Much as I hate to admit it as a longtime Sony devotee, Microsoft is making a lot of right moves in the Xbox 360 era. Their platform was the first to play host to the first and biggest hit of the new generation of hardware, Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. They’ve gone on to play host to such unique hits as Gears of War, Mass Effect, Halo 3, and even Bioshock. Now, their latest effort at irresistible Xbox 360 exclusives is: Final Fantasy XII! Well, not really. But perhaps, in a way, it is a title that deserves that nom de plume more than the tales of Vann and Panello ever did, at least in the eyes of purists.

I’m talking, of course, about Blue Dragon. Yes, Blue Dragon is not published by SquareEnix. Yes, Blue Dragon is not part of the Final Fantasy series. And yes, Blue Dragon is not appearing on either a Nintendo nor a Sony system. But in three ways that count, Blue Dragon is the “next Final Fantasy” for those who appreciate the work of a game’s creators, more than its brand name.

You see, Blue Dragon, developed by Mistwalker Studios and published by Microsoft, is the brainchild of three of the most important minds in Final Fantasy history. Hironobu Sakaguchi is the game producer and scenario writer for Blue Dragon, a role he played in pretty much the first 10 installments of the Final Fantasy series.

Akira Toriyama is the character designer for Blue Dragon, and it is his art that set the tone for many early Final Fantasy titles, as well as several other early SquareEnix titles. Finally, Nobuo Uematsu is the composer of Blue Dragon, and it is his compositions that adorned many of the early Final Fantasy and other SquareEnix titles.

Sakaguchi fell out of favor with Square after his Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within movie flopped at the box office and, as Square either merged or formed partnerships with other major Japanese RPG developers, such as Enix, GameArts and others, the Final Fantasy series has moved on without Sakaguchi-san.

But Bill Gates felt the guy who created Final Fantasy might have a few good ideas left and, given the freedom to create completely new IPs instead of more Final Fantasy iterations, just might find that old spark of creativity once again. So he drafted Sakaguchi to form Mistwalker Studios and add talent around him, which included Toriyama and Uematsu, and create a series of Xbox 360-exclusive titles for the Seattle-based billionaire’s second go at a gaming console.

Blue Dragon is Mistwalker’s first release to see the light of day. It’s anime-inspired, cartoony style, provided by co-developer Artoon, aligns the game with some of the earlier Final Fantasy titles, as well as Final Fantasy IX. Yet it is by far not the only release planned. Announced and forthcoming from Mistwalker for the Xbox 360 are Cry On, Lost Odyssey, an as-yet untitled RPG project that promises to be a 50-50 mix of RPG and MMORPG, as well as an already-planned sequel to Blue Dragon, tentatively titled Blue Dragon 2. Mistwalker is also branching into handheld development with tactical RPG, ASH: Archaic Sealed Heat, Away, and Blue Dragon DS, all for Nintendo’s DS platform.

But all of that means nothing if Blue Dragon falls flat on its face, right?

Relax. Blue Dragon is loads of fun. Spanning an amazing three DVDs, Blue Dragon is a lengthy, epic turn-based RPG that should reinvigorate interest in the turn-based battle systems by keeping the pace swift and options widely varied.

Immediately familiar despite being a completely new IP, the tale begins with a humble village that seems to be attacked by “land sharks.” Three young friends, determined to save their village from another devastation by this creature, set out to destroy it and uncover shocking truths about its nature and origin that are just the tip of the iceberg in this massive RPG epic, and even with all that, there’s not a stair lift in sight, in spite of the geriatric-seeming main villain.

The basic concept in Blue Dragon is a bit odd when you first encounter it; most characters have shadows that become living guardians, imbuing warriors with powers beyond their own abilities in battle. It’s cutesy and cartoony in concept and design, and might vaguely bring to mind the old PlayStation 2 RPG, Okage: Shadow King. Well, wipe the bad memories of that title from your mind right now; Blue Dragon is fresher, more entertaining and offers a far deeper story than OSK ever approached.

The turn-based battle system relies mostly on the abilities of these magic shadows, and each turn offers gamers a wide variety of choices. When played on easy mode, Blue Dragon follows the standard mold of PS2-era Square RPGs, keeping most encounters relatively easy, but ramping the difficulty level up past 11 when it comes to major boss battles. And there are some battles you are doomed to lose for storyline purposes, though they are rather obvious. In hard mode, the battles are more balanced, and a downloadable extreme mode makes the game rather hard to conquer at all, even when facing basic enemies, although it can be done.

These extra modes inspire some replay appeal, although the story remains essentially the same on repeat play-throughs. And considering the amount of time required to explore every inch of Blue Dragon, completing everything and finishing all three DVDs of content, some gamers may want to go play something else before embarking on any replays at all. It’s a massive story that can deliver over 100 hours of play to anyone inspired to explore every nook and cranny and not cheat themselves by skipping over the very entertainingly-told story.

While Blue Dragon is clearly old school in its cartoonish art and turn-based gameplay mechanics, very distinctly different from a completely next-gen RPG-style title like Mass Effect, Blue Dragon definitely delivers something to the 360 that the original Xbox system never had enough of: an RPG so original, exciting and appealing, it will make PlayStation fans feel like they’re missing out on something important in the RPG landscape.