[Xbox 360] Lost Odyssey
For many people who are fans of the RPG genre, Final Fantasy reigns supreme over all over titles, and when 12 came out it was seen as a let down by many (me included). It has been a while since I have been able to fill that RPG void in my life. Nothing has captivated me or got me so engrossed in the story that I have to keep playing and finish it.

I’m very happy to say that Lost Odyssey has done just that, in one night I spent over 6 hours of solid playing, levelling up and going through the fantastic story. It has been a long time since I have done something like that, normally I get bored in a couple of hours, but I was captivated by it, I wanted to know more about the characters and what twists would unfold. That is one of the games’ biggest charms, the fact the story is based around a 1000 year old immortal man who has lost his memory, and as he meets new people he starts to remember things. It really sets the standards high for RPG’s on the Xbox and all consoles.

After what can only be described as a visual treat for an opening sequence, we are introduced to Kaim, a 1000 year old immortal man who has lost all memory of what he has done in his life until the war he is currently involved in. Able to take down troops with ease and heavy machinery it is apparent he is very skilled as a fighter. When the battle grows more and more intense, a huge meteor falls onto the battlefield, killing thousands of men, leaving only Kaim as a survivor from it all. Another warrior is also rescued from the inferno, a young lady names Seth. While she was not in the thick of it like Kaim, people are aware that she too is unable to die like him. The two immortals are requested by the council to join forces and investigate a large Magic Weapon which appears to be the cause of the meteor and other disasters like it.

The head of the project – Gongora issues the orders to Kaim and Seth to go to Grand Staff to investigate, along with a mortal name Jansen; a womanising, drinking mage is the best way to describe him, but a useful character to have with you none the less. It is rather apparent from the first few times we are shown Gongora and his dealings that he is not going to be the sort of man you can trust! As the group set off to grand Staff, Kaim and Seth who have both had their memories erased by a figure neither of them can recall, begin to recall pieces of what they have done in the 1000 years they have been alive.

That is the general idea of the start of the game, and it really sets the whole game up well for deep character relationships, stories and some great twists in the plot when memories are recalled by Kaim and others. They discover there are other immortals in the world, what happened to their families and who is responsible for all the evil. It really is one of the best RPG’s I have played for captivating and interesting story lines with great character development.

I have briefly touched on the graphics all ready, but just to make it clear, they are great. The cut scenes are beautiful to watch and far better than I ever expected when I bought the game. Unlike some Japanese RPG’s, the graphics are realistic and not over the top, in places it is very simplistic but the detail is just enough. Some of the scenes I found to be among the best graphics I have seen as of late, the water, the vehicles and other things in the environment look good and it all runs fairly smoothly, the knock on effect of this of course is the occasional heavy loading times. I did not mind them to be honest but for some people they are a bit too long and can cause people to get bored or annoyed.

Right so good story, good graphics; what’s next on our RPG checklist. Well it has to be the battle system, surely! Some new RPG’s have gone for the more modern combat system like what Final Fantasy 12 used, where you control one player and use commands for all the others. While it can at times be fun to do this, for me, an RPG needs good old turn based combat. If the RPG is like Oblivion or Fable then a more open combat is suited, but with classic Japanese RPG’s I really think turn based is the best. And it is simple to do; Lost Odyssey did it right with staying basic but giving it a tweak. A new feature has been introduced to breathe a bit of life into the classic turn based battle system. You can equip “Rings” to characters and they have effects when that character does a physical attack, when you charge at the enemy you hold the LT button and release at a certain point to get the bonus from the ring. This might be extra damage, or receiving MP. There are literally hundreds of bonuses you can achieve. In order to get the Rings for your characters you must find components around the world and make them in Ring Assembly. Another nice little feature which rewards the player for searching all areas as they will be able to make better Rings. I really like this feature as it adds more interactive game play to the turn based combat system and should please fans of all battle system styles.

While I could continue to rant on about how much I love this game and it really has saved my faith in the RPG genre with the lovely graphics and great features and story. I think it is time that I stop and just tell anyone who is a fan of the genre to go and pick it up, it sells for under £20 new and for the amount of time I have had on this game and enjoyed it is well worth it. Let’s just hope there is a sequel.

9.5/10
(not a 10/10 because some of the characters annoy me and it has to be very very special to get 10)