysterious colossal cubes floating through space and our heroes are out for answers.
Sadly, if you are not familiar with the Blue Dragon series the initial part of the game will make little sense to you. On the up-side you are given a few pages on each character with a bit of background knowledge as you meet them in the story and this information also supplies you with the best means of utilising the character in battle.As the story begins to unfold and the gamer becomes more and more involved as they are given the responsibility of stopping a new, unseen evil lurking in the darkness deep inside the mysterious cubes.
What sets this apart from other DS strategy games is the new real-time strategy system . Similair in style to final fantasy game-play (not surprising as Hironobu Sakaguchi , the famous icon creator of the Final Fantasy series along with a number of other key personnel on that iconic title are responsible for the creation of Blue Dragon Plus) but it differs from FF slightly with the usage of shadows and their different powers and abilities. There is also a multi-shadow output option for a character ,who now can have healing and attacking shadow powers. The game is pretty crowded boasting 16 playable characters (at the last count !) and over 100 different enemies all with different attributes and weaknesses.
In Blue Dragon Plus you also get to have four different parties at the same time. Playing with various parties makes the gamer feel like they are playing several storylines at once and makes the gameplay all the more gripping and exciting as each area uncovers a new twist in the story. The game follows a very different style of play than most strategy games and revolves around a turn based system. What also adds to the uniqueness of this game is the enemies’ ability to move around the map as well as your own characters. This, for me, however became a bit tedious and mildly irksome as I found myself fighting battle after battle with no ability to go to the shop and restock my items or explore the map etc.
The characters’ ability to level up after a battle follows the usual trend of the strategy game however it is the ranking up system which provides the most fulfilment as the characters may possibly rank up after a battle and enable the usage of new abilities for their shadow(s). Also the capacity up feature in the game (which enables the use of a new shadow) keeps the gamer playing so as to unlock new features and character abilities.
The general look of the game I thought was fantastic. The beautifully crafted CG cut scenes, which have been expertly adapted for the DS, would be admired on any next gen console such as the Xbox 360 or PS3. The in game cut scenes are explanatory and never seen monotonous unlike some other strategy games. The character models are built wonderfully and the shadows and spells are really eye catching and not at all what I had initially expected from a DS game and I must applaud the developers for that.
The atmosphere of the game is varying to say the least. There are some points in the game where it is a more laid back approach and other times there is a more serious and tense atmosphere. The expert storyline creates this, as well as the different music played throughout the game. To me it seemed like each party had their own atmosphere and level of seriousness and this not only gives the game a wider audience pulling in casual and hardcore gamers alike.
Rated 7+ by PEGI, which in my opinion would be spot on . Although there is an abundance of options and screens they are so well presented and laid out , making the gameplay straightforward.
Overall this game provides hours and hours of enjoyment and fun. It’s an addicting game which keeps the gamer coming back for more and is also exciting to see the DS beginning to expand its range of game genres for titles such as these. The game is visually stunning and has a great in game system to keep the gamers excited and actually caring about what becomes of the characters in the game. A minor issue would be that the battles do become a bit tedious but this takes very little away from a great title and I would have no hesitation in recommending Blue Dragon Plus .
