Blue Dragon (Xbox 360) IPO Announced

Microsoft's Blue Dragon role-playing game for the Xbox 360 will debut on the simExchange on Monday, December 18, 2006. It will be categorized under role-playing and will open for purchase at 200 DKP (forecasts 2 million copies sold worldwide over lifetime). This game was submitted by sonaive.

The summary for the game is the following:

Blue Dragon is an Xbox 360 exclusive RPG that Microsoft Game Studios is targeting for the Japanese market. The game is designed by Hironobu Sakaguchi, creator of the Final Fantasy series, illustrated by Akira Toriyama of the Dragon Quest series, and features the music of Nobuo Uematsu, famous for the music of Final Fantasy.

Blue Dragon features cartoony characters similar to the style found in Dragon Quest but not cel-shaded. The unique feature of Blue Dragon is each character is partnered with a shadow creature, such as a dragon or phoenix. Characters advance in character level and rank level.

The player controls four characters and their shadow creatures at a time and combat is played through a menu and turn based interface. The player can position the characters either in front or back lines (like early Final Fantasy games) for greater offense or defense. There is also a turn indicator like in Final Fantasy X that shows you the order your characters and their opponents will make their moves.

Monsters can be seen in exploration view (unlike traditional Final Fantasy and more like Chrono Trigger). Encounters can be avoided if you walk around the monsters, but if you stray too close a message will inform you that your party has been detected. You can then charge in to engage, wait and power-up, or run away.

This game was released in Japan on December 7, 2006. US release is in 2007.