Shooting, driving, sports - not problem for the Xbox 360. But RPG's? Not really. Other than, the admittedly masterful, Oblivion, there has been precious little opportunity for 360 owners to level up, explore and solve quests. Odd really, especially when you consider the 360 male "hardcore" gaming audience which would normally lap these kinds of games up. Things are beginning to change though. Mass Effect, the sci-fi RPG, is due out in November and early impressions are very positive. And the last fortnight has seen the release of Blue Dragon and Two Worlds, the first 360 RPGs since Oblivion. Are they worth the wait?
Erm, not really. Actually Blue Dragon is a bit of grower. Created by original Final Fantasy guru Hironobu Sakaguchi amongst others, Blue Dragon is a very traditional Japanese RPG. The anime styling, children-against-the-world storyline and initially pedestrian turn-based action are off-putting but the pace - and story - pick up. The retro action may not tickle nostalgia buds for too many Western gamers but there is something oddly therapeutic about the action and I can see myself playing more.
And then there is Two Worlds. Possibly the most unintentionally hilarious game I've ever played. Where to start? Ok, how about dialogue so ye olde worlde - forsooth! - that you can feel the desperation of the voice actors. Or a "tutorial" that tells you how to move and attack and then leaves you to fiddle with indistinct icons and poorly designed menus. This is bad enough but the text and icons are incomprehensible and practically unreadable on an HD TV, never mind a standard def. And then there is a difficulty level set so high you wonder what sadist actually playtested it. Oh, and there are numerous loading pauses too.
You don't get any truly bad games any more, especially on consoles. Yes, you get tedious and ugly, but not disasters like Two Worlds. Quite how this slipped though the Microsoft quality control is a mystery. On the upside the environments are pretty enough in places and you can't knock the ambition of the thing. But Two Worlds, like David Hasselhof and Michael Ballack, is best left to the Germans. Anyone else experienced Two Worlds or Blue Dragon?
