The BLUE DRAGON Thread!

6:30 hours in, at the Wetlands. I'm there to kill them, or save them. I don't know. The Bluths are holding a dinner party for them. Anywho, I am lvl 13 all around and am lvl ten+ in a few of my shadow classes. I love the game. It is so much fun and can't put it down.
 
Yeah, I like the game a lot, too. I don't think it's too easy at all, but I try to aboid as many monster encounters as possible. Some of the bosses in particular have been pretty vicious.
 
Does this game default to the easy difficulty setting?
Because, as most of us probably know, there was no indicating "Easy-Medium-Hard" selection at the beginning of the game.
 
[quote name='JohnnyFoxDarko']Does this game default to the easy difficulty setting?
Because, as most of us probably know, there was no indicating "Easy-Medium-Hard" selection at the beginning of the game.[/quote]

defaults to the only difficulty it has.. Normal, I think..

Hard is available on the hong kong marketplace as well as new game+ as free DLC

The hk version DLC is compatible with our NTSC version
 
Still loving this game. My party is at Level 24 w/ almost 40 Shadow Classes.

About 12 hours in and I just finished exploring everything in
Talta Village (before Mural Valley)
. I am going to level grind up a couple levels and then head out to my next destination.

I find that level grinding is particularly enjoyable with this game because of the various skills you learn. I also found that exploring/examining everything is a nice payoff too. In many areas I explored, I found high-level spells as well as free EXP and SP points for each character.

I am definitely going to take my time with this game, seeing that I have been looking forward to it for a LONG time.
 
Its good to explore all over, near the end of disk one you meet a guy who gives you rewards for every 50, 100, 200, 400 "nothings" you find.
 
[quote name='Bezerker']Its good to explore all over, near the end of disk one you meet a guy who gives you rewards for every 50, 100, 200, 400 "nothings" you find.[/QUOTE]

Does he show up more than once? I used all of my earlier medals and now I have 99 just sitting around in my inventory.

I just arrived at
Jibral
. My party is at Level 28 right now and I've sunk in around 17 hours into Disc 1 so far. I hope I can get my party to Level 30+ before the disc ends.

The creature designs are pretty cool in this game, especially the ones I recently encountered in the last 2-3 hours.
 
[quote name='asianxcore']Does he show up more than once? I used all of my earlier medals and now I have 99 just sitting around in my inventory.

I just arrived at
Jibral
. My party is at Level 28 right now and I've sunk in around 17 hours into Disc 1 so far. I hope I can get my party to Level 30+ before the disc ends.

The creature designs are pretty cool in this game, especially the ones I recently encountered in the last 2-3 hours.[/quote]

It is actually "nothing" that the Nothing Man is rewarding you for. Everytime you do a search and find "nothing", the game keeps track. You are rewarded based on how many times you found "nothing" (or so I have read).

Anyway, I picked this up yesterday and played for 5 hours today :)-oI don't know when the last time i did that). So far I am loving it.

(The last JRPG I played was Skies of Arcadia on the DC)
 
[quote name='h2dk']It is actually "nothing" that the Nothing Man is rewarding you for. Everytime you do a search and find "nothing", the game keeps track. You are rewarded based on how many times you found "nothing" (or so I have read).[/QUOTE]

I found that out not too long ago. I got Berzerker's description of this man mixed with the guy who rewards you for collecting medals.

I just finished Disc 1 tonight (clocked in 20 hours) and hopefully will be starting Disc 2 soon.
 
Damn, I totally missed the purpose of Shadow Class Skills and ranks.
...I want to start over because of all the stuff I read on the Walkthrough on IGN.
 
[quote name='dave17']I dont know why some of these people are level grinding when it is as easy as it is.[/quote]
Achievements
 
[quote name='dave17']I dont know why some of these people are level grinding when it is as easy as it is.[/QUOTE]

...because I actually like level grinding? Dragon Quest VIII didn't have achievements and I did it in that game too.

Gaining new abilities for your Shadow is pretty neat too.

Apparently paying $60 for a game doesn't entitle me to play the game how I wish around here.
 
I have to agree. Some of us actually *gasp* like level grinding. I hate when a game has a low maximum level for the characters because I WILL reach it sooner or (preferably) later.

[quote name='asianxcore']...because I actually like level grinding? Dragon Quest VIII didn't have achievements and I did it in that game too.

Gaining new abilities for your Shadow is pretty neat too.

Apparently paying $60 for a game doesn't entitle me to play the game how I wish around here.[/QUOTE]
 
[quote name='asianxcore']...because I actually like level grinding? Dragon Quest VIII didn't have achievements and I did it in that game too.
[/QUOTE]

:rofl: Wouldn't it have been great if DQ VIII had achievements? Man, I put over 120 hours into that and did nearly all the optional stuff (didn't go back to beat the dragons a second time, where you get them all in a row, as that was just a bit too much. But if it had been an achievement...).

Anyway, if someone who liked DQ VIII likes this game then I'm definitely going to play it next. I'm finishing Metroid first though. But I have Blue Dragon and will definitely pop that in next.

Can someone give me a spoiler-free run-down on the achievement/level grinding/shadow issue? I mean, so I don't have JohnnyFoxDarko's problem, what is it that I should be doing from the beginning to make things easier down the line? Note that I've only played one part of the demo so I know the basics of fighting but not of levelling or abilities. Also, are there any achievements that can be missed? It seemed from looking at the list there were ones where you had to beat bosses in certain ways - if you don't get those at the time, are you screwed?
 
If it's "Too Easy!" for you guys, this might be just right for The Wife. She generally enjoys games like this, and it's better if I don't have to hear shrill screams of frustration coming from the living room.
 
[quote name='io']
Can someone give me a spoiler-free run-down on the achievement/level grinding/shadow issue?[/QUOTE]

There are a handful of achievements that can be missed in the game. Some of them require beating a mini-game without taking damage or doing them perfectly. If you want those, I would suggest checking out an achievement guide before starting up so you don't miss them. The problem with that is that these mini-games happen during key points in the game and reading up how to get them will spoil the story for you.

As for the level grinding for characters and shadows there is an easier way to do it. I didn't bother to have anyone in my party choose a "Barrier" Class, but the Barrier Class when leveled up high enough has a ton of field spells. There is a spell if you level that class high enough to where it will repel all weaker enemies on the field, defeat them and take 1/2 or so of their EXP/SP. This saves time with actually having to battle, since you won't have to.
 
I just rented this at Hollywood, but they only gave me 2 discs they told me that the third disc was a bonus disc and that I didn't need it, is this true?
 
[quote name='asianxcore']There are a handful of achievements that can be missed in the game. Some of them require beating a mini-game without taking damage or doing them perfectly. If you want those, I would suggest checking out an achievement guide before starting up so you don't miss them. The problem with that is that these mini-games happen during key points in the game and reading up how to get them will spoil the story for you.
[/QUOTE]

Ugh - I hate stuff like that. I don't mind difficult or time-consuming achievements (as long as there is some fun in the time spent ;)) but this sounds horrible. I'll have to read up on those as much as I can without spoiling too much...

OK, just getting the list I see these:

Mechat Shooting Stage 1: Perfect 30
Clear Mechat Shooting with no damage.

Wagon Escort: Perfect 30
While escorting the wagon, make sure that it takes no damage.

Can this Mechat shooting thing be done again to get it perfect, or is it a one-time thing? I assume this wagon escort is a story item (hardly a spoiler since it is so vague :)) and thus probably a one-time thing.

And then the following "secret" ones. Of course, I have no idea what some of this stuff is, so I don't quite know if these are missable or just things you need to do anyway. I'm putting these in spoiler tags since they are "secret" achievements but with very little knowledge of the game I don't consider them true spoilers. A couple of these things were in one of the demo levels though, I think:

Closed Flying Fortress Door 5
You closed the Flying Fortress door without fighting the mecha robos.
Pulled in the Flying Fortress 5
You helped pull in the Flying Fortress without angering the Gorgo giants.
Rescued Kluke 5
You rescued Kluke without falling.
Got to Nene Before Bomb Went Off 5
You arrived at Nene's location before the time bomb went off.
Saved Kluke from Choking 5
You saved Kluke from being choked by Nene's collar.
Summoned Shu's Shadow 5
You summoned Shu's Shadow.
Escaped from Squashtrich 5
You escaped without being stomped by the Squashtrich.
Mechat Shooting Stage 2: Perfect 30
You destroyed all the mechat base machine guns in Mechat Shooting Stage 2.
Moon Laser: Perfect 30
You got a bonus for completing the Moon Laser perfectly.
Mechat Shooting Stage 3: Perfect 30
You cleared Mechat Shooting Stage 3 with no damage.

Most of the other achievements are for doing things a bunch of times (different attacks, maxing out classes, etc).
 
[quote name='io']
Closed Flying Fortress Door 5
You closed the Flying Fortress door without fighting the mecha robos.
Pulled in the Flying Fortress 5
You helped pull in the Flying Fortress without angering the Gorgo giants.
Rescued Kluke 5
You rescued Kluke without falling.
Got to Nene Before Bomb Went Off 5
You arrived at Nene's location before the time bomb went off.
Saved Kluke from Choking 5
You saved Kluke from being choked by Nene's collar.
Summoned Shu's Shadow 5
You summoned Shu's Shadow.
Escaped from Squashtrich 5
You escaped without being stomped by the Squashtrich.
Mechat Shooting Stage 2: Perfect 30
You destroyed all the mechat base machine guns in Mechat Shooting Stage 2.
Moon Laser: Perfect 30
You got a bonus for completing the Moon Laser perfectly.
Mechat Shooting Stage 3: Perfect 30
You cleared Mechat Shooting Stage 3 with no damage.

Most of the other achievements are for doing things a bunch of times (different attacks, maxing out classes, etc).[/QUOTE]

Damn, I think that first one on your list is from the very beginning of the game. Ah, hell, I could just replay that part quickly tonight to find out.
 
For most of there dexterity achievements and mechat ones they conveniently put a save point right before it happens. So if you dont get the achievement and you really want it just reload before moving on.
 
[quote name='io']
Can this Mechat shooting thing be done again to get it perfect, or is it a one-time thing? I assume this wagon escort is a story item (hardly a spoiler since it is so vague :)) and thus probably a one-time thing[/QUOTE]

I've only done one Mechat level so far (I'm on Disc 2), but there is a save point before you do the first one. So as long as you set the option to skip cutscenes (by pressing start) you should be able to re-try it as many times as you want.

I got hit once, but I made a separate save for it just in case I felt like trying to get that achievement.

The Wagon achievement is pretty annoying, but luckily there is a save point before you start it. Again on this one I had the wagon get hit once, so I kept a separate save for that too.

BTW, I found a really nice place to level up on Disc 2. Most likely I'll be spending the next couple hours here. I am at Level 43 right now, I'm hoping to end at around 50+ before the end of this disc.
 
Thanks, guys. You know, for some reason I hadn't thought of the multiple save option. I guess it's just that I've been playing games with limited save slots recently (eg, Metroid Prime 3). I'm assuming you can make as many saves as you want for Blue Dragon then? Then you can just go back to any of those simply for the achievements even if it isn't along your "main" game path. Brilliant! I'll make sure to make frequent, multiple saves when I start playing. I still have 60GB free on my Elite, so it shouldn't be a problem ;).
 
So is everyone still loving this game? Done with Bioshock (IMHO Highly overated) and looking for a good game to trade it for. Love FF games , so I am thinking about picking this one up.
 
If you're a fan of rpg's you should definitely check it out. Fun game in my opinion. Just about done with it, dont think im even going to bother trying to stab the item/monster catalog achievements.
 
Picked up the game at bestbuy last night. Used 10% off coupon plus i had 2 $25 gc's so for $7.50 out the door i couldnt pass it up but im waiting to start it until i beat bioshock which will be soon as im on the last level.
 
Did anyone else download the difficulty fix off of the Hong Kong marketplace? I was pretty surprised that I was able to do it, but whatever.

Basically, you can download a patch that lets you start a new game in a harder difficulty. You can also do New Game+, and there is a third difficulty intended strictly for New Game+ parties (like it's impossible if you aren't level 50 and all that).

I was thinking the game was too easy and it wasn't keeping my attention, but playing in Hard mode is definitely more rewarding. In many cases, I can't even beat an enemy unless I exploit its weakness! Furthermore, the two support magic classes suddenly become very key to victory.

I really recommend getting the patch! It's supposed to come out in the US eventually, but since it works fine with my US version downloaded with a phoney Hong Kong account (my "address" is a pizza place in Central district), I don't see why you shouldn't nab it now.
 
I thought they put up that extra dungeon for the marketplace a week or so before the game came out. Now I go to the game space and it's gone, so it's safe to assume they took it down?
 
Well, if that patch ever comes out here, I hope they let you up the difficulty at will. I want to try the harder setting, but I don't want to replay many hours just to do it.
 
quick question
1. is there any option for japanese voice acting on the US ver. Blue Dragon ???
2. Can US version 360 play the international version of blue dragon (it has japanese voice acting with english subs), i.e. is there any region lock ?

don't have a 360, interested in getting a blue dragon and play it on my roomate's 360

Thanks
 
i played through the japanese version a little while ago, and i erally liked it. i think i may be alone in that sentiment at times, but it really captured everything i liked about jrpgs from back in the day. it is not a revolution or anything, but it is a quality modern-age update to the way jrpgs once were. most importantly, the characterization was of the more traditional sort that i prefer. there were no long-haired ladyboys and there were no "stylish" maneuvers or combos.
 
After playing the game about 20 hours, I must say, I disagree with the many reviews that bash it. Sure, the first 15 hours wasn't epic and riddled with story, but it wasn't mind numbingly boring either. I am having alot of fun with the game. Its not FF6, or Chrono Trigger, but its very fun.
 
Well, this looked good but I was going to wait until Eternal Sonata for my japanese rpg fix. However, I went in to Meijer to buy a play and charge kit for the 360 and there sits a new copy of Blue Dragon for $30. I knew it was a price mistake and I was sure that they wouldn't honor it but they did! I think I'm going to finish up Bioshock tonight and then move on to Blue Dragon.
 
Been a good ten hours into this game and I'm enjoying it. If it had the title "Final Fantasy" reviewers would be more favorable towards this. It's not the greatest RPG in the world, but it certainly isn't poor either. Very enjoyable and my only three complaints are 1) Characters are alittle too generic, granted they are "kiddie" 2) The stupid lag/framerate loss during dragon attacks in certain areas 3) It's too damn easy, but I didn't d/l the hard patch.

Highly recommended if you can grab this game on sale, even more recommended if you like RPGs at all.

Game deserves a 8/10 in my book so far, maybe higher. Nothing lower though.
 
I'm glad everyone is enjoying the game.

I've been out of town for the last 4 days, so I haven't been able to play anymore of the game. Hopefully that will change soon.

Last I left off I was near the end of Disc 2 (or what feels like it) I believe, with near 30 hours clocked in.
 
[quote name='asianxcore']
Last I left off I was near the end of Disc 2 (or what feels like it) I believe, with near 30 hours clocked in.[/quote]
30 hours total or just 30 on the second disc?
I'll probably be picking this up on Tuesday, just wondering the length.
 
I'm holding off playing any more until I get myself a new 360 that isn't banned from Live.. I want to play in Hard mode before I throw away more than 23 hours on the game :)
 
Just got up to the
laser field
, gonna see what that's all about tomorrow after school.

Really solid, old-school RPG thus far. Nothing revolutionary, or even evolutionary for that matter, but simple and solid. It's a looker, though. The art style, design, and overall graphical polish are superb (with the exception of a few little hitches, like the minor slowdown in battles and the shadow pop-in).
 
[quote name='Azumangaman']30 hours total or just 30 on the second disc?
I'll probably be picking this up on Tuesday, just wondering the length.[/QUOTE]

Most reviews I read said the game was a 50+ hour game total.

I'm at the 30 hour mark (total), but your hour total at this point really depends on your style of play. I read of a lot of people who had started the 2nd disc at the 10-12 hour mark, where I was maybe 21-22 hours before I started the 2nd disc.

The reason (for me at least) why I have only tacked on 10 hours since the 1st disc is because of how I've changed my playing style since then. I started to level grind A LOT on the 1st disc and maybe 30% of the 2nd disc. It got to the point that I knew by playing that I was over-leveled so I just stopped grinding and concentrated on the story.

I am a couple hours into the 3rd disc now and haven't run into any sidequests yet in the game. I am hoping that they are on this disc since it would be kind of weird for an RPG to lack sidequests this far in the game.
 
[quote name='asianxcore']I am a couple hours into the 3rd disc now and haven't run into any sidequests yet in the game. I am hoping that they are on this disc since it would be kind of weird for an RPG to lack sidequests this far in the game.[/QUOTE]

There is a sidequest at the beginning of the second disc.
Go to the Exile Forest and then Gorgo Village southeast of Jibral.
 
I'm nearing the 20 hours mark and am just now
inside Nene's Flying Fortress after pulling it in with the giants
. Whats taking me so long is searching every single item on the screen looking for Nothings and other bonuses. How many Nothings did you guys finds before the end of disk one ?
 
[quote name='AdvOfJet']I'm nearing the 20 hours mark and am just now
inside Nene's Flying Fortress after pulling it in with the giants
. Whats taking me so long is searching every single item on the screen looking for Nothings and other bonuses. How many Nothings did you guys finds before the end of disk one ?[/QUOTE]

There is a guy is Jibral village that will give you accessories (those +1 things you earned if you used the Generalist class). I had close to 600 at the end of Disc 1.
 
[quote name='GizmoGC']There is a guy is Jibral village that will give you accessories (those +1 things you earned if you used the Generalist class). I had close to 600 at the end of Disc 1.[/quote]

That is probably why it's taking me so long then. Last time I checked with the guy in Jibal, I had just shy of 900 Nothings and still on Disc one.
 
[quote name='Callandor']There is a sidequest at the beginning of the second disc.
Go to the Exile Forest and then Gorgo Village southeast of Jibral.
[/QUOTE]

Thanks, I just got the
Mechat, so I can go wherever I want now and all the sidequests are marked on the world map :)

Even though I'm a tad over-leveled, the sidequest bosses are tough. The last one I beat took me maybe 3 tries before I got it right.
 
I think this game is going to drop like a rock in price.. I'd love to play it after the holiday blitzkrieg, or fiend on it for a few days around christmas for $40. Is the voice acting really that bad?
 
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