Lost Odyssey
February 18,2008 - If you have been following Mistwalker studios then you are aware of two things; first, that legendary Final Fantasy director Hironobu Sakaguchi is the creative force behind the games, and that they are a company making Japanese RPGs under Microsoft Games Studios. If you have owned an Xbox or an Xbox 360 it’s pretty rare to see this style of game on the systems, but needless to say, they really could use them for their overseas market. Lost Odyssey is the second endeavor for Mistwalker studios for the next generation. If you played last year’s Blue Dragon and were disappointed, know up front that Lost Odyssey is a much better, much more creative and much more fulfilling game and brings the genre into the next generation for the first time.

Though Lost Odyssey, for the most part, is a fairly straight forward RPG with mechanics that you’ve certainly seen before, its narrative, characters, and direction is superb and takes a significant step forward in terms of bringing these story-driven RPGs to the cinematic height they’ve been trying to get to. You play as Kaim Argonar, an immortal being who has lived for a thousand years but has no recollection of his past. Piece by piece you start to get it back and, over the course of the game, you become aware of an entire underlying plot that involves diplomatic affairs between countries that are on the brink of war over a specific type of power.

The story in and of itself is fairly clichéd, and it isn’t what keeps you so interested in this universe. It is the characters that are so endearing. Not only is Kaim an excellent protagonist, but there are several other characters just as memorable and interesting. There are other immortals besides Kaim, most notably there is Seth Balmore, who was a pirate but now works side by side with Kaim on his quest working for the nation of Uhra. There are also many other important characters, such as Jansen Friedh, the lovable yet annoying randy ladies man who is maybe a spy but also maybe not at the same time. All of the characters, surprisingly, are quite interesting, and all their plots unfold at a good pace never leaving one in the sidelines for too long, even though Kaim is clearly the main focus.

Kaim’s memory being locked away plays a huge role in the game’s story and the way you’ll play through it. All of Kaim’s memories are unfolded through a text script dream sequence. That may sound alarming considering the rest of the game is completely voiced, and this does take up a significant amount of time, but they are done brilliantly. These are stories of Kaim’s past that explain his demeanor, psychology, and entire being. You can skip these, as they aren’t really part of the main plot, but you would be missing some of the most emotionally riveting sequences this game, or any game for that matter, has to offer. They are accompanied by excellent music and subtle imagery that really gets the point across and doesn’t hold back hammering at the heart strings trying to get a rise out of you; these are truly some of the most exquisite moments Lost Odyssey has to offer.

The story, characters, and writing of Lost Odyssey are great, but the gameplay in and of itself is mildly archaic, but adds some unique twists that keep it refreshing at the same time as being pleasantly familiar. It is turn-based like the Final Fantasy games, and it also has random encounters which feel really 1997, but it still works well for the most part. The immortals are directly linked to the mortal characters in the way they learn skills. They must be linked to mortals in order for them to learn new skills, because you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, or something like that. The only other aspect of the combat that is remotely new is the ring system, which is basically like a quick-timed event to get your physical attacks boosted. The various rings you wear give you different attribute boosts, like any accessory, but when they’re equipped each physical attack’s quality is based on these little rings coming together at the perfect time.

The rest of the gameplay in Lost Odyssey consists of pretty standard fare for RPGs. Dungeon crawling, city searching, a few mediocre puzzles, fetch quests and other things of this nature for the most part make up the gameplay outside of combat. That being said, the actual locations and universe Lost Odyssey takes place in really comes together and feels just right. It’s a remarkable world that really makes use of its characters and the actual locations it sets all of the scenes in.

Graphically speaking, Lost Odyssey is a mixed bag. On one hand it’s gorgeous in its cinematography, and all of the character designs and locations, but on the other hand it has hiccups from time to time with framerate stuttering and long load times. This is relatively infrequent, but given the fact it’s based on the Unreal 3 engine, there is really no reason for a game like this to have any issues when a game like Gears of War does not.

The sound in Lost Odyssey, though, is downright fantastic. The voice work is particularly excellent, as each and every character has a natural feel to it, which is so out of the ordinary for a video game, especially a Japanese RPG. Kaim and Jansen are standouts, as well as the Queen Ming who you meet later on in the game. They are some of the best you’ll have heard in a long time. The game is scored by Nobuo Uematsu, the legendary Final Fantasy composer, and this is just as good as any of his recent work, if not better. All of the music fits each situation just right.

Mistwalker seemed to be nothing more than a hype machine by Microsoft to gain some Japanese support. Blue Dragon was okay, but ultimately boring and forgettable, while Lost Odyssey borders on the excellence we have seen from Sakaguchi in the past. If the gameplay could have evolved a tad bit compared to what we’ve seen before it would have been a nearly flawless game. The characters alone make Lost Odyssey an adventure worth having. At no point will this be a boring game for any fan of the genre, and it’s a game that really could push Xbox 360 sales overseas. It really is an absolute delight and a real surprise.

Games, News, Reviews, Media and More