Blue Dragon: Ikai no Kyoju
Encyclopedia
, is a console role-playing game developed by Mistwalker
and tri-Crescendo
and published by Namco Bandai
in Japan and D3 Publisher
in North America and Europe, for the Nintendo DS
video game console
and is based on the Blue Dragon series. It is the third installment to the Blue Dragon series and is a direct sequel to both Blue Dragon and Blue Dragon Plus
. Hironobu Sakaguchi
(Series Creator), Akira Toriyama (Character Designer of Blue Dragon) and Hideo Baba (Brand Manager of Tales
Series) are involved in the development of the game. It was released in Japan
on October 8, 2009, in North America on May 18, 2010, and in Europe on September 24, 2010.
. You design a character and play as him/her. The beginning has you play as two Ancients known as Jyum and Ganda. They reach a room and go in. Soon afterwards, there is a flash of light and you start playing as your main character, who wakes up in a capsule with no memory of his/her past.
You are to control your character into the northern side of the room where he/she will step on a warp pad of some sort. He/She is then taken to an underground cavern where they find an elevator. They take the elevator, which leads to Neo Jibral Castle Town. It is revealed that only the main character can use a Shadow unlike everyone else who lost them to a 'bright light.' From there, the player soon meets Shu, Jiro, and Kluke. After an exchange of dialogue about Shadows and Soul Light, the three leave and your character is soon engaged in battle (with Shu) against a monster attacking a little girl. When the battle ends, Shu takes you to Neo Jibral Castle, where you re-meet Jiro and King Jibral as well as Zola. Shu explains how you arrived to Neo Jibral and King Jibral orders you to investigate from where the elevator came from. He has Zola assist both you and Shu on your first quest.
Many enemies lurk in the underground cave, but after a boss fight against a Wild Boar, you and your allies approach a machine of some sort. Shu presses a few buttons on the control panel and two long parts attach themselves to the machine. Above ground however, something else occurs... Your character goes up to inspect the machine and is struck with a bright light. When nothing seems to happen, Zola points in the direction to go to. No sooner do they come across a boulder. Shu, who borrowed your character's Shadow, plans to break the boulder, but you step forward instead. It is revealed that he/she has power beyond their Shadow. When you finally arrive out of the cave, Kluke hurries you into town where mysterious doors have appeared. Both Kluke and Zola point to Shu after you say the doors may have appeared because Shu messed with the control panel. As Shu engages in a trivial argument with Shu, your character looks up at the sky and wonders 'what's going on here?' This is where the first quest ends and where your real adventure begins.
The game allows the player to customize their character's appearance, such as their gender, hairstyles, eyebrows, eyes, voices, among other traits. Players are able to use their customized characters in multiplayer with two other friends, locally or online.
, awarded the game 31 of 40 (8/8/7/8). 1UP summarized Famitsu's stance on the game as "a solid standard action RPG but not an exceptional game". Famitsu praised the amount of extra content put into the game such as character customization, item synthesis and boss battles. However, Famitsu noted that with the battles on the lower screen of the DS and the status on the upper screen it may cause some problems for the player. Famitsu also noted that there was a large amount of cutscenes in the game which may make the player "feel like a passive viewer at times."
Mistwalker
is a Japanese video game development studio founded by Hironobu Sakaguchi in 2004, with the financial backing of Microsoft. The logo and name were trademarked in 2001...
and tri-Crescendo
Tri-Crescendo
Tri-Crescendo is a video game developer from Japan. It was founded in February 1999 by Hiroya Hatsushiba, who still runs the company. Hatsushiba, originally being a sound programmer, carried his experience into Tri-Crescendo; the company was initially responsible for the sound in all games by...
and published by Namco Bandai
Namco Bandai Games
is an arcade, mobile and home video game developer and publisher based in Japan which is the product of a merger between the video game development divisions of Bandai and Namco. Namco Bandai Games is a wholly owned subsidiary of Namco Bandai Holdings and specializes in production and sales of...
in Japan and D3 Publisher
D3 Publisher
D3Publisher is a Japanese video game publisher founded on February 5, 1992. Current CEO and president is Yuji Ito, and It is known for its Simple series of low-priced console games. Their games have been released for the Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 2,...
in North America and Europe, for the Nintendo DS
Nintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
video game console
Video game console
A video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or customized computer system that produces a video display signal which can be used with a display device to display a video game...
and is based on the Blue Dragon series. It is the third installment to the Blue Dragon series and is a direct sequel to both Blue Dragon and Blue Dragon Plus
Blue Dragon Plus
Blue Dragon Plus received mixed or average reviews, earning a Metacritic aggregate score of 69.The game received a positive review from IGN Australia, citing beautiful FMVs comparable to the Xbox 360's as well as fast paced action and good camera control. Nintendo Power gave it a rating of 8 of 10...
. Hironobu Sakaguchi
Hironobu Sakaguchi
is a Japanese game designer, game director and game producer. He is world famous as the creator of the Final Fantasy series, and has had a long career in gaming with over 100 million units of video games sold worldwide...
(Series Creator), Akira Toriyama (Character Designer of Blue Dragon) and Hideo Baba (Brand Manager of Tales
Tales
Tales can refer to:*the plural of tale*Tales , a series of role-playing games*Tales , an album by Marcus Miller*Tales of Silversleeve, an album by Cathy Davey*Tales of the Unexpected , an Anglia television series...
Series) are involved in the development of the game. It was released in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
on October 8, 2009, in North America on May 18, 2010, and in Europe on September 24, 2010.
Story
This game occurs two years after the events of the original Blue Dragon and a year after Blue Dragon PlusBlue Dragon Plus
Blue Dragon Plus received mixed or average reviews, earning a Metacritic aggregate score of 69.The game received a positive review from IGN Australia, citing beautiful FMVs comparable to the Xbox 360's as well as fast paced action and good camera control. Nintendo Power gave it a rating of 8 of 10...
. You design a character and play as him/her. The beginning has you play as two Ancients known as Jyum and Ganda. They reach a room and go in. Soon afterwards, there is a flash of light and you start playing as your main character, who wakes up in a capsule with no memory of his/her past.
You are to control your character into the northern side of the room where he/she will step on a warp pad of some sort. He/She is then taken to an underground cavern where they find an elevator. They take the elevator, which leads to Neo Jibral Castle Town. It is revealed that only the main character can use a Shadow unlike everyone else who lost them to a 'bright light.' From there, the player soon meets Shu, Jiro, and Kluke. After an exchange of dialogue about Shadows and Soul Light, the three leave and your character is soon engaged in battle (with Shu) against a monster attacking a little girl. When the battle ends, Shu takes you to Neo Jibral Castle, where you re-meet Jiro and King Jibral as well as Zola. Shu explains how you arrived to Neo Jibral and King Jibral orders you to investigate from where the elevator came from. He has Zola assist both you and Shu on your first quest.
Many enemies lurk in the underground cave, but after a boss fight against a Wild Boar, you and your allies approach a machine of some sort. Shu presses a few buttons on the control panel and two long parts attach themselves to the machine. Above ground however, something else occurs... Your character goes up to inspect the machine and is struck with a bright light. When nothing seems to happen, Zola points in the direction to go to. No sooner do they come across a boulder. Shu, who borrowed your character's Shadow, plans to break the boulder, but you step forward instead. It is revealed that he/she has power beyond their Shadow. When you finally arrive out of the cave, Kluke hurries you into town where mysterious doors have appeared. Both Kluke and Zola point to Shu after you say the doors may have appeared because Shu messed with the control panel. As Shu engages in a trivial argument with Shu, your character looks up at the sky and wonders 'what's going on here?' This is where the first quest ends and where your real adventure begins.
Gameplay
The game has a different Battle System from its predecessors which involved Console role-playing game and Real Time Strategy. Blue Dragon: Ikai no Kyojū is an RPG with real time action-oriented combat. The player is able to explore 3D fields, attack enemies directly as well as call upon shadows.The game allows the player to customize their character's appearance, such as their gender, hairstyles, eyebrows, eyes, voices, among other traits. Players are able to use their customized characters in multiplayer with two other friends, locally or online.
Characters
For the first time in the series, the player doesn't play as Shu and his companions. Instead the player will play as an unnamed customizable protagonist. Shu and his friends are not playable characters, but AI controlled party members.- Unnamed Customizable Protagonist
- Shu and Blue DragonDragonA dragon is a legendary creature, typically with serpentine or reptilian traits, that feature in the myths of many cultures. There are two distinct cultural traditions of dragons: the European dragon, derived from European folk traditions and ultimately related to Greek and Middle Eastern...
(beginning only) - Jiro and MinotaurMinotaurIn Greek mythology, the Minotaur , as the Greeks imagined him, was a creature with the head of a bull on the body of a man or, as described by Roman poet Ovid, "part man and part bull"...
(beginning only) - Kluke and PhoenixPhoenix (mythology)The phoenix or phenix is a mythical sacred firebird that can be found in the mythologies of the Arabian, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, Chinese, Indian and Phoenicians....
(beginning only) - Marumaro and Saber TigerSmilodonSmilodon , often called a saber-toothed cat or saber-toothed tiger, is an extinct genus of machairodonts. This saber-toothed cat was endemic to North America and South America, living from near the beginning through the very end of the Pleistocene epoch .-Etymology:The nickname "saber-tooth" refers...
(beginning only) - Zola and Killer BatVampire batVampire bats are bats whose food source is blood, a dietary trait called hematophagy. There are three bat species that feed solely on blood: the Common Vampire Bat , the Hairy-legged Vampire Bat , and the White-winged Vampire Bat .All three species are native to the Americas, ranging from Mexico to...
(beginning only) - King Jibral and QilinQilinThe Qilin is a mythical hooved Chinese chimerical creature known throughout various East Asian cultures, and is said to appear with the imminent arrival or passing of a wise sage or an illustrious ruler. It is a good omen that brings rui . It is often depicted with what looks like fire all over...
(beginning only) - Nene
- Himiko
- Toripo and TarantulaTarantulaTarantulas comprise a group of often hairy and often very large arachnids belonging to the family Theraphosidae, of which approximately 900 species have been identified. Some members of the same Suborder may also be called "tarantulas" in the common parlance. This article will restrict itself to...
(beginning only) - Sahlia and CatCatThe cat , also known as the domestic cat or housecat to distinguish it from other felids and felines, is a small, usually furry, domesticated, carnivorous mammal that is valued by humans for its companionship and for its ability to hunt vermin and household pests...
GenieJinnJinn are supernatural beings in Arab folklore and Islamic teachings.Jinn may also refer to:* Jinn , a Japanese band* Qui-Gon Jinn, a character in the Star Wars universe...
(beginning only) - Yasato and PegasusPegasusPegasus is one of the best known fantastical as well as mythological creatures in Greek mythology. He is a winged divine horse, usually white in color. He was sired by Poseidon, in his role as horse-god, and foaled by the Gorgon Medusa. He was the brother of Chrysaor, born at a single birthing...
(beginning only) - Szabo and Jack-O-LanternJack-o'-lanternA jack-o'-lantern is typically a carved pumpkin. It is associated chiefly with the holiday of Halloween and was named after the phenomenon of strange light flickering over peat bogs, called ignis fatuus or jack-o'-lantern...
(beginning only) - Fushira and RafflesiaRafflesiaRafflesia is a genus of parasitic flowering plants. It contains approximately 28 species , all found in southeastern Asia, on the Malay Peninsula, Borneo, Sumatra, Thailand and the Philippines.Rafflesia was found in the Indonesian rain forest by an Indonesian guide working for Dr...
(beginning only) - Jyum
- Ganda
Reception
Japanese gaming magazine, FamitsuFamitsu
is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Enterbrain, Inc. and Tokuma. Currently, there are five Famitsū magazines: Shūkan Famitsū, Famitsū PS3 + PSP, Famitsū Xbox 360, Famitsū Wii+DS, and Famitsū Wave DVD...
, awarded the game 31 of 40 (8/8/7/8). 1UP summarized Famitsu's stance on the game as "a solid standard action RPG but not an exceptional game". Famitsu praised the amount of extra content put into the game such as character customization, item synthesis and boss battles. However, Famitsu noted that with the battles on the lower screen of the DS and the status on the upper screen it may cause some problems for the player. Famitsu also noted that there was a large amount of cutscenes in the game which may make the player "feel like a passive viewer at times."