I understand this is a short review of a long game and I could go on for thousands of words on the subject - but that would have been boring, so I took the most relevant sections out of my original draft
I am not a JRPG (Japanese Role-playing game) fan by any means. I have long since avoided turn-based combat, in fact the only turn based game I have ever got close to finishing was Pokémon ? I guess that counts as a JRPG. Yet there was something about Lost Odyssey that truly makes it a standout game in an expanding market ? the RPG section on the Xbox 360.
The 360 has seen a reasonable selection of Role-Playing games, such as Mass Effect, Fall out 3 and Fable 2, but a strong selection of Western games does not mean the same is true of the Japanese equivalent ? despite getting a number of games from Square-Enix, such as Infinite Undiscovery and The Last Remnant no game has really out shone any Western game.
Lost Odyssey comes from Mistwalker studios ? a small studio with some powerful names ? the game was ?overlooked? by Hironobu Sakaguchi the farther of the Final Fantasy series. The game is very similar to that of many very traditional JRPG?s with a few interesting mechanics that help it appeal to a Western audience.
First of all, I feel compelled to explain that you will certainly get your moneys worth from this game, it spans 4 disks each containing on average 13 hours each. Although certain parts of the story feel almost too fleshed out and long winded in order to meet this massive goal it?s a suitably epic tale ? one of love, death and tragedy.
The game focuses on the adventures of Kaim, an immortal ? someone who cannot die ? who has lost his memories that he slowly remembers and re-discovers throughout the course of the game. He is joined on a seemingly easy task by main characters Seth and Jansen. Of course the task goes belly-up and eventually you?ll find 9 characters in your party ? each with their own clever back-story, skills and attacks. An evil sorcerer, Gongora, is behind it all and you and your allies must stop him through more than the sword. The game gets rather political, with talk of war from 3 countries brought on through Gongoras plans.
One thing that really stands out with Lost Odyssey is the sheer volume of information given to the player. This is shown through cut-scenes, text-based interactions with the town?s people and separate text-based screens. The cut-scenes are very well detailed with a high production value; the game uses the Unreal engine which offers some fantastic facial expressions, but without the optional installation to your hard drive the loading times are rather excessive, occasionally clocking 12 seconds before entering combat. The other form of communication is the text based memories of which there are around 20. Each memory is long and detailed, reading like a short story with suitable music. They, as well as read well, offer the players a more in-depth back-story to most characters; although this feature will not appeal to everyone ? if you dislike non-essential dialogue Lost Odyssey is not the game for you.
The games music is the real stand-out. Composed by Nobuo Uematsu, the music is fantastic ? it sets an epic tone that matches the story and feelings of the characters perfectly. Voice acting is also well done, with a vast range of languages available (5 including English, Japanese and German). A big surprise of just how well done the English voice-work was done, particularly as I have heard negative moments on past JRPG regarding this area.
The battle system is, as previously mentioned, turn-based, with a few interesting additions. Perhaps the most obvious of which is the ring system ? there are a large number of items that can be picked up throughout your long journey that can be forged into various rings. These rings give certain attributes, such as an increase in the chance of a ?perfect? hit ? which leads me nicely to the second action these rings perform ? they offer some form of user interaction in the combat. The player can hold down the Right trigger and if timed right can gain extra damage via a ?perfect? hit. It keeps things interesting during the many random encounters and large scale boss fights the game throws at you.
The micro-management is increased as various characters need to learn skills to improve in battle ? Mortals learn skills through traditional leveling up, but immortals use a ?skill-link? system. This allows them to link to a mortals skill and through combat experience learn that trait. This skill can then be applied in one of 3 spaces. The system works well and forces players to use all characters to create a balanced party.
The melee system uses the ring system, but characters have another way of attacking ? through magic. This is a very well-crafted system, with 4 separate magic styles. The spells are based on the traditional element style (Wind, Fire, Water and Earth), with a few extras thrown in, such as Shadow and White magic. White magic can be used to protect or heal your squad, but at a price (usually these spells last more than one turn). Spirit magic is another type, which generally improves your squad as opposed to attacking your opponents ? there is a good deal of variety.
There is also an formation tactic - effectively there are two rows characters stand in, front or back. The players at the front of the formation take most of the damage, soaking up any the back may receive if they are attacked. As the front are weakened the formation falls until the back characters are just as vulnerable as those at the front. It is a great system that adds tactics to the game, instead of just attacking the main boss over and over you are forced to defeat his minions to lower their formation guard.
Combat looks spectacular; there are a wide variety of enemies, each with unique animations and attacks. There are a number of large scale boss battles that take certain strategies and spells to win, but even so it is not a simple case of ?use this attack to constantly win? many bosses have tricks and spells to counter your attacks. These could range from, say, simply running away, to regrouping enemies ? no boss battle is the same and they each play differently - its refreshing compared to the regular "shoot me here" bosses I have come to expect from other games this gen.
It is a good deal the combat system is so balanced and interesting as you will be fighting a large number of enemies. The game also offers a wide variety of puzzles, side-tasks and other interesting ways to play (for example during the second disk you pilot a boat across a large scale of water). All- whilst keeping these tasks related to the story.
Environments are varied and often colorful with unique art design to each area. You never get bored because new area mechanics are thrown at you when you use the very common map. In which you view Kaim from a birds eye view, guiding him through towns, ice mountains, magical environments and caves. The option to zoom in at any time is a nice touch and adds shows the level of detail that has gone into crafting this game - my only complaint about the map view is the fact certain areas are hard to navigate, but for once - a fixed camera works.
There are also a wide variety of mini-games and puzzles to keep the gameplay fresh and interesting - for example, later on in the game you will have to attack 4 simultaneous enemies, moving into and out of combat in order to keep them at bay - other times you'll control vehicles such as high-speed boats to get to new and interesting places.
As stated previously, the story does seem to drag on slightly, but you won?t notice because it is one of the best I have ever played. The characters are easy to like, all with rich, well-defined back stories ? but the inter-personal conversations and life-like actions between characters certainly stand- out, making Lost Odyssey?s story a class above your average JRPG.
I certainly recommend you buy this game, especially if you?re a fan of RPG?s. If you like Final Fantasy ? buy this ? it was created by former Square-Enix employees. If you dislike reading, story-lines or turn-based combat I would still ask you to try Lost Odyssey ? but its stubbornness to tradition might not change your mind.
I am not a JRPG (Japanese Role-playing game) fan by any means. I have long since avoided turn-based combat, in fact the only turn based game I have ever got close to finishing was Pokémon ? I guess that counts as a JRPG. Yet there was something about Lost Odyssey that truly makes it a standout game in an expanding market ? the RPG section on the Xbox 360.
The 360 has seen a reasonable selection of Role-Playing games, such as Mass Effect, Fall out 3 and Fable 2, but a strong selection of Western games does not mean the same is true of the Japanese equivalent ? despite getting a number of games from Square-Enix, such as Infinite Undiscovery and The Last Remnant no game has really out shone any Western game.
Lost Odyssey comes from Mistwalker studios ? a small studio with some powerful names ? the game was ?overlooked? by Hironobu Sakaguchi the farther of the Final Fantasy series. The game is very similar to that of many very traditional JRPG?s with a few interesting mechanics that help it appeal to a Western audience.
First of all, I feel compelled to explain that you will certainly get your moneys worth from this game, it spans 4 disks each containing on average 13 hours each. Although certain parts of the story feel almost too fleshed out and long winded in order to meet this massive goal it?s a suitably epic tale ? one of love, death and tragedy.
The game focuses on the adventures of Kaim, an immortal ? someone who cannot die ? who has lost his memories that he slowly remembers and re-discovers throughout the course of the game. He is joined on a seemingly easy task by main characters Seth and Jansen. Of course the task goes belly-up and eventually you?ll find 9 characters in your party ? each with their own clever back-story, skills and attacks. An evil sorcerer, Gongora, is behind it all and you and your allies must stop him through more than the sword. The game gets rather political, with talk of war from 3 countries brought on through Gongoras plans.
One thing that really stands out with Lost Odyssey is the sheer volume of information given to the player. This is shown through cut-scenes, text-based interactions with the town?s people and separate text-based screens. The cut-scenes are very well detailed with a high production value; the game uses the Unreal engine which offers some fantastic facial expressions, but without the optional installation to your hard drive the loading times are rather excessive, occasionally clocking 12 seconds before entering combat. The other form of communication is the text based memories of which there are around 20. Each memory is long and detailed, reading like a short story with suitable music. They, as well as read well, offer the players a more in-depth back-story to most characters; although this feature will not appeal to everyone ? if you dislike non-essential dialogue Lost Odyssey is not the game for you.
The games music is the real stand-out. Composed by Nobuo Uematsu, the music is fantastic ? it sets an epic tone that matches the story and feelings of the characters perfectly. Voice acting is also well done, with a vast range of languages available (5 including English, Japanese and German). A big surprise of just how well done the English voice-work was done, particularly as I have heard negative moments on past JRPG regarding this area.
The battle system is, as previously mentioned, turn-based, with a few interesting additions. Perhaps the most obvious of which is the ring system ? there are a large number of items that can be picked up throughout your long journey that can be forged into various rings. These rings give certain attributes, such as an increase in the chance of a ?perfect? hit ? which leads me nicely to the second action these rings perform ? they offer some form of user interaction in the combat. The player can hold down the Right trigger and if timed right can gain extra damage via a ?perfect? hit. It keeps things interesting during the many random encounters and large scale boss fights the game throws at you.
The micro-management is increased as various characters need to learn skills to improve in battle ? Mortals learn skills through traditional leveling up, but immortals use a ?skill-link? system. This allows them to link to a mortals skill and through combat experience learn that trait. This skill can then be applied in one of 3 spaces. The system works well and forces players to use all characters to create a balanced party.
The melee system uses the ring system, but characters have another way of attacking ? through magic. This is a very well-crafted system, with 4 separate magic styles. The spells are based on the traditional element style (Wind, Fire, Water and Earth), with a few extras thrown in, such as Shadow and White magic. White magic can be used to protect or heal your squad, but at a price (usually these spells last more than one turn). Spirit magic is another type, which generally improves your squad as opposed to attacking your opponents ? there is a good deal of variety.
There is also an formation tactic - effectively there are two rows characters stand in, front or back. The players at the front of the formation take most of the damage, soaking up any the back may receive if they are attacked. As the front are weakened the formation falls until the back characters are just as vulnerable as those at the front. It is a great system that adds tactics to the game, instead of just attacking the main boss over and over you are forced to defeat his minions to lower their formation guard.
Combat looks spectacular; there are a wide variety of enemies, each with unique animations and attacks. There are a number of large scale boss battles that take certain strategies and spells to win, but even so it is not a simple case of ?use this attack to constantly win? many bosses have tricks and spells to counter your attacks. These could range from, say, simply running away, to regrouping enemies ? no boss battle is the same and they each play differently - its refreshing compared to the regular "shoot me here" bosses I have come to expect from other games this gen.
It is a good deal the combat system is so balanced and interesting as you will be fighting a large number of enemies. The game also offers a wide variety of puzzles, side-tasks and other interesting ways to play (for example during the second disk you pilot a boat across a large scale of water). All- whilst keeping these tasks related to the story.
Environments are varied and often colorful with unique art design to each area. You never get bored because new area mechanics are thrown at you when you use the very common map. In which you view Kaim from a birds eye view, guiding him through towns, ice mountains, magical environments and caves. The option to zoom in at any time is a nice touch and adds shows the level of detail that has gone into crafting this game - my only complaint about the map view is the fact certain areas are hard to navigate, but for once - a fixed camera works.
There are also a wide variety of mini-games and puzzles to keep the gameplay fresh and interesting - for example, later on in the game you will have to attack 4 simultaneous enemies, moving into and out of combat in order to keep them at bay - other times you'll control vehicles such as high-speed boats to get to new and interesting places.
As stated previously, the story does seem to drag on slightly, but you won?t notice because it is one of the best I have ever played. The characters are easy to like, all with rich, well-defined back stories ? but the inter-personal conversations and life-like actions between characters certainly stand- out, making Lost Odyssey?s story a class above your average JRPG.
I certainly recommend you buy this game, especially if you?re a fan of RPG?s. If you like Final Fantasy ? buy this ? it was created by former Square-Enix employees. If you dislike reading, story-lines or turn-based combat I would still ask you to try Lost Odyssey ? but its stubbornness to tradition might not change your mind.
