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Beautiful game with one huge flaw...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: July 19, 2008
Author: Amazon User

To start off, I'd like to say that I loved Odin Sphere. I searched all over my town for a copy of the game and I was elated when I finally got my hands on one. When I first started up my game, I instantly fell in love with it, and enjoyed every moment...until Cornelius' storyline. In his storyline, the boss fights are great and there are enemies everywhere which happens to be the reason this game can't get five stars. The slowdown is AGONIZING. There was one particular boss fight that involves a dragon that spits out trash and sucks it back up. This fight was the reason that I gave up on the game and traded it back in, it is THAT BAD. I recommend that if you plan to buy this game, either get a PS3 or a boatload of patience, because you will need it. Otherwise, the game is great. The story is very intriguing, the characters are deep, and the music is wonderful. If you can deal with the excrutiating slowdown, I recommend giving this game a chance.

great game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 5
Date: July 13, 2007
Author: Amazon User

this game is great for all RPG fan, the only downside is that it sometimes lag during boss fight.

Spectacular!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 2
Date: September 25, 2007
Author: Amazon User

The day of the boring, lackluster RPG is done. Atlus, a company with whom I have played with for quite a while, has usually given me mixed results. Their latest entry, Odin Sphere, bucks the standard by providing a racing soundtrack, intense graphics, and a wonderfully challenging and powerful interface. You command one of five heroes in an epic struggle to prevent Apocalypse from ravaging several warring nations. Just when you think you get the gist and succeed through several levels, the challenge ramps upward and onward. Aside from some technical quirks and a dreadful slowdown in frame rate, Odin is an action-packed and delightful title. If anything, whack some Unicorn Knights to get out your aggression. Well worth it!

Good game hampered by an aging system

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 2
Date: November 08, 2007
Author: Amazon User

While the gameplay can get a little repetitive, I didn't really mind. The story is good and the voice acting doesn't make me lunge for the mute button like many other games do (Disgaea, I'm looking at you). And the graphics are simply amazing - partly because they look great, partly because I can imagine the effort that went into making all those 2D sprites.

The only downside is the slowdown that happens when too many characters are on the screen at once. Apparently the PS2 is very bad at drawing semi-transparent sprites. A worst case example: at a few points in the game you take on Odette, the queen of the dead. But you aren't just fighting her, you're also fighting her horde of small ghost minions and the resulting 2 frames per second the PS2 is able to display. I wish I was exaggerating here. 2. Frames. Per. Second.

Great artistic game.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 2
Date: November 25, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Odin Sphere is beautiful and fun. It also contains a well written storyline.
I would recommend it for anyone because it is a game you can't miss.

Total garbage

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 2 / 13
Date: April 23, 2008
Author: Amazon User

What idiot decided to label this abomination an RPG? Because it isn't. It's a mediocre 2-D sidescrolling beat-em-up with some RPG elements poorly integrated into the game engine. And by 2-D, I mean really 2-D. You can move forward and backwards, and jump. You can't move up and down, something that has been standard in beat-em-ups since the NES.

Sure, the graphics are good, but that doesn't mean anything when the game is monotonous and annoying. The game engine is hardwired for contradictory goals. To get more HP, you need to use healing items. But to get good items from a level, you must win fights without getting hurt, which obviates the need for healing items. I also never saw any results from levelling up my weapon.

The game was also shipped with what I consider a showstopper bug. Neat trick: Go into a tutorial that involves picking items up with a full inventory. Since your inventory is full, you can't pick anything up, so you can't progress in the tutorial. And since you're in a tutorial, you can't drop anything. You're stuck.

I played this game once, put it on a shelf, and traded it for store credit against Growlanser: Heritage of War a month later. I find the fact that Sony refused to publish Ys I & II Eternal in America because it was 2-D when it allows 2-D games like this, which are inherently inferior, to be an insult.

Another Addiction .....

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 3
Date: May 29, 2007
Author: Amazon User

My goodness, I am addicted to this game. It is just soooo freaking good! I mean dang can this game get ever so HARD and sometimes curses come flying out of my mouth like there was no tomorrow. But seriously, this game is a true gem at the end of PS2 lifetime. I can easily see this game becoming increasingly rare by 2008. So pick it up while you can. I can not wait to go back to playing this. The storyline is amazing as well. Good find! Keep it up ATLUS. It seems you are one of the last companies that I still respect (besides Kojima projects, a division of Konami of course!) The ONLY true con about this game is the slowdown in some of the more hectic areas of battle. But again the story and presentation will keep you coming back for more! Addictive gameplay, awesome storyline and wonderful artistic feel. So what are you waiting for Pick it up!!!

A surprising story and game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 3
Date: May 31, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I bought this game expecting to like it enough to play for a while and put aside. What I received was an ingeniously presented story, some of the most lavish art I've seen (I love sprites, which also helps), and a really enjoyable combat and level system. Telling too much about the game will spoil some of the joy, so I'll keep this brief. I have loved this game since I put it in; the story has kept me going - and the novel way they have you uncover it! - and the graphics are desperately pleasing to the senses. The music for the game is also a gem - pause on the "start" screen for a short bit and an "intro" video will play with the main theme song featuring vocals.

All told, this is one of the best games for any system I have purchased, and I greatly enjoy it. It is a story, an RPG, and a visual symphony.

2D Isn't Dead

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 3
Date: July 06, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Odin Sphere is possibly the most beautiful 2D game ever made, and one of the most beautiful games I've ever played. Stunning visuals mix with an epic score by Hitoshi Sakimoto (FFXII, FF Tactics, Gradius V, etc.) to give the game an appropriately operatic feel. Most importantly, it's also ridiculously fun. The way it's structured allows you to re-try levels with no penalty when your character is killed, the alchemy system is interesting, and never gets annoying, and if you find you're getting hosed in an area, you can go back and re-do one of the previous areas for more experience and items. The combat ranking system encourages you to try to do your best in every battle without making you feel like you missed out if you didn't, and in the same vein, this is _not_ an easy game, but it is the kind of challenge that just makes you want to try that much harder to succeed.

There can be slowdowns at times (and hoo-boy, the framerate can slow to a crawl on one of the bosses) but it doesn't make it any more difficult, and really, can save your life in some parts. ;) Aside from that, I can't think of anything I'd call a "flaw" in the game.

I can't recommend it highly enough. It's definitely one of the best games on its generation of consoles, and not one to miss.

One of the last great PS2 RPGs

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 3
Date: September 30, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Even though RPG's tend to be more "nerd"-centered, I always find playing them more funner than fighters or sports games because they always centered around an engrossing story. Sure a lot of them are far from innovative or new, but they're all the more interesting anyway. The story, presentation and the characters in Odin Sphere are quite memorable and it's surprising how fast you get suckered into the world. But like a lot of games, it's the gameplay that gets it knocked down a tad and while it's not an ever-present flaw, it's still one of those things you have to suffer in order to get to the good stuff.

Story: You play a young girl who is reading books up in her attic. We then go inside the book's story and find ourselves in the world of Erion where the kingdom of Valentine fell victim to a creation of its own, the Crystallization Cauldron. Pretty soon, the Ringford fairies and the warriors of Ragnanival want it and are at odds. The game is separated into several books with their own chapters and acts and different characters.

Graphics: I'm not kidding when I say this is probably one of the most loveliest and beautiful looking 2D games I've ever seen. With detailed sprites, bright color palettes and background animation meant to breathe life into the environment, the game is quite something to see in motion. The only problem comes when there's too many activity on screen and the sprites are a little bigger than usual (some are literally the height or length of the screen) so the game has slowdown.

Sound/Music: Done by Hitoshi Sakamoto, the game is has some quite nice and memorable tunes which is kind of surprising because I wasn't too impressed with the Final Fantasy XII soundtrack. Also, a nice plus for those who love VA is an option for either English or Japanese. Even though the game in Japanese makes me think of a anime, I like keeping it in English which is good since, despite some occasional awkward readings, it's a solid job.

Gameplay: This is where the game takes a dip. Done in a 2D rotating map where each section on the level acts as a 2D outline but really you're just going in circles, it's kind of neat to find a 2D RPG after so many 3D ones. It's pretty once you get the hang of it and the controls will eventually feel more comfortable. However it's the other parts of your character that are a nuisance. For example, now and then you get special items you can equip which can either net you more EXP when you get Phozons (kind of like MP in a way where you can fill a meter to unleash a special attack), or more attack power, or better chance for items being dropped. But you can only do one at a time and they're not separate from your item list so these things can take up space and since enemies can easily stomp you silly, that's not a good thing. Be prepared to throw away/use a lot of items to make room for others.

Speaking of tough enemies, this game can easily hand you your *** if you're not careful. Sometimes they really pack a wallop or they can break your combos by somehow breaking through your attack and getting a lucky shot in. Then there's the bosses which can easily fill up a screen. To help in your fight you get special skills such as Phozon skills, items like Napalm. But some items hold special abilities such as different kinds of seeds where, when planted, will absorb surrounding Phozon which'll grow and bear health-giving fruit. Only sacrifice is that the Phozon charges your meter allowing for special attacks so it's kind of a trade off. Also another skill you pick up is Alchemy where you can combine items to create a better item or one with more potency.

A game like Odin Sphere is like a lot of games that near the system's life cycle where barely anyone knows about it, let alone played it yet there's a group of people who played it and loved it. Odin Sphere might not get massive amounts of fans but we're just glad we have a great RPG to play, even if people are playing games on the big boys.

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