Product Description

Lost Odyssey is the story of Kaim, an immortal character who has lived more than 1,000 years. He doesn't remember his past, and he doesn't know where his future lies.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #736 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Microsoft
• Released on: 2008-02-29
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Platform: Xbox 360
• Original language: English, German, French
• Dimensions: .53 pounds

Manufacturer's Description

Lost Odyssey is the story of Kaim, an immortal character who has lived more than 1,000 years. He doesn't remember his past, and he doesn't know where his future lies. Throughout Kaim's journey, a handful of characters will join him on an odyssey to discover their intricate past and destiny, leading players through a dramatic story of massive scale. Lost Odyssey features breathtaking visuals and an epic adventure made possible only by the power of Xbox 360.

Innovative RPG game play: Massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) elements are blended into the game's traditional role-playing game system, enabling players to make strategic decisions for a more immersive and deep game play experience.

Engaging and unparalleled emotional story: With story sequences penned by award-winning Japanese novelist Kiyoshi Shigematsu in cooperation with producer Hironobu Sakaguchi,Lost Odyssey sets a new benchmark for the RPG genre with a combination of true-to-life cinematics and an intriguing story of an immortal man. Players will witness Kaim's life as he lives through many generations, becomes part of numerous families, falls in and out of love, and confronts all of the conflicts that arise. Kaim’s struggles are set in a world that is on the verge of a "mystical industrial revolution," where mankind has attained dark powers. /

Massive scope: The massively scoped worlds, memorable characters and epic storyline play as an intense and unsettling blockbuster action film. Heading up the artistic demands of the title is famed Japanese comic artist Takehiko Inoue. Renowned composer Nobuo Uematsu has been recruited to create a contemporary soundtrack.

Realistic next-generation graphics: Powered by Unreal Engine 3 technology, Lost Odyssey boasts stunning visual fidelity and rendering quality. The technology pushes high-definition visual designs to a higher level and brings out the smallest details in the largest battles. Experience a rich dynamic world with an unprecedented level of detail.

Box Contents

Customer Reviews

A contender for best game on the Xbox 360.
I have managed to get my hands on a copy of the Asian release of this game which has full english audio and menus and text, and I have to say that it if turn based RPG's are your cup of tea then this is an absolute must own.

Lost Odyssey is made by the creator of the Final Fantasy series and the Xbox 360 game Blue Dragon. While I didn't think Blue Dragon was a fantastic game (very enjoyable but not the killer RPG the 360 was looking for) I think that Lost Odyssey is absolutely brilliant.

The story for Lost Odyssey is excellent. It revolves around Kaim who is an immortal but can't remember his past. I'm not going to go to much into the story as I don't want to inadvertently spoil it for anybody. However I am half way through the second disc at the minute and have already found myself almost reduced to tears on a couple of occasions. So far it has been a fantastic story and it is very moving indeed.

The graphics on this game are also top notch. Some of the bosses look absolutely amazing and there is only a few times when there is any slow down so no real worries there. The graphical style of the game very much reminds me of Final Fantasy X but with HD clarity.

The sound is also an area where this game truly excels. The music is from Nobuo Uematsu who provided the music for most of the Final Fantasy games and this is probably some of his best work. The English dub for this game is absolutely brilliant as well. I haven't even checked out the Japanese dub yet it is so good. The characters actually sound like real people rather than people reading from a script. The stand out character in this game is Jansen he is probably one of the funniest sidekicks I have ever encountered in a game. The only niggle I have with the sound is that at times the characters voices can't be heard of the background sounds. Thankfully this doesn't happen too often but it can be annoying when it does.

The gameplay is very like the Final Fantasy games with its turn based combat but as with the other Final Fantasy games Lost Odyssey has its own little differences to call its own. In this game it is the "ring system" where you have to time your attacks to get them to do the optimum damage. Lost Odyssey also has little to no grinding which I find to be a very welcome inclusion. This isn't to say that the game is easy as it isn't, against boss characters it isn't unusual to die but as there is a save point before most boss characters that isn't really a problem. The most important thing in dealing with boss characters is to have a good strategy to beat them. Another area where people have been concerned is the loading times. While sometimes these can seem a bit over long they aren't really that troublesome. Lets face it if your prepared to put in over 50 hours to complete the game (which it will take just for the main story apparently, which is believable as it took me just over 10 hours to complete the first disc) then a slightly longer than normal loading time shouldn't be anything to worry about.

In reply to a previous "review" no it doesn't require a subscription service I have heard that pre orders of the game get a special bonus item which you download off Xbox Live using an activation card.

All in all as you can probably tell if you have stuck with me this far I think this game is absolutely amazing. It just saddens me to know that it probably isn't going to sell as well as some of the rubbish that gets best seller status but I just hope that it sells enough to see Mistwalker make more top Rpg's like this for the Xbox 360.

Like playing a movie...
The other reviewers have captured the content and broad outline of this game, so I won't add to that. I have tried to give you a feel for whether this game will be one for you or not.

This game is great for:
- those with long stretches of play-time available
- people who like cut scenes
- those who want a game that has an easy gamer-interface without too much complication
- someone who is injured or immobile and wants to spent around 60 hours watching what is effectively an engaging interactive movie

It is not great for:
- those who like to save/leave the game more frequently than once per hour
- those with little patience for linear gameplay and cutscenes
- those who really liked Oblivion because of the freedom

Graphics are amazing - I really recommend HD viewing for this game. Load times are noticeable, but not annoying. Battling is better than most RPGs. There are some puzzles, mini-quests and ability to purchase items in shops. There are LOTS of cutscenes - hence the comment about playing a movie. Storyline is, thankfully, excellent.

Recommendations: (1) Don't assume the game will baby you - you have to actively seek out the side quests (but they are worth it for the items you get given once you complete them) - try chatting with folks in town like in Oblivion. (2) Don't play when you have a time constraint. Some sections are extremely long-winded. (3) Give the Pipots whatever they ask for - they are very generous little beasties.

Having been very disappointed in Assassin's Creed and not bothered with Two Worlds, given the reviews, this game is heaven sent! I recommend this as a 'buy' as you will be hard-pushed to get value from renting I think (unless you have a lot of free time).

For reference, other games I really liked are: Morrowind and Oblivion, Modern Warfare, Bioshock, Double Agent.

A thousand years of frustration
I didn't like Lost Odyssey for the first couple of hours of playing. The opening is a let down (flashy acrobatics in the introductory cut-scene don't translate to the player-controlled, turn-based boss fight you're eventually dumped in), lead character Kaim is another sulky mercenary/soldier type, the environments have a colour palette consisting of brown and grey, and things start off fairly humourless (I personally can't stand po-faced RPGs).

Then I got a little further and started liking it. Some more colourful characters show up, and the game seems to develop a sense of humour. The story is at least interesting, if nothing mind-blowing ("Oh no, I've lost my memories!") The combat system is a fairly modest turn-based affair, but it's easy to get to grips with and satisfying to use - the only real unique point is holding and releasing the R-trigger with good timing to improve attack damage - a twist on the timed button presses used in the Paper Mario games. The skill-learning system is quite expansive without being overwhelming, allowing the immortal members of your team to pinch skills off the mortals over a number of battles by linking them up. The ring system is a nice addition, basically changing your attack attributes the way weapons do in most RPGs, and they can be built with the various ingredients dotted liberally around the game world. Both the skills and rings will keep you in the menu screens for a fair chunk of the game, granted - and while the freedom of the skill system is nice, it would have been nice if the option was there to automate it.

So, I went through the first 2 discs (the game's a 4-disc-er, though more as a result of all the FMV than extensive length - it can be finished in around 40 hours) on generally good terms with Lost Odyssey, with only the odd difficulty spike really souring things. But then Disc 3 comes along, and the quality of just about everything plummets. The dialogue, which had previously, I thought, been handled pretty well, gets atrocious. Jansen's 'hilarious' comments especially become extremely grating - whoever thought they could base an entire character on rapid sarcastic mutterings needs hitting with a door. Half the cut-scenes on the third disc feel rushed or unfinished, ending awkwardly and barely making any sense - likewise, the characters' expressions are also choppy in various scenes, while brilliant in others. After a few hours of this I just didn't care what was happening anymore - the game makes no attempt to disguise its megalomaniac villain, which I respect it for, but once you find out very little of interest develops in the plot. You just seem to get more characters - some of which you'll never want to use, except to steal their abilities.

Underwhelming story elements aside, the game is plagued by confusing and frustrating design. Some of the dungeons, particularly the industrial towers with several identical floors, are just too big and annoyingly lacking in points of reference. Coupled with the lack of a map that covers more than your immediate surroundings, it can make traversing some of the areas a real chore - unfortunately the game usually takes this opportunity to be stingy on save points, meaning you could be stuck for hours before you get to save, allowing you to turn your 360 off and do something else before the temptation to put it in the microwave becomes too great.

The game also suffers from erratic difficulty - occasionally a boss will pop up that simply annihilates you in a couple of turns, leaving you to either go off and 'grind' (ie fight repeatedly to improve your level) or keep trying, blasting it with everything you've got so you can kill it first. Usually you'll have to resort to the latter anyway. It's a shame, because the majority of the bosses are reasonably challenging, many with interesting quirks that need to be exploited, making it worse when one shows up that employs cheap tricks, like seriously outnumbering you or taking multiple turns.

As a last gripe, the game isn't brilliant for giving you direction outside of dungeons. A lot of the time when you reach towns you're left to wander around until you reach the point that triggers the next story event - hardly a problem exclusive to this game, but it's a pain. Directions when given vehicles to explore the world map are often frustratingly vague, too.

Lost Odyssey has moments of genuine brilliance, and is for the large part at the very least enjoyable, but the constant dips in the quality of production and abundance of design niggles prevent it from being one of the greats. The lack of a truly great story means that if your tolerance for frustration isn't very high, it's unlikely you'll want to stick with it.