Blue Dragon: Awakened Shadow
North American box art
Developer(s)Mistwalker
tri-Crescendo[1]
Publisher(s)
Director(s)Yoshiharu Miyake
Takeshi Kaneda
Producer(s)Hideo Baba
Hiroya Hatsushiba
Artist(s)Akira Toriyama
Kaori Tosa
Composer(s)Nobuo Uematsu
SeriesBlue Dragon
Platform(s)Nintendo DS
Release
  • JP: October 8, 2009
  • NA: May 18, 2010[2]
  • GER: September 21, 2010
  • EU: September 24, 2010
  • AU: September 2010
Genre(s)Action role-playing
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Blue Dragon: Awakened Shadow[lower-alpha 1] is an action role-playing video game developed by Mistwalker and tri-Crescendo and published by Namco Bandai in Japan and Europe and D3 Publisher in North America,[2] for the Nintendo DS video game console and is part of the Blue Dragon series, its third installment and is a direct sequel to both Blue Dragon and Blue Dragon Plus. Hironobu Sakaguchi (series creator), Akira Toriyama (character designer) and Hideo Baba (brand manager of Tales series) are involved in the development of the game.[1] It was released in Japan on October 8, 2009, in North America on May 18, 2010, and in the PAL region in September of the same year.[2][1]

Gameplay

In contrast to its predecessors, which were a traditional turn-based RPG and a strategy RPG, respectively, Blue Dragon: Awakened Shadow is an action RPG with real time combat. The player is able to explore 3D fields, attack enemies directly as well as call upon shadows.[3]

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 does not 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.[1]

Reception

The game received "mixed" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[4] In Japan, Famitsu gave it a score of two eights, one seven, and one eight for a total of 31 out of 40.[7] 1Up.com summarized the magazine'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, but they 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. They 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".[7]

Notes

  1. ↑ Japanese: ブルードラゴン 異界の巨獣, Hepburn: Burū Doragon: Ikai no Kyōjū, "Blue Dragon: Great Beast of the Underworld"[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Brandon (December 12, 2008). "Namco Bandai Announces Blue Dragon: Ikai no Kyojuu". Sword Machine. Archived from the original on February 27, 2009. Retrieved February 17, 2009.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Fahey, Mike (October 29, 2009). "D3Publisher Brings More Blue Dragon Stateside". Kotaku. G/O Media. Archived from the original on March 8, 2023. Retrieved March 8, 2023.
  3. ↑ Tanaka, John (December 22, 2008). "Blue Dragon Goes Online". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on March 8, 2023. Retrieved March 8, 2023.
  4. 1 2 "Blue Dragon: Awakened Shadow for DS Reviews". Metacritic. Fandom. Archived from the original on November 2, 2020. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
  5. ↑ Mastrapa, Gus (June 7, 2010). "Blue Dragon: Awakened Shadow". The A.V. Club. G/O Media. Archived from the original on September 23, 2012. Retrieved March 8, 2023.
  6. ↑ Schilling, Chris (September 23, 2010). "Blue Dragon: Awakened Shadow". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on March 8, 2023. Retrieved March 8, 2023.
  7. 1 2 3 Gifford, Kevin (September 29, 2009). "Japan Review Check: SMT: Strange Journey". 1Up.com. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on July 17, 2012. Retrieved March 8, 2023.
  8. ↑ Meunier, Nathan (July 6, 2010). "Blue Dragon: Awakened Shadow Review". GameSpot. Fandom. Archived from the original on March 8, 2023. Retrieved March 8, 2023.
  9. ↑ GameZone staff (July 8, 2010). "Blue Dragon: Awakened Shadow review". GameZone. Archived from the original on April 24, 2011. Retrieved March 8, 2023.
  10. ↑ Thomas, Lucas M. (June 3, 2010). "Blue Dragon: Awakened Shadow Review". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on March 8, 2023. Retrieved March 8, 2023.
  11. ↑ Blake, Laurie (October 21, 2010). "Blue Dragon: Awakened Shadow Review". Nintendo Life. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on March 8, 2023. Retrieved March 8, 2023.
  12. ↑ "Blue Dragon: Awakened Shadow". Nintendo Power. Vol. 256. Future US. July 2010. p. 88.
  13. ↑ den Ouden, Adriaan (July 26, 2010). "Blue Dragon: Awakened Shadow - Staff Review". RPGamer. CraveOnline. Archived from the original on July 3, 2022. Retrieved March 8, 2023.
  14. ↑ Wallace, Kimberley (July 21, 2010). "Blue Dragon: Awakened Shadow". RPGFan. Emerald Shield Media LLC. Archived from the original on March 8, 2023. Retrieved March 8, 2023.
  15. ↑ Jenkins, David (October 1, 2010). "Games review – Blue Dragon: Awakened Shadow stirs into action". Metro. DMG Media. Archived from the original on March 8, 2023. Retrieved March 8, 2023.
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