Blue Dragon [the RPG that lead to a boost in XB360 sales in Japan] is due here in the US in August.

I just thought I'd take a moment to mention it because it's one of the few RPG games that I'm actually interested in playing with the other being Kingdom Hearts 2... and I'm not going to argue with on on whether or not KH2 qualifies as a RPG or not.

I've been interested in Blue Dragon since I first saw screens of the game from E3. Since then I have been patiently awaiting it's arrival here in the states. Why? Because I've been a fan of Toriyama Akira since the early Dragon Ball Z episodes. [Aren't they up to super saiyan level 8 now?] Being a graphic groupie, the idea of playing a game Toriyama-san style appeals to me, and Toriyama-san created all of the character designs for this game. Before you jump on me and say, "Ninja, have you never heard of Dragon Ball Z: Budokai?" I will have to stop you and say that I have. But to me Budokai is not a game where I really get to immerse myself in a landscape of Toriyama-san's making. It's a fighter, so it's extremely linear which in and of itself is not bad, but it's a known quantity to me as I've suffered through many a DBZ anime series season. From what I've seen and heard of Blue Dragon I will have a new host of characters and new environment to run around free and play in.

In any event, looks like there's something to look forward to at the end of summer. I'll keep you posted as to a specific drop date when I have one.

Finish What You Start...

Ok, maybe "madness" is a tad bit strong for what's really going down in Japan right now, but the MS Game Studios title Blue Dragon has sure gotten some serious attention out of our friends in the East.

In all honesty, I hadn't heard much about the game [I've never been big on imports] nor do I tend to like RPG's... so Blue Dragon flew in under my radar. I'm just glad I caught wind of it when I did. Normally, I can't stand turn-based RPG games as the "turn-based" part tends to slow down the gameplay and bores me, but Blue Dragon doesn't look like a typical RPG game.

Blue Dragon is the first MS project out of Mistwalker [a development studio founded by Square-Enix's Hironobu Sakaguchi.] If the character design looks familiar it may be because you've seen the work before. Akira Toriyama actually handled design duty on this game. Some of Toriyama-san's work includes an anime series called Dragon Ball... you might have heard about it. I've no idea if this game is going to be coming to the US, but it would be a shame if it didn't.

Peep the trailer here:

Finish What You Start...