Three weeks ago I started on my own Lost Odyssey. With over seventy five hours clocked, and haunted dreams being the concrete proof. Lost Odyssey is a game of incredible length. Whoever complains about short games needs to spend some quality time with this title. This is a title beyond the realm of rentals, and actually gives out more then its moneys worth.
That said having finally finished the title today. I wanted to share my impressions with my fellow gamers. I also wanted to pen my own review of the title. I also welcome others to share their own reviews if they have managed to work their way through the title. For those who haven't played the title, or don't even own the console please don't troll this thread. Curious posters are legitimately welcome, but this is a game discussion thread lets keep it about the game. Keep petty jealousy out of this thread.
I rate games on a ten point scale. Ten being utter perfection, and zero being a crime against humanity. To me five is an average game. Seven is not average it is above average. I know a lot of professional reviewers consider seven an average but not me. Whats the point of ten points if six of those points are merely for ragging on a game. You might as well just have a five point system. That said here is my scoring of the game.
Overall 8.8
Graphics 9.3
Sound 10
Controls 10
Interface 8
Gameplay 9.5
Story 8
Graphically the game is gorgeous and it pulls it off in all aspects of the game. From cinematics, and world navigation to the battle sequences. Everything looks detailed, and the developers really had a grasp of depth. However the game really shines in the character appearance and animation. The characters are extremely detailer you can actually see the indentation in the mollars in a characters mouth as they talk. The characters move in a fantastically natural fashion as well. That said there are a few visual short comings, and the lag generated by some of these graphical touches is noticable.
The sound is spactacular showing a heavy emphasis on foley work, and in the musical score. Not once did I notice a issue with bad music, and it conveyed the appropriate emotions. The ambient noises were a treat. There are literally hundreds of sounds to be found in the game most of which aren't fanciful in the least. Creaking doors, birds crowing, a crafter pounding with a mallet. The voice acting was equally well done the trophy going to the character Jansen who pulled off some hilarious dialog. This was done perfectly I couldn't find anything to nitpick here.
The controls are neither superb or bad basically you have to be really incompetent to screw up controls that could be made to work with two buttons and a analog stick. Thankfully running was incorporated into the game, and there are a few stealth elements, and timing elements. The only issue was touchy sensitivity for object interaction, but that is almost a sliver of a problem when compared to the controls overall.
The interface does have some issues while it is fully functional and easy enough to navigate there is still too much scrolling and backtracking. You will find yourself trying to heal a character, equip the character, and change the skill linking. All of which takes far too long especially when your trying to handle five characters at hand. During combat the same issue of scrolling through items, spells, and moves is overly time consuming. To make matters worse the game retains no location memory from your last use. You might want to use the same item twice, but the selection rotates around on you. The interface is good enough, but it does become a bit cumbersome especially the farther you get into the game.
The gameplay is superb if not revolutionary. Combat and world navigation are very cerebral affairs. The player has to adopt new strategies for new foes. The game is littered with puzzle solving dungeons. The character development is an involved process which grasps the players attention. The game keeps you busy and involved. The game is basically well balanced with no major faults. The downsides include poor enemy artifical intelligence. Defeat a foe once, and they have nothing left to throw at you. The ring equiping system is excessive. Too many rings to ever build so you lose interest quickly. A few worthless skills that seem to be in place for bulk. There were a few moves that never seemed to work for me, or were not effective enough to justify using in any situation. The casting time seemed a little too punative at times. A defense taking three turns to erect is almost a useless gesture.
The story is the real tragedy of this game. While it started out powerfully and had grand potential it ended in a quivering mess on the floor. I suppose the game was so long that it was inevitable that before it came to an ever delayed ending it would be suffering from senility. The game went from having a strong story line to unraveling before your eyes. The story became aimless, and the objectives were a mystery. The ending wasn't even fulfilling due to the delayed nature. More to the point it made little sense, but had a supremely happy ending burned into its end trails. The thing that really saves this games story are the dream sequences which were powerfully written, and should have been incorporated more fully.
The game is a rock solid title that does a plethora of things correctly. The problem is a delayed one of an anticlimactic resolution. The game begins to unwind the closer you get to the end. Everything goes to hell in a hand basket. The story flies apart at the seems. The combat balance melts away. The character building becomes a deplorable affair. Had the game maintained its tempo and excellence throughout it would be well worthy of marks over a nine thanks to its sheer volume alone. However it doesn't have the chops to go all twelve rounds, and thats what really stings the most.
