Blue Dragon Plus

Nintendo DS
Entry level strategy
The original Blue Dragon on the Xbox 360 was as traditional as RPGs get. Turn based, random battles were the meat of the game, accompanied by an epic story and most notably – gorgeous art direction from Dragon Ball Z creator Akira Toriyama.
While the gameplay may not have wowed people, its production was spot on. Blue Dragon Plus takes the series out of its comfort zone, translating the turn based action into a touch screen controlled, real time strategy.
Of course this is no Warcraft style RTS, but the new blend of genres pioneered by the likes of Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings, where the player guides characters on screen with simple taps of the stylus, combined with automatic attacks and directed special abilities.
Picking up one year after the events of the 360 game, civilisation is once again threatened by old enemies and new mysteries, taking place in the strange cube worlds at the planet’s core.
The story of phantom shadows and machines with souls picks up quickly, settling into a nice pace that’ll keep fans of the series happy, while speedily crafting a new tale for the inclusion of new players.
The FMV cut scenes are particularly lovely too, making good use of both screens simultaneously while linking back to the style of the 360 original.
The core game however, while being fairly solidly built, has its flaws that rest more in the style of this RTS than in this particular execution.
Eschewing the ponderous, more strategic gameplay of the likes of Final Fantasy Tactics, Blue Dragon Plus can at times become an overwhelming game, despite its simplicity and initial accessibility. Controlling 16 characters at once, in real time, can require a little too much of the player, effectively negating strategy for hasty tactics.
This is at least balanced by the generous amount of healing items your team is given, but at the cost of concise action and real strategy, where time should have been employed.
7/10