Reviewing: Lost Odyssey

Like with MagnaCarta 2, I have done my own play through of Lost Odyssey on my Youtube channel. If you'd like, feel free to view it here. It is one of my most viewed pieces of work to this date, and I'm happy to say that because the game deserves the recognition.  

Lost Odyssey is an Xbox exclusive, and came to North America in February of 2008. Being that this game was produced by Hironobu Sakaguchi, you know you are in for a treat. Final Fantasy has forever left it's mark in the gaming world, and Mistwalker did the same quality work when creating Lost Odyssey. The game scored highly not only with professional reviewers, but also by players alike. I think that most people who have played the game can agree that it is a great game for this generation. 

Synopsis: 

You are playing as Kaim Argonar, a man who is immortal. He has lived for over 1,000 years with no memory of his time spent on earth. Through his journey, the player will rediscover Kaim's memory, and piece the last 1,000 years of his life together. A constant shadow over Kaim's own life now imposes a greater shadow over the entire mortal world, and it is up to Kaim and his comrades to stop it. 

Pros:

1. The emotional power this game has over you is like no other that I have experienced before.

This game literally had me in tears, or close to on several occasions. Because of the game's depressing atmosphere, your heart strings are tugged at each sad event. The character's all have very human like behavior and characteristics, almost making you feel as if you could be in their shoes, or experience something similar yourself. I'd much rather play an emotionally overpowering video game then watch a sappy and sad movie personally, and Lost Odyssey does not disappoint. I promise.

2. Unique and fresh designs, and beautiful graphics in a traditional JRPG style. 

It is so refreshing to see a game that doesn't recycle environments, and enemies. So many games will take one enemy and recolor it 10 different times, which just gets stale and boring. Each area within Lost Odyssey has unique enemies, that had thought put into them. Not only do they all look different, but they did the liberty of giving enemies special abilities, and really making them a formidable opponent. Really a huge plus, because it makes battle that much better. Towns all have very fitting themes, and custom music to go with it, which makes each town stand out. Even dungeon in this game suited the surrounding areas and were all very well done. The JRPG designs really never fail to disappoint me, because they are always so hauntingly beautiful. Paired with a fantastic artistic value, and a gloomy atmosphere, Lost Odyssey's environments were just great. 

3. Customization 

Without giving away too many spoilers, there are characters you can really customize and have fun with (immortals) and characters that are really only suited to one class with a specific ability (mortals). By linking your mortals and your immortals together, you can create powerful and diverse characters. Your immortals can have increased stats, skills, and become "tanks" in battle while your mortals provide back up support with their specialized class. Accessories also have the same effect, and it makes the player feel as if collecting items is worth it because you can get rewarded for it. Because this is a turn based JRPG, the game requires a little bit of skill, and can be very difficult in certain sections. The customization allows the player to change your party for each unique dungeon, and to have an easier, and more enjoyable playing experience. For the MLG gamers out there, the exact opposite is true - you can customize to make the game harder, which is also another beauty. It's the perfect balance in my opinion. 

Cons:   

1. Loading times and length. 

I personally am a fan of long games with tons of side quests and things to do, such as a JRPG should be. However, the downfall with this game is that it really (in the grand scheme) doesn't have that much game play. It's 4 discs long, which was new for the Xbox when it was released. Despite that, the four discs are mostly jammed packed with massively long cut scenes. Again, this is a negative and a positive. It really helps with the story, and the cut scenes are beautiful and wonderful to watch. Sometimes though, it feels as if you get next to no game play in before you are thrown into a massively long cut scene. The loading screens in this game are also insanely ridiculous, probably the longest loading screens that I have seen with a game in a long time. This would be manageable if it was every once in awhile, but it's present throughout the entire game, from start to finish. At the end of the game you've played through four discs, but most likely only have about 25 or 35 hours of game play, which feels a little.. off when you think about it. It's a minor complaint really, and has it's ups and downs. Because of all of the cut scenes, it forces you to really pay attention to the game and to follow along. Sometimes you just want to be lazy, but with a game like this, it can be easy to get lost on to what's going on.

2. The story and game overall is great, but unfortunately builds up too quickly, and then crashes just as fast. 

I would say that the first two discs are the best. You get all of the great story build up, character recruitment, and the game really feels like a wonderful joy ride as you piece everything together. They throw you the whole story within the first two discs, but then it all slows down dramatically. The third disc is nearly all cut scenes, and the fourth is when you finish the game, and do all of the last minute side questing and exploring. It was like all of the major game play was the first part of the game, and it was all cut scenes after that. I understand that they were trying to break the two up, but I feel they did a poor job of doing so. By the end of the game, it's so ridiculously easy (if you did all of the side quests) that the final boss isn't a challenge, and you've known how the ending of the game was going to be like from an early date. 

3. The game's visibility is limited at times, and the color scheme could have been better. 

A light grey background with white writing certainly was NOT the smartest choice in being nice to the player's eyes. I remember playing this game my first time on a small TV and it was torturous to read. Not only that, but the font is very small, and there's no option to change the color or size. Thank goodness the game does have subtitles if you need them, but good luck trying to read them! It gave the game the "darker" feel by staying away from bright and sassy colors, and it suited the game.. however it was a bad game mechanic.

-----

Overall, I highly recommend Lost Odyssey. I would have to give it a 9/10, because I just love this game. It's emotional power and cut scenes make it worth playing. I can get over limited amounts of game play at times, because of the nature of the game, and how it was created and how it came together in the end. If you are a lover of an involved story and powerful emotion then this is the game for you. I cannot give you the experience, there is so much more to this game then what I mentioned! So until next time, I hope that you've enjoyed and I will be back with more games in the future.