Overall:
To say that Lost Odyssey is a bad game is to do it an injustice. It's not a fun game, though, and maybe that's the same thing. A mixture of uninteresting gameplay, story, and voice acting, and sometimes frustrating controls combine to make a game that should only appeal to JRPG fanboys who can't get enough of the uninspired mishmash of pseudo-philosophical drivel that passes for a deep story and characters that Japan spews out nowadays. Fortunately, said fanboys are legion, so Lost Odyssey should sell well, though at least those who play it will be exposed to some really excellent writing in the form of Kaim's memories, and in the above average musical score.
17 years later, it still stands out.
The game was indeed amazing. Great characters, gameplay and story!
But the dream sequences penned by Shigematsu were sublime.
I still remember many of these stories and I have integrated in the past in my D&D campaign many years ago.
Microsoft should have just kept pumping money into these guys. Same with a lot of the other studios... the blundered hard.
Lost Odysee deserved a franchise even though development wasn't smooth
It's not like it has had any competition since 2007. Would really like to own the short stories from it in book form.
The problem with most MS games on 360 was they didn’t make the games they paid for them and that makes you less money in the long run and isn’t something you can continue to do especially with declining sales of consoles. MS should have been starting and growing studios from the beginning but they went for paid games and it leaves them without the knowledge and culture of making games.
It’s quite hard to believe, but Lost Odyssey turns fifteen years old today. A curious product of the time, it has arguably only got better with age - and not just because of what it is, but also what it represents.
The short stories that Kaim collects/remembers are truly emotional. I remember one in particular made my eyes water.
If you've never played this, try to hunt down an original copy, or emulate it. This game was a gem.
I wish there was a remaster. This and Last Story. Sad these games were released on the...wrong platforms...
These JRPGs stand up on their own.