I hope they keep the original Japanese VO. I'm pretty sure this game in Japan will not be region free just like every other bandai/namco game in Japan =/

Well, Blue Dragon is giving you the option of Japanese or English dialogue, so it shows at least Microsoft isn't opposed to bilingual releases.

Really nice graphics.

I'm definitely buying this game, if only to encourage more developers to use a stunning art style like this. Or to get a sequel.

This game just might get me to buy a three-sixty, just based on the visuals alone. As impressive as Gears was, it's just not my thing, but this game is breathtaking...

"The music is, of course, Chopin and the orchestration is exceedingly well done."

SOLD. Chopin, Debussy are my favorite composers (Rach is close, but he's too hard to play :/).

Anyone else notice her battle item was... 209_UnitedStates

.___.

While I'm not convinced it won't begin to bore me after extended play like most JRPGs, at least the battle looks *slightly* more interesting. And those visuals are definitely TIGHT.

that really reminded me of DQ8, which was fun.

im not sure what that 209_united states would be. if it means that the game is coming out February 2009, then that would suck

I think it's just an item number.

Yeah, probably just a placeholder for whatever the English name for the item turns out to be.

Jesus.. that is just beautiful. I want it!

This might convince me to buy a 360.

Seroiusly, I don't really see what all the hype is. The game cutscenes look great, but seriously everything so far has been extremely BORING. Pretty but thats all, I'm not exactly getting pumped for this.

Um.

Is that a Strawberry Shortcake RPG? Is she using a parasol?

I don't know what the target market is for this game but I'm comfortably sure I am not in it.

I am thoroughly not impressed. The music is fantastic but the gameplay looks far too cutesy, the graphics look like a PS2 game (Dark Cloud 2, Rogue Galaxy), and the combat looks uninspiring.

Also, seriously, a girl with a parasol?

I enjoy the premise of a dying musician's dream, but the graphics aren't impressing me... They seem kind of generic.

kinda reminds me of albert odyssey or magical knight rayearth for the saturn.

@branwheatkillah:

Agree, people keep acting like these are amazing graphics, but this doesn't look much better than the countless other cell shaded games and rpg's thats come before.

The story concept is interesting, but so far thats the only decent thing so far.

@salvage:

lol i know what you mean. we get a JRPG and it's this? where are the dragons and swords?

Battle system looks..interesting, kinda reminds me of Star Ocean: Till the end of time only turn based? Weird.. over all I think I'll rent it before I buy it

I really liked the voice acting and overall art direction from what is shown.

I think this is good. Better then Star Ocean and Atelier Iris's voice acting definetly. I'll reserve judgement until I play it though.

For some reason that Narrator reminded me of the narrator from some of the Kings Quest games and the Land of Daventry with a lot of the scenes.

I can't get into games with a female lead. *Frowns*

@jpelles: Are you serious? The voice acting couldn't possibly be much worse...It has the whole "dubbed anime" thing going for it where the voice actors attempt emotion and so much seriousness that there is no context to their acting and therefore it sounds entirely empty and phony. I'm glad you like it, but honestly I have no idea where you're coming from. If they keep the subtitles there I hope it means we can have the original Japanese voices as an option (please God, please...I'd even buy a 360 for it if there is such an option).

@Kyle81 and branwheatkillah: for that matter...

People criticize the 360 for too many games with guns and similar genres, here is something new, different, lets just say its not for you, not that it "SUCKS".

Seeing the game in a youtube type window doesn't equal seeing it in 720p on your 42 inch tv with full 5.1 dolby digital sound and anyone who's seen this game running has reportedly just stopped dead in their tracks.

@Watership:

You may want to look back at what I said. I personally pointed out what I found to be lacking in the previews for me and never once said the game sucks. It is nice to see some other genres, RPG's especially, starting to get some attention on the 360 but this one doesn't impress me, though I will try it none the less as the music is outstanding.

I imagine that gamers who aren't excited for this game for it's cutesy look and a main character who is a "girl with a parasol" aren't fans of most Nintendo games as well?

I want this game simply because I love orchestral pieces and it's something different that you don't see everyday on the 360. It's been a while since I've been able to lose myself in a game, and this might turn out to be one of those I can enjoy. Plus, it's got Chopin!

Everyone should just stop arguing about this game. Regardless whether people don't like the style nor gameplay (believe me, what elements many of you like in video games the Japanese don't really like and vice versa), this invites more Japanese developers to produce games for the 360. Remember that the Japanese developers has more support for Wii and PS3 than the Gaijin Box.

Whatever, as long as it encourages the Japanese developers to put their games in multi-platform while avoiding me to forcefully buy another system due to another exclusive =/

I'll purchase this game mainly because I like JRPGs (like .hack//GU and Ar Tonelico). Sometimes the graphics suck, sometimes the gameplay is just boring, maybe the story is linear, maybe the design isn't to my taste. Whatever it is, something is pulling me in and continuing the game till the end.

The style kind of reminds me of a cross between Grandia and Napple Tale.

Such a beaultiful game! The gameplay is very similar to the Tales series wich is somewhat appealing since it's more action based.
Btw, there's quite some fanboys who thinks that cellshaded can't be gorgeous or even better than some "normal" 3D games out there or even that the game will suck simply because it doesn't have strong guys with big swords and guns killing everything. You're the kind of people that gives the 360 owning crowd a somewhat bad rep. At least that's what I think.

To anyone unimpressed by the graphics, here is the japanese trailer in what looks to be 480p.
I personally wouldn't say they were exceptionally good, but they are nonetheless impressive.

I also really hope they keep the japanese voices, as I'm not sure I can cope with the english ones.

@Watership:
No offense, but I wouldn't exactly call this new at all. The story has an interesting twist, but that's pretty much it. The graphics are clean, but aren't inspiring (very few games can ride on graphical style alone).

At the end of it all, it seems to be "more of the same". Even if the Xbox 360 lacks in RPGs, a boring RPG on any system is still fairly boring.

Graphics on this are amazing. Sure, it isn't pushing a lot of next gen tech, but its using the horsepower of the system for high poly counts, high res textures, and silky smooth frame rates. Imo, that alone sets it apart from a lot of the blurry, jumpy, alias-y stuff we saw last gen.

I'll probably buy any play this through on the strength of the music and visuals.

Whoa. Thanks for the link there Hinges. That just completely sold me on this game.

I'll probably play it just because of Chopin. They say he most likely died of Cystic Fibrosis which I have as well.

So buying this if they keep original Japanese lineup of VA's.

I would recommend any anime fan to check out the wikipedia article with the list of voice actors. Personally, I was unsold till i saw the 480p trailer which looked amazing and sounded much better then the english teaser.

Do I see comments where "girl with a parasol" is not being accepted with open arms? Stick to berating the voice over and pray this game hastens the return of a Victorian era of high necked dresses and flashing ankles.

Don't talk shit about floral powder.

I like the graphic style, but only because I'm a fan of anime and cel-shading like this wasn't possible last gen.

But as for the voice-overs and translation...first of all, all of the voices sucked. Complete ass. Then again, I am a supporter of no voice-overs at all in stuff like Zelda. I liked the voices from the Japanese trailers, but if those weren't available I'd prefer no voices at all.

But secondly, that first part. What the hell was up with that? "The flowers displayed faces of cheery yellow and blah blah fucking blah"? That writing in that part had the aesthetic merit of a fourth grader (well read, but technically vague and ultimately imitative).

Also the gameplay reminds me of Tales of Symphonia, which was fun enough but I never bothered to even go for a second playthrough which is kinda unthinkable when I play RPGs.

At first I was all over this but I think it was just the music and storyline that got my attention. This was pretty much my #1 motivation for getting a 360 but I think now I'll only pick it up if I somehow get the console for some other reason.

Show people a nice Juicy steak, and they ask for lobster.. WTF?!.. This Game looks Awesome! The music is outstanding. A half Descent story would make this a must buy if the character buildup is not tedious.

I so thought i was not gonna be into this game. Kinda like i'm not suppposed to love it. But i dunno, i found myself enchanted, nay sayers be damned. Music is absolutely wonderful.

She heals the injured man and he runs away from her like she is a freak.....everyone treats her great!

I was interested until I saw the battle engine and was reminded of Radiata Stories. *barf* It also sounds like Motoi Sakuraba is doing some of the music because the battle theme sounds like one of his standard themes. This guy was my favorite game composer up until he started recycling music.

im personally still quite excited about this game, but I enjoy games like this a lot.

That's some of the most beautiful cell shading I've ever seen. Gorgeous. Hopefully, the gameplay is at least comparable in quality to the graphics.

To all those dissing the graphics go to gametrailers.com and watch it in HD. It's the best looking cellshaded game hands down. You can't use these "less than youtube" quality videos to judge it.

Wow, the beginning of the battle music is nearly identical to Baten Kaitos's. I guess Sakuraba is working on this game.

The only grip that I have with the battle system is that it seems to be kind of difficult to hit the enemies with some camera angles. A targeting system would make it better, in my opinion.

Apart from that, I'm sure that I'll buy it. And some Chopin CDs.

Chopin holds such a dear place in my heart :). He was one of the main influences for me to become a piano major (and after that, to stop being a piano major and switching to composition). His music is SO difficult, but SO beautiful. Even got to see his grave in Paris when I went a couple of years ago. It was such an awesome experience.

Pretty terrible voice acting and dialogue, but the graphics continue to amaze me. Going to check out the 480p trailer in a bit.

With voice acting becoming the norm, I dread the inevitable, grating mispronunciations like mischievious. At least voiced games will be alright-proof.

FYI: there is a nice game trailer for this on the japanese servers if you have a jp gamertag. This game looks great. I will definitely be picking up the jp version as soon as it's released.

I hope there will be an option for Japanese voices, like there was for .Hack. The English voices sound really empty, like they're reading-their-lines, and not actually trying to act it out with any heart. If there's an option for Japanese voices, I will buy an Xbox 360, just for this game. If they can't even leave the Japanese voices in as an option, it'll be pretty bad. And I don't just mean as just the attack names, or just the dialogue. It was bad enough in Disgaea to hear all the great Japanese dialogue, but in battles having to deal with the terrible English voice acting. I'd hope there's an option to change all voices to Japanese.