E3 2006: Blue Dragon Fact Sheet @ Gaming Target

Written by John Scalzo on May 12, 2006

News: Who needs a Final Fantasy when you have a Blue Dragon?

Square-Enix may have announced Final Fantasy XIII as a PS3 exclusive for now, but Japanese RPG fans should take heart, the father of Final Fantasy has the 360's back.

Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi is heading up Blue Dragon at his new studio Mistwalker. It will be the first of several Mistwalker titles on the Xbox 360 and Microsoft hopes it will give gamers a new fantasy to get behind.

Here's what we know so far:

Publisher: Microsoft Corp.
Developer: Mistwalker and Artoon Co. Ltd.
Format: DVD for the Xbox 360
ESRB Rating: Pending
Availability: TBD (North America)

Product Overview: Famed game producer Hironobu Sakaguchi of Mistwalker game studio and developer Artoon present the highly anticipated Xbox 360-exclusive УBlue Dragon.Ф Featuring the character design of Akira Toriyama, who designed УDragon Ball Z,Ф and music by Nobuo Uematsu, the composer for УFinal Fantasy,Ф УBlue DragonФ is an epic role-playing game (RPG) centered on a young boy named Shu and several of his friends. These unlikely heroes possess miraculous strength and magical power to control phantom shadows that mirror the actions of their masters.

Shu and company must use their shadows as weapons as they battle the evil Nene and an antiquated human race of people who command a magical power thought to have perished long ago. Shu and friends must wield their skills to save their world from impending doom.

Encountering various people on a planet with numerous ancient ruins, the characters and their shadows travel through a world full of mysteries and illusions, where the slightest touch can cause reactions of unparalleled magnitude.

Features:

Innovative RPG gameplay features. As their quest progresses, warriors can create original attack methods by using several types of Shadow Change, including Sword, Assassin and Power Magic. Players can also choose to focus their hero on certain areas of expertise; as they fight, shadows will level up and gain new abilities associated with the job being done. Once gained, abilities remain available to use when needed.

Massive scope and engrossing environments. Shu and his companions battle their way through an immense world filled with vividly illustrated remnants of ancient civilizations long forgotten. Their journey takes them through alluring ancient ruins scattered with machines of war that have long since fallen into disrepair.

Stunning graphics. Taking full advantage of the power of Xbox 360, УBlue DragonФ will engage gamers in a world and characters that are brought to life with vibrant colors and detail Ч from Shu's wild hair to his martial arts-style garb Ч conveying the beautiful simplicity and sense of adventure found in this truly next-generation RPG.

Dazzling character design and effects. Toriyama's unique influence is evident in the design of the game's anime-style characters, whose actions are enhanced with next-generation blur effects. In addition, the game's algorithmic animation system adds heightened realism to character and creature movements.

Developer Information: Mistwalker is a creative company founded by Hironobu Sakaguchi, the original developer of УFinal Fantasy.Ф Operated by a handful of experts, the direction of new Mistwalker is influenced by Sakaguchi's extensive industry experience.

Artoon is a digital entertainment design, development and production company with rich talent and experience. Centering on the design and development of original content, Artoon is mainly involved in the development of software through external cooperation, as well as the design and production of entertainment content in the mobile communication category.