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Blue Dragon DS - Video Updates Thread (Trailer 2 now up! Developer revealed!)
- Thread starter duckroll
- Start date
Schopenhauer
Member
I would rather have had a console sequel, but I may still check this out if it is released in NA.
Sipowicz said:
Just checked it, the game will indeed have online wifi - but just as you wrote i could see Bandai Nacmo not releasing it in the US if it doesnt sell well in Japan. Maybe Ignition will publish it here again ...
duckroll said:
itxaka said:
This is my biggest conceirn too -looks way too slow for an action-rpg. The battle-sequences from the frist dq9 trailer looked way smoother/better imo.
Really can't say I have any interest in this.
You know, while I'm as big a proponent of creativity and innovation and ingenuity as the next guy, at a certain level this needs to not come at the expense of traditional stuff -- making the sort of games that enamoured fans of a developer or a series in the first place.
As much as I like Square's output on the DS, this is a problem that they've fallen victim to a few times. A time-traveling adventure/RPG hybrid with a nonsensical single-character costume-changing card-based battle system that people didn't understand even after playing the game? Who thought that would be a good idea? Or a 4 player local co-op stage-based platform-restricted action game where enormous rock colossi are taken apart one pebble at a time? It's just weird, and you can't tell me people wouldn't be more interested in that if it combined the stunning art direction, high quality sprites, and extremely impressive 3D enemies in a normal RPG.
This is the kind of weird stuff Mistwalker is doing with Blue Dragon, and it's disappointing and kind of frustrating. I don't think anyone who fell for the charm and gameplay of Blue Dragon was looking for an RTS followup, or a scaled down MORPG. Why is it so conceptually challenging to craft a portable version of a colorful and aesthetically striking turn-based RPG with a great job system, fun dungeons, and a cool monster encounter system? It's especially annoying on the second strike at bat when one of the developers involved in one of the games also developed Mother 3 and would've been perfectly capable of implementing that simple, appealing concept.
I'm not against spinoffs entirely. I've defended them in the past, and I think games like Devil Survivor and Valkyrie Profile Tactics (both of which used modified versions of the core games' battle systems) made sense. Two conceptually weird Blue Dragon spinoffs in a row, neither of which are tethered to what made the first game successful... don't, any more than it would make sense to revive a long dormant franchise with a spinoff (like if, say, the Lufia series is revived as an action RPG).
On top of all that, this game just doesn't look that fun.
You know, while I'm as big a proponent of creativity and innovation and ingenuity as the next guy, at a certain level this needs to not come at the expense of traditional stuff -- making the sort of games that enamoured fans of a developer or a series in the first place.
As much as I like Square's output on the DS, this is a problem that they've fallen victim to a few times. A time-traveling adventure/RPG hybrid with a nonsensical single-character costume-changing card-based battle system that people didn't understand even after playing the game? Who thought that would be a good idea? Or a 4 player local co-op stage-based platform-restricted action game where enormous rock colossi are taken apart one pebble at a time? It's just weird, and you can't tell me people wouldn't be more interested in that if it combined the stunning art direction, high quality sprites, and extremely impressive 3D enemies in a normal RPG.
This is the kind of weird stuff Mistwalker is doing with Blue Dragon, and it's disappointing and kind of frustrating. I don't think anyone who fell for the charm and gameplay of Blue Dragon was looking for an RTS followup, or a scaled down MORPG. Why is it so conceptually challenging to craft a portable version of a colorful and aesthetically striking turn-based RPG with a great job system, fun dungeons, and a cool monster encounter system? It's especially annoying on the second strike at bat when one of the developers involved in one of the games also developed Mother 3 and would've been perfectly capable of implementing that simple, appealing concept.
I'm not against spinoffs entirely. I've defended them in the past, and I think games like Devil Survivor and Valkyrie Profile Tactics (both of which used modified versions of the core games' battle systems) made sense. Two conceptually weird Blue Dragon spinoffs in a row, neither of which are tethered to what made the first game successful... don't, any more than it would make sense to revive a long dormant franchise with a spinoff (like if, say, the Lufia series is revived as an action RPG).
On top of all that, this game just doesn't look that fun.
Regulus Tera
Romanes Eunt Domus
Reminds me of DQIX before the outrage.
Also, ha ha duckroll was wrong!
Also, ha ha duckroll was wrong!
Unless this was your plan all along...
looks ok. i think this would look better as a top-down 2d game with sprites and lots of effects rather than trying the whole rendered 3d look.
i'd rather see things like this as a 15-20$ downloadable on say XBLA unless it really
i'm curious if they're just using the DS as cheap way to test out different battle systems before they commit to say like one more console game.
i'd rather see things like this as a 15-20$ downloadable on say XBLA unless it really
i'm curious if they're just using the DS as cheap way to test out different battle systems before they commit to say like one more console game.
Dragona Akehi
Retired
Jesus Christ, what the fuck is wrong with Mistwalker. Can't they make another Blue Dragon game that plays like the first? Turn based battles with an amazing Job System?
D:
D:
LiquidMetal14
hide your water-based mammals
Now no one replies until releaseduckroll said:
And remember, I started the movement *tear*RurouniZel
Asks questions so Ezalc doesn't have to
ethelred said:
I completely agree. I was going to write up my feelings but you summed them up perfectly.
Bloodworth
Member
itxaka said:
I'm almost certain that's just because of how they recorded it. Using the wrong settings on a DS capture unit can produce some nasty results.
BlazingDarkness
Member
Why don't they just make it turn based? not exactly difficult
AdventureRacing
Member
ethelred said:
Great post.
What bothers me the most is that the DS is the perfect platform to make a traditional RPG.
BlazingDarkness said:
maybe because Sakaguchi doesn't really enjoy making turn-based games anymore? Who knows. Obviously it's not an issue of technical limitation or difficulty. It just seems that Mistwalker is more interested in exploring as many different genres as possible, rather than making what their "fans" are interested in. I say "fans" because after BD and LO, I don't think any of their other ideas really created any interest among gamers.
BlazingDarkness
Member
duckroll said:maybe because Sakaguchi doesn't really enjoy making turn-based games anymore? Who knows. Obviously it's not an issue of technical limitation or difficulty. It just seems that Mistwalker is more interested in exploring as many different genres as possible, rather than making what their "fans" are interested in. I say "fans" because after BD and LO, I don't think any of their other ideas really created any interest among gamers.
Yeah it just seems weird to me, they should emulate what they did with Blue Dragon on the 360, given that it sold rather well for a 360 game in Japan, they just need more of the same instead of potentially putting current fans of BD off because they're changing up the gameplay
Developers seem to think 'hey here's the DS with a huge demographic to aim our game towards, but this game is just a spin-off so let's change the battle system and cut into those potential sales' Obviously that's not how it works, but it sure seems that way for the most part.
ethelred said:
I don't think Sigma Harmonics was PLANNED to be impenetrable
Besides, has anyone on GAF other than RK played it? I have no idea if the game's any good or not.But it's not like Squenix DOESN'T release normal RPGs for DS, or more successful innovative properties. Although I didn't care for it, World Ends With You is just as odd as Sigma Harmonics or Blood of Bahamut (two screen battles, stupid stuff with stickers and badges) but ended up being much more popular, and Four Warriors of Light looks to be just as traditional and polished as any of Square's PS1 offerings at least. Titles like Blood of Bahamut or Nameless Game which offer little spins on traditional RPG gaming are still the exception amongst the remakes and spinoffs.
It's not that I disagree with the overall point that Mistwalker is weird for making offbeat spinoffs from Blue Dragon; it smacks of World of Mana syndrome, where the developers spend all their time making games set in a universe that no-one's really that attached to beyond the gameplay of the first installments of the franchise (and frankly Blue Dragon is no Secret of Mana. It's not even a Legend of Mana in my eyes!). I just felt like defending Squenix for taking a few chances.
RevenantKioku
PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS oh god i am drowning in them
When does it actually come out? I'm already ignoring Blood of Bahamut because I want to save money at the moment.duckroll said:
Oh, 10/1? Plenty of time to make my mind up.
xs_mini_neo
Banned
Maybe they can't make it like the original BD because they are making BD2 for 360.
It's also possible their contract with MS won't allow it. I mean, if you were MS would you want to risk a DS version of the original BD doing far, far better than your console version? We all know if BD premiered on the DS it would have sold so much better.
It's also possible their contract with MS won't allow it. I mean, if you were MS would you want to risk a DS version of the original BD doing far, far better than your console version? We all know if BD premiered on the DS it would have sold so much better.
RevenantKioku
PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS oh god i am drowning in them
It's probably more associated with the anime than anything else, really.billy.sea said:
duckroll said:
I doubt that's the case, but if it is, it's very unfortunate as the turn-based games are the ones people actually care about and they're also, coincidentally!, the ones that are actually good.
BluWacky said:I don't think Sigma Harmonics was PLANNED to be impenetrable
I don't think they planned it to be impenetrable, but it doesn't seem they planned for it not to be impenetrable -- and lack of planning is the same as planning. If you're a developer and you fail to think through clear and understandable concepts for your game, you're planning for it to be impenetrable, and you're planning for a confused or disinterested audience. Or, alternatively, if you're coming up with a genre mishmash where the elements of the most prominent and successful of the two genres are so off-the-beaten path that they don't bear any recognizable similarities to successful properties within that genre... again, that's a type of planning for impenetrable status. Typically games that combine different genres try to make the representative portions of each at least somewhat traditional, because that's something people can get.
BluWacky said:
Certainly, 4 Warriors of Light looks to be a very traditional experience, and it's probably the best example of Square making an entirely original, traditional game. The World Ends With You isn't on the same level as Sigma Harmonics or Blood of Bahamut... it had a very unique battle system, but it was, through and through, an RPG. An RPG in a modern day setting with fashionable music and style and a unique battle system. That's a bit less purely simple than "new Final Fantasy," but it's not confusing in the way that Sigma Harmonics was and it's not conceptually unappealing in the way that Blood of Bahamut is.
I'm not against Square taking risks. I was all for that during earlier generations. But you can't just take risks simply for the sake of taking risks. Take risks on games that are worth it, that are conceptually sound, that still have a market somewhere out there, and that still have some grounding in the things that people want and expect out of you.
billy.sea said:
It most certainly isn't. And furthermore, once the second of two Blue Dragon DS games is out, combined they'll still have sold less than half the amount of the 360 game. How is that for associations?
duckroll said:We do? How many new IP RPGs on the DS have sold over 200k? Stop talking out of your ass please, it stinks.
New IP RPGs? Just Inazuma Eleven (360k+) and, if you want to vaguely consider it within the RPG-ish realm (since Konami originally presented it as such, even though it isn't really) Tongaribushi (at 400k). The closest new IP RPGs on the DS to 200k without going over (thanks, Bob Barker) would be The World Ends With You at 192k and Dinosaur King (also at 192k). Those are just for third parties. Add Nintendo to the mix and you also get Fossil Fighters (250k).
That's not to say there isn't a sliver of sense (just a tiny one) in what xs_mini is saying. I think if Mistwalker had made a traditional RPG Blue Dragon game for the DS as a follow-up to the 360 game, and had some very lovely, lush visuals to go with it (in 2D, I think Brownie Brown could have created something pretty much on the level of Chrono Trigger in terms of visual quality)... and if they had found a decent publisher, I think they could have had a very successful game that sold comparably to the 360 title and helped expand its audience a bit in preparation to a 360 Blue Dragon 2.
Nibelung Valesti
Member
tri-crescendo? Bamco must be the first company to truly believe in Blue Dragon, then :lol
Baloonatic
Member
Looks pretty fun to me. Framerate doesn't seem to be able to keep up, though.
Segata Sanshiro
Member
Hey, it actually looks pretty good.
SecretBonusPoint
Banned
Youtube plz to unlock achievement, as mms wont buffer for shit.
duckroll said:
Tri-Crescendo? I was NOT aware of this. Awesomeness +123490123.
Also, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIxbHKHefgc - processing. :3