REVIEW: Lost Odyssey

Developer: Mistwalker | Publisher: Microsoft | For: Xbox 360

Reviewer: Craig J Gallagher After Blue Dragon, Lost Odyssey is the second offering from Final Fantasy creator Hironoubu Skaguchi's Mistwalker. As such, it has a lot riding on it, given Blue Dragons' minimal success.

While a great title, it failed to capture the imagination of Western audiences with many critics and gamers finding it too old school for its own good.

While keeping the old school gameplay, Lost Odyssey is an entirely different beast. The production values are truly awe inspiring with some of the most beautiful render worlds ever seen on a console. The story is equally fantastic and while there are a few flaws, overall Lost Odyssey is a great title.

The story follows Kaim, whose immortality has allowed him to experience all avenues of human emotion over the past thousand years. Suffering from a memory loss, Kaim reclaims these missing segments through dreams which are anecdotes backed up by a lush musical score. As he traverse the land, Kaim meets various other characters both mortal and immortal.

Lets get the negative out of the way first. The game can be quite slow, the pace is leisurely, and at times can be compared to a Sunday stroll on the beach. This added to the lengthy and frequent loading times is something which will put many gamers off, which would be a shame as there truly is a great game here.

The traditional aspects of RPG games are all present. Combat is turn based which will be familiar to pretty much all gamers. The key to progressing is mastering of different accessories at your use while constantly leveling up is the key to progression. Most recent RPG games have been relatively easy to complete, quite the opposite to Lost Odyssey. The ability to learn new abilities from team mates is quite handy and somewhat compensates for the added difficulty level.

One of the most striking aspects of the game is the superb score, courtesy of Nobuo Uematsu a frequent collaborator of Sakaguchi. It conjures up just the right atmosphere without ever becoming intrusive.

While not a perfect game, Lost Odyssey is a great RPG, which keeps old school sensitivities while adding something new to the mix. While not the easiest entry point for casual RPG fan the amazing production values will more than compensate. As it stands genre fans will be in heaven.

Comments

[Zeouterlimits]

Good review, I'd pretty much agree with what you've said.
I'm only on the 2nd disc, but have taken a break with the ever approaching leaving cert..

[craig jay gallagher]

I got half way through disc 3 and realised that if I waited to finish the game before reviewing it I could be all year, though after a 16 hour bender yestereday I managed to finish disc 4 and with it the game.

It really is one of the most impressive games in recent memory and raises the mark for future RPGs.