You know, alot of reviewers forget the golden rule of reviewing, which is remember the target audience. Yes, we're all gamers, but we do not all play the same games. And if a game was created for everybody in mind, it would be really bad. So enters Blue Dragon, a game for a very small audience of Japanese RPG fans. But not just any fan, you'd have to be one of those that enjoys a kiddy-like adventure similar to Lunar The Silver Star Story.

Let's start with the story, which is about a couple of young kids who must stop machines that keep destroying their villages. The machines belong to some guy named Nene. Along the way, the kids gain help from Zola, who plays the role of their mentor and busty blond girl type that the Japanese RPG gamers love. There's also the required cute animal guy and plenty of character interactions as the story moves along. The characters are very likable and early teens, so be prepared for plenty of teenage angst and everybody trying to grow up.

The kids fight with their shadows, who can become blue monsters with special powers. And you'll use those monsters in true turn based RPG battles against all sorts of machines and weird creatures. There's an order based on the speed of the character and the action they take, so it's possible to build up turns by defending because defending is faster than attacking. Then you can unleash your special attacks using your shadow monster. Or you can avoid battle if you know how to use stealth because you can see the enemies as you're moving around the world.

The character designs are straight from Toriyama who did Dragonball, so they're pretty simple. But the monsters you'll encounter are good looking and the environments are very detailed, especially inside the villages. The world map does need more detail. The music ranges from great to really annoying depending on the song. It's difficult to tell the difference from a cutscene to an ingame scene because they both have the same level of detail. The environments are full 3D and great looking later in the game. We haven't seen this level of in-village detail since Final Fantasy VII.

The game is about sixty hours long and there's no multiplayer. There are side quests, but they don't kick in until much later in the game. And you do get an airship for travel, which isn't surprising since this game is from the creator of Final Fantasy. Blue Dragon is a very good RPG for Japanese RPG fans, which is probably why it did so well in Japan. However, if you're not a Japanese RPG fan, do not buy this game. It is boring compared to Oblivion and the character interactions will be completely lost on you since you probably didn't act like this when you were a kid. But then again, you're probably not Japanese either.