secondsabre reviews Lost Odyssey (X360)

What to say about an RPG that simultaneously drives the genre forward and pushes it back? Well, for starters, the graphics, sound, voice-acting (in Japanese), and overall presentation were all amazing. I remember being totally wow'ed by the first battle sequence, and although combat eventually got repetitive and annoying (and in a turn-based, menu-driven RPG, when *doesn't* it eventually spin into madness?), I still felt that the extra layers of interaction (like the ring system) really kept me in control and my focus invested in the game. In terms of general battle system and storyline, the game hearkened back to the old days, filling me with some nostalgia for the classic Final Fantasy games. Despite the *feel* of the game being very old, and despite the rather cliched storyline (as only the Japanese do best!), I felt that the presentation of the themes behind the story were perfect for the game, and the presentation as a whole was flawless. By the end of the game, despite being *done* with it, I was still emotionally invested in the characters, and I think I had a single tear at the ending. The writing was spectacular all the way through, and even if the game dragged on, the eventual culmination really lived up to all the foreplay.