Lost Odyssey
Preview
Japanese style RPG comes to the 360.
by Spoondan
previewed on X360
From the ashes a fire shall be woken…
If you are a fan of traditional Japanese RPGs such as the Dragon Quest series, this game will probably be right up your alley. Unlike the opened ended gameplay of the previously mentioned Fable and Oblivion, this game will tend to be more straight-forward and to the point. From what we have been shown so far, the game will guide and direct you to the next area to progress the story and does not allow you to stray too far from the direction the game wants you to take. Like most RPGs, the game will revolve around levelling up and acquiring greater skills and in the case of this game… those skills are determined mostly by wearing rings.
Rings are either found, built or bought and will give additions to your stats. It is fairly simple; put on the aqua ring and you will be able to deal more water damage and also absorb water attacks better. There are countless rings to find, each with different benefits that affect your character and these rings can be interchangeable during battle if the need arises.
On top of this, your character can learn various skills as you progress through the game. For example, by wearing accessories or by learning from your allies in battle you acquire new skills. To learn from your allies you need to perform a link command that means watching what the other character in your party is doing. Once they perform the certain skill they have (Steal for example) in battle, Kaim can now learn that skill. Likewise, Kaim can learn skills by wearing certain accessories for long periods of time. Putting on a hat that has as certain skill associated with it will eventually teach Kaim that skill providing you keep the hat on him for enough time.
Renewed shall be blade that was broken…
It is difficult to say at this point whether or not this game will make up for the shortcomings of Blue Dragon but it certainly has a lot of potential. One thing that turns a lot of westerner gamers off of the traditional Japanese RPGs is the excessive fighting that one must do to level up. This issue may have been resolved as it has been made clear that battles in Lost Odyssey will be less frequent but more challenging. Thus, it should keep gamers awake and on their toes as they play it. One thing that can be pointed out is that this game is sure to be story driven which means long cut scenes and less time on the battlefield, if that is a feature gamers here will like has yet to be seen. One thing to say for sure though is that it looks like Hironobu Sakaguchi has come a long way from his first outing on the Xbox.
The crownless again shall be king…?
Xbox 360 has, up to this point, given the public some very good games but has yet to really pull ahead in the console race. If Lost Odyssey can capitalize on the potential it has, it could bring over the vast amount of fans that put down their hard earned cash for the classic Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest titles. Such an untapped market for the Xbox 360 could provide both the push it needs to take a stronger hold in the market here and especially in Japan. The good news is that we won’t have to wait too long before we find out. Lost Odyssey would definitely be worth a look.
