Blue Dragon: Advice?

[Beezy]

So I'm in the mood for a rpg and I've decided to play this instead of Mass Effect. What should I know before I start? I remember hearing that the achievements are easy to miss, so should I play with a guide? Is it possible to get them all on one playthrough?

Is the voice acting more tolerable in english or japanese?

What difficulty should I play on? I remember some people saying that it's too easy on normal and others saying that it's too hard on hard.

That's all I can think of right now. Anything else?

[demi]

Use a guide because items and monsters are missable. You also need to grind everyone to Level 99 (plus all Shadows)

Voice Acting is fine

Difficulty is your choice

Stop being a himuro

[Beezy]

Stop being a himuro

Thanks. So is it possible to get all the achievements on one playthrough? Did you 1000/1000 this game too?

[recursivelyenumerable]

I remember hearing that the achievements are easy to miss, so should I play with a guide? Is it possible to get them all on one playthrough?

achievements have ruined gaming confirmed.   :'(

(Answer: You shouldn't play with a guide because you should never play anything with a guide, period.)

[demi]

Stop being a himuro

Thanks. So is it possible to get all the achievements on one playthrough? Did you 1000/1000 this game too?

Yes, yes

[Beezy]

I remember hearing that the achievements are easy to miss, so should I play with a guide? Is it possible to get them all on one playthrough?

achievements have ruined gaming confirmed.   :'(

(Answer: You shouldn't play with a guide because you should never play anything with a guide, period.)

The guide is just so that I won't miss anything. I'm not using it to get through the game. There are some spoiler free guides just for achievements you know.

[The Sceneman]

just use a guide, theres a couple of monsters and items that you can miss, not too many though. Theres also a few mini-games which you need to set up saves before them becuase they will most likely take a few attempts. Its an awesome game but 1000/1000 is a grind. Once youre up to level 99 you can grind the shadows by just leaving the machine on though, I just beat Metroid Prime and Beyond Good and Evil while checkng on my game every 30 min haha.

I have 1000/1000 on Blue Dragon, you can trust me. Im your friend

[recursivelyenumerable]

The guide is just so that I won't miss anything. I'm not using it to get through the game.

I think that's just as bad.  I'd rather go through a game, trying to find what I can (if I feel like it), and if I miss something I miss it (and who cares really), than have it be a foregone conclusion that I'll find everything because I'm using a guide.  There's no sense of adventure, contingency or discovery in the latter case.  

[demi]

The guide is just so that I won't miss anything. I'm not using it to get through the game.

I think that's just as bad.  I'd rather go through a game, trying to find what I can (if I feel like it), and if I miss something I miss it (and who cares really), than have it be a foregone conclusion that I'll find everything because I'm using a guide.  There's no sense of adventure, contingency or discovery in the latter case.  

Check out this link, you might find it useful -> link

[recursivelyenumerable]

Thanks, it was pretty handy.

[Beezy]

The guide is just so that I won't miss anything. I'm not using it to get through the game.

I think that's just as bad.  I'd rather go through a game, trying to find what I can (if I feel like it), and if I miss something I miss it (and who cares really), than have it be a foregone conclusion that I'll find everything because I'm using a guide.  There's no sense of adventure, contingency or discovery in the latter case.  

I'm not using it to find every single thing in the game, but we all know that a lot jrpgs things/events that you can miss and if you miss it you won't get another chance to get it. I'm guessing you're gonna say that's still bad, but whatever. Developers shouldn't put things in their games that are impossible to get without a guide. Jrpg developers are the worst offenders.

[recursivelyenumerable]

the really obscure things in RPGs are generally meant to only be found by a very small proportion of players, or by super-hardcore players on their 12th playthrough.  if you're playing the game normally there's rarely any need for those things.  the idea behind them is to have "lore" about the game with a mystique about it, that kids can talk about on the playground or whatever.  they're not intended for normal people to actually find.

There might even be a thing only one player is able to find.

[siamesedreamer]

BD isn't good enough to put in the time required to get 1000/1000. Awesome boss music though. 

[Olivia Wilde Homo]

I thought it was good but I stopped playing on the 3rd disc.

If you're worried about missing something, then BD is not for you.  The game is full of little things you can pick up, although usually, it is just money.  Lots and lots of little things like that in the game.  I admit that I went around checking every little crevice to find more money but after taking nearly an hour just to go through everything for a town, I gave up and would only check those things every once in a while.

The only reason why I stopped is because I moved and lost the urge to play games again seriously.  It is a good game.

[Beezy]

The boss battle music in this game is fucking ridiculous, but it manages to fit the game somehow.

If you're worried about missing something, then BD is not for you.  The game is full of little things you can pick up, although usually, it is just money.  Lots and lots of little things like that in the game.  I admit that I went around checking every little crevice to find more money but after taking nearly an hour just to go through everything for a town, I gave up and would only check those things every once in a while.

Um, I'm not worried about those things. Just forget it, I don't think I explained myself well enough.

[Howard Alan Treesong]

Hard is just irritating, not hard

Play on Normal

[Beezy]

Thanks, I am. I'm about 10 hours in at the Gul Mountains. It's okay so far. My only problems with it is that it starts out too slow and the world just feels kinda empty.

[recursivelyenumerable]

really?  I heard hard mode was actually well balanced like FF4/5 or something, while normal was super easy.

[Smooth Groove]

Beezy, haven't you already beaten Mass Effect?  Why would you want to replay it?

Anyways, I don't think I'd use a guide until I was stuck.  Part of the fun in RPGs comes from figuring out the game on your own, like discovering the battle strategy that works, finding loot that are hidden, etc.  Using a guide to play the game is almost like reading the synopsis of a film before watching it.  The experience is just not as gratifying when the element of surprise is removed. 

[Beezy]

Nah, I'm at the beginning of Mass Effect. I had just became a Specter when I last played it.

I'm using an achievement guide, not a walkthrough guide:

http://www.xbox360achievements.org/game/blue-dragon/guide/