Lost Odyssey (Xbox 360)

Enormous, stunning, and very, very slow.
3/14/2008 12:00 AM | 0 Comments | Page 1 of 2

If you don't enjoy JRPGs, let me assure you that the two or three minutes it would take you to read this review would be better spent doing something else like making a sandwich or petting a kitten, because no matter how much I praise Lost Odyssey for its rich story or intensely beautiful graphics, you're not going to want to play it. Trust me. Everything you hate about JRPGs, it does, and then some, so just go amuse yourself for a few minutes while I talk to these other folks, ok? Thanks.

Lost Odyssey is the latest grandiose RPG from Mistwalker Studios, the folks who brought you Blue Dragon and, in a previous life, the Final Fantasy games. The lineage shows in Lost Odyssey's artistry, its scope, and above all, its adherence to certain well-worn tenets of the Japanese RPG tradition. The women are pretty, the men are prettier, and lots of people carry alarmingly large swords. Though it never strays terribly far from the path laid down by its forebears, Lost Odyssey wanders just far enough away to keep from being stale and to prevent you from ever being too comfortable.

Most JRPGs, for example, ease you gently into the action, slowly spinning out a tale about good versus evil, or how our young and plucky hero is suffering from an unfortunate bout of amnesia. Lost Odyssey says "eff that" and begins with a spectacular and exciting opening sequence that drops you smack into the middle of an all-out war. You have just enough time to figure out whose side you're on before you're thrust into your first turn-based fight of the game, hacking your way through a number of magic soldiers. Five minutes after you start Lost Odyssey, you're in a boss battle. How hot is that?

As it turns out, our hero Kaim does indeed have amnesia, which may or may not be a side effect of his being immortal. His uncanny ability to stay alive makes him the perfect person to investigate the potentially dangerous Grand Staff, which seems to be leaking magic energy, a force used much like steam power to fuel the magic-industrial revolution and run everything from taxis to machines of war.

Kaim is just one of the immortals that are playable characters in the game, but don't get too excited. Despite the fact that their long life is a major plot point, they can all take damage in battle and will die if you're a bit too slow with the healing spell. No, it doesn't make any sense. Just try to roll with it.

You can mix and match the various mortals and immortals that join your party to make the fierce five that you'll actually take with you into battle. Choose wisely. The fights in Lost Odyssey are delightfully difficult, and falling back on the usual stock of moves and strategies you've used in countless other JRPGs will more than likely get you killed. Favoring physical attacks over magic, or vice versa, won't work -- you need to strike a balance between the two in most fights. Almost every enemy you meet from the very first moments of the game has the ability to cause enormous amounts of damage, bringing more immediacy to the combat then you'll usually find in a turn-based game.