Odin Sphere - Geeze The Animation is Amazing!

[quote name='Logain8955']Just beat Gwendolyn's story. Wow. Excellent story telling, great acting and writing, and a love story that actually made sense and made me care.
And yay! A kind of happy ending where they actually get to live happily ever after! Rare in an RPG, it seems.
[/QUOTE]



The story telling in the game is definitely top notch. I just bought my copy today. Trying to get past the first chapter.
 
I bought it 2day at gamecrazy after work.

I thought it was gonna be one of those box set games, I was like awwww :(

but I think I musta got it confused with Persona 3.

anyway too tired to play now, it's 9:40 pm and I wanna sleep, lol.

but long weekend = much game time!!
 
Bought it, but haven't opened it yet. I almost feel guilty opening it, knowing that it's an Atlus game and there's a chance that I could more than return my investment if I keep it sealed.

But then again, I got it for $2 after store credit...so I'll just keep it in good condition. Sounds like people are enjoying it plenty, and I'll post impressions after I play for a bit.
 
I really havent noticed any severe slowdown yet. I liken it to the momentary pause whenever you hit someone in twilight princess, except amplified if you hit a bunch of guys.
 
You will notice some slowdown, epically when there are 4 or 5 larger enemies. While it doesnt ruined the game, it is not good.
 
[quote name='62t']You will notice some slowdown, epically when there are 4 or 5 larger enemies. While it doesnt ruined the game, it is not good.[/quote]

Has anyone tried the game on a PS3? I understand that the graphics will not be as good until the PS3 can upscale properly, but does it atleast fix the frame rate issue? I've been wondering this for a while now.
 
[quote name='Dr Mario Kart']I really havent noticed any severe slowdown yet. I liken it to the momentary pause whenever you hit someone in twilight princess, except amplified if you hit a bunch of guys.[/QUOTE]

Yea, that wasn't so bad.
 
[quote name='Swift900']Has anyone tried the game on a PS3? I understand that the graphics will not be as good until the PS3 can upscale properly, but does it atleast fix the frame rate issue? I've been wondering this for a while now.[/quote]

Well I've only played until I beat the second boss in Gwendolyn's story and there was only a split second of lag during the second boss fight. Obviously I haven't gotten far at all though to answer your question better. Other than that I've had absolutely none and loading is 1-2 seconds for me as opposed to 2-3 that I heard someone else mention.

EDIT: The third chapter I experienced a couple times but each not longer than 2 seconds. Boss there didn't give me any. As for the fourth chapter, I had none what so ever. Going to call it quits for the night though.
 
I'm taking a Odin Sphere break. Right now, I'm on my 5 character story-velvet. The game does pose some slowdown on ps2 ,but nothing really serious or affect gameplay. Only two bosses have massive slowdown- the queen of neatherworld and baliel the dragon. There is noticble loading when fight enemies , it takes 2-4 seconds for monster to appear.

This game does get much easier when you start to play it more. You understand the enemies patterns and techniques. For Gwendolyn it took me 9 hours, 7 hours for Cornelius, 6 for Mercedes and 5 for Osward. I rely on brute force and take pound for pound for each hit. I just keep photon farming. It makes the battles much easier. Just keep spaming photon release. Each photon gives 20 xp and with each addtional level it increase your attack strength or pow gauge in certain levels. Add that with Overlord skill( double attack str) makes things much easier
 
slowdown reports are often over exaggerated....conversely, bad frame rates seem to be under-reported. weird. deep thoughts.
 
[quote name='Apossum']slowdown reports are often over exaggerated....conversely, bad frame rates seem to be under-reported. weird. deep thoughts.[/QUOTE]


Which is odd, given that bad frame rates actually wreck gameplay.
 
[quote name='Apossum']slowdown reports are often over exaggerated....conversely, bad frame rates seem to be under-reported. weird. deep thoughts.[/quote]

Call me stupid, but aren't they one in the same?
 
[quote name='yukine']Why the "Aw" for 40 hours!?

Am I the only one here that gets bored of games that are over 20 hours?[/QUOTE]

Naw, Im the same way. Actually my interest usually peaks around 10 hours. After that its got to be reallly something special to keep me locked in to the end. Which is why alot oof my games are just sitting there. The exception is portable titles, they can be longer and I dont mind Probably because Im not locked into playing it ONLY at home and ONLY in front of my tv...
so yeah, the perfect game time for me is 10 hrs.
20 for a RPG
Anything over that is overkill.
 
[quote name='JasonHasRSI']Call me stupid, but aren't they one in the same?[/QUOTE]


they're related. bad frame rate is a steadily low frame rate per second (see: the splinter cell series, many 2nd tier FPS, KOTOR, Fable.) Slowdown is usually during particularly intense moments on screen and the game literally slows down (and usually drops frames too.)
 
ah!! the fighting mechanics are too weird in this game.

first of all, enemies barely get hitstunned, and if they can be pushed out of your attack range, you will still be within their attack range!

so fighting a large string of doods basically forces u to use magic.

Second I REALLY dislike how you cannot attack with smooth button presses.

it seems the only way to do combos is to mash the square button, so if u wanna do a 3 hit u gotta mash until the animation for hit 3 begins.

I'm sure the battle mechanics have some kinda depth and proper method to them, but I'm still trying to figure it out.

otherwise great game so far.

BTW, do u think it's wise to plant seeds as soon as you get them (assuming u can get enough spheres to bloom them that is)?? unless of course, you're purposely trying to gain magic meter / magic level
 
The
dragon boss
in Odin Sphere was quite an interestingly fun battle. I nearly ran out of health items, but I got the bright idea of putting my mulberry seeds near a rosemile so that one would feed the growth of another.
 
Princess Crown wasn't released in the states the first go around, and I don't think it would be a good idea now. It's a 10 year old game that just wasn't very good to begin with. It would only really appeal to everyone flipping out over how great Odin Sphere is, and I think they would all just be disappointed.
 
[quote name='JasonHasRSI']Call me stupid, but aren't they one in the same?[/QUOTE]

They're completely different, though both are basically methods of handling not having enough processing power available.

Slowdown just means that literally everything slows down. It's still smooth, it's still playable, everything is just moving slower.

This used to be pretty common in 2D games, but is unfortunately very rare in 3D. I'm guessing it must be harder to implement in 3D engines.

Low frame rates mean the game is literally just skipping frames that it should be rendering. That looks jerky, can make you sick to your stomach, and can make a game unplayable if it's too bad. You may have no way of reacting to an attack, because you can't see it coming, can't move from it, etc.

I wish every engine would deal with the issue by slowing down, rather than skipping frames, as the latter wrecks games. The former is actually useful sometimes, as quite often when it's slowing down, you could use more time to think/react anyway (it's basically an unintentional bullet-time).
 
Wow. Just got screwed over during an alchemy training session just before the boss in the forest. I was nearly full on items, the first alchemy item put me at full, then I couldn't do shit to use up items and grab the second material to continue. I can't exit the stage, I can't fix my inventory problem, and I can't retry or anything. What the fuck?
 
[quote name='FriskyTanuki']Wow. Just got screwed over during an alchemy training session just before the boss in the forest. I was nearly full on items, the first alchemy item put me at full, then I couldn't do shit to use up items and grab the second material to continue. I can't exit the stage, I can't fix my inventory problem, and I can't retry or anything. What the fuck?[/quote]

You should be able to drop items by using Down and X while in your items screen.
 
[quote name='Sarang01']Can someone remind me why Atlus will release this in the U.S. but not the re-release of "Princess Crown" on the PSP?[/QUOTE]
The rumor is that the original source code was lost for the game, so porting the Saturn version to the PSP was possible via emulation, but unfortunately no translation is possible.

Wow. Just got screwed over during an alchemy training session just before the boss in the forest. I was nearly full on items, the first alchemy item put me at full, then I couldn't do shit to use up items and grab the second material to continue. I can't exit the stage, I can't fix my inventory problem, and I can't retry or anything. What the ?
Click to expand...
Yep, as Draekon said, down + X during tutorials works, and don't worry, items won't disappear unless you leave the stage. Also, don't forget that pressing R2 lets you do inventory management a bit easier...
 
so overall impressions of the game? I was looking over the Play article, and it still looks better than I can imagine. How well are the large characters in terms of animation?
 
[quote name='RelentlessRolento']so overall impressions of the game? I was looking over the Play article, and it still looks better than I can imagine. How well are the large characters in terms of animation?[/QUOTE]
Had high expectations heading into this game and so far not disappointed. The animations are handled very well and some of the smallest actions have intricate details (ex. Gwendolyn's wings opening when she begins to glide). There is slowdown on some stages, but it seems to be because the game loads the entire stage at the beginning and then just goes with it (Gwendolyn's final stage has the worst slowdown and the longest load so far, but it's manageable and easily erased when you take care of things). Didn't know what to expect from the music, but it's been nice and enjoyable, the only detraction being the noise when you have a spell or item 'active' can drown out other things like Mandragora squeaks. Overall this seems to be a 'win' for Atlus and with the $39.99 tag, I'd recommend not waiting on a price drop...
 
[quote name='Starky27']Had high expectations heading into this game and so far not disappointed. The animations are handled very well and some of the smallest actions have intricate details (ex. Gwendolyn's wings opening when she begins to glide). There is slowdown on some stages, but it seems to be because the game loads the entire stage at the beginning and then just goes with it (Gwendolyn's final stage has the worst slowdown and the longest load so far, but it's manageable and easily erased when you take care of things). Didn't know what to expect from the music, but it's been nice and enjoyable, the only detraction being the noise when you have a spell or item 'active' can drown out other things like Mandragora squeaks. Overall this seems to be a 'win' for Atlus and with the $39.99 tag, I'd recommend not waiting on a price drop...[/QUOTE]


I have to wait on a price drop due to wallet size ATM, but I am planning on getting it when it drops by at least $10. Thx for the overview since you pretty much hit on all the details on what I was wondering.
 
[quote name='Dead of Knight']I've been having a shitty day, so I bought this to cheer myself up. Watching the intro now, the animation is beautiful.[/QUOTE]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Looks like I'll be renting this one over the summer (if it's even available to rent) unless it magically goes down in price. I ain't spending $40 on some slowdown-ridden game. This really shouldn't be an issue anymore with games, even on the PS2. If I were my old self, I would be picking this up tomorrow. But I've become picky about the games I buy at release anymore. I blame CAG.

But seriously, they should have delayed it for the US market a couple months to fix this slowdown.
Click to expand...

;)
 
[quote name='Roufuss'];)[/QUOTE]
Yeah, I know, I know. But everyone here seems to like it, so fuck the reviews. I don't have any other games to play that I haven't already beaten or that I really like. I've only played 10 min so far, but it seems decent. At least my mood has improved a bit thanks to it, and that's all I really ask for right now. Only a week and a half left because I'm out of college for the summer...
 
Everything about this game suites my particular tastes.

2D gameplay, alchemy, inventory management (one of the things I liked from classical survival horror), story-driven, difficulty.

The amount of slowdown and loading that I've seen hasnt bothered me.

Its actually TOO pretty. Never before have I stopped what I was doing just to look at something. Sometimes during the dialogue scenes my eyes will wander off the text bubble to look at something and I'll miss a piece of converation.

This is why next-gen is completely unnecessary.
 
[quote name='Dr Mario Kart']Everything about this game suites my particular tastes.

2D gameplay, alchemy, inventory management (one of the things I liked from classical survival horror), story-driven, difficulty.

The amount of slowdown and loading that I've seen hasnt bothered me.

Its actually TOO pretty. Never before have I stopped what I was doing just to look at something. Sometimes during the dialogue scenes my eyes will wander off the text bubble to look at something and I'll miss a piece of converation.

This is why next-gen is completely unnecessary.[/QUOTE]
unless next gen can fix the slowdown.
 
Well I've been playing it for a couple hours and I do indeed like it. I haven't encountered any of this fabled slowdown the reviewers bitched so much about. If it's not that frequent, then why bitch so much about it? They really made it seem a lot worse than it appears to be. And I'm playing on a slim PS2 BTW. And the only really decent load times I notice are for big bosses and such, which is to be expected. Reviewers really blow shit out of proportion these days.
 
[quote name='Dead of Knight']Well I've been playing it for a couple hours and I do indeed like it. I haven't encountered any of this fabled slowdown the reviewers bitched so much about. If it's not that frequent, then why bitch so much about it? They really made it seem a lot worse than it appears to be. And I'm playing on a slim PS2 BTW. And the only really decent load times I notice are for big bosses and such, which is to be expected. Reviewers really blow shit out of proportion these days.[/QUOTE]

What super bitches.
 
[quote name='Dead of Knight']Well I've been playing it for a couple hours and I do indeed like it. I haven't encountered any of this fabled slowdown the reviewers bitched so much about. If it's not that frequent, then why bitch so much about it? They really made it seem a lot worse than it appears to be. And I'm playing on a slim PS2 BTW. And the only really decent load times I notice are for big bosses and such, which is to be expected. Reviewers really blow shit out of proportion these days.[/quote]
I've noticed a bunch of slowdown so at nearly 4 hours in. The final boss battle for the first area had a bunch when the pieces or armor would drop and I'd use my Cyclone. It's also appeared in the next two levels whenever a lot of enemies gang up on me during a stage. It's frequent enough to me to definitely be mentioned when I review this.

[quote name='Starky27']Yep, as Draekon said, down + X during tutorials works, and don't worry, items won't disappear unless you leave the stage. Also, don't forget that pressing R2 lets you do inventory management a bit easier...[/quote]
I know about the R2 thing, but didn't know about the down+x thing. Luckily, my last save was just before I travelled over to that area, so it wasn't much of a waste of time. I wish the manual mentioned this stuff a little more.
 
I know about the R2 thing, but didn't know about the down+x thing. Luckily, my last save was just before I travelled over to that area, so it wasn't much of a waste of time. I wish the manual mentioned this stuff a little more.
Click to expand...
Whenever you go to pick up an item, and your inventory is full, a giant box pops up on the screen and says "Your inventory is full. Press down+X to drop an item." Don't know how they could make it much clearer...
 
[quote name='Rei no Otaku']Whenever you go to pick up an item, and your inventory is full, a giant box pops up on the screen and says "Your inventory is full. Press down+X to drop an item." Don't know how they could make it much clearer...[/quote]
I only remember it saying "Your inventory is full. Press O to manage your inventory." or something close to that.
 
I just rented the game, and so far, I'm not impressed at all. The item management system is clunky, and very limited. I've never been 20 minutes into an RPG, and already had to drop items to make room in my inventory. As far as I can tell so far, the game consists of running left and right, jamming on Square, and occassionally using some special move. Also, who was the wizard who decided to put ATTACK and BLOCK on THE SAME DAMN BUTTON!
 
I cannot believe how hard to find this game was. I checked about every retail store you can imagine they were all sold out. Luckily I was able to get a copy at a Circuit City that nobody goes to.....but damn. I mustve wasted a days worth of game time to find this game.
 
[quote name='Rei no Otaku']Whenever you go to pick up an item, and your inventory is full, a giant box pops up on the screen and says "Your inventory is full. Press down+X to drop an item." Don't know how they could make it much clearer...[/QUOTE]
It does indeed say this. FriskyTanuki was not paying attention. ;)

And yes, there is some slowdown that I have finally noticed with a lot of enemies onscreen, but it's not horrible. Not enough to dock points off for it.
 
[quote name='VanillaGorilla']I just rented the game, and so far, I'm not impressed at all. The item management system is clunky, and very limited. I've never been 20 minutes into an RPG, and already had to drop items to make room in my inventory. As far as I can tell so far, the game consists of running left and right, jamming on Square, and occassionally using some special move. Also, who was the wizard who decided to put ATTACK and BLOCK on THE SAME DAMN BUTTON![/QUOTE]

Well it is really a brawler with RPG elements. You can buy bags which will increase the items you can hold. I agree that block is pretty useless in most case.
 
whoa. beautiful game. unfortunately, the controls are pretty bad. if attacks were more responsive and block had its own button, I might care about trying to plant stuff and absorb souls. maybe as you level up, you attack faster? cause as of right now, I feel like the extra layers of depth are squashed by having to constantly float around and run away.


pretty fun so far though. glad I didn't sell my ps3 just yet :)
 
[quote name='Dead of Knight']It does indeed say this. FriskyTanuki was not paying attention. ;)

And yes, there is some slowdown that I have finally noticed with a lot of enemies onscreen, but it's not horrible. Not enough to dock points off for it.[/quote]
It says both, but I apologize for the error.

When it (slowdown) happens often enough, it's a problem. Nothing huge, but it has to be taken into consideration.

I do love being tossed into a boss battle
with the guy that always charges and his constant barrages of valkyries
in the 4th chapter after some story sequences with no chance to gather food for health. At least I saved before that, so I can try to stock up with the merchant with the little bit of money I have. I guess the motto for this game is to save early and save often.
 
I'm glad this game is fun to play beyond the visuals. About two hours in I stopped even noticing the animation because I enjoyed the hectic boss battles so much. I really like the alchemy potion creation, and the experience system.

Slowdown isn't an issue since it only happens when you're hitting 7ish enemies at a time or fighting huge bosses. Load times are much better than most PS2 titles. It is pretty, but it's so subtle and effective that you won't hardly notice after a few hours. I rather enjoy that it's not so in your face and flashy.

Downsides are that the voice acting is pretty awful/overacted. The story isn't anything too special, and yes, things do get a touch repetitive. Thank god the boss battles are so tough and exciting, or I think the game would get old quick. Normal enemies fall like a house of cards to your onslaught, but bosses will KILL you if you don't pay attention and come prepared.

Overall Reccomended with reservations, if you don't like inventory management, don't buy it. If you don't like repetetive animations/attacks and sometimes cheap bosses, don't buy it.

And the blocking control/animation is absolutely useless.
 
if you use the map it will always tell you if there is a boss ahead, or you can retreat to the last stage you were in. As for the boss fight remember to use painkillers and you should be okay
 
[quote name='62t']if you use the map it will always tell you if there is a boss ahead, or you can retreat to the last stage you were in.[/QUOTE]

Problem is, in some of the Chapters you don't get the map until 5-6 stages in and you're randomly guessing up to that point...
 
[quote name='Starky27']Problem is, in some of the Chapters you don't get the map until 5-6 stages in and you're randomly guessing up to that point...[/QUOTE]
that why you could just retreat to the previous stage.
 
[quote name='62t']if you use the map it will always tell you if there is a boss ahead, or you can retreat to the last stage you were in. As for the boss fight remember to use painkillers and you should be okay[/quote]
This is in chapter 4
the chapter after you beat the guy that wanted to kill your sister because he's an asshole
, so there's no map or areas to explore. You see a few cutscenes and you're thrown into a boss battle.
 
[quote name='FriskyTanuki']
I do love being tossed into a boss battle
with the guy that always charges and his constant barrages of valkyries
in the 4th chapter after some story sequences with no chance to gather food for health. At least I saved before that, so I can try to stock up with the merchant with the little bit of money I have. I guess the motto for this game is to save early and save often.[/QUOTE]
Yeah I just finished Chapter 4 and that really grinded my gears. What grinded my gears even more was taking like 15 tries to beat the Chapter 4 level boss. Just beat him, thankfully.
 
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