In Lost Odyssey you take the role of Kaim Argonar, an immortal who has lost a thousand years of his memories during the Magic-Industrial Revolution, in his struggle to regain his memory and figure out why it happen. As Kaim you set out on a journey containing detailed, in depth story which has several twists and turns, finding something new with each memory regained and each plot progression. Every character you gain into your party contributes something to Kaim’s past or alters his future as do people you encounter that may be linked to your past. Lost Odyssey starts out with an intense battle cinematic, immediately throwing Kaim into combat and allowing the player to get the feel of combat controls.
One of the features which stands out in Lost Odyssey is the split screen cinematic allowing the player to see two views of what’s occurring. One cinematic to note that utilizes this would be where Kaim is taken back to The Republic of Uhra and the top portion of the screen shows a close, back yet to the left, view of one vehicle then on the bottom portion a full scenic view of the valley with both vehicles racing through it. On other occasions in dialog cut scenes Kaim is shown on the main portion of the screen while whomever he’s speaking with may be shown with screen in a screen effect, allowing players to see what’s happening in detail and the facial expression of both people partaking in the dialog. Personally I found these features combined with spectacular graphics and animations to top off the game perfectly, it creates an awe to see the same situation in two different views and possibly see the situation a little differently.
During game play quests often pass from one to the next smoothly without getting the player too confused or having them spend too long searching for "that item" or "this person". This allows for more enjoyable play. On occasion there are some portions of the game where it tests you brain, puzzles and the like. An example would be taking certain platforms which take you a set direction and your objective is to reach the other side yet some platforms take you back to the start.
Another example would be obtaining three seals which fit onto the floor and placing them in a certain order, of which you see previous to the puzzle, and figuring out how they fit. Battles occur randomly during areas as you explore them and often it’s worth taking down the monsters to gain access to items that range from mundane to rare and boss battles are often foreshadowed by the save point, highly suggested to use due to some of them being tough. Like many other turn based role-playing games boss battles can turn easy to hard with the right equipment and learning their strategies, sometimes requiring a few deaths to learn what those are. Exploration and looking under every rock and in every jar is rewarding, players can look forward to everything from money to useful equipment being found in even the most unthought-of hiding spots so it becomes a good habit to check around every corner and in every room.
A large amount of side quests are always available, some open up later in game play, many of them leading to new spells, skills, rings, weapons, and accessories. Side quests range from objective based cage matches to hitting the correct notes on a music cube and collecting items to turn in, offering a variety of optional quests, rather than one set style. A neat and useful feature in Lost Odyssey is the ring crafting system, it allows the player to create rings which offering extra damage, greater chance to land a critical attack, different types of elemental damage, and a wide array and combination of other abilities. Fortunately the crafting system offers becomes more detailed by allowing you to combine different types of rings instead of raw materials to form powerful rings.
Intense turn based battle scenes give a different feel and look to combat in comparison with other turn based combat games, rather than having a view of the battle field and it’s players while attacking you actually follow the person performing the attack. The ring system allows more interaction in combat by holding the right trigger then letting go when one ring overlaps the other when using normal attack. If timed right you deal more damage and apply elemental damage or other effects. There’s four different elements in which combat revolves around water, fire, earth, and wind with one having a weakness to the other allowing players to have the ability to gain the upper hand in battle.
Graphics are stunning and beautiful; grass reacts to your movements realistically along with the water you move through. Backgrounds are detailed as are characters and the monster enemies you run into in the world. Each weapon has a different appearance and often accessories are visible on your character, glasses, earrings, and hair brooch decorations.
Overall, Lost Odyssey is a very rich and in depth role playing game with an interactive combat system and intense graphics. Plenty of side quests with and a lengthy story line help the games basic features. And for those who want to play through the game with a little more ease a New Game Plus feature opens up upon completion allowing the player to replay the game with their characters levels and attributes.
