When it comes to RPGs, I generally jump all over them. I've always been a fan of playing a game that requires plenty of strategy instead of just jumping into a shooter's paradise. There's something to be said for those gamers that love watching a storyline unfold all while leveling up characters, and as the gaming industry has evolved in the past twenty years, so has this genre. We've seen plenty of different styles of these games, whether it be turn-based, free roaming, adventure, etc. Lost Odyssey sticks with the original format of RPGs on console games by going turn-based as a traditional JRPG, giving us a beautiful...yet seemingly outdated game.
Presentation
Lost Odyssey, as most RPG games generally do, centers around a central character with a somewhat clouded past. In this case, your primary character is a soldier by the name of Kaim. The opening sequence is a breath-taking experience as you briefly take control of Kaim in a heated battle. Just like most RPGs, this will serve as a bit of a tutorial for you, getting you familiar with the basic controls while getting a taste of the action. You then realize that Kaim isn't exactly your everyday soldier, as a meteor crashes into the ground, killing almost everyone around...except Kaim barely has a scratch. Yes, Kaim is immortal, roughly around 1000 years old. Eventually, cutscenes tend to paint a picture that we've seen all too many times when it comes to these type of games. Country "A" is upset with Country "B", forcing an all out war between the nations. However, Lost Odyssey doesn't follow this typical scenario, as the skirmishes that are taking place are actually nothing more than a small quest that eventually gets lost in translation as you discover a far more sinister plot.
As previously mentioned, most JRPGs have a central character that has a clouded past. In the case of Kaim, he simply cannot remember most of the last 1000 years. What's strange is that he is not the only immortal. You will eventually come across other immortals, who seemingly have also forgotten their past. It's an interesting twist to the game that actually has its own side game of sorts, but it eventually becomes apparent that unlocking every one of these dreams is the most important part of the game. Most of these memories are somewhat troubled, causing Kaim distress, anger, hatred, and sadness. The best way to put it is that he is a far quieter Cloud Strife from Final Fantasy VII, and even he wasn't very talkative. It's no surprise that the father of Final Fantasy, Hironobu Sakaguchi, is the main man behind this game, which actually ends up becoming a bit disappointing in this case, and I'll explain later.
The game, itself, is very beautiful. Cities are well drawn out and the graphics are quite clean, whether it be in cutscenes, battle scenes, or just roaming the world. The World Map, once again, goes back to the older days of Final Fantasy, taking a page out of Final Fantasy X with the way you travel around. Instead of just wandering a huge map on your own freely, you actually look at a map and select a destination. Once you reach that destination, you find yourself in that area, which now you must navigate with your characters. Of course, like every JRPG, the ever-famous "random battle" has returned, which means that you will not see the enemy until the screen fades out, immediately going to a battle sequence. While most traditionalists won't mind this, with the development of RPGs as a whole, this just seems to be an old way of doing things, and it's not the only time I will mention this.
The menu system is fairly complex, which provides a decent challenge and strategic look at building up your characters. There are several ways of providing help for your characters, especially with the ability to link skills between Immortals and Mortal characters. Immortals, in Lost Odyssey, learn their skills by linking up with a mortal warrior and essentially learning that skill from them. The way you do this is simply by selecting it in the menu and fighting battles. The more battles you win, the faster the meter goes up. Once that meter is full, the Immortal has learned that ability and can now use it. It can be anything from a skill to a magic spell. It's a nice changeup to the leveling system, although building up your levels is as basic as normal: kill monsters, rinse, repeat.
Character and enemy design have benefited greatly from the next-generation graphics that the 360 offers, providing beautiful textures to even the ugliest of enemies. The characters themselves, whether it be Kaim, Seth, Jansen, or any of the other characters you will meet along your journey, are all almost flawless when you look at them in just about any manner. It really is a sight to see such a beautiful game in full high definition.
Negatives that come to mind are two that you can typically expect with a game so graphic heavy. The first is camera angle. Sometimes, you end up with awkward angles that you look at a zone and it can be somewhat difficult to move your character around if you end up in some of these zones. While it is annoying, you tend to get used to it as the game progresses. There will be a few, however, that simply drive you crazy. On top of this, the framerate tends to suffer from time to time. It ranges anywhere from mildly annoying to downright frustrating. There really is no way around it, other than to get used to it. Again, this comes from having a graphics heavy game, so in this day in age, it's not going to be anything new.
Gameplay
The most substantial chunk of gameplay will come from battles, which isn't really a shock unless you've been sheltered from the outside world for the last twenty years and have never experienced an RPG. As previously mentioned, while you roam areas, you will encounter random battles. Inside of these battles, you will have a party of characters, which does change over the course of the game since you meet new characters that you can use. Across from your line of characters will be a number of enemies, which is also completely random, although boss battles are generally pre-determined. It's a tried and tested way of doing RPGs, so it doesn't disappoint completely.
A nice twist to this version of your traditional JRPG is that the way front row and back row battle works. In the past, JRPGs have taken into account what happens if a character is in a back row. For instance, his/her physical damage that he/she can deal is generally cut into half, but because he/she is in the back row, that means that the monster attacking can only deal half the damage as well. Lost Odyssey actually takes it a step further in this case, using a system that is almost something out of a Real Time Strategy game. In most cases, you cannot attack a back row enemy unless you have taken out the enemies in the front row. The same goes for your team as well, and you have a meter in the corner of the screen to let you know what your own defenses are like. The tutorial does a great job explaining this, as you could really be lost if you don't pay attention to this important feature.
Going back to the leveling system, building up your characters is a mixture of grinding out levels by fighting and being smart about pairing up skills with certain characters. Mortal characters are fairly limited in what they can do, although they certainly serve their purposes. For instance, Jansen is a mage, plain and simple. If you expect him to do any type of physical damage that is significant, you are going to be doomed from the start. However, using his magic strategically will give you an advantage in battle while you allow your damage dealers to pound away at the front lines. Also, your front line characters can easily become support characters by having them learn the abilities and skills of their fellow warriors. If this sounds familiar, then you've certainly had your fair share of RPG training.
The problem that I have with this game is that it's just too traditional. While I'm a huge fan of the old JRPGs, I think I fully expect all RPGs to go the way of what we've seen in the likes of Oblivion, Mass Effect, and even taking a step back in generation, Knights of the Old Republic. The battle system just feels old to me. Turn based fighting systems dominated the RPG market in the 1990s, but in this day in age, with all of the advances that we've had in this genre, it just seems that more could have been done. Even though subtle changes have been made, such as the addition of the action bar that tells you the order of who will be attacking. However, it's completely random, as is all of the battle sequences. Unless you are going into a boss battle and realize this before hand, you aren't going to have a clue when you are going into a fight. Keeping yourself healed after battles will be vital as some random battles can catch you off guard and wipe out your party.
The battle system works for the type of game that this certainly is. However, as I previously stated, it just seems like there's more that could have been done with it. You certainly believe that random battles could've been eliminated and you at least could have visual enemies to know where these attacks are coming from. But, the developers decided to go this route, and, to me, it just takes away from the overall performance of the game.
Features, Options, and Achievements
As with most one player games, it's fairly straightforward with what you're getting. There aren't going to be many variations of the game itself since it's so long, but expect to find side quests to unlock special abilities along your journey. Options wise, you can go back at any time and do the dream sequences on your own, which is somewhat fun, but it grows old fairly quick.
Achievements are pretty in depth, and are in abundance. This is a 1000 point game, and some are pretty easy, while others are quite difficult to achieve. This is no gimme like some games, and you will have to work for the achievements that are on the harder end of the difficulty scale.
Final Thoughts
All in all, Lost Odyssey can scratch that itch that you have been looking for when it comes to a long-term game. The story itself can stretch out in upwards of 40 to 50 hours, so you'll definitely get your money's worth if you play it all the way to the end. While the graphics are clean, you will get annoyed by some of the mild issues like the camera angles and framerate problems. The leveling system isn't anything mind-blowing, although the skill building system can be somewhat addicting, especially for those gamers that want to be obsessive compulsive and level their characters completely to their limit. The game is enjoyable, but it just feels like it belongs on a previous generation with the battle system. It's worth picking up if you're a huge fan of RPGs, but if you are getting heavily into the new generation of RPGs, this one may not be for you.
Final Score: 7.9/10
Presentation
Lost Odyssey, as most RPG games generally do, centers around a central character with a somewhat clouded past. In this case, your primary character is a soldier by the name of Kaim. The opening sequence is a breath-taking experience as you briefly take control of Kaim in a heated battle. Just like most RPGs, this will serve as a bit of a tutorial for you, getting you familiar with the basic controls while getting a taste of the action. You then realize that Kaim isn't exactly your everyday soldier, as a meteor crashes into the ground, killing almost everyone around...except Kaim barely has a scratch. Yes, Kaim is immortal, roughly around 1000 years old. Eventually, cutscenes tend to paint a picture that we've seen all too many times when it comes to these type of games. Country "A" is upset with Country "B", forcing an all out war between the nations. However, Lost Odyssey doesn't follow this typical scenario, as the skirmishes that are taking place are actually nothing more than a small quest that eventually gets lost in translation as you discover a far more sinister plot.
As previously mentioned, most JRPGs have a central character that has a clouded past. In the case of Kaim, he simply cannot remember most of the last 1000 years. What's strange is that he is not the only immortal. You will eventually come across other immortals, who seemingly have also forgotten their past. It's an interesting twist to the game that actually has its own side game of sorts, but it eventually becomes apparent that unlocking every one of these dreams is the most important part of the game. Most of these memories are somewhat troubled, causing Kaim distress, anger, hatred, and sadness. The best way to put it is that he is a far quieter Cloud Strife from Final Fantasy VII, and even he wasn't very talkative. It's no surprise that the father of Final Fantasy, Hironobu Sakaguchi, is the main man behind this game, which actually ends up becoming a bit disappointing in this case, and I'll explain later.
The game, itself, is very beautiful. Cities are well drawn out and the graphics are quite clean, whether it be in cutscenes, battle scenes, or just roaming the world. The World Map, once again, goes back to the older days of Final Fantasy, taking a page out of Final Fantasy X with the way you travel around. Instead of just wandering a huge map on your own freely, you actually look at a map and select a destination. Once you reach that destination, you find yourself in that area, which now you must navigate with your characters. Of course, like every JRPG, the ever-famous "random battle" has returned, which means that you will not see the enemy until the screen fades out, immediately going to a battle sequence. While most traditionalists won't mind this, with the development of RPGs as a whole, this just seems to be an old way of doing things, and it's not the only time I will mention this.
The menu system is fairly complex, which provides a decent challenge and strategic look at building up your characters. There are several ways of providing help for your characters, especially with the ability to link skills between Immortals and Mortal characters. Immortals, in Lost Odyssey, learn their skills by linking up with a mortal warrior and essentially learning that skill from them. The way you do this is simply by selecting it in the menu and fighting battles. The more battles you win, the faster the meter goes up. Once that meter is full, the Immortal has learned that ability and can now use it. It can be anything from a skill to a magic spell. It's a nice changeup to the leveling system, although building up your levels is as basic as normal: kill monsters, rinse, repeat.
Character and enemy design have benefited greatly from the next-generation graphics that the 360 offers, providing beautiful textures to even the ugliest of enemies. The characters themselves, whether it be Kaim, Seth, Jansen, or any of the other characters you will meet along your journey, are all almost flawless when you look at them in just about any manner. It really is a sight to see such a beautiful game in full high definition.
Negatives that come to mind are two that you can typically expect with a game so graphic heavy. The first is camera angle. Sometimes, you end up with awkward angles that you look at a zone and it can be somewhat difficult to move your character around if you end up in some of these zones. While it is annoying, you tend to get used to it as the game progresses. There will be a few, however, that simply drive you crazy. On top of this, the framerate tends to suffer from time to time. It ranges anywhere from mildly annoying to downright frustrating. There really is no way around it, other than to get used to it. Again, this comes from having a graphics heavy game, so in this day in age, it's not going to be anything new.
Gameplay
The most substantial chunk of gameplay will come from battles, which isn't really a shock unless you've been sheltered from the outside world for the last twenty years and have never experienced an RPG. As previously mentioned, while you roam areas, you will encounter random battles. Inside of these battles, you will have a party of characters, which does change over the course of the game since you meet new characters that you can use. Across from your line of characters will be a number of enemies, which is also completely random, although boss battles are generally pre-determined. It's a tried and tested way of doing RPGs, so it doesn't disappoint completely.
A nice twist to this version of your traditional JRPG is that the way front row and back row battle works. In the past, JRPGs have taken into account what happens if a character is in a back row. For instance, his/her physical damage that he/she can deal is generally cut into half, but because he/she is in the back row, that means that the monster attacking can only deal half the damage as well. Lost Odyssey actually takes it a step further in this case, using a system that is almost something out of a Real Time Strategy game. In most cases, you cannot attack a back row enemy unless you have taken out the enemies in the front row. The same goes for your team as well, and you have a meter in the corner of the screen to let you know what your own defenses are like. The tutorial does a great job explaining this, as you could really be lost if you don't pay attention to this important feature.
Going back to the leveling system, building up your characters is a mixture of grinding out levels by fighting and being smart about pairing up skills with certain characters. Mortal characters are fairly limited in what they can do, although they certainly serve their purposes. For instance, Jansen is a mage, plain and simple. If you expect him to do any type of physical damage that is significant, you are going to be doomed from the start. However, using his magic strategically will give you an advantage in battle while you allow your damage dealers to pound away at the front lines. Also, your front line characters can easily become support characters by having them learn the abilities and skills of their fellow warriors. If this sounds familiar, then you've certainly had your fair share of RPG training.
The problem that I have with this game is that it's just too traditional. While I'm a huge fan of the old JRPGs, I think I fully expect all RPGs to go the way of what we've seen in the likes of Oblivion, Mass Effect, and even taking a step back in generation, Knights of the Old Republic. The battle system just feels old to me. Turn based fighting systems dominated the RPG market in the 1990s, but in this day in age, with all of the advances that we've had in this genre, it just seems that more could have been done. Even though subtle changes have been made, such as the addition of the action bar that tells you the order of who will be attacking. However, it's completely random, as is all of the battle sequences. Unless you are going into a boss battle and realize this before hand, you aren't going to have a clue when you are going into a fight. Keeping yourself healed after battles will be vital as some random battles can catch you off guard and wipe out your party.
The battle system works for the type of game that this certainly is. However, as I previously stated, it just seems like there's more that could have been done with it. You certainly believe that random battles could've been eliminated and you at least could have visual enemies to know where these attacks are coming from. But, the developers decided to go this route, and, to me, it just takes away from the overall performance of the game.
Features, Options, and Achievements
As with most one player games, it's fairly straightforward with what you're getting. There aren't going to be many variations of the game itself since it's so long, but expect to find side quests to unlock special abilities along your journey. Options wise, you can go back at any time and do the dream sequences on your own, which is somewhat fun, but it grows old fairly quick.
Achievements are pretty in depth, and are in abundance. This is a 1000 point game, and some are pretty easy, while others are quite difficult to achieve. This is no gimme like some games, and you will have to work for the achievements that are on the harder end of the difficulty scale.
Final Thoughts
All in all, Lost Odyssey can scratch that itch that you have been looking for when it comes to a long-term game. The story itself can stretch out in upwards of 40 to 50 hours, so you'll definitely get your money's worth if you play it all the way to the end. While the graphics are clean, you will get annoyed by some of the mild issues like the camera angles and framerate problems. The leveling system isn't anything mind-blowing, although the skill building system can be somewhat addicting, especially for those gamers that want to be obsessive compulsive and level their characters completely to their limit. The game is enjoyable, but it just feels like it belongs on a previous generation with the battle system. It's worth picking up if you're a huge fan of RPGs, but if you are getting heavily into the new generation of RPGs, this one may not be for you.
Final Score: 7.9/10
