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.