It's what I expected. It's just too traditional.

 Wrong. It's the fans who refuse to let it evolve. Look at the outcry to the attempt to upgrade the battle system for IX.

This is Mistwalker's answer to DQ but it doesn't match it, Lost Odyssey is their answer to FF and is unlikely to match it either.

@ ckmlb )

In my opinion Gothic 1 + 2 were far better WRPGs than Oblivion , because of the superb characters , but well that's a matter of taste I guess.

@ topic )

that review is a bit of a letdown , but well I will just watch the anime and decide after that ended whether or not I need the game

No one told Yuji Horii to crack under fanpressure.

That, and the fact that they waited until IX proves my point so hard that it hurts.

And I'd agree that the issue is that developers can only use 1 workable formula for sales: grindfest JRPGs.

What happens when you mess with the formula? Fan outcry.
One only has to go as far as FFXII - one of the most brilliantly-done (battle wise) Final Fantasies in probably a decade. Despite being praised by critics as one of the best Final Fantasies made from every magazine from Famitsu (one of only 6 or 7 games to recieve a perfect score), and every other magazine, it wound up being one of the worst selling FF's since FF6.

So this is why they're stale: people don't buy interesting, innovative titles in Japan. Odin Sphere bombed, Resident Evil 4 underwhelmed, Western games that aren't geared for the traditional Japanese market, and so on.

Don't get me wrong, Im going to love BD for all its worth, but still, there's a simple point: Japanese just don't like innovative games, until the market shifts and they addopt a whole new style, and will stick with it. That's why we see DS training games do so well vs. games with actual gameplay.

Team Xbox gave it an 8.5 and after reading the review I think it is more in tune with what the game is vs. expectations as to what the people want...

http://reviews.teamxbox.com/xbox-360/1365/Blue-Dragon/p1/

We have to remember that this is the first JRPG from this team. And was probably under the constraint that it had to be ready for the first full Xmas season in Japan... I expect Lost Odyssey to be better but, I think that 7.5 to 8.5 would be a decent review for this game for what it is.

I will be getting it day one... Also, though I will get BioShock and Two Worlds next week! Let the console wars rage... It only means great game experiences for us the consumers!

I disagree. The Nomura and Kitase direct FF games pale in comparision to those done by Sakaguchi. So if you are a fan of the true (Sakaguchi) Final Fantasy titles, you are more likely to favor Lost Odyssey. If you like the  main stream editions to the series like FFVII and FFVIII. You may disagree. I think FFXII was a step in the right direction, of course it wasn't done by Nomura and Kitase, but the game was hurt by the fact that your characters started becoming near identical half way through the game. Which was one of the things I despised most about FFVII. The shoddy story was the number one thing I hated about the game but, that is another topic all together.

Wouldn't adopting a whole new style be part of liking innovative games? Or are new styles of gaming not innovative? You wouldn't put WiiSports on that innovative list? Granted, Japanese people do seem to like embracing something and never straying far from the path but I think they've also shown that they aren't 100% blind followers considering how a few franchises that have always sold well in Japan during past generations still haven't helped the PS3 much aside from minor boosts on release week.