Lost Odyssey and Critics

I recently picked up lost odyssey the other day and and safely say that it is an rpg that is prominent with all the aspects and elements that most of us grew up loving with early ff games.

Some critics were harsh with it simply because of expectaions it think, when they crutialy bash it for its laoding times, wich arent that severe to the point that it could ruin gamplay, negetive points made about animation introduction to random battles "unexceptably" long, wich is rediculous, ff8 beared longer battle intros and cast animations and the pace was absolutley fine. Some reviewers said it was a "technical mess" wich is rediculous, sure the game house a few fps issues but hardley enough to, again, ruin the gameplay. This game has suffered reviews based on the standards of todays gaming wich i dont think is fair at all, and all these "flaws" are purley passive to most who cherish these types of rpgs, wich i think its safef to say that most of us here are those types.

Kaim has even been branded as ur typical "emo" (bah, i can feel my IQ level drop) protagonist, however unlike most who are labled that, kaim has ABSOLUTLEY every single reason to be the way he is... his past has some pretty sad and topuching stories that REALY get to u, and possibly the greatest aspect of the story is taht the game goes that EXTRA mile to tell u these tales of his past thruought the game as novel like mini storyies, when the reviewers complamented these (wich every website review did) i at first didnt give it much thought, thinking "ok so they have some narrative side story telling thats nice" but..... its difficult to explian with words... how moving these short story/events are to the game while u play, it provides such a great experience and bond with kaim and the other cahracters relationships, numerous times i found myself saying in my head "damn... that is just sad.. this guy has been through some serious stuff". And the way its scrypted is superb writing skills.

The sound track, wich most said is passive and predictable at best.. not truly capturing the mood, should be shot and die in a car fire. Its nothing revolutionary for Nobuo but is still excelent. And the english voice overs are quite fine and even though one particlur character is annoying, he provides soo much comic reliefe that merges so well the the other characters.

This game is a prime example of a topnotch character driven story and excelent rpg elements (although nothing exaclty stellar in terms of battle system) that anyone whos been keeping up with the games progress right b4 its release is clearly someone who will be able to look past the loading time and not so often "lag" issues that hinder this game vaguely. Its sad that rpgs like mass effect are now being used as reference to modern day rpgs, while its still a good game, imo it is by far not a game that should be in the same feild as jrpg, wich a few idiot editors felt they should compare LO with mass effect simply cause there both on 360.

If u own a 360, have 50-60$ in ur wallet, and is a member of this union, that doesnt own this game yet, then there is somthing wrong with u.

Actually some of the things like the Thousand Year's Dream; and the soundtrack were more of a positive aspect to the game from what I've read or heard. I think both Gamespot and Gametrailers(especially the video review) did a good job reviewing it.

But anyway, I am playing Lost Odyssey right now. As a Final Fantasy fan, and a gamer of the old school RPGs this game so far has been everything I've dreamed of. After passing up what were consider the great JRPGs for the Playstation 2, returning to my roots with Lost Odyssey was a good decision.

I think most recently Final Fantasy has entered the stage of popularity where it's anime style sometimes falls pray to Japanese-pop. But Lost Odyssey throws more emotion at you then any Final Fantasy game I have played. That says a lot. What makes it even more attractive is that the game carries a visual flare most RPGs do not have accept for FF. There are a few technical issues. Do they distant you from the actual gameplay and story? Not really. The framerate dips much like Mass Effect and the game loads a lot(not long).

When we start talking about main characters from Final Fantasy and then compare them to our hero in LO; Kaim is so refreshing. He starts off like your typical strong and silent type but his personality just opens up so much more. It's his immortality that makes his character different, and interesting. The Thousand Year's Dream adds another layer to him. Even though they are text-based stories(that are well written..really) the art and music both are executed well especially the sound. Combat is very traditional. Fans of Final Fantasy, Breath of Fire, and Dragon Quest will indeed love it especially with the difficulty, Ring system, and the Wall system.

Now there is nothing Lost Odyssey has done that Final Fantasy hasn't. Sakaguchi used what was familiar to him in order to create Lost Odyssey which isn't a bad thing. From a technical stand point Lost Odyssey isn't a revolutionary design. But the story is going to have the biggest impact on the RPG community. Literally, it is one of the best stories in a RPG you will ever experience. I think Lost Odyssey will go down as one of the better told RPGs of this generation.

For a person like myself who neglected Xenosaga as the red-headed step child and treated KOTOR like a god; Lost Odyssey so far has been a welcoming experience(more then Final Fantasy VII...did I say that). Don't play Lost Odyssey simply because you're waiting for Final Fantasy XIII, but play it because you love RPGs.

I haven't played the game yet, but I think your points are very interesting.

I'm going to lock this. Hopefully, you can post this in the "Non-FF Games" thread and we can talk more about it.