http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/812/812365p1.html

A summary:

Hironobu Sakaguchi, the man who gave us Final Fantasy, has once again had his vision brought to American audiences, only this time it comes to a Microsoft console exclusively. Sakaguchi isn't the only well-known designer to put his stamp on Blue Dragon, either. Akira Toriyama, known for his work with Dragon Ball, provided the character design. Nobuo Uematsu, whose previous credits include Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy VIII, composed the music. But is this all-star cast enough to finally give Microsoft's Xbox 360 an answer to Final Fantasy? Unfortunately, it looks like the wait continues.

While Blue Dragon is by no means a bad game, it fails to reach the lofty expectations that have been placed on it. The pacing and story are unlikely to resonate with American audiences the way more adored RPGs do. And while the turn-based combat has an interesting skill system, it isn't enough to allow one to overlook the game's shortcomings. Still, as traditional and old-fashioned as Blue Dragon is, it is at the same time somewhat unique just because the Xbox and Xbox 360 libraries have been so thin in this genre. If you've been waiting and pining for a good JRPG on a Microsoft console, your prayers have been answered. Just don't expect a game on par with the classics.

When we say Blue Dragon is traditional, we mean it. The character design looks just like everything else Toriyama has done and the turn-based combat is the same style of action you've been playing for years. In fact, there is very little you can point to in Blue Dragon that hasn't been done multiple times over before. Shu, Jiro, and Kluke begin the tale as children who quickly become gifted with a magical power. Along the way, they're joined by a cat-like creature and a rogue-ish lady to do battle against a great evil. Very familiar, indeed.

....

When it does run smoothly, though, Blue Dragon is a great-looking game. The party members aren't particularly original in design, but the enemies are varied and goofy enough to be entertaining. If you liked what you saw in Dragon Quest VIII, you'll like the design here; it's quite similar. The environments, too, have their moment. The way the light sparkles off of water is just one example of the nice pieces of visual flair scattered throughout Blue Dragon.

Closing Comments
Blue Dragon is not the most original RPG as far as design goes. Nor is it the first "must have" RPG on a Microsoft console. The pacing through the first half of the game is far too slow to stay engaging for all but the hardcore JRPG fan and the story is not nearly as epic as the multiple disc, 50+ hour game implies. But for those needing a solid traditional role-playing experience on Xbox 360, Blue Dragon will fit the bill.

I think those bolded lines summarize the view nicely from the review. It's good, but not as good as hoped for with such high expectations and talent behind it.

Still the first good JRPG of the next gen systems and that's gotta mean something. Also, I didn't know the game was three discs, I thought it was two before.

Also, the slowdown problems and screen tearing and whatnot sounds concerning. I hope it's not on the same level of the demo because that was actually way too noticeable...

"For RPG fans weaned on the likes of the Elder Scrolls series, Blue Dragon's mostly linear design and turn-based combat will feel tedious and limited."

Isn't that the case with every JRPG? It's why I dislike them, but if there are exceptions maybe I'll give those a chance.

Eh EGM gave it a 68,3 and IGN a 79%, that's at least 10% more. 79% is not bad "at all", only 1 point away from being great. I find the scores of Blue Dragon odd to begin with anyway. 3 Reviews of 60%, 3 reviews of 80% and 6 reviews of 90%, 82% average. Got the feeling this game really depends on a matter of taste.

The highest EGM review was a 7.5 so that's not too far from this score.

This is exactly the kind of review that depresses me, the more I read it the more problems I find out about, but at the same time I can't not read it either...

Another big disappointment is hearin that there are only a few musical scores and they repeat a lot while the three disc game is basically because of the amount of fmv scenes.

If this game takes 3 discs with its fmv scenes, I can only wonder how much a Final Fantasy game would take since their movies are massive...

Very nice game. I will buy it after Bioshock. But nothing can compare to Lost Odyssey.

IMO, I think Blue Dragon is just the case of an uber-polished traditional JRPG.

I don't really see how their scores as so poor when it seems to be such a great game. Nevertheless, I think the scoring just depends entirely if you like JRPGs. As they said, it's a big transition for American audiences if your used to Oblivion and KOTOR for your RPGs as the difference is night & day.

And as stated, reviews are all over the place. Some feel its too traditional and dock points, while the others say it's too traditional, but does a great job on the traditional aspects, and gives it's a very good score to match other high-end turn based RPGs.

hum, I just have read a french website review,

they saied : 7/10

and globally explained that the game was ok but too easy for average JRPG player.

yeah all these "not too great" reviews really pushed back my need to purchase Blue Dragon

Specially after playing the Bioshock demo.

I'll have to wait till I find Blue Dragon in the used bin (or I find $70 somewhere in my couch)

i'm gona buy this for sure.

blue dragon > oblivion for sure

Even though usually by default I prefer a Japanese RPG game to a western one, I highly disagree with this.

Also, this talk of it being too traditional and whatnot is not the issue, traditional Japanese RPGs get very high scores from review sites in the US all the time, it's just that a game has to bring something special.

If this game has a crappy story and unappealing characters among other things then it will certainly take away from the experience. Still this is good, no one is saying it's bad. But my expectations have been lowered significantly from a few months ago after playing the demo and reading the reviews.

Still will have this in my 360 in the near future for sure.