Lost Odyssey Review

I've always been a fan of RPG's, ever since i can first remember gaming on my old SNES. After being dissapointed with Mistwalkers previous 360 RPG, Blue Dragon, i was unsure of how to approach Lost Oddyssey. I'd heard good things, but the same could have been said about Blue Dragon, so i was a bit apprehensive about dropping £40 on this game. Nevertheless, i hadn't played a good RPG in a donkeys age, so hit up PLAY.com and within a few days it was on my doorstep.

Upon loading up Lost Odyssey, i was treated to a pretty awesome opening FMV which seamlessly rode into the first battle. It was fairly standard affair, with a system akin to Final Fantasy X's CTB system. After the introductory battle, the game slowly eases you into its mechanics, the most prominent being the Ring and Immortal system. The ring system is a reflex mechanic that allows you to deal extra damage, inflict status or even mug (all dependant on which ring you have equiped) enemies with a well timed hold-and-release if the right trigger. It makes the battles that much more interactive, with out making it an action RPG. The Immortal element of gameplay is like a constant auto-life on some of your characters, which means provided at least one person in your party remains alive, within a few turns any immortal characters will be revived! it can be quite handy in those optional boss battles.
Of course, the heart if any RPG is its story, and this a cracking one. I wouldnt want to say anything to spoil it, so ill leave it at its not a worn out rebel vs empire, or light vs dark story, its a fresh and excellent concept.
The game was desgined to be anti-grinding (except for optional bosses), so you are always proceeding, never hanging around trying to get those few extra levels to beat the next boss, which is a welcome addition in my book.
It really looks the part too, although sometimes this did cause a bit of stutter. Having said that, my 360 did RRoD about 50 hours in, so that may be why. It was a shame really, because all i had left to do was get a few acheivments then defeat the final boss. By the time i got my 360 back i had forgotten what i was doing and what was going on. Alas, i finshed it anyway, and despite the hicup, i was pleasantly suprised at how much i had enjoyed the game. This is an RPG, though while not as good as classics like Chrono Trigger or FFVII, is definately the best RPG ive played on this or the previous generation.

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Game Log

Game Title	Lost Odyssey
Platform	Xbox 360
Other Platforms possible	-
Dates Played	3/3/08 - 16/4/08
Number of Players	One
Release Date	29/2/08
Developer	Mistwalker
Developer Loacation	Japan
Brief Overview	Deep RPG woth fresh twists on worn out concepts
Primary Game Genre	RPG
Secondary Game Genre	-
Tertiary Game Genre	-
Single Player/Multiplayer	Single Player Onlye
Typical Duration of Game	60 Hours +
Out of 10	9/10
Target Audience	Young Adults, RPG Fans
Out of 10 for Audience	9/10
Is it a Success	Yes
Why	Has flipped turn based RPG's on their head with and enagaging story and great battle system