Final Fantasy is one of the most revered franchises in Japan, but the series creator hasn't been directly involved with the series for years. Hironobu Sakaguchi, truly a legend in RPG gaming circles, founded Mistwalker in 2004. Since that time, he's devoted himself to what may be his greatest challenge yet: make Japanese RPGs appealing on a Western oriented console, the Xbox 360.

The first two announced projects for Mistwalker, Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey, faced the uphill climb of being Japanese RPGs (and new IPs) on the Xbox 360. Blue Dragon was a moderate hit in Japan, and is still the best selling Xbox 360 title in that country, although the success was not matched overseas. Lost Odyssey, by contrast, has proven much more popular in the U.S. than it did in Japan.

We talked with Hees Kyung, Global Product Manager on Lost Odyssey, and discussed the virtues of getting lost in this adventure

The White Knight is talking backwards
According to the NPD, Lost Odyssey was the seventh best selling title during the month of February. This made it the third best selling title on the Xbox 360 during the same period. Overall, Lost Odyssey sold roughly 203,600 copies in February.

"We're certainly excited about and proud of the momentum that we've seen with the title thus far," said Kyung. "This demonstrates the level of enthusiasm that the gaming community had in the game before its release. Our hope is that the game continues to sell and gamers beyond RPG fans embrace it."

We noted that the pedigree of designer Hironobu Sakaguchi and composer Nobuo Uematsu no doubt helped create interest with Lost Odyssey, and Kyung agreed: "Both personages were pioneers in the genre and helped build and cement its important place in the gaming community. Working with people like Sakaguchi-san and Uematsu-san allowed us to create and establish credibility to deliver the next-gen eastern RPG on the Xbox 360."

"It'd be wrong to assume that there is no market for every genre, to say the least," he continued. "The unique challenge that this game faced with was to arouse the excitement around the game community and to help lead them to believe that the best games including Japanese RPGs are available and exclusive on the Xbox 360. I believe Lost Odyssey has achieved that objective, making an excellent contribution to the expansion of the Xbox portfolio."

And the Red Queen said, "Off with her head."
The Unreal Engine 3 is becoming practically ubiquitous around the gaming industry, and for good reason: the games it helps produce look that much better because of it. There's no denying that the world of Lost Odyssey is lush with its steam punk environments and odd magical technologies. While some reviewers have complained that the faces in the game aren't expressive enough and that the load times are noticeably long, the aesthetics of Lost Odyssey have received nigh universal praise.

Great production values

"We really feel that Lost Odyssey is a perfect storm of sorts, thanks to the amazing production levels of everything from the UE3 powered visuals, Uematsu's amazing musical compositions, and even the voice-acting was superb," commented Kyung. "It all came together so well to provide that true, emotional hook that Sakaguchi-san was striving for. Lost Odyssey definitely pulls on the heart strings. Several people have told us that they shed tears throughout the game. That Lost Odyssey can stir up that level of emotion is a testament to its excellence."

While the graphics are a highlight for the game, most RPGs will sink or swim based on their story. Penned by Kiyoshi Shigematsu working with Sakaguchi, Lost Odyssey's narrative deals with the melancholy adventures of the immortal warrior Kaim. Some critics have accused the story of being derivative, but most have praised it for its four DVDs worth of content, with the various memory sequences of the game being particularly well regarded.

"Most RPG players, if not all, play RPGs to enjoy being immersed in the story. I don't think there's any question about it," ventured Kyung. "What really sets Lost Odyssey apart, however, is not necessarily the simple fact that he's immortal but rather because he lives and has feelings like we do despite the fact that he's immortal. Here's the guy that wishes he could die but can't - he's forced to go on, looking for ways to find a meaning in his life. It's not the physical aspect around living eternally - rather it's spiritual, striking an emotional chord with gamers."

Remember... what the doorman said
Lost Odyssey had a multi-tiered advertising campaign but leading the way was undoubtedly the TV spot. Made by Hammer Creative, the ads' use of images and muse is very evocative of the journey through time and memory which Kaim faces. Anecdotally, GameDaily BIZ has seen gamers commenting on the spot positively around the web, which is always a good sign for an ad campaign.

"[It's] hard to choose [one element that stood out] because we had a great marketing mix to reach our audience in an effective fashion. But I'd have to say that of all that we did to promote Lost Odyssey, it's the TV spot that really struck a chord with me. While we captured necessary elements of an RPG such as hero character, epic worldview, and conflicts, we focused the message on the emotion aspect. We used the song White Rabbit from Jefferson Airplane, and the song helped convey that all the memories Kaim (hero character) has is in his head and for gamers to discover as the song ends saying 'feed your head.' Here is a laugh I had with my coworker - His brother texted him and said that 'the commercial with White Rabbit for Xbox is good. I just know White Rabbit was a great song back in the day, so I will go get a copy of the game.' So we have 1 sale based on the Jefferson Airplane tune."

It's hard to say whether Lost Odyssey will ultimately receive a direct sequel. Still, if nothing else, Lost Odyssey shows a market for other Japanese RPGs on the Xbox 360. Now if only Microsoft can convince more Japanese gamers to purchase their console...