Video Games : Lost Odyssey

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from: Microsoft

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Amazon Maximum Age: 20 years
Amazon Minimum Age: 144 months
Binding: Video Game
Brand: Microsoft
EAN: 0882224521017
ESRB Age Rating: Teen
Label: Microsoft
Manufacturer: Microsoft
Platform: Xbox 360
Publisher: Microsoft
Release Date: February 13, 2008
Sales Rank: 425
Studio: Microsoft

Features:

1 Player
Dolby 5.1 Surround
HDTV 1080p

Accessories:

Lost Odyssey: Prima Official Game Guide (Prima Official Game Guides)

Related Items:

Editorial Review:

Product Description:
Lost Odyssey is the story of Kaim, an immortal character who has lived more than 1,000 years. He doesn't remember his past, and he doesn't know where his future lies. Throughout Kaim's journey, a handful of characters will join him on an odyssey to discover their intricate past and destiny, leading players through a dramatic story of massive scale. Lost Odyssey features breathtaking visuals and an epic adventure made possible only by the power of Xbox 360.

Customer Reviews

Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating:

- Worth playing for the Thousand Years of Dreams segments.
Japanese RPGs are a rare sight on Microsoft's console, due largely to the fact that 360 doesn't exactly sell like hot-cakes in the land of the rising sun. Mistwalker, a studio founded by Hironobu Sakaguchi, creator of the Final Fantasy series, released two games to remedy the 360's RPG deficiencies: Lost Odyssey and Blue Dragon. Lost Odyssey will seem familiar to fans of the Final Fantasy games, from the battle system to the plot twists. What stops the game from being completely derivative are the fantastic Thousand Years of Dreams segments, written by a famed Japanese novelist. With these unique antidotes littered about the game world to find, Lost Odyssey is propelled from being a merely average JRPG to a genuinely good game.

Graphically, Lost Odyssey is not that spectacular. It runs on the Unreal Engine 3, the same framework powering the Gears of Wars series, but LO isn't even in the same league graphically. The FMVs don't even look as good as those featured in FFXII (a PS2 title!). The character's facial expressions often look awkward during in-engine cutscenes, and overall, the graphics are good, but not spectacular. World locales are typical RPG fare: a sprawling city overlooked by a monstrous castle, a trek through the mountains and numerous sojourns through caves will have you thinking Final Fantasy on many occasions.I liked the character design, especially Kaim, and the character models all look pretty good (creepy eye/lip motions not withstanding). The game world feels pretty small because there aren't as many sidequests to do as in a Final Fantasy title. The voice acting is fairly good across the board, although not all the dialogue is voiced, and the two young kids get very irritating as the game progresses. Jansen, however, is both hilariously written and fantastically acted, so I'm willing to forgive some of the other shortcomings. Musically, the game is competent, although no themes from the game stick out in my head. That about sums up the technical aspects: competent, but Microsoft's machine is capable of a lot more.

The story is a mix of clichés and innovative ideas, which makes it a bit of a mixed bag. There are plenty of overly melodramatic moments, but there are equally as many plot points that are thoughtful and original. The immortal aspect of the game (Kaim, the main character, cannot die) is one of its most interesting, and lends itself to the thirty short stories that make up segments called the Thousand Years of Dreams. As you travel about the world, certain events and scenes will provoke Kaim's memory (which has been lost) and the game will cut to one of said stories. These are all text, and take about 15 minutes to read apiece, but they're well worth it - the writing is wonderful, the sound effects that accompany them are fantastic, and each tale is compelling and [most] are touching. None come off as contrived or corny, which is incredible, given the breadth of topics they cover - from defending a forest of cicadas to spending time locked away in a pitch black cell. Kaim's history is a rich one, and it is well told through the Thousand Years of Dreams segments. They're good enough that you will want to keep going through the game to see them. If you don't believe me, look some of them up on YouTube.

The battle system is a fairly basic affair; you can have up to five party members, each of which has skills they are inherently good at (Kaim is your bruiser but is weak on the magic front). You will be randomly accosted by enemies as you travel around the world, something some folks loathe. The game tries to separate itself from the pack in a few ways, none of which really work. Immortals get revived after two turns if their HP drops to 0 and immortals can also learn any ability in the game by equipping the corresponding item and earning enough AP (similar to FFIX). You can also equip your characters with rings, which adds a timing element to your physical attacks - time it right to get a bonus (not unlike what you could do in FFVIII...hmmm, see any themes). Overall, it's pretty standard RPG stuff and straightforward after you make it past the hellishly difficult first disc. It is fun to try to beef your immortals up with tons of abilities, but the main quest offers such little challenge that it isn't really worth it. And there is only one area in the game with high level enemies (although you can download another ridiculously difficult dungeon/boss off of Xbox Live for $5). The enemies look pretty much ripped out of Final Fantasy, and most of them will be familiar to anyone who has played that series (Elementals, Behemoths etc. may be renamed here, but you can't fool us, Mistwalker).

Overall, I'd heartily recommend Lost Odyssey to any fan of RPGs. If you're a fan of Final Fantasy, you will almost certainly enjoy this next-gen entry into the role-playing arena. Decent graphics and sound combine with a compelling (albeit corny) story to make a game that's worth investing a lot of time into (and it is lengthy - my game save stood at 65 hours when all was said and done). The characters are likable (for the most part), although they do play off stereotypes a bit too much. The Thousand Years of Dreams segments are what makes this game a hidden gem, and what makes it worthy of a playthrough. The battle system is basic, but it's still fun, and has enough depth to make the battles interesting. The trite finale and the terrible villain soured the experience a bit for me, but if you're willing to overlook some shortcomings, you'll find an RPG just a cut below the Final Fantasy titles. And hey, the price is pretty good now, too!

7.5/10

[Additional notes: You can download an extra dungeon on Xbox Live for $5, along with some random items/an extra Thousand Years of Dreams segment for a couple more bucks.]

Rating:

- Excellent peice of work.
Some slightly bland features create the enormous, vast unique entourage that is this game. The characters are unique, and so is the voice acting to go with them. Each voice actor brings a unique style to play when creating these characters.

Rating:

- Fun, but not stupid people friendly
To keep the review simple: The game is awesome overall. Visuals, playing quality, story depth, etc. Just look at the other reviews for all that good stuff. Only problem with it I have is that I suck at the game. Hence, not very noob friendly (at least, without the guide). Alas, its worth every penny. Buy it nao!

Rating:

- Great Game
I'm already into the 2nd disk and it's a great game. Get it! (NOTE: this game is very unique in the fact it is more of a movie/book/game) It is very entertaining and challenging so far. I hope they make a sequal to this game!

Rating:

- Repetitive Gameplay kills the entire game
Lost Odyssey has great visuals, especially in the many (and I mean many) movie sequences. In the end however the gameplay is repetitive and you are dragged by the nose the entire story line. The storyline is one big cliché around the central theme of immortal characters, the other themes are the same from every Final Fantasy game from which it borrows the feel and turn based combat style.

Due to the very high quantity of videos it feels like something you are watching rather than playing, and occasionally the game allows you to play through a couple of combats to give you an illusion of interaction. The voice acting (in English at least) is absurdly bad and cheesy, soap opera style, the script of the story doesn't help and the actors must have felt somewhat helpless with the lines they were given (specially the interactions involving the protagonist, who is trying to be far more serious than the rest of the project). The only truly artistic part can be seen in the poems that appear in the form of dreams, although completely devoid of any gaming element they are (some of them) truly well made.

Without spoilers one can only wonder what they were expecting placing characters like the grandchildren in the game. I honestly felt silly through major portions of the story for playing this. The lack of control over saving also makes this a difficult game for the busier player since you cannot be assured that you can play "just another 10 minutes and save". You save when they let you save, you play when the movie is done, and you fight at every six steps. The combat system is the FF turn based we all know but with a timing mechanism of two rings (to create SOME sort of interaction by the player) that while it seems like a good idea it gets boring as hell.

As a final note the steady progression of the opponents makes no sense, at some point you are battling regular soldiers who are still a match to your characters despite the fact that you are 20-30 levels higher since the last time you faced them.

In the end I felt the Lost Odyssey is a childish game they purred a lot of resources in. It isn't worth the time though.


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