Lost Odyssey

[Sigourney Beaver]

Mine still aint here

[Pochacco]

Right, cheers

The music is so good, definitely want the OST when it comes out.

It's already available from Play-Asia

My copy got sent out today After reading the last 2 or 3 pages of this thread I couldn't resist!

[bobontheway]

Well I just splurged on a copy of this from play-asia. I'm a bit busy this week so I chose the slowest shipping method. I'll be over the moon if it arrives the day after I finish all of my work. I've been waiting for a decent RPG to play after selling my PS2. My consoles having been getting much love recently and this should tide me over until SSBB is released

[Guest]

This will definitely be my next game, but realistically, I don't have the time for the next couple or months, so I will probably just pick up the Pal release for £20.

[Jamie John]

Man, I'm so hot for this right now. I don't get paid for another two weeks though and even then I'll be spunking most of my cash on finishing my half-decorated bedroom .

To be honest though, I'm gonna do my utmost best to avoid the hype from here on out. Reading practically every scrap of information about Mass Effect in the months before its release meant that when it turned out to be pants the disappointment was almost too much to take. I don't think I could bare it if that happened again...

[Opinionated Ham Scarecrow]

They're pretty useless. Give them a few healing meds and they'll give you a more powerful healing herb. But given the amount of money the game gives you, it's easier to just buy one, and you won't have wasted the weaker stuff. It swaps some of your status-effect items too, but that's even more pointless. And I've stopped giving it seeds, because I can't remember getting anything good back from that particular exercise.

Keep giving the little fella the seeds, he gives you some pretty decent weaponry later on.

[SteveH]

Arrrgggghhhhh, the

prison

section. I am close to chucking my pad through the window. Those damned

eyeball bastards

[toythatkills]

You're doing it wrong. It completely walks you through the first few so you can't possibly get spotted, and you don't need to go anywhere near the others, so you're going the wrong way if you're being seen! Look around

[SteveH]

Yeah I realised in the end. There was one bit where there are 2 together and I thought that maybe there might be a chest hidden past them if I could make it. I was wrong!

[toythatkills]

Yeah, I'd wondered the same thing at that point (and checked, and double checked...!)

[mackemansj1]

Yeah I realised in the end. There was one bit where there are 2 together and I thought that maybe there might be a chest hidden past them if I could make it. I was wrong!

haha i posted the same thing over on ntsc yesterday, i thought i had to somehow make a run for it in one go to get past them. I spent about an hour doing this before i noticed i didnt have to do it.

[Raff]

There's nothing like a disc read error as the saving menu loads.

[Sigourney Beaver]

Mine finally arrived today. Will start it later

[Sigourney Beaver]

Just a quickie for those who ordered the play-asia english version. I ordered this lost odyssey play-asia english version

and today I received this *giant box pic*

Is that the right one? Because I don't see any PAL signs on it and I don't want to open it unless I'm completely certain.

Mine is identical and it works. Plus, my Wartech is NTSC and that has NTSC stickers plasteres on the box and that works.

[Taurus]

Is there any advantage to be gained by saving all your slot seeds for Kaim? In terms of achievements/departing characters etc.? Or is it better to spread them out among your party?

[fatoy.japa]

Wow, that first 'serious' boss -

the magic deathworm(s) at Grand Staff

- is a bit of an awkward so-and-so.

I'm able to dispatch what I assume is the first of his two appearances, but the second invariably sees my party (besides Seth, who's immune at the moment) paralysed and me spending the next few minutes trying to recover from that, all the while losing enough GC that the Magic Insects can subsequently dispatch each of my characters with one force attack

I'm going to try a different approach a little later, but I suspect it may require a back-track to find some more anti-paralysis items.

[Rudderless]

Is there any advantage to be gained by saving all your slot seeds for Kaim? In terms of achievements/departing characters etc.? Or is it better to spread them out among your party?

Spread 'em out. Certainly Seth should have around as many, as Kaim's spells are slow and weak. Once you've picked up another immortal, you'll want to give them a few slots to enable them to mix it up a bit, too.

Right near the end now. The bogimoray was probably the hardest boss in the entire game.

[Siri]

Regarding that Boss:

Surprisingly, I found both encounters easier than the Griffon that was on top of the Mountain Peak.

The main tip I can give you is to ignore the insects - They're only there to feed the Worm's Para-Flare, with the occasional spell. if you look at the Worm, you'll notice that he is indicated as part of the front row as well, leaving him ripe for bumming him with melee attacks. Although personally, my main damage dealer was Jansen - I can't remember the element, but if you hit him with the right element you can kill him in about four casts, possibly less with added melee using Target Rings of the right element.

If you really must kill the insects, I found that Prism worked a treat. That, and it was my only multi-target spell.

On the healing side, You could probably be effective if you have a ton of healing items and let Seth and Kaim deal them out when needed, as you'll want Jansen dishing out spells on the Worm.

Also, keep an eye on Paralysis - There's a yellow band somewhere around the area which will allow your immortals to learn Anti-Paralysis, and then equip it to Jansen.

Got to the port town (sorry, I can't remember the damn name of it where

you meet Mack and Cooke

), really good scenes.

Regarding playable characters:

and you know that Tolten's going to be a BEAST! Power Hit FTW! although his level suggests that I'm not going to get him for ages ;(

[Taurus]

I don't think the bogimoray is especially difficult - more confusing. I thought the game was a bit more clever than it was, and assumed there was a system to beating it/them - and in trying to play that system made the battle more difficult. But there isn't, and if I hadn't, I don't think it would have been so tough.

[Rudderless]

I don't think the bogimoray is especially difficult - more confusing. I thought the game was a bit more clever than it was, and assumed there was a system to beating it/them - and in trying to play that system made the battle more difficult. But there isn't, and if I hadn't, I don't think it would have been so tough.

Oh, I did it on my second go, but pretty much every one since then - aside from one where I misunderstood what you had to do - I've managed on my first try. I don't know whether it's quite easy or just that I'm unexpectedly good at this sort of thing (unlike most other genres which I'm hopeles at).

[Talk Show Host]

Well, I hate RPGs that are fixed in the old ways. It is an indication that developers are just too lazy to offer something different, to offer some logical coherency in the gameworld. In the old days they could get away with it because the genre had not blossomed design and technology wise, and we as players were more easily pleased (me at least) as far as immersion goes. In these days, I really hate developers that can't be bothered to offer simple things that make sense. Damn it, don't fuck up my immersion:

1) Enemies appearing out of thin air, randomly. What the fuck? Again?

2) Finding perfectly polished chests out in the open in some god forsaken path, steam engine room, house, etc.

3) Poking an apple and revealing some gold coins.

4) Not being able to walk on places it should be perfectly normal to walk on.

5) Traveling to a place where people live and work by the most obscure road and mountain peaks! What the hell? Isn't there a normal road to go there? How did the others get there? How do they travel to other cities? By the same dangerous road I did? Don't make stupid gameplay choices like that, please, you are fucking up my immersion.

6) Why isn't there a day/night cycle? Is that so difficult to implement? Jesus!

7) Why does it never rain inside the cities?

Why don't hair get wet after an RPG rain?

9) Why the hell should we rely so much on countless items, countless spells and so on? Allowing us to roleplay is much more important than stuffing our characters with uber sword +30 in a sport billy bag.

10) Why the hell do people sleep with their clothes on?

All the above (and more) apply with amazing precision to Lost Odyssey. Then why the hell don't these make me curse the game then?

Why the hell don't I care?

Because Sakaguchi-san, last night, made me shed a tear. And not by the "dreams". But in the scene where

Kaim meets with Lirum and the children

. Literally amazing scenes. Amazing direction. Amazing facial expressions. Amazing writing, not too cold, not too overblown. Thank God for the marriage of next-gen power and creativity.

So, is this an old fashioned RPG? Yes. Does it have old fashioned gameplay mechanics? Yes. Do they work? Yes. Do I really care? No. Why? Because when Kaim looks at the camera, he conveys an identity. Because Jansen is a wonderfully complicated chap. Because

Gongora reveals his Machiavellian ways with aplomb

, because Seth is stable and calm. Because the characters, up to now, work. And because Sakaguchi-san shows what good writing is all about. I'm just hoping it will be like this through the end.

Right near the end now.

Near the end? Don't tell me it is a small game.

[Rudderless]

Near the end? Don't tell me it is a small game.

I've been playing it for 8 hours a day for 5 days. And there's a few sidequests I've deliberately missed and want to go back to when the story's over.

You're totally right about that scene. It's brilliant.

[Talk Show Host]

I've been playing it for 8 hours a day for 5 days. And there's a few sidequests I've deliberately missed and want to go back to when the story's over.

Has the story been satisfactory or are we in for a cold shower where everything falls apart in the end?

[Rudderless]

Has the story been satisfactory or are we in for a cold shower where everything falls apart in the end?

Not telling.

One advance warning I do have is that there's a dungeon on Disc 2 that's outright awful. There's another one that's a bit mazey, but fairly inventive. But this one is flat-out terrible, with traps, horribly dull design and seemingly more random encounters than anywhere else in the game. Lke they got the work experience kid to create a level all by himself.

[Talk Show Host]

Not telling.

One advance warning I do have is that there's a dungeon on Disc 2 that's outright awful. There's another one that's a bit mazey, but fairly inventive. But this one is flat-out terrible, with traps, horribly dull design and seemingly more random encounters than anywhere else in the game. Lke they got the work experience kid to create a level all by himself.

Yeah, I'm mentally prepared for stuff like that in JRPGs.

[Rudderless]

Incidentally...

http://www.gamesradar.com/xbox360/lost-ody...888000000020738

6/10 from GamesRadar US. It's a shocking review with a barely disguised anti-jRPG agenda and so many glaring factual inaccuracies I don't know where to start. Plus there's one or two lines that have me convinced that he's only played the first disc. Absolutely terrible piece of writing.

[Talk Show Host]

Incidentally...

http://www.gamesradar.com/xbox360/lost-ody...888000000020738

6/10 from GamesRadar US. It's a shocking review with a barely disguised anti-jRPG agenda and so many glaring factual inaccuracies I don't know where to start. Plus there's one or two lines that have me convinced that he's only played the first disc. Absolutely terrible piece of writing.

I stopped reading at this

If you don’t skip these scenes, you’re treated to 10 screens of nothing but text, telling you some random snippet about Kaim’s past that has nothing to do with the game

Dear God...

[Rudderless]

I know. Apart from the dead inside-ness of it all, just see if you can spot how many blatant falsehoods there are in there. The 'cure'='heal' thing for starters.

Appalling.

[Sprite Machine]

Don't leave us in the dark, then. What are the errors?

It seemed like a reasonable review to me. The other side of the coin, admittedly, but that's the point.

[Uzi]

Don't leave us in the dark, then. What are the errors?

It seemed like a reasonable review to me. The other side of the coin, admittedly, but that's the point.

Are you playing through the game right now too?

Wouldn't it be hard to judge how reasonable the review is without playing through the majority of the game.