Lost Odyssey

[GametagAeonFlux]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_Odyssey
http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/l/lostodyssey/
http://www.gametrailers.com/game/1694.html

If you know me, you'd most likely know I'm a huge jRPG fan. This game looks absolutely fantastic, being developed by Mistwalker. It's received high amounts of praise from Japanese gamers and magazines alike (Japanese review magazines such as Famitsu are notorious for being very critical on games)...it's been hailed as the "real Final Fantasy 11", considering how much of a travesty FF12 was, and how FF11 just...doesn't deserve the name. It's a good ole' 4 disc epic that's supposedly 50 hours long for the main storyline, 75 hours long if you do all the side quests and shit.

Dunno about anyone else, but I've already got my pre-order ready (game comes out February 12th stateside [or the 7th if you're ScottyGEE]) and been playing FF7-10 all over again to get in the jRPG mood. Anyone else gonna pick this up/already imported it?

[CabooseJr]

Wasn't this announced before the 360 came out?

[kornkidcrazy]

Are the battles like FF? Like turned based and stuff?

[Munsie]

50-75 hours? Between doing non-360 things and a bunch of side quests, Mass Effect barely took me 10. This game would either be intense, or really dull.

I'd consider getting it.

[GametagAeonFlux]

Are the battles like FF? Like turned based and stuff?

Yeah. In fact,the reception by Japanese gamers from their message boards is basically summed up:

They collectively think this is the "FF XI" that never was, not in terms of similarities to previous FFs although it certain has a lot of, but just the high production value and overall greatness, plus the turn-based battle system being lifted up to a next level, very satisfying to say the least.

A lot of people in Mist Walker worked on Final Fantasy games in the past, they know what they're doing (before anyone makes fun of Blue Dragon, the target audience was very obviously not Americans, it was something they needed to do to raise popularity of the 360 in Japan).

[CabooseJr]

I don't really like turn based RPGs. They always cheat on me. XD

[GametagAeonFlux]

I don't really like turn based RPGs. They always cheat on me. XD

Power level. Power level. Power level. Power level.



Somewhat new TV spot, fuck yeah, Jefferson Airplane.

[Kirk]

Love it (the music The game, not so much. Not a jrpg fan here)

[Anetheon]

i just saw the trailer for the game on tv
it looks really good I might get it

[kibito87]

I'm right there with you on jRPG's. I may pick this one up. It looks interesting and may prove to be fun...we'll have to see.

[turk645]

ill rent it ..... granted i get my 360 fixed.

[INSANEdrive]

My 2 Cents

When was the Last time you took turns in a fight ( Real or Virtual )

And when attacked did you Defend your self.

Think about et.

Irks me every time >_>

[GametagAeonFlux]

My 2 Cents

When was the Last time you took turns in a fight ( Real or Virtual )

And when attacked did you Defend your self.

Think about et.

Irks me every time >_>

The way I've always thought of that was just a matter of resting between attacks. For physical attacks, they're obviously going to want to hit pretty damn hard, so it's going to require a lot of force. An attack immediately succeeding that attack obviously wouldn't "do as much damage", so they recede to the safety of their party to recover. For magic, I'd assume it's as (mentally) strenuous as a physical attack is (on your muscles/physically).

Also, it's a game, and you can point out ridiculous things in every game, even ones that shoot for realism. FPS games where people who die in 31 shots can take 30 shots, pick up a magical medkit and be perfectly fine. Racing games where cars can go head on to a wall at 150 mph and take no structural damage. Strategy games where units and buildings appear out of thin air. Fighting games where a five foot tall woman can kick a seven foot eight tall robot's ass without breaking a sweat. List goes on and on.

An IGN review is in. The reviewer is somewhat inconsistent, but she ended up giving the game an overall 8.2/10...sounds good to me, especially considering Mistwalker isn't the most popular company (O BUNGEE MAEK GAEM?!? 10/10!), and jRPGs usually don't fare well with American reviewers. Quote of her closing comments:

Lost Odyssey proves that a turn-based RPG still has merit in modern gaming. While there is nothing in Lost Odyssey that will convert action-RPG fans, there is plenty to please those already singing in the choir. Lost Odyssey creates several memorable characters and a somber setting that should please those sick of JRPGs that seem made for 10-year-olds. There are quite a few things that go wrong -- from the bad stealth portion to performance issues -- but none of it kept me from enjoying the overall adventure. It may not be in the same class as Mass Effect (Alright, I'm adding this bit in...seriously, what the fuck? Mass Effect isn't a turn-based/jRPG, that's like wondering why Mario isn't like Jak and Daxter just because they're both classified as platformers), but for a system in desperate need for more quality RPGs, Lost Odyssey fits nicely into the 360 library.

[GametagAeonFlux]

Well, doesn't seem like there's much activity here...either everyone's too busy playing the game to post (I know I have been) or not a whole lot of people bought it. D:

Since I'm assuming most 360 users haven't played a jRPG, I figure there's going to be quite a few people "on the fence" so to speak...so I've taken it upon myself to write a small review of sorts. I haven't completely finished the game, but I have gotten fairly far (~4 hours in to the third disc) and feel that I have a good idea of what the game's like.

For starters, let me just state something. I'm not going to be giving this game an X/10 score, I will merely be stating my opinion on the game and you can form your own answer to the question of "will I like it?". Now that that's out of the way, on to the review itself:

Graphics

Lost Odyssey is built on the Unreal Engine 3, which if you haven't heard of or seen, you're probably living under a rock. As with most UE3 games I've played, there are masterfully detailed, expansive, beautiful environments in this game that range from an oceanside city to a frozen canyon to a magical-industrial city. The effects on the magic attacks are entertaining to watch and just as detailed as the environments. Character clothes and armor all have unique looks with realistic mannerisms. Unfortunately though, this game suffers from the same plague as most other UE3 games...close ups. This only really becomes an issue during a few of the cut scenes, but there are certain textures that will make you shudder a bit. It's just a minor problem, but I know how visual-philic some of y'all are here.

Sounds and Music

Can't go wrong with Nobuo Uematsu. Assuming you haven't played a jRPG, you've probably never heard the name, but knowing he's been behind a large majority of the Final Fantasy games' music should be enough to give you an idea of his reputation. There's emotionally charged orchestral pieces that help further the mood of each individual scene in the game, and help give you that "on the edge of your seat" feeling when you're in an intense boss battle or an epic moment in the story. The English voice acting is actually very good, and there are several other dubs provided (I haven't tested any of the other ones, so I'll stop there, but for those wondering, the English dub is the original [i.e. lips sync to it]).

Gameplay

Of course, the most important part of any game is its gameplay. As far as the jRPG specifics go, there's admittedly not too much original stuff, but what little there is, it is very well done. For the basic gameplay mechanics, there's your standard areas you walk around, look for items, fight the occasional random battle, boss, etc. The world map (outside of special modes of travel) is basically a list of locations to go to, with the next objective type places marked with a "!" inside of a blue circle. To be perfectly honest, there are moments in the game where an unattentive player may become lost...when you're in a town, don't expect someone to clearly say "lol chek out da trane stashun". This isn't to say you'll be aimlessly wandering around, but if you don't play jRPGs often (it gives you a 6th sense in every jRPG you play after a while) and don't really pay attention to the dialog much, you may have to talk to NPCs to get a clue as to where to go.

With that said, let me mention that this game really encourages exploring every nook and cranny of every zone. There's loads of hidden collectible items that can benefit you, weapons, accessories, spells and rings (more on those later) that aren't available in shops (temporarily or permanently). As with other jRPGs, a good deal of the NPCs don't have much to say, but there are some that will give you information on a side quest or take a key item you found with seemingly no purpose (for instance, you pick up crystals in a forest at one point that an artist in one of the towns needs to inspire him, but other than that they have no use).

The battle system is absolutely amazing. It's one of the most in depth and enjoyable experiences I've had in any jRPG I've played. You get four immortal characters and a number of mortal characters (before anyone says it, no that is not a spoiler, it's in the manual). The mortal characters in this game are much like other games, in that they gain skills and abilities simply from leveling up. As common sense would have you believe, the immortal characters are marginally better than the mortals, but there's a catch...they can only learn abilities by "linking" to mortals, or learning from equipping an accessory. It really makes you play in a tactical manner when choosing your party, because there's no run off experience (members outside of your party gain 0 experience per battle/will not level up). You can choose a party of immortals (+1 mortal, max party size is 5) and play off of accessories and one character's skills, or you can play a party of mostly mortals and focus on just a few immortals at a time to make them extremely powerful. Then comes actually choosing what skills to equip. Your immortal characters start with 3 ability slots (along with the one supplied by your accessory [each accessory provides a specific ability], and whatever skill you have linked with a mortal currently) which can be increased by an item you find throughout the game. So do you give your magic caster all three types of magic, or just one/two with a status resisting ability? Maybe you want to give them HP or Defense Up? Or maybe you wanna give them 13 slots and make them near invincible. There's tons of ways to play each individual character and it allows you to think about the best way to tackle each boss if you happen to die while facing them. I could write a whole review on just the mechanics of battle, there's simply too much to fit in this little post, and besides, you'll learn the minor details of battle in game. ;p

Plot

No spoilers here, so it'll be relatively short. Just know that this is a Japanese game and there's going to be lots of the clich

[StalkingGrunt911]

Nice review. I just finished the first disc today. From what I have played I think the game is amazing, and the plot is as well. I like the gameplay a lot, and the battle system is win. I like how you can actually have more than three people in your party, well it is the first game I've heard of or played that can have more than three. Mistwalkers put a lot of effort into detail IMO. I liked when I was at the Sea of Baus(sp?) and there were crabs walking around, thought that was neat. What happened when you meet up with Mack and Cooke then go to their house, it contained a few twists that suprised me. For spoiler reasons I'll just say meeting L again, figuring out the relation, then saying bye in a course of five to ten minutes. Man it would actually suck to live 1,000 years. :X