Blue Dragon sticks to the JRPG formula, but the innovations it does have make for one fun game!
Another change was in the battle system. It is still a turn based battle system, but the twist is in charged attacks. When you first start the game you will not have this ability, but it only takes a little while in before you'll start using magic or the Monk class and unlock this skill. Charging your attacks and spells makes them more powerful and some spells will hit a larger range when charged. Charging attacks requires good timing because each move has its own meter which you must hold and release at the appropriate time. If you miss you could end up getting hit or killed before completing your charge. Since the enemies can charge attacks as well, there might be several attacks before anyone on either side gets another turn. While playing it makes the battles seem more intense and the action feel much faster paced.
There are some downsides to the game. The begging is horribly designed, switching between regular gameplay and pre-rendered cut-scenes about every 5 seconds. It takes about an hour to get into the real game, but once you do you'll quickly start to learn to skills and level. The games main characters are all children, so the game is told from o more childlike perspective, which hurts the story some (in my opinion). As far as I've gotten in the game, beginning of the 2nd disk, the characters are not really well developed.
All in all, the games short-comings don't prevent it from being a great-game. The visuals are well done, and the music sounds reminiscent of Final Fantasy VII. The game itself feels a lot like a Dragon Warrior/Dragon Quest game (and the is not only because it is animated by the same person who did Dragon Quest VIII). The improvement to the encounter and battle system fit really well and do make this a new and unique experience while still holding to the classing JRPG formula. Its definitely worth buying!