Chacranajxy Reviews: Lost Odyssey (Xbox 360)

Status
Not open for further replies.
Nice review - I agree with everything except the part about Blue Dragon being mediocre. I wonder though, did you actually *play* Blue Dragon or are you parroting the conventional wisdom on that one? I'm only note that because you make a point of saying this is the first 360 game you've played since VF5 so I'm guessing you skipped Blue Dragon. I'd rate the games similarly myself (both are excellent IMO). I know we are all supposed to hate metacritic on this site, but the review average rates them the same too (well, LO is at 78 and BD is at 79, actually).
 
[quote name='io']Nice review - I agree with everything except the part about Blue Dragon being mediocre. I wonder though, did you actually *play* Blue Dragon or are you parroting the conventional wisdom on that one? I'm only note that because you make a point of saying this is the first 360 game you've played since VF5 so I'm guessing you skipped Blue Dragon. I'd rate the games similarly myself (both are excellent IMO). I know we are all supposed to hate metacritic on this site, but the review average rates them the same too (well, LO is at 78 and BD is at 79, actually).[/QUOTE]

My friend has (or had... maybe he sold it like he shoulda) Blue Dragon, and I put a couple hours into it. Boring. The battle system wasn't particularly amusing (despite its similarity to LO) and the style, the characters, the story... none of it was above mediocrity.
 
Well, I won't argue the point about Blue Dragon. I liked the combat more in that game as it is slightly less multiple menu selection (everything in LO is buried in menus beyond the basic attack). And I liked the Shadow upgrade stuff more than the skill slot stuff (though both have their good points).

But focusing just on Lost Odyssey, since we agree on that one: why do you think it rated so low from so many places? (a 50 from Gamespy, a 65 from GamePro, 75 from EGM and Gamespot just to point out a few notables ones - there's also plenty in the 8-9 range which is fine).
 
[quote name='io']Well, I won't argue the point about Blue Dragon. I liked the combat more in that game as it is slightly less multiple menu selection (everything in LO is buried in menus beyond the basic attack). And I liked the Shadow upgrade stuff more than the skill slot stuff (though both have their good points).

But focusing just on Lost Odyssey, since we agree on that one: why do you think it rated so low from so many places? (a 50 from Gamespy, a 65 from GamePro, 75 from EGM and Gamespot just to point out a few notables ones - there's also plenty in the 8-9 range which is fine).[/QUOTE]

Honestly, I think it's because it's low on the innovation, which is the thing that major sites seem to value more than anything. Yes, the story is completely different from what we're used to, but the gameplay is still pretty similar to FFX and doesn't do a whole lot of new stuff. I gave it a 9 because it's polished as hell, tells a phenomenal story, and has a great sense of style, but if you want innovation... yeah, it's not so prevalent.

So I think the difference is based on what reviewers look for in a game.
 
[quote name='Chacrana']Well, it wasn't.[/quote]that's unfortunate. a lot of people underrate that game, when in fact, it was pretty groundbreaking.
 
[quote name='telemarketer']that's unfortunate. a lot of people underrate that game, when in fact, it was pretty groundbreaking.[/QUOTE]

It was the game that people only played because it was a demo included with the original Halo. People gave it 5 minutes, mocked it, and turned it off. And I cannot fault them for it.
 
[quote name='Chacrana']It was the game that people only played because it was a demo included with the original Halo. People gave it 5 minutes, mocked it, and turned it off. And I cannot fault them for it.[/quote]people only bought halo for the fusion frenzy demo, and people only played the fusion frenzy demo for twisted system.
 
I'm not knocking the game as a whole since I haven't even played it... but random encounters? That's just laziness on the developer's part.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
bread's done
Back
Top