Genre: JRPG, Turn Based (Not ATP) Release Dates: JP December 6, 2007 AUS February 8, 2008 NA February 12, 2008 EU February 29, 2008 Microsoft was able to get their hands on a JRPG, and they did a good job doing so. Lost Odyssey being a JRPG, has traditional JRPG trends, like weird clothing, excessive emotions and generally a good story line. This game has random combat, tons of cut scenes, a turn based system where you choose all your actions before you're able to attack. The main protagonist of the series is Kaim Argonar, who has lived 1,000 years and is immortal. He has lost his memory, and starts slowly regaining little fragments of his lost past. Whoops! Forgot to mention this game is 4 discs, got to love swapping discs! Gameplay: You will of course, encounter random battles as you traverse over many different landscapes, dungeons, towers, dimensions, etc. Implementing a great combat system is always important, but sometimes making a leap of faith in *revolutionizing* turn based battle systems can ruin a game. So what the developers of this game did, put in the traditional turn based system where you choose all your commands on all characters, then your characters will start attacking. It requires strategy and planning in boss battles, and grinding those levels beforehand is easier than ever. There is a level cap system in Lost Odyssey where an area will give your characters an almost guaranteed level for 1-2 levels, then it will slow down. Generally speaking, once you hit that slow down point, you're ready to progress, so no more long grinding sessions to beat that boss! There is also a ton of cut scenes, not sure how long, but probably 7 hours or so worth of cut scenes through out the game. The good parts of this game are the cut scenes, you will have a bucket load of emotions in the game, seeing Kaim's past unfold and just how terrible it is. You meet a crew of people, all who have their own story, and you will honestly feel each person has a sense of development as you progress through the game. Many characters you will become attached to, some you won't. One of the characters you meet early in the game, named Jansen will be hilarious, and is my personal favorite character. There are over 20 different places to explore over the world, and if you have ever played Final Fantasy VIII, you will recall the traveling. Though, the traveling is more bare bones in this game, where you can't just land on any land, you have find a designated place, it is still interesting. Don't worry, each of the discs ends with a bang and will keep you playing. Some not so good parts would be the turn based system where you have to choose all your attacks before starting the turn, so if someone dies during the turn, you have to wait another turn to revive them, then another turn for them to fight again. The enemies also are able to bypass the turn system, because they have singled out characters of mine that I have revived in that same turn. Many veterans of RPGs, or even people who have played a JRPG before will find this game to be incredibly easy. It might be a good thing, but there is no wrong way to make a character due to no stat modifiers, except for accessories which work the same if you get it at level 1, or level 99. Battles might become tedious once you hit the soft level cap of the area, because there is not much incentive to fight when you get 3-10/100 of an experience bar every fight. These are just some small annoyances I found, and won't ruin the gameplay. 9/10 for gameplay. Graphics: The graphics in this game are good, but a little jagged, and not as sharp as they could be, but overall are still easy on the eyes. Magic animations and battles are as beautiful as ever, and some of the later spells in the game will stun you with how gorgeous they're. The cut scenes are well rendered, and your characters will have your accessories in the cut scenes (if you can find one that is viewable...). graphics 8/10 Sound: You will hear many different background musics and battle musics. All easy on the ears, and none will bore you or force you to turn the sound off. One of the few games I have refused to turn the sound off completely, or listen to other music when gaming. The sound effects are also well made and don't give you a head ache with a bunch of "GRRRRGGHHH" or other weird sounds when attacking. Sound 10/10 flawless Presentation: The menus are easy to navigate, no confusing button combos to remember. Battle systems are categorized neatly, where you have different categories of spells, like black magic, white magic, etc. A nice map is included at the top right corner of your screen, with 2-3 different zooms. Clutter free. Easy to access game, you don't have to be a hardcore JRPG junkie to beat this game, even the end game side quests are easier than most JRPGs end game side quests. (cough FFX Penance, Last Remnant last side quest boss... FFVIII, the whole game...) Presentation 9.5/10 Longevity 9/10 - No real replay value that I can see, but the game has about 30 hours in the main quest, 50+ hours if you do everything. Overall - 45.5/50 The game is very enjoyable and should be checked out immediately if you enjoy RPGs. It is only $30 in stores and should be easy to find.
Re: [Xbox 360] Lost Odyssey - Tactic11 Nice review I loved the game myself Maybe you could extend it further though?
Re: [Xbox 360] Lost Odyssey - Tactic11 I wasn't really sure where I was headed with the review, but I will probably add more to the gameplay and summary without giving away anything important. Not sure what else I can write about sound, and the interface haha. I will write more tomorrow probably.
Re: [Xbox 360] Lost Odyssey - Tactic11 Eh is this game really good, I remember coming across it when browsing for games and it did not look very appealing to me.
Re: [Xbox 360] Lost Odyssey - Tactic11 Might be able to talk about the DLC that they added not long ago.
Re: [Xbox 360] Lost Odyssey - Tactic11 Not sure if it is a fanboy of RPG kind of thing. I mean based on the screenshots it looked like the game The Last Remnant which some game reviews for some reason gave it an 8/10 but when I actually tried playing the game it was pretty horrible in my opinion, I mean the game lags constantly, battle system feels so...meh and yet I keep wondering how the hell did this game get an 8/10?
Re: [Xbox 360] Lost Odyssey - Tactic11 Actually, I just downloaded the DLC today and am currently in the process of making my characters ready for this arduous event. I hear the fights are hard, a challenging aspect of the game ! I will review it once I finish it. Also @Solus - Last Remnant for the PC is a much better game, but if you didn't enjoy the battle system, you probably wouldn't enjoy it anyways. I find it a hit or miss sometimes, I am still trying to get into it. Might be a miss for me, but I can see how people could like it.
Re: [Xbox 360] Lost Odyssey - Tactic11 I personally haven't got to buy the DLC stuff, but, I hope to soon.
