Certainly not revolutionary, but what it does do is outstanding and, most importantly, entertaining
Your quest begins as the immortal Kaim and immediately you'll see that this is a much more mature game than typical RPG's. Instead of a bunch of teenagers with flamboyant, gravity-defying hair, you take control of a character surrounded by death and drunk with emotion. You are again off to rid the world of evil, but the characters maintain your interest throughout the game and are the real meat of the story, from the hilarious, ladies' man Kaiden, to the apparent strong-minded, ex-pirate Seth. The character development is some of the best in recent memory and will keep you guessing at what they will do next, making you care for the characters and keep you wanting to play.
Most of the story telling consists of high-quality HD cut-scenes but also, quite uniquely, Kaim and other immortals unlock memories throughout the game. These are very well written accounts of their previous adventures but, although not necessary to read, offer usually touching stories which give real background and depth to the characters. These give you a real reason to continue your quest.
As a JRPG, you won't be surprised to hear the combat is turn-based. It is very well crafted and even offers some new gameplay elements. Apart from the typical attack, magic and item commands, the aim ring system adds to the flow of battles. This involves pulling and holding the right trigger when using physical attacks to create a circle which quickly decreases in size and then releasing it when it overlaps with a second circle on the enemy. If done correctly, a 'perfect' will occur, causing attacks to increase in fire-power. Among others, the formation system is the other significant addition which sees characters placed on the front row add to the defence of the back row. Although fairly simple, this adds a welcome strategic element to the combat.
There is another addition to the turn-based battles worth mentioning. Your party is made up of both humans and immortals and, as the mortals gain skills, immortals can link with them to gain these also. You gain skill points at the end of combat which contribute to these skills. This allows for a tactical choice of who you decide to battle with as do you choose immortals, because they will revive themselves after a number of turns, or do you use humans to learn desirable skills? The choice is yours.
The enemies you face are very varied and beautifully created. This is the same can be said with the environments, from the quaint, seaside villages to the dark, dingy forests laden with treacherous creatures. The battle effects are very impressive along with the character design and cut-scenes. In other words, Lost Odyssey is a visual treat.
The same is true with the audio. Coming from the original Final Fantasy composer, the score is unsurprisingly extraordinary. While exploring the world, the soundtrack perfectly captivates the surroundings and likewise while viewing the memories. Although some of the sound effects are clichéd and some of the voice acting isn't terrific, the audio is one of the highlights of the game.
Apart from battling, the exploration sees many varied environments, from icy mountains to haunted mansions. Although many of the dungeon designs are typical of the genre, they are often diverse enough and offer different gameplay elements to make them feel fresh. However, there are some annoying elements featured. These include a stealth section which involves sneaking past security posts as well as trying to find and collect certain items. Although boring, they certainly don't hinder the rest of the excellent gameplay.
Bosses feature at the end of dungeons. They are very well designed and usually require different strategies in order to be defeated. However, they sometimes do manage to break up the pacing of the game by being fairly difficult compared to the rest of the game. Grinding (levelling up your character by continuous battling) has been significantly restricted, which is a good addition as it keeps players challenged rather than being able to level up and breezing through the game.
Lost Odyssey spans an impressive four discs, primarily due to large amount of hd cut-scenes featured within the adventure. The game will typically last around 40 hours and more if you wish to do the many side-quests, so you're getting a lot of bangs for your buck. Although there is not much replay value after completion, what you will play is of top-class gameplay.
Although Lost Odyssey doesn't bring much new gameplay to the table, what it does do is create a quality role playing game where you'll experience an emotional, rich, heartfelt story with a fantastically fun combat system. LO offers a lot of content and is something special for both RPG fans old and new.