Why would we like a return of Blue Dragon?

But this idea finally slipped out of my head a little quickly, noting the myriad of important releases to come at the beginning of 2024. That's when the unthinkable happened: Akira Toriyama left us, and moreover neither of a very glorious death, nor at an advanced age. Dying at 68 from an intracranial hematoma is ugly, very ugly even, especially when you are the father of modern manga, a true hero in the eyes of a community so vast that it would be impossible to quantify it precisely. Far be it from me to drive the point home, since it was personally affected. However, the desire to write about the gentleman's work quickly returned to me…

This is how we will talk today about Blue Dragon, a role-playing game exclusive to the Xbox 360 released in 2006 in Japan, then in 2007 in the rest of the world. A work which will have caused a lot of ink to flow upon its release, due to Toriyama's involvement. But also because it is developed by none other than Mistwalker, a studio founded by the great Hironobu Sakaguchi, father of the franchise Final Fantasy. Add, on top of that, the presence of Nobuo Uematsu to the soundtrack… That was too many exceptional personalities for Blue Dragon ends up falling by the wayside. And yet… today, we would like a return of the franchise.

Note: The images you will find in this article were captured by us via a dematerialized version running on an Xbox Series X.

Sing the classics

Arriving a big year before its direct competitor, the PlayStation 3, which was initially rather poorly received due to absolutely laughable pricing and misplaced audacity, the Xbox 360 welcomed, against all expectations, a certain quantity of games exclusive Japanese. And not just any titles, since we are talking in particular about titles that, in the past, it was unthinkable to separate from Sony's image. Katamari Damaci, for example, although it is certainly not the most notable on this short list. But also, of course, Lost Odysseyconsidered by many to be a Final Fantasy who hides his name well. Or Tales of Vesperia (which would later be released on PS3 in a revised version, never made it to the West), Eternal Sonata (which we will eventually come back to in a column), Infinite Undiscovery And Magna Carta 2.

You will have easily noticed that the majority of the titles mentioned are RPGs, and Blue Dragon is no exception. Released at the end of 2006 in Japan, then in August 2007 around the world, the title of Mistwalker promised a lot. To begin with, a brand new franchise developed by none other than the father of Final Fantasy, all wrapped up in a soundtrack signed by Mr. Nobuo Uematsu, also known for his work on the gargantuan Square series. But above all it is Akira Toriyama, father of Dragon Ball, Dr Slump or Sand Landwhich should be remembered, for his work on a large part of the design of the protagonists and the bestiary.

A work that is easily guessed, and immediately gives the title a certain soul. And that’s good, because apart from its unique visual aspect, Blue Dragon is not the most original thing that happens. Its story, to begin with, is sorely lacking in flavor, and displays a sentimentality that serves it more than anything else, favored by protagonists who don't have much to tell us. It's difficult to identify with this handful of children who always seem to make the wrong choices, armed with basic lines of dialogue, sometimes embarrassingly stupid, going in search of an even more disappointing big bad… and yet, we have to recognize that we become attached, despite ourselves, to this small band of heroes sorely lacking in charisma.

The small particularity of the title lies in its vision of the fights. Indeed, here it is not the children themselves who fight, but their shadows. Large blue entities, emerging from the bodies of our heroes to fight… which ultimately doesn't change much from a classic turn-based RPG, to the extent that the mechanics ultimately remain very close, if not identical, to what we already know inside out. We must nevertheless grant this bias an extra element of soul, here again, a certain feeling of disorientation emerging, at least for a time, from this way of doing things.

And fortunately, moreover, because apart from that, there is nothing original under the sun. Combat is turn-based, following an order of priority defined by the speed statistics of the characters and enemies. The abilities are pretty basic, but some will require a QTE kind of way. Mario RPG Or Sea of ​​Stars to be more effective. The adventure, for its part, is rather linear, despite a relatively open map, allowing you to navigate between the different points of interest, very reminiscent, through its lack of detail, of what the series offers. Tales of at the time. Which is not a compliment, just in case there was still any doubt. Finally, the adventure is rather long, since it will take a good fifty hours to reach the end of the scenario, and almost double that to see everything the game has to offer.

A universe that takes well

Ultimately, what we remember most about this title is its universe which, despite its childish writing, turns out to be rather catchy. Sakaguchi, by tackling the writing of the game, managed to capture part of the essence of Toriyama's work, succeeding in making this new franchise stick fairly well to its visuals. Which is a small success in itself, and will allow, against all expectations, Blue Dragon to last quite a long time. Because the title released in 2007 here will quickly be followed by two sequels on Nintendo DS, both quite successful and which we highly recommend to lovers of the original. But above all, because an anime of more than 100 episodes will see the light of day, in the same way as a manga, thickening the lore with a certain accuracy.

Yes, the whole thing is cutesy, perhaps a little too much, but in a way it's a criticism that can be leveled at most (if not all) Shonen, in which Sakaguchi draws inspiration, Dragon Ball on your mind. The important thing, ultimately, is that it takes hold, and there is every chance that this will be the case with a community of players large enough for two sequels to be considered and then started. It will not have escaped you that the portrait drawn in these lines is not the most flattering there is. And in fact, Blue Dragon first of the name is not a slap in the face, far from equaling the quality of a Lost Odyssey for example, or the originality of a Resonance of Fate. It lacks a few things to rise to the level of the competition, and that is perhaps the whole problem behind its longevity which some will readily describe as weak, and the fact that the world seems to have forgotten it.

Claiming an extremely classic recipe, resembling what we found in the biggest Japanese RPGs of the golden age, ranging from Chrono Trigger has Dragon Quest VIPassing by Final Fantasy IV, Blue Dragon unfortunately does less well. Or at least, the homage is to be welcomed, but the result is less memorable than many productions from another time than the title of Mistwalker pastiche. It owes this to its all-too-common combat system, despite the interesting (but under-exploited) addition of QTE. Its progression is too linear, for a time, subsequently leaving an impression of a vaguely unpleasant opening due to a world which, as said earlier, lacks a lot of charm, and also significant points of interest. That was revolutionary on Super Nintendo, when the use of mode 7 impressed, and it made sense on PlayStation, where the feeling of opening in full 3D was galvanizing. But ten years later, on Xbox 360, it sounds like an anachronism.

Why would we like a return?

So why Blue Dragon ? Why not have instead addressed the case of a Chrono Trigger if the idea was to talk about Toriyama and his involvement in video games, especially since the Square and Enix title is considered the quintessence of the Japanese-style RPG? To begin with, because the said legendary title is very good like that, and to wish for its return in a new form is to expose oneself to a disaster of the order of Secret of Mana Remakeor simply a colossal disappointment. Chrono Trigger is untouchable. This is an established fact, and everyone among those concerned seems to agree on this fact. This is the reason why, unlike Final Fantasy or some Dragon Quest of the same period, we have not seen many different versions linked together, until real Pixel Remasters.

No, Chrono Trigger this is a cartridge on Super Famicom, an appearance on PlayStation in the collection Final Fantasy Chronicles, a Nintendo DS edition, and a PC version. We will happily skip the mobile or Virtual Console editions which are common ports. The fact is that, apart from on PlayStation, where we added cinematics (as was done on Final Fantasy VI), on DS where a kind of fashion in its own way Pokemon has been implemented (and in a good way, not encroaching on the original game) and on PC where new dungeons have appeared, nothing really new has seen the light of day. And that's very good. Some games are simply meant to stay as is, there is no reason to want them returned in any way. So yes, it would be great to have a Switch version to be able to take this masterpiece everywhere (without having to deal with the awful touch controls on our mobiles). But hey, on Steam the game costs less than 15 euros and is less voracious than Minesweeper!

So stay Blue Dragon. An imperfect title, nice but not transcendent sequels, all wrapped up in a universe that works well. The fact is that the original game is not easy to re-release today, due to an aging visual aspect, on the one hand, although this will not affect everyone in the same way. But above all, mechanics which have taken on some serious wrinkles, and a structure which remains perfectible. Thus, a game of this caliber would have everything to gain from a real, proper remake. A version that is superior in every way, starting with an increased ambition and a more detailed, more inspired world map, allowing you to turn the camera in all directions…

It would obviously be necessary for this new Blue Dragon a completely new combat system. No need to look far that said, since it doesn't seem necessary to deviate too much from what the Japanese RPG offered in the 90s. Only, a little more depth wouldn't be too much, and an interface more readable too, perhaps by looking at what Atlus has achieved with its Persona 5 then its remake of Persona 3. Keeping the QTEs is far from being a bad idea, since it allows the player to be involved and therefore makes the confrontations more gripping. However, it would be good to offer them treatment closer to what a Super Mario RPGto name just one, with contextual actions that have a certain meaning on screen, something that Blue Dragonthe original, was not necessarily successful.

Finally, it is from the side of the scenario that we hope for a burst of inventiveness. Resuming the characters as they are is not to be avoided, far from it, but it would be good to offer them better thought-out lines of dialogue, and above all to have them perform a more consistent and captivating play. That being said, once is not customary we will unfortunately have to end this article on a negative note: Akira Toriyama is no more. And this simple fact takes a lot of weight in the scale measuring the chances of return of Blue Dragon. Because even if someone, somewhere had the funds and the desire to bring this otherwise enjoyable RPG back from the dead, what would be the point now without the father of Dragon Ball in design?