Lost Odyssey

[nozkits]

This game comes out on Tuesday the 12th. Are you guys ready. Has anyone watched the commercial? It was pure genius. White Rabbit.

I can't wait I already paid for it on full reserve. This game is gonna be huge. I mean 4 dual layered disc huge!!! :D

[LunarWeaver]

I'm very excited for it. Reviews are ranging from YAY to NOO, but I figure I'll fall under the former situation. Though putting pretty current-gen looks aside, it basically looks like a Final Fantasy game caught between VI and VII: Innovative in some ways, old-school in others. It's a new franchise and turn-based is pretty niche, so I don't expect it to do well I'm afraid. But Mistwalker will enjoy my 60 bucks, y'all!

[Nifleheim7]

I heard some terrible things about it's loading times...

I think Sacaguchi made a bad decision when he decided to focus more on story and keep the old FF gameplay.
RPG fans in the west want new things and innovation in their games and this is anything but that.It's an exclusive to 360 so therefore i think in terms of sales this game is doomed in the west.
Of course he mostly tried to lure the Japanese gamers but the problem is 360 keeps on failing to attract the japanese yen...

[Ouch!]

I'm picking it up in a couple hours. I'm psyched.

[Markus. D]

I can't wait to get it ^^

[nozkits]

I'm pissed off right now

"we don't get our shipments in until tomorrow."


and its sold out everywhere else!!

I want this game so badly.

I mean its good to have the old school on a next gen.

[DK]

Got it last week, it's pretty good so far. Load time problems have been grossly exaggerated from what I can tell. The Thousand Years of Dreams thing is a nice touch for mine.

It's basically like FFX with better graphics, less annoying characters and a not as fun battle system. Though the Ring stuff is quite cool, I must admit.

I think I will go and play some more of this right now, actually!

[Hazzard]

Would you recommend buying it as soon as possible?

[DK]

It's far from essential, tbh. I would even advocate waiting for the price to drop a little before picking it up, but bare in mind I am still only a little way into the game. But from what I can tell it's basically your run of the mill JRPG, there's nothing outstanding or drastically fresh and new about it.

[LunarWeaver]

Yearg! That's what makes me iffy about this game. I'm sure I'll like it and stuff, but at this point it's like... I've done this routine how many times. I'm just not sure I can do it yet again with another RPG. Maybe later on the game will pick up. If it does, please throw a brick through my window with a note attached saying "It picks up -- you'll like it!". I would appreciate that.

[Ouch!]

I'll be getting it tomorrow after all. Oh well.

[DK]

It is nice to be playing an RPG with a Uematsu soundtrack again, I must say. :heart:

[nozkits]

It is nice to be playing an RPG with a Uematsu soundtrack again, I must say. :heart:
Yes, I must agree with you on that!! I can't wait until tomorrow, but on a side note I really need to start studying for my art history examination tomorrow.

[Dreddz]

It is nice to be playing an RPG with a Uematsu soundtrack again, I must say. :heart:

Did you hear Blue Dragons soundtrack?

[DK]

No, game was boring as :skull::skull::skull::skull: so I traded it in. :monster:

[LunarWeaver]

BD's soundtrack was like listening to Final Fantasy IX's B-sides or something anyway. I downloaded LO's battle theme and it's amazing =O

The commercial for this game made me like the song White Rabbit :jess: I keep listening to it now!

[Madame Adequate]

It's far from essential, tbh. I would even advocate waiting for the price to drop a little before picking it up, but bare in mind I am still only a little way into the game. But from what I can tell it's basically your run of the mill JRPG, there's nothing outstanding or drastically fresh and new about it.

Lost Odyssey: Lost Odyssey About Emotion, Not Innovation (http://kotaku.com/354829/lost-odyssey-about-emotion-not-innovation)

[JKTrix]

Sakaguchi practically (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_Quest) invented and owns the traditional JRPG, so you can't really fault him too much for not bothering with innovation. Strangely though, the people who actually developed Lost Odyssey made the Shadow Hearts RPG series, which had a pretty unique battle style if I recall correctly.

As for me, it's a pass. Mostly because my system is broken.

[LunarWeaver]

I would consider the turn-based RPG almost a sub-genre at this point. And looking at it like that, of course it's similar to other turn-based systems. After all, aren't shooters, racing games, fighting games, etc. all very similar within their genre? But that doesn't mean they couldn't spice it up here or there. It's like playing a shooter with few guns, a racing game with few tracks, or a fighting game with few characters: The core fun is there, but there's nothing wrong with wishing they'd done more. The ring-timing and wall system are interesting but not really hotsauce in my opinion. It will still be fun for me, don't get me wrong. But, you know... Just because it doesn't reinvent turn-based gameplay isn't really an excuse to do nothing is all. :aimblush:

[DK]

Lost Odyssey: Lost Odyssey About Emotion, Not Innovation (http://kotaku.com/354829/lost-odyssey-about-emotion-not-innovation)

I have to say, it has done this quite well so far. The Thousand Year of Dreams things have had a few blurry eyed moments. The main story starts off a bit slowly but it's picking up now.

Also, the GC wall system is pretty damn annoying, man. Most of the fighting in this game is, just 'cause it's so ridiculously imbalanced in favour of the computer. As you get more powerful it gets more manageable but it's still slightly retarded. Immortal people shouldn't be such wussies!

I still like turn based battle systems, I just wish they'd give us more to do with them. Generic Attack/Spell/Item/Defend :skull::skull::skull::skull: is totally fail. Hell, all I need to make me happy is a Crono Trigger tech system. Just unique and suave looking moves for each character, double team moves and the odd triple team moves. They're suave and they add the nice little flair that would keep me interested in battles. Hell even just limit breaks, anything to break the monotony.

[Necronopticous]

Logged five hours after my classes tonight. Really enjoying it so far.

[nozkits]

I'm enjoying it, but the boss battles are insanely difficult. I mean almost impossible. It's all tilted towards the AI's favor.

Other than that I am in love with this game.

[DK]

The first one was a pain in the arse because I wasn't prepared for the jump in difficulty so it kicked my ass, but since then boss fights have been relatively simple. Some battles are still retarded, though. I dunno how far you've gotten but wait until you get to the fight with the dudes who use this attack called "Rush", it's ridiculously cheap.

[JKTrix]

Is it true that the game scales as you level? Like in Oblivion, when you level up, so does everything else.

[DK]

I don't know about that, it just restricts you. Like you'll get to a new dungeon, go up a level and then you'll start getting less and less exp until you're getting like 1 exp per monster you kill and have to grind like a motherfucker if you really want to level. So it's not really worth the effort to level up because it takes a ridiculous amount of time.

(although I think I am ahead of the game a little bit because I grinded for the first boss when I got my ass handed to me a little bit to see how much difference the level up would make and then again later because I had no cash, but it's not like it's made any major difference)

[Necronopticous]

Everyone keeps talking about how difficult the boss battles are but I have yet to even have one character die, and I haven't grinded one bit other than one time for maybe 15 minutes so that I could afford all the new equipment that became available to me.

I do switch out rings a lot during battle to make my attacks more effective, and I take advantage of the items since they're so easy to come by. Honestly, I think if you guys are having that much trouble you might be doing something wrong, or not taking advantage of something the game is offering you.

[DK]

I think you just have a broken copy of the game tbh! Either that or you've been ridiculously lucky so far. Walking into the first boss battle in the game to have him do 250+ damage to all of your party members on the first hit and then constantly spam an always poisoning poison claw for 150+ damage or the 250 to all on to your 500/470/280 HP characters is not exactly my idea of simple when you're not expecting it. So I can only imagine you got lucky with where the attacks went. He basically decimated my GC and then killed Jansen, so there went the healing spell. And The healing medicine was just brilliant, what with it's 100 HP healing power against something that never dropped under 150 on any of its attacks. :monster:

[Ouch!]

The Gamestop I pre-ordered it at still hasn't received the shipment. This sucks hardcore. ; ;

[nozkits]

The first one was a pain in the arse because I wasn't prepared for the jump in difficulty so it kicked my ass, but since then boss fights have been relatively simple. Some battles are still retarded, though. I dunno how far you've gotten but wait until you get to the fight with the dudes who use this attack called "Rush", it's ridiculously cheap.

I'm fighting this giant bird, and it has kicked me ass up and down about 20 times now. yes that is correct.

I am not gonna pull a Two World's and stop playing it. I can't play it now mainly because I will be at a conference.


The Gamestop I pre-ordered it at still hasn't received the shipment. This sucks hardcore. ; ;
I preordered from circuit city and they didn't even have it after the day of release. So I got my money back and let capitalism do its magic and bought it at the Targets right next door to the Circuit City.

but the game is fun and it has a section of the game were you collect dreams, and they're basically the main character's memories. They're good, but its like reading a series of short stories. I liked it, but other people think it's boring. I think this game targets people who want story dept in it. They don't necessarily care about how bad the gameplay is as long as the storyline is great, and this is that type of game. You play because you want to progress in the story. It isn't like Halo 3 were its a huge grind until you get to the next cinema scene.
Lost Odyssey is one of those games were you play so that you can learn more about the world and the story within the world. These types of games are rare even for JRPGs.


I think you just have a broken copy of the game tbh! Either that or you've been ridiculously lucky so far. Walking into the first boss battle in the game to have him do 250+ damage to all of your party members on the first hit and then constantly spam an always poisoning poison claw for 150+ damage or the 250 to all on to your 500/470/280 HP characters is not exactly my idea of simple when you're not expecting it. So I can only imagine you got lucky with where the attacks went. He basically decimated my GC and then killed Jansen, so there went the healing spell. And The healing medicine was just brilliant, what with it's 100 HP healing power against something that never dropped under 150 on any of its attacks. :monster:
All of my characters are self sufficient. I made them all learn both black and white magic spells, and I carry itemsthat heal you, and I found a lot of antidotes.

But yea that's the bird boss for ya.

[DK]

I've done all that for my characters as well. It only beat me down the first time, the second time I fought it, it went relatively easily. Power Drink + Fire Ring on Kaim = death

[Necronopticous]

I made some good progress today, A couple hours into disc 2 now. Really loving it at this point.

[Ichimonji]

I'm happy to see people are enjoying it. I'm going to buy it when I get my 360 at the end of the month.

[Ouch!]

I've not been playing for very long, but it's freaking awesome.

Edit: I just logged a ridiculous amount of play time. The boss at the Grand Staff gave me a little bit of trouble. I just had to go back and teach everyone in my party the anti-paralysis ability, then it was a piece of cake. Otherwise, I'm not finding the game too particularly difficult this far.

A Thousand Years of Dreams is perhaps one of the most awesome things ever.

[nozkits]

I've not been playing for very long, but it's freaking awesome.

Edit: I just logged a ridiculous amount of play time. The boss at the Grand Staff gave me a little bit of trouble. I just had to go back and teach everyone in my party the anti-paralysis ability, then it was a piece of cake. Otherwise, I'm not finding the game too particularly difficult this far.

A Thousand Years of Dreams is perhaps one of the most awesome things ever.
Its pretty amazing that people are willing to read short stories on a video game.

Anyway I finally beat the first boss, but I just got back from the Big XII Black Student conference so I didn't get to play at all this weekend and I gotta get ready for an exam. Wish me luck and by Friday I'll be on LO!!! :D

[Bunny]

It has one of the most intriguing storylines I have read in a long, long time. The characters are fairly well done, as is everything else in the entire game. It is incredibly depressing at the same time though, which is a really nice touch. Makes you feel apart of the game and whatnot.

I just got to the end of disc 1, which is where it hits with you a nice little "OH HEY CRY TIME NOW" part.

The bosses are somewhat difficult, yes, until you figure out the right strategies. The first boss gave me some trouble until you figure out that he has a pretty serious weakness and you can exploit it like nobodies business to toss him a sack of hurt. The boss that Ouch! talked about was also somewhat difficult, but it was mostly about outlasting him and making sure he couldn't hit you with his dumb attacks.

The third boss (I believe, whatever number the end of Disc 1 boss is) is really cool, too. It is also a nice break from the difficulties as it is really just a patience fight.

Overall, I am extremely impressed with the game as a whole. Brings me back into the console field.


Note: All fanboying could be attributed to having played Enchanted Arms directly before playing Lost Odyssey. Enchanted Arms is horrible in almost ever aspect (save Golems).

[Ouch!]

I've logged nineteen hours this weekend. The game continues to blow me away. I maintain that A Thousand Years of Dreams is one of the most amazing things in a video game ever.

[Necronopticous]

Shigematsu's stories transcend video games.

Those who wrote off Lost Odyssey as a typical JRPG that brought nothing new to the genre were looking in all the wrong places.

[Raven Nox]

I'm loving every minute of this game so far. The characters, the story, and even the battle system. I don't mind the difficult boss battles at all. It gives you a better feeling when they finally go down.

A Thousand Years of Dreams... those things make me so depressed after reading them, but I don't regret it for a minute. The stories are just so beautiful. And Jansen manages to cheer me back up right after one of them anyway. No thanks to Mr. Chuckles.

[nozkits]

Shigematsu's stories transcend video games.

Those who wrote off Lost Odyssey as a typical JRPG that brought nothing new to the genre were looking in all the wrong places.

I still believe this game will receive mad amounts of hate for no real reason, and mostly from people who own a PS3, or has a xbox360 and is a halo fan(and trust me not all FPS gamers are Halo gamers/fans. Halo is something else. Plus in the world of FPS Halo is really 2nd rate), and most likely has never even played the game. Or has played it, but expected it to only be 20 hours of gameplay at the most.

[Ouch!]

Or has played it, but expected it to only be 20 hours of gameplay at the most.
My friend came in after I'd played ten hours and asked me if I'd beaten it yet. He was dead serious.

Edit: I've just beaten the third disc. I continue to be blown away by this game.

[Necronopticous]

I hit disc three earlier today.

I'm convinced that shadow is the most broken spell in the game. When you've got a back row of 3+ characters using it one after the other every turn, almost no group stands a chance. I swear I plowed through 80% of the encounters on disc 2 with that one spell and some front row physical attacks thrown in.

[nozkits]

I hit disc three earlier today.

I'm convinced that shadow is the most broken spell in the game. When you've got a back row of 3+ characters using it one after the other every turn, almost no group stands a chance. I swear I plowed through 80% of the encounters on disc 2 with that one spell and some front row physical attacks thrown in.
how are you progressing through the game so quickly. I mean I was at a conference the entire week last week and then I have test this week. I'm only at the worm boss on the first disc, and I have to do some back tracking so I can beat this boss.

[Depression Moon]

I would love to play this game since it's made by tow of my favorite game developers Sakaguchi and composer Uematsu, but it's for the curse word and I'm wondering why has Sakaguchi decided to make his games exclusively for the 360, especially with the game being on four discs which on PS3 it it would have only been on one.

[LunarWeaver]

I finally got the game. I'm only just past the first boss, but I'm really enjoying it. I didn't find the first boss very hard, really. I died the first time, then went in the second knowing exactly what to do. I figure these bosses are like the Digital Devil Saga bosses: Die once, figure out what skills to set, go in and rule the world.

What is all the reports of "Slow story at the start that's not that interesting"? I found this game totally enthralling from second one of cutscene one.

The gameplay is basic but still very fun. I'm liking this game more than I even expected, and I did, on some level, expect to enjoy it. The loading times were a worry for me, and they are bad but not as bad as I thought. And besides, with the sprint button and the very well spaced random encounters, it all adds to about the same sitting around as most RPGs.

How Blue Dragon scored a higher accumulated score on Metacritic and higher score in Famitsu is quite frankly bewildering.

[DK]

Yeah I got no idea how Blue Dragon outscored LO, it just makes absolutely no sense to me.

The amount of people blasting through this game so quickly makes me worry that it's going to be a lot shorter than I anticipated, so I hope that's just more to do with people investing a lot of time into the game rather than it not being very long.

[Necronopticous]

The amount of people blasting through this game so quickly makes me worry that it's going to be a lot shorter than I anticipated, so I hope that's just more to do with people investing a lot of time into the game rather than it not being very long.The overall length of the game seems about average.

[Fonzie]

I need to pick this up whenever I get the time.

[GuitarGuy1181]

I think I will have to get this tomorrow...

[nozkits]

Yeah I got no idea how Blue Dragon outscored LO, it just makes absolutely no sense to me.

The amount of people blasting through this game so quickly makes me worry that it's going to be a lot shorter than I anticipated, so I hope that's just more to do with people investing a lot of time into the game rather than it not being very long.

I think these people are playing it for hours. I barely get 20 minutes to play this game on a day I am not busy.

[LunarWeaver]

This game has restored my faith in J-RPGs. To be frank, I was sick of them and decided I was done with the genre. But this reminds me why I like them in the first place.

Also, those Dream stories are worth 60 dollars alone.

Edit: By the way... If you save, go back to the menu screen, and load the game, it refills everybody's HP and MP. Why not just make the save points refill you in the first place? :lol:

[nozkits]

This game has restored my faith in J-RPGs. To be frank, I was sick of them and decided I was done with the genre. But this reminds me why I like them in the first place.

Also, those Dream stories are worth 60 dollars alone.
SAme here. Once I played Morrowind. I was hooked on western RPGs, and with this JRPG. It's a breath of fresh air.

[DK]

Edit: By the way... If you save, go back to the menu screen, and load the game, it refills everybody's HP and MP. Why not just make the save points refill you in the first place? :lol:

Awesome, I love you for posting that dude. :heart:

Also am I the only one who gets entirely frustrated by having a bunch of battles, wasting a load of items to replenish your HP and MP and then come across one of those HP/MP restoring bubbles? it's so much hate :(

[nozkits]

Edit: By the way... If you save, go back to the menu screen, and load the game, it refills everybody's HP and MP. Why not just make the save points refill you in the first place? :lol:

Awesome, I love you for posting that dude. :heart:

Also am I the only one who gets entirely frustrated by having a bunch of battles, wasting a load of items to replenish your HP and MP and then come across one of those HP/MP restoring bubbles? it's so much hate :(
I love bug exploitation.

Huzzah!!!! :beer:

[Ouch!]

I hit disc four last night. I'll be playing it again as soon as my roommate is done with Madden.

[LunarWeaver]

I'm saddling disc 3 now.

I was kinda hoping for a few scenes between Kaim and Sarah. I don't really get a love feeling. They feel more like strangers than Kaim and Seth do.

[Ouch!]

I'm saddling disc 3 now.

I was kinda hoping for a few scenes between Kaim and Sarah. I don't really get a love feeling. They feel more like strangers than Kaim and Seth do.

That's because while Kaim remembers Sarah, she does not remember him. She knows, because of her diaries, that she loved Kaim enough to marry him and have his daughter, but she doesn't actually have those memories of loving him.

[LunarWeaver]

I'm saddling disc 3 now.

I was kinda hoping for a few scenes between Kaim and Sarah. I don't really get a love feeling. They feel more like strangers than Kaim and Seth do.

That's because while Kaim remembers Sarah, she does not remember him. She knows, because of her diaries, that she loved Kaim enough to marry him and have his daughter, but she doesn't actually have those memories of loving him.

I know, I do get that. But at the same time, it's like she made this huge speech about knowing she still loved him despite it all. And after I was expecting them to get to know each other, or try to rekindle it, and they really never did.

Plus, she cares tons about Mack and Cooke and she didn't know them at all before now. They're her grandkids, so it makes sense, but I still wish she'd been a little more intense about Kaim.

It's not like it's a huge deal or anything, though. xD At least I get Jansen x Ming to backflip over.

[nozkits]

I'm about to hit the third disc.

[chionos]

The game is fantastic. It's basically what FFXII should have been. Not that I didn't like FFXII, b/c I'm one of the few people who really liked it, but nevertheless, there's something about LO that feels more like a FF game than FFXII did or XIII will, and it's not just the traditional combat system.
I love the difficulty, it was a huge surprise, although at a couple points it gets frustrating(I hate regular enemies that take 0 damage from regular attackslike the ones in Kaim and Sarah's old house they burn through my mp so friggin fast)
I was excited about the 4 discs until I had to change to disc 2 less than 10 hours into the game. I thought the game was going to be huge, but I guess it's just average. I hope, though, that the the last disc is jam-packed full of extra stuff to do. I'm especially hoping for some massive hidden boss monsters.


I would love to play this game since it's made by tow of my favorite game developers Sakaguchi and composer Uematsu, but it's for the curse word and I'm wondering why has Sakaguchi decided to make his games exclusively for the 360, especially with the game being on four discs which on PS3 it it would have only been on one.

He made it exclusively for 360 b/c Microsoft funded the development of Mistwalker. I don't think it has anything to do with anything but that.

[nozkits]

The game is fantastic. It's basically what FFXII should have been. Not that I didn't like FFXII, b/c I'm one of the few people who really liked it, but nevertheless, there's something about LO that feels more like a FF game than FFXII did or XIII will, and it's not just the traditional combat system.
I love the difficulty, it was a huge surprise, although at a couple points it gets frustrating(I hate regular enemies that take 0 damage from regular attackslike the ones in Kaim and Sarah's old house they burn through my mp so friggin fast)
I was excited about the 4 discs until I had to change to disc 2 less than 10 hours into the game. I thought the game was going to be huge, but I guess it's just average. I hope, though, that the the last disc is jam-packed full of extra stuff to do. I'm especially hoping for some massive hidden boss monsters.


I would love to play this game since it's made by tow of my favorite game developers Sakaguchi and composer Uematsu, but it's for the curse word and I'm wondering why has Sakaguchi decided to make his games exclusively for the 360, especially with the game being on four discs which on PS3 it it would have only been on one.

He made it exclusively for 360 b/c Microsoft funded the development of Mistwalker. I don't think it has anything to do with anything but that.
I heard all the Japanese companies killed the HD format, and are only supporting the BLu-rays. Which is gonna suck now because we get a lot of our electronics from that country and other asian countries that are sure to align with this.

[Scottie]

It's really nice to see some quality Uematsu music again. He has a wonderful way of transporting you right into the game. He remains one of the few artists in the video game genre in which I actually buy the OST's, rip them to my ipod and listen to them sprinkled into my regular rotation. Then when one of his songs pop up, I'm instantly reminded of where and when I heard it. Seriously wonderful stuff.

Oh, and the game is progressing nicely too ;)

[LunarWeaver]

I'm at the last dungeon :jess: Unfortunately I have no sense of direction and I'm running around in circles for literal hours. This is the most annoying thing this side of Xenogears.

[Dragonsoul]

Hehe! I bought a Xbox 360 last August for Blue Dragon and for Lost Odyssey. Before I got the Xbox 360 though I had decided that I wasn't as interested in Blue Dragon so I'd rent it and see how it was. I rented it and didn't like it. I was still interested in Lost Odyssey, but my interest went down a bit after playing Blue Dragon, and I also read a bad review of the Japanese version that talked about bugs and stuff. My interest has increased for this game in recent weeks though. Too bad I sold my Xbox 360 in November to buy a Nintendo DS for Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings. I did end up beating Eternal Sonata for Xbox 360 though. :)

Maybe later this year I'll get a Xbox 360 again, not sure though, I'm trying to focus less on rpg's.

I'm currently playing Final Fantasy Tactics(PSP), Warcraft 3, and I'll play Alundra 1 and Final Fantasy Tactics A2 next. I'm waiting for Starcraft, plus I'm also waiting for FF XIII, FF Versus XIII, and FF Agito Xiii. :)

[Garnie]

my brother just rang me about this game raving that its FFVII lol but iv just had a gander at some gameplay on zee me tube! and it kinda has a XIIish battle system......i kinda wanna play it tho because it reeks of square-enix with the corners shaved off ^^

[nozkits]

my brother just rang me about this game raving that its FFVII lol but iv just had a gander at some gameplay on zee me tube! and it kinda has a XIIish battle system......i kinda wanna play it tho because it reeks of square-enix with the corners shaved off ^^

The guy who made it might've made other Final Fantasy's, but wasn't even involved in the creation of XII. The battle system is nothing like XII though I did like it.
LO is nothing like XII stop being superficial and play the game.

[LunarWeaver]

I beat it today :jess: I will tell you the ending is satisfying and awesome. It's not perfect, but overall I think it was pretty good. It's not quite the Final Fantasy XI that never happened, but it can be Final Fantasy's little brother.

[Hazzard]

my brother just rang me about this game raving that its FFVII lol but iv just had a gander at some gameplay on zee me tube! and it kinda has a XIIish battle system......i kinda wanna play it tho because it reeks of square-enix with the corners shaved off ^^

Gameplay is completely different. Lost Odyssey has Turn Based system, while XII has a Real Time battle system.

[Ichimonji]

I'm in the middle of disc 2. I found a place called the Numara Atoll where I can pretty much power level my characters to like 48. I'm enjoying myself. The interactions between the characters and the cutscenes are very fluid, it's fantastic. The overall game is by no means anything special or innovative, but it's fun to play.

[Cloud88]

Just got this game on Friday, and I'm still on disc one (hey, I have exams, gimme a break!) but so far I'm engrossed. The graphics are class, story so far, riveting and Seth and Ming are hot.:cool: What else could I want? This is by far the best RPG I've played in recent times. (Besides FF of course.)

[lord of odin]

Great Game.. Forgot How Much I Loved Turn-Based RPG Games :D

Currently On Disc 2.. Addicted 2 It!! :love:

[Ichimonji]

I completed it today. I also did a lot of sidequests, and maxed out all my mortals. I have 27 out of 36 achievements (850/1000). I pretty much only need to max my immortals, and get the treasure trove acheivement and the spells. Both of which I would need to complete the Temple of Enlightenment for, as I only need one Spirit Magic spell, and it's in there. I hate that place though :/.

Anyways, I talk about my views on Lost Odyssey in my LJ (see signature). My gamercard is also in my sig, if you want to see what achievements I have.

[Alucard von Elru]

I'm currently on Disc 3 of the game and am enjoying it well enough. I've grown out of traditional RPGs on the whole a lot recently, so it's no surprise that I'm finding myself taking very frequent breaks. The combat is enjoyable, but in traditional RPG fashion has a bit too much filler to keep me consistently engaged.

The primary thing that keeps me coming back is the story, however, and that's what I bought the game for. The Dream sequences are some of the most poignant and absorbing literary works I've encountered through any medium and they simply cannot be praised enough. The main storyline is very "Final Fantasy", which is either good or bad depending on your tastes, but I'm personally enjoying it. It's reminding me of Final Fantasy X a lot, but with even greater and more detailed character interactions and wittier dialogue. Jansen is the funniest thing since Joachim in Shadow Hearts: Covenant!

The overall game mechanics are essentially a blending of the best elements of FFVI, VIII, IX, and X, and though it lacks some polish in certain spots the whole effect is addictive and responsive enough. One aspect that deserves praise is that even though the exploration segments are standard, pulled-back camera, linear affair (as opposed to the likes of Panzer Dragoon Saga or Skies of Arcadia's more adventure game-esque exploration), they have an absolutely insane degree of interaction. It seems as though items are tucked into literally everything, and aside from the occasional pot and chest the game still, even on Disc 3, manages to come up with a new thing for every town and dungeon. I still can't get over peeling back posters for items, though! XD That was just too cool.

The music, of course, deserves much praise. As far as I'm concerned, this is uncontestedly Uematsu's greatest work. The Dreams are made that much more powerful by the incredible music selection and use of sound to punctuate certain moments.

Overall, my complaints with the game are few. As far as I'm concerned, this is the Final Fantasy I grew up with. The professional reviews are right in saying that the game lacks originality, because it does as far as its mechanics are concerned. But in this case, it's not really so much a flaw. Even though I've grown out of the more conventional FF-style of RPGs, I have a lot of history with them, and this game is "Final Fantasy" in all but name. It has all of their flaws, but at the same time possesses all of their strengths and even comes in with a few of its own unique strengths (dear god, the Dreams are just wonderful). I'd wager so far, unless the game suddenly took a dramatic and unexpected dive in quality on Disc 4, the game will most likely earn a rock-solid 8/10 from me.

[Ouch!]

I finally picked the game up again. I'd stopped playing at the beginning of disc four when I started getting slaughtered by random encounters. Only last night did I realize that the place I went to was not actually part of the main quest, but rather a side quest. I could probably power level past level 50 in that place. xD

[Cloud88]

Just finished LO not 2 hours ago. Seriously, what an amazing game. I'm probably gonna get beaten up for saying this, but its sooooo much better than FF12. Sure, FF12 had new ideas, a different battle method, but LO has such a better story (not to mention the dreams/memories), and for me, its all about the story.

I would definitely like to see a Lost Odyssey 2 in the future. I'd buy it in a second, no matter what reviews it gets. The only problem I had with LO, was that I beat the final boss on level 58 and I only leveled up for about half an hour in The Temple of Enlightenment. The boss was too simple. The only time a character got knocked out was when I got hit with a Death spell. It goes a bit FFX-ish, like when after a while you can beat Braska's Final Aeon in a measly 2 hits.

Also, the game is a bit short. I think I beat it in about 45-50 hours. A lot of this time was spent on side-quests, but not all my side-quests are finished yet. Although, the fact that it kept me coming back for that length of time is surely something to be noted.

But all this aside, LO is still an extremely worthy addition to Mr. Sakaguchis arsenal of Famous RPGs. By far, its better than FF12 (my opinion). But in a sense, I'm glad its not a FF. It doesn't have the same feel as an FF, and yet not quite the feel of the Shadow Hearts series. (But as Alucard von Elru said, Jansen has the same kind of humour as Joachim, but Jansen is sooooo much funnier.) It has a completely different feel and it has certainly carved its own little niche in the big bad world of RPGs. Hopefully, it will continue and expand this niche. Now, where's my Xbox controller.........

[Blackheart252]

I love this game, i'm on disc four, and i can't get enough. Hironobu Sakaguchi has really outdone himself. im sorry for this, but i think its much better than any final fantasy game

[Hazzard]

so, erm, anyone else tried out this game? thread seems a little dead...

[Citizen Bleys]

I just got it, but with my 10-hour shifts and 2-hour one-way travel time, I haven't had much time to play yet. I've heard nothing but good things about it from local folks who've played it, and it looked awesome even on the SDTVs that people were using at work to play it.

I'm really looking forward to this game. If it wasn't 360-exclusive, I may have got a PS3 instead. Getting a 360 is also what brought me back to EoFF, so you could say that Lost Odyssey is responsible for my presence here. Don't kill the Mistwalker devs, though. They knew not what they did.

[Krelian]

I also bought my 360 because of Lost Odyssey. I'm still on disc 2, around 25 hours into the game. So far it hasn't disappointed me, one of the best RPGs I've played in a long time.

[Momiji]

Is it worth buying, or should I just rent it?

[Krelian]

Personally I'd never rent a game O.o Either I buy it and like it or I buy it and don't like it, in which case it would find its way to Ebay. That rarely happens though.

The views on the game differ substantially from person to person. In my opinion, it's an awesome game and it feels a lot like a Final Fantasy. If you like RPGs you should definitely buy it. I haven't had this much fun with an RPG in years.

[Hazzard]

Best RPG I've ever played. My recommendation would be to buy it straight away.

[Citizen Bleys]

So, having been at work all week, I haven't had much chance to play it until I put in an hour yesterday. I'm thinking "Ha, I know RPGs like no-one knows RPGs, I don't have to save until time to shut the game off." So, I'm just starting to get tired and I see a save point. I decide to go to bed and make a beeline for the save point.

Boss fight.

No problem, right? I know RPGs. No mere boss is going to make an end of me. After all, 2 of my characters are immortals, right? They can't be killed.

Boss: Oh yeah? Watch.

I got me arse handed to me. Not even on a silver platter. More like a styrofoam plate.

Apparently, though, at E3 or one of those other gaming shows, Hironobu Sakaguchi demo'd Lost Odyssey and lost to the same boss, so I don't feel too bad.

[Ouch!]

Apparently, though, at E3 or one of those other gaming shows, Hironobu Sakaguchi demo'd Lost Odyssey and lost to the same boss, so I don't feel too bad.
Compared to a majority of the game, the bosses are stupidly difficult. I've not run into too much difficulty with them, but there were a couple that shat all over me at first.

I've noticed two things about fighting bosses. The first is that after you lose once, if you go back to the last save point before the boss (which apparently you can't do right now, bummer), you can usually adjust your equipment/ability set-up to counter whatever it was that owned the crap out of you. There's almost always equipment in every dungeon which should give you a hint of what kind of status-protection you need for the boss.

I find that later in the game the bosses aren't that more difficult. It's mostly just in the beginning that they're obnoxious.

[Necronopticous]

I find that later in the game the bosses aren't that more difficult. It's mostly just in the beginning that they're obnoxious.Living Ice (Disc 3) was, in my opinion, the most difficult boss in the game, and the first time I saw a game over screen...or 4 game over screens. He's difficult in a very cheap way, though.

This boss fight made me abhor the turn system that Lost Odyssey uses for a bit. There is nothing more frustrating than seeing that reflect go up before a slew of Grounda spells go off by your idiot party members, one after the other, with no way to stop them, completely weakening them or killing them so that, on his next turn, where he gets initiative even over item use, he can one-shot the entire party with All-Aquara.

I was pretty pissed off at this cheap shot the first time, but I didn't get really mad until I started trying to form strategies on the following turns, and having them foiled again and again by the constraints of the bad design choices of the turn system.

As an example, my first strategy of having my fastest caster cast dispel every turn so that, when he casted reflect, it would be dispelled before my other members' Grounda spells went off. This is the way I'd deal with reflect in any other game, but of course, this game does not allow allow reflect to even be selected if no buff exists on the enemy party.

Horrible design, but I've since gotten over it since the game doesn't often throw battles at you that showcase how incompetent the implementation of the turn system is.

[Citizen Bleys]

sounds like someone's bitter xD

As far as I'm concerned, a battle system that slants things in favor of the bosses is a good thing. I'm sick of RPGs that are too easy.

[Dragonsoul]

Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core came out today! Which people who are playing Lost Odyssey have also started to play FF VII: CC? I've cut down the number of games I play so I am not playing these although these are the best rpg's out around now that I am not buying.

:p

[Necronopticous]

As far as I'm concerned, a battle system that slants things in favor of the bosses is a good thing. I'm sick of RPGs that are too easy.Oh, I'm always down for a good challenge, myself.

I don't mind dying four times or forty times on a challenging boss, provided the reason for my failures is due to the learning curve, or my own incompetence. Living Ice, however, is purely difficult due to careless design choices, which is not fun at all. If inflated difficulty due to bad design was fun, we'd all still be playing Kid Icarus.

The most depressing thing about Living Ice is that he's actually not hard at all if you just use a bunch of items on him at the end, which seems to be generally accepted as the best strategy at this point. I refused to use this strategy because there's no fun in tossing a bunch of items at him, and it circumvents the challenge that the developers were trying to create when they designed the boss. Unfortunately, this meant fighting with the shortcomings of the battle system, rather than the boss, or his intended difficulty intricacies.

[Kenshin IV]

Don't be fooled by the Gooch's lack of being good at his own games, the bosses are not difficult. The game is bloody brilliant though, and might as well be called Final Fantasy XI.

[Citizen Bleys]

This is what FFXII should have been, but wasn't.

As for Sakaguchi losing to his own boss, it's not like the bugger pulled any surprises on him.

[Alex151]

well I got the game a little while ago, and am not too far from beating, but when I awoke one morning, a month or so ago, my friend informed me of the three red rings that suddenly appeared on my 360..... yeah






so I havent played since then.

But overall it's a great game I enjoyed it up to this point, the system is a little different, and the graphics are great, the story as well. I only wish they'd make Kaim a little bit,,,, cooler?

[Markus. D]

Don't be fooled by the Gooch's lack of being good at his own games, the bosses are not difficult. The game is bloody brilliant though, and might as well be called Final Fantasy XI.

Final Fantasy XI's game is bigger than this :]