If you haven’t heard, Akira Toriyama, the legendary creator of the Dragon Ball Franchise and character designers of popular games like Chrono trigger and that Dragon Quest Series, died at the age of 68. Just like fans and collaborators did expressed his condolences and appreciation onlineHis greatest and most influential works have understandably received a great deal of attention. But one game that deserves recognition today is the one from 2006 Blue Dragon. While it didn’t become a major franchise, it is a case study in Toriyama’s influence and unparalleled character designs. When Xbox wanted to appeal to the Japanese audience in the early Xbox 360 days, they turned to Toriyama.
Blue Dragon was developed by Mistwalker and Artoon and published by Microsoft. At the time, an Xbox executive described the move to IGN as a conscious attempt to bring Japanese gamers to the Xbox 360 and future generations of the console. “This is the first step for Microsoft to partner with key Japanese developers and publishers,” said Xbox’s Peter Moore. “This is an investment that will pay off in the future and will be a platform-driving set of games for our next-generation system.”
Xbox has had problems in this area in the past (and still does) and publishing role-playing games from Japanese developers like Blue Dragon And Lost Odyssey was a piece to expand its audience in Japan. Blue DragonHowever, it had an ace up its sleeve: Toriyama’s unique character design.
Mistwalker was founded by Final Fantasy Creator Hironobu Sakaguchi, that is Blue Dragon had some extremely influential talents at the helm. It was primed to become a mega hit and met the internal sales expectations of After a year, 200,000 copies were sold. But if it hadn’t been an Xbox 360 exclusive just a year after release, maybe it would have could have had a greater cultural impact. But those who have played the game still care about it, and for good reason.
Blue Dragon is about a group of children who each have the power to control shadow-like dragons, which serve as an extension of their fighting abilities. While the characters and story are relatively simple compared to some of its contemporaries, it was a conscious piece of nostalgia for fans of classic role-playing games that helped establish the legacy of Sakaguchi and Toriyama. Mistwalker’s debut was reminiscent of traditional turn-based combat, just as established RPG series were beginning to experiment with new formats Final Fantasy XII.
The characters Toriyama was designed for Blue Dragon evoke the same childlike wonder of the early arcs of Dragon Ball. Some of these heroes are easily identifiable as Toriyama designs, from the spiky-haired protagonist Shu, who looks like Goku’s long-lost cousin, to the lordly presence of the shadows, reminiscent of the wish-granting dragon Porunga from the planet Namek. The monsters demonstrate Toriyama’s range in designing intimidating creatures like the Merman Lizard as well as strange little freaks like the bat-like Deevees. Although it wasn’t the flashiest or deepest RPG of its time (this was the same year). Persona 3 As a debut game for a new studio, it ended up being a really solid game that had the potential to grow into something bigger.
Not only did Mistwalker abandon the franchise, but it never became a major console game again. In addition to an anime adaptation, two other games were developed for the Nintendo DS, including a strategy game called Blue Dragon Plus was developed together with Feelplus and Brownie Brown and Blue Dragon: Awakened Shadow, an action role-playing game co-developed with Tri-Crescendo. Although Microsoft didn’t release these games on competing platforms, none of them would have happened if Xbox hadn’t partnered with Mistwalker and Toriyama to woo Japanese gamers. One wonders what could have happened if Blue Dragon had been on other platforms where this audience was more established. Still, if nothing else, it’s a testament to the influence and widespread popularity of Toriyama’s iconic art style.
