Lost Odyssey

[Serio]

I'd call this the most heart-wrenching game I've ever played, but I don't even think that's sufficient. If nothing else, the Thousand Years of Dreams makes it worth the money. But first, some background on the game in case some of you don't know it.

Lost Odyssey is a JRPG developed by Mistwalker, which is headed by Hironobu Sakaguchi, better known as the creator of Final Fantasy. It's turn based, and uses the Unreal Engine 3.0. The story is written by Hironobu Sakaguchi, the protagonist background is co-written by Kiyoshi Shigematsu who also penned the Thousand Years of Dreams. Nobuo Uematsu, the composer of the music for the vast majority of the Final Fantasy series, also composed the music for Lost Odyssey. An example:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFGrxKDrluI

The Thousand Years of Dreams is definitely the biggest feature for me. Throughout the game, you'll unlock fragments of the protagonists memories. Some of these are stories of morality, sympathy, emotions, and heroism. They all have their own feel, and the background will switch as you read through the stories to reflect the events in it. The music, as well, will change according to the subject in the story. Some of these memories were tear jerkers, even to someone such as me who is barely moved by games or movies. And I'm far from alone in that matter.

I'm curious, have anyone else played it? Or am I the only one? I'd definitely call it one of the best games I've ever played, even to go as far as put it on par with Deus Ex storywise.

[Diachron]

It's sitting on my 'to play' stack. I just need to tackle it when I know I can devote a major stretch of time. I'm a big Sakaguchi fan, and I picked Blue Dragon clean. I'm looking forward to the more somber tone of Lost Odyssey. Based on my backlog, it may not happen until the top of 2011!

Also a huge Uematsu fan. Had the good fortune to head out to Chicago for a leg of his Dear Friends concert tour--great stuff. He's a real character. But he's also got an uncanny soundtrack talent. I listen to a great many video game soundtracks, and his stuff is up there among the best of them.

[CemeteryGates]

I've posted about it recently. It's an amazing game, indeed. Although I still haven't beat it... I'm on Disc 4. It was scratched, and while I had it repaired, I bought a lot of games, so it's been pushed back, but I've been meaning to finish it.

Indeed, A Thousand Years of Dreams is a very unique and important element of the game. A friend explained to me that the stories told in it are so different one from another because they had a different writer do each one.

[Jason]

Added to my rental list. Looks interesting - it's been a while since I really got into an RPG.

[dimples]

It's really cheap now and I was thinking of buying it, but I just don't think it will be to my taste at all

[Daggers]

I've just started playing this, borrowed it from a friend.

I'm enjoying it so far but not really into it, barely past the prologue really.
The 4 disc thing is slightly daunting lol

[CemeteryGates]

I thought so too, at first. But then I was suddenly in the third disc and it felt really fast.
I think I didn't really get into it until about the second disc. The prologue and the following bit in the city didn't really pull me in. But I kept on playing and I found myself hooked after certain point.

[Jason]

I'm in a similar situation to CemeteryGates. I'm just past the first real boss (and what a LUDICROUSLY hard boss it was - 200 damage (roughly 50% of your characters' health at that point) to your entire party in one hit? You've got to be kidding...) and I'm yet to be gripped by either the gameplay or the storyline.
The 'Thousand Years of Dreams' initially connected with me, but I'm starting to sense a pattern - protagonist meets someone beautiful/nice, goes away, comes back, beautiful/nice person dies, protagonist lives on, protagonist is sad.
Even the characters are a little bit cookie-cutter for me right now - main hero is gruff and seemingly uncaring but has a hidden sensitive side, the female lead (Seth) is all optimistic and chirpy but will doubtlessly turn out to have a dark secret or three, and the third character (whose name utterly escapes me) is your standard wiseguy 'joker' who provides comic relief - the other two will hate him at first and then become endeared to him and et cetera et cetera.

I'm really hoping that they're going to do more with this concept as the game wears on, because right now it's running the risk of death by repetition for me - I'll keep grinding away because this is the second or third time someone on here has given it rave reviews, but right now, it seems like a standard JRPG with an interesting if currently unfulfilled twist.

[Serio]

It appears the game has ground to a halt for me as well. I reached the black/dark/gloomy/not-very-well-illuminated cavern, and somehow the pit falls just touched a nerve they shouldn't have. A usual session trying to get through the cavern would start like this;

> Game Loaded
> "This is going to be easy - *Bump* Oh, I fell"
> Run back up
> "Well, now that I know it's there - *Bump* ... And there"
> Run back up
> "So, there's two - *Bump*"

I eventually did get through a part of the cavern, but my interest in the story has declined significantly. I might return to it and complete it, but it wont be in 2010.

[Eden]

I bought it and played it for two or three hours and never tried it again. Something about it really bothered me. I am not sure whether I still own it and could test it therefore.