Xbox 360 owners now have an epic RPG to be proud of.
THE GOOD
-Excellent story and characters
-Brilliant visuals (cut scene and in-game)
-The dream sequences greatly add to the story
-Cool leveling system
-Exciting battle system
THE BAD
-Long loading times (especially before battles)
OVERVIEW
Lost Odyssey is an epic role playing game. The beginning of the game throws you right into the action as you play as the main character, Kaim (the seemingly tough, silent type). Kaim is a mercenary for hire and the kingdom of Uhra has recruited him to fight against the kingdom of Gohtza. During the battle between these waring states, it looks like it is going to be a stalemate until you see Kaim effortlessly dispatch the Gohtza soldiers. Then, from out of no where, a huge fireball descends on the entire battle field killing everyone instantly except for Kaim.
Kaim is the only person that lived because he is an Immortal (meaning he can't be killed). After this scene, Kaim returns back to Uhra and the main game begins. Kaim teams up with other Immortals along the way like Seth (a pirate), Ming (queen of the kingdom of Numara), and Sarah (a loving mother).
All the Immortals have one thing in common, they have lost their memories. As you progress through the story each of the Immortals start to regain their memories and you'll find out they shady dealings with later characters.
There are three large kingdoms in Lost Odyssey: Uhra, Numara and Gohtza. Each one has a different culture of people. Once you get outside of the larger cities you'll find that the entire world in this game is huge. Aside from the all powerful immortals, you'll meet mortals like Mack and Cooke (youthful and spry), Sed (a wily Pirate), Tolten (a noble king), and Jansen (the black mage and comic relief for the game).
Now I just have to say one thing about Jansen. You know how some games have a comic relief character that tries way to hard to be funny? Well in Lost Odyssey, Jansen is a lovable guy that is actually very funny. You'll find yourself literally laughing out-loud when he jokes around which is a very nice touch to the game. With this great cast, you'll learn a lot about each character and feel like you are a part of the story. The character development and story are exceptional in Lost Odyssey. Not only will you get to explore a huge and exciting world but uncover the mysteries this world is hiding and enjoy every minute of the storytelling.
GAMEPLAY
Lost Odyssey is a turn based RPG and the leveling system is really well done. Unlike most RPGs, there is a "leveling cap" for each area. This means that your characters can only earn a certain amount of experience in a specific area. This makes the game pretty challenging because most of the time your party isn't over-powering. This sets up for some difficult boss fights right from the start.
You gain experience from battles and when each character levels up they receive more HP and MP. This is just like your standard RPG. As far as learning skills and spells, Lost Odyssey has a great way for you to utilize all your characters. Your Immortals can permanently learn skills and spells from accessories but they can also learn specific ones from mortals. For instance Cooke, the white mage, will learn some white magic that your Immortals can only gain from her. This makes every character useful. Your mortals can only use the spells and skills they learn unless you equip them with a different accessory. Your Immortals have the ability to permanently learn skills and spells which can be equipped and unequipped at any time. You'll gather the item call "Slot Seed" along the way which will give one Immortal another skill slot. So, half of your party is completely customizable and the other is class locked which proves to be a neat combination.
The battle system is like any other turn-based RPG with some unique features. In Lost Odyssey, you have a max of five characters that can participate in battle at one time. Before you randomly encounter a battle you can setup your party of five and change whether they are in the front or back rows. As a side note, the long loading times for the game and especially the battles slow the pace of the game down which can make it frustrating at times. Anyways, typically you would want your stronger characters with more HP in the front row and your weaker characters, like your spell casters, in the back. The reason for this is because your entire party has a GC which is equal to the total number of HP of your front row. The higher the GC, the more physical and magical defense the back row gets. As your front row characters take damage, the GC will drop. Healing your characters won't increase the GC but there are certain skills that will boost the GC.
This is a cool and unique feature to Lost Odyssey along with the ring assembly. The ring assembly feature lets you create rings for your characters to use in battle. When you select any character, wearing a ring, to physically attack an enemy a timer will show up and a large ring around the foe. By pressing and holding down the RT button the large ring will shrink until you reach a smaller ring. If timed correctly you get a perfect rating. There is a good and bad rating too. What this does is increase the effect of your weapon in battle. For instance, if you have a ring that gives you a plus to damage and critical hit, then when you get a perfect rating you'll see an increase in damage and critical hit percentage. You can find items all over the world to create some really powerful rings. So, the battle system in Lost Odyssey is easy to pick up but will provide a good strategic challenge.
Along with a great main story Lost Odyssey also offers plenty of extra things to do. One of the main side quests is to find places that "unlock a dream inside Kaim's heart". These dream sequences are all text but each one tells a great story about Kaim's life throughout the past 1000 years. Kaim meets lots of unique people and helps better them with his long life experience. Another great extra is that you get a chance to control multiple sea and air vehicles on the open field. You also get to fight some tough optional bosses, explore difficult places (like the Temple of Enlightenment), and search for some ultimate weapons and accessories. There is a treasure hunt mini-game and character specific sides quests to complete. This gives a nice break to the main story and will prove to be well worth your time. Another neat extra mini-game is the Backyard. In the Backyard, you get to square off against some tough monsters with hindrances like having your whole party being poisoned or making you use only mortals. This can prove to be challenging even to the experienced RPG gamer.
GRAPHICS & SOUND
Lost Odyssey is a beautiful game. The cut scenes and in-game graphics are crystal clear and very impressive. I have found myself stopping in some places just to take in the view. Overall the visuals are excellent.
Well, when you have a world famous video game composer, Nobuo Uematsu, writing your music your bound to have an exceptional score. This isn't one of Nobuo's best works but is great none the less. The sound effects are really good and the voice acting really enhances the game ten fold.
CONCLUSION
Lost Odyssey is an epic RPG for the Xbox 360. With its epic story, great cast, and fun gameplay I would recommend this game to anyone. There is a lot of fun to be had in this game for the experienced and non-experienced RPG gamer. So, get ready for one awesome adventure.