Blue Dragon Plus is the sequel to the highly hyped Blue Dragon for the Xbox 360. Unlike the home console version, the handheld version actually goes back to the basics, which does the game a world of good. The Dragon Ball-like characters are back for another run. The question is – can they deliver the goods this time around on the DS?

Story

The story continues one year after the events that took place on the Xbox 360 version of the game. Peace has returned to the world after Shu and his party defeated the evil king of Grand Kingdom, Nene. Ever since then the world has split revealing the cubes and the populous of the world has come to accept them.

However, one day King Jibral notices something odd about one of the cube off in the distant. He notices a three-headed dragon coming out of the cube. This three-headed dragon will start to wreak havoc throughout the world. Also, along the journey the party of heroes will discover something shocking about the sinister Nene.

I have to say that the story is a huge improvement over the previous version on the Xbox 360. The story is a bit tighter with less meandering which helps keep the interest of the gamer from waning too much.

Controls

The controls and the gameplay is perfect for Blue Dragon Plus. The original tried the traditional RPG approach with lackluster results. With generic controls and abilities in the original, it became difficult to care about each character and what they can do.

Similarly to the original, there is reliance on the shadow dragons to fight for you. However, unlike the first game, Blue Dragon Plus plays like a Tactical RPG, but attacks occur real-time. This works well with the game as it keeps the action from getting too stale. Fights can occur in multiple locations on the map which can cause you to panic a bit as your attention gets taxed. The net result is a more enjoyable micro-managing experience.

Visuals/Design

Considering that the game is on the DS the graphics look nothing like the original on the Xbox 360. However, the use of FMV was a great idea as it helps fill in the gaps in-between the battles. The animations in the FMV are on par with the graphics found in the original game. The developers have done a great job of taking advantage of the limitations of the hardware by scaling graphics down to an iso-metric tactical RPG view of the map.

Since the game is a tactical RPG, there is heavy reliance on fighting. I would say 85 percent of the game takes place in battles with very little adventuring. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing considering that the original game had one of the weakest adventure components found in RPGs today.

Wrap-up

Blue Dragon Plus actually quite fun to play on the go. The battles provide entertainment as you can pick up your DS and play a battle or two before putting it down. The frantic real-time battle system was a great idea as well. However, the story still seems a bit lackluster despite a significant improvement over the original. At times the story and dialog seem like they were geared towards children despite the fact the battle system is fairly complex. Overall, I would say that Blue Dragon Plus is a nice little game to pick up and play on the go.

Score:

3.5/5

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