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Surprisingly good

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 36 / 44
Date: May 23, 2007
Author: Amazon User

For some reason, Atlus' Odin Sphere had some hype surrounding it as it makes it's way to the states on the good 'ol PS2, and it's surprisingly good too. Taking place in a children's storybook, Odin Sphere is basically a beat 'em up disguised as a beautiful looking RPG-ish game. And when I say beautiful, I mean beautiful. For a late in life PS2 game, Odin Sphere looks great. The graphics, animation, and colors are vibrant and detailed despite some glitches and stiffness, but the game also suffers from some slowdown when there is a lot of on-screen action. Not to mention that there are some annoyingly frequent load times as well. That's all pretty much it for the flaws of Odin Sphere, but the good really does outweigh the bad thanks to the game's long quest and engaging story above all else, while the game also features some great voice acting, music and sound effects, and an item system that adds a bit of depth to the gameplay. All in all, Odin Sphere really doesn't offer anything you haven't seen before, but the game is a surprisingly good and worthwhile pickup for those who aren't ready to let their PS2's ride off into the sunset just yet.

The Ultimate Swan Song for PS2

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 10 / 15
Date: May 25, 2007
Author: Amazon User

If you are a real video game fan, and not just the type who buys an XBOX so they can play "Madden", then you owe it to yourself to play this game. In the nearly seven years the ps2 has been on the market, there has never been a more sumptuous argument for the notion that there is plenty of gaming still left to be done in two dimensions. The aesthetic detail is absolutely mind blowing; the animation: exalted. Really, still images will do this game very little justice. You have to see it in motion to appreciate it, and even then, you will wonder how the hell they pulled it off. The game play is no less sublime, offering the kind of robustness,in terms of cause and effect, that is seldom seen outside of the Street Fighter series: When you hit something in this game, you feel like you connected and your avatar has weight, presence. The story line mixes elements of Norse Mythology with marionette style stage play to interweave five equally poignant tales, all to the backdrop of some of the finest gaming music you are likely to hear until the end of the "Next Generation." You will hear naysayers gripe about load times in this game, or slowdown; listen carefully: NEITHER IS NEARLY AS MUCH A HINDRANCE AS YOU MAY HAVE BEEN CONVINCED OF! The slowdown is infrequent, and the load times, though commonplace, are snappy. There is so much more to describe, but it's better you discover the intricacies of this title for yourself; if you love games, 2D, and anything old school with a touch of the new, your game has arrived.

The PS2 is far from dead!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 28 / 31
Date: May 26, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I've been an avid gamer since the Atari 2600 days. One thing I've noticed over those 2 and a half decades of console gaming is that almost always the best games for all of the systems come out at the end of the systems' life cycle. Look at the games the SNES had in its last year of life. Chrono Trigger anyone? And other games like Donkey Kong Country were displaying graphics that seemed inpossible for the SNES. I also remember playing a Batman game on the NES (forget the title)that came out as the NES was dying, it too had graphics that seemed impossible for the NES. One big reason this is is that by the time a system is about to be taken off the market, developers have had a lot of time to get to know the system's hardware and know all the ins and outs when developing games for it. Games have gotten more involved as years have passed, especially RPG's, so now the games that come out at the end of the newer system's life not only have the best graphics seen yet on the system, the developes have also had years to flesh out the story, combat and item systems. You'll understand this when you play the awesome Odin Sphere.

At its core, the game is an action/adventure RPG. You wander through areas going left to right and attack enemies in real time. It's a bit like the first Valkyrie Profile that came out for the PS1, but way more fine tuned. When enemies are defeated, they release spirits called Phozons that you can magically absorb into your weapon making it more powerful. All areas are set up in "Stages". When you get tot he end of a stage, Odin will drop a treasure chest from the heavens you can open to collect rewards. The cool thing here is, the faster you complete a stage, the better items the treasure chest will have. Also, the less damage you take within that stage will also grant you better items.

Speaking of items, you can get them in a variety of ways. There are vendors scattered throughout castles and battlefields, and you can also grow them. You find seeds all over the place, as well as sheep seeds and more. What you do is plant the seeds near some enemies, and defeat the enemies. Instead of absorbing into your weapong, the phozons will absorb into the seeds making a plant grow that will have various items hanging off of them depending on what seed you planted. It's a very unique concept. You can also cook in the game, and there's a fairly easy alchemy system you can use.

The story is all about Norse mythology, and the graphics that are hand painted reflect that. You have the option to play the game with English voiceovers or in the original Japanese with English subtitles. I selected the English option, and the voice acting is actually pretty good.

If you're a fan of RPG's at all, especially if you're looking for something that's different from anything else out there right now, Odin Sphere should be a game you should pick up as soon as you can. The game seems very involved, and it is, but the game also lets you select from three different difficulty levels at any time.

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.

Wanting is better than having...

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 9 / 11
Date: June 03, 2007
Author: Amazon User

When I first saw advertisements for this game, I went over to my local GameStop and immediately pre-ordered it. Fellow gamers waited with bated breath for it to come out, magazines like Play and GamePro were practically crapping themselves with anticipation, constantly running articles about how beautiful the graphics are, etc.

You know what? Now that I've actually played the game, I don't really see what all the fuss is about. Now before you all come after me with your torches and pitchforks, let me first state that it isn't bad, and in fact has many good points. The graphics, for one. The visuals are absolutely stunning. The music was also phenomenal. It was very beautiful and fit the game perfectly. The voice acting was great, and could probably be the best I've ever encountered in a game. I know all you super nerdy otaku out there will probably lynch me for this, but I really enjoyed the English voiceacting, and thought it fit the game better than the Japanese voices. I also thought the story was pretty interesting. A tad cliched perhaps, but I liked how each of the characters was affected by the events in their own way, and how they all fit in together. I thought it was cool how it was told out of chronological order as well, and you had to finish each character's story to get the full picture (kinda like Pulp Fiction.) All-in-all, Odinsphere is a feast for the senses.

Now on to the bad parts. *puts on riot gear*

The gameplay can get pretty repetitive after a while. All the characters go to the same places, fight the same enemies and bosses, etc. It got pretty tiresome after awhile. Also, the game is pretty hard. Sure, there's a difficulty setting, but I'm pretty sure it's for decorative purposes only. I'm telling you, never have I wanted to hurl my controller through the t.v. screen more than while playing this game. Money is hard to come by, health items are hard to come by...oh, since we are on the topic of health items, let me voice some concern about those godforsaken seeds you are constanly getting. See, alot of the time you have to actually grow your own health items. You plant a seed, and these sparkly orbs called phozons that are released when you defeat an enemy go into the seed and make it grow. When the seed grows to fruition, you have a nice, sparkly health item. But not only do these items restore hp, they also give you exp. The problem is, you also need those phozons yourself to perform powerful magical attacks. I found myself having to choose between magic and hp/exp. VERY irksome. Also annoying was the lag. When battling against a large group or just one particularly huge boss, the entire game slows to a crawl. It's like fighting while completely mired in molasses.

So to summarize my long, rambling tirade, Odinsphere is a very beautiful game, but is severely lacking in the gameplay department. If you really want to play it, I strongly suggest you rent it first.

Such a beautiful game, but such lousy game play

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 5 / 13
Date: June 11, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I really tried to make myself like this game but aside from the being quite pretty to look at, and listen to this game has nothing going for it other than its somewhat original approach to the RPG genre.

The inventory system is completely inane and does not allow you to stack the majority of items when given already very limited inventory space. The combat is fairly difficult but is made even worse by the fact that each area you enter typically consists of about 6-7 sections before it is complete, completely resets if you leave, and you can only heal by using food items that are quite expensive considering the small amount of money you may or may not receive after each section...or you can grow your own food in the middle of battle but if you let it grow too long it becomes over ripe and no good...and also it steals Phozons (which are basically like your experience points and Magic Points in one) to grow.

Monsters will sometimes drop treasure chests when you kill them but you have all of about 5 seconds to knock it open before it disappears.

You can equip ONE item at any time, but this item still takes up inventory space even when equiped for some odd reason...

A lot of people seem to honestly enjoy this game, you may be one of those people but I'm not. Rent it first and see for yourself before you drop 40 bucks.

The End of the World Times Five

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 16 / 22
Date: June 14, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Lately, I've been really disappointed with the PS2's RPG offerings. Final Fantasy XII was the logical evolution of the graphics over gameplay mentality, a game that basically played itself. Valkyrie Profile 2 had some neat ideas but completely dropped the ball with its unbalanced difficulty and messy battle system. Almost six months after the console has become obsolete along comes Odin Sphere, the RPG swan song I've been waiting for.

The story of Odin Sphere tells the tale of a war between the Odin and his Aesir against the Vanir, the fairy people, to control a device known as the cauldron. It follows the journey of five different characters over the course of roughly the same time period as the events that herald the end of the world come to pass. Their paths all converge at the end when they take part in one last, futile battle against the beasts of the apocalypse. Even if the individual stories of the characters do lean a bit towards the melodramatic, they are excellent, interesting, and develop the characters well. All five stories fit together nicely like pieces of a puzzle.

Its story alone is enough to cover quite a few worts that gameplay has as far as I'm concerned. For one thing, Odin Sphere is a throw-back to older games in difficulty as well as its visual design. Odin Sphere is a 2D side-strolling action game primarily with RPG elements thrown in. Watching it is like a seeing a gorgeous painting come to life. It is almost mind-blowingly difficult at times. At first, the difficulty level almost had me hating this game. Odin Sphere has a terrible learning curve that has to be overcome to find the gameing goodness within. For one thing, the player must learn that mindlessly attacking will get you killed quickly. Secondly, you must learn that given the limited space in your inventory, items are meant to be used, not stockpiled. Dropped items are plentiful so you can easily find or make another one. Thirdly, the character must use the food cultivation system to gain levels and healing items. The food you grow at first doesn't heal you up very much and you are open to enemy attack should you need to consume it in the heat of battle which makes it nearly useless. A bit later on you'll gain a healing potion alchemy mix which you can synthesize at any time and at last the game becomes bearable. Also I don't think it helps that the starting character, Gwendolyn, tends to get stuck in long combo animations that leave her open to attack. I found it to be a ton of fun after I learned the ropes because, rather than being a mindless hack and slash you can just plow through, Odin Sphere requires some smart thinking and quick reflexes. I also don't think that it helps Odin Sphere's case at the beginning that the first character's story arc takes place the latest in the time line and feels like it has large gaps in it, which are actually covered in other characters' scenarios.

In the end, Odin Sphere is a wonderful game, but its only going to appeal to a select audience. If you love RPGs and hard action games, your ship has come in because this blends the best of both into one package. If not, its probably only going to make you frustrated.

Odin Sphere gets it all right

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 5
Date: June 15, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Odin Sphere is a triumph of game design, plain and simple. The hand-drawn art and character designs definitley take the cake, as every screen of Odin Sphere is lush and gorgeous. But add quality voice acting, beautiful music, intuitive gameplay, and 40+ hours of gameplay with 5 charming playable characters to an already impressive game and you've got an absolute classic.

Odin sphere is a unique sort of action-RPG which definitely requires tactical thinking. You aren't just going to mutton-mash your way through this game. As you enter a new level or approach a boss you've got to think about your inventory and how you can make what you've got work for you-- or go back to previous levels to gather more items (you can combine items to create healing as well as destructive potions; or plant seeds that grow into healing edibles). And since inventory space is limited, you've really got to pay attention.

The fighting is intuitive, each character with various strengths and weapons that require you to consider your style of attack. Also to be considered is whether to power up your weapons by conserving the energy used in special attacks, or whether to go all-out with powers like becoming immaterial for a short while (giving you time to heal and gather energy, or avoid your enemies), or releasing a surge of energy that delivers massive damage. Again, strategic thinking is required.

Odin Sphere is a sprawling story of nations at war, told from multiple perspectives (a total of 5+ hours of theatrical cut-scenes) and inhabited by characters struggling to make difficult choices in the face of adversity, making for a rich and complex experience that won't quit your imagination just because you've put down the controller.

A must-play for anyone who's a fan of either RPGs or great games.

People who dont like this game aren't really trying

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 11
Date: June 18, 2007
Author: Amazon User

There are plenty of great reviews here, so I wont go into too much depth. I simply want to give you a bit more information on the negative points people seem to bring up about this game.

First, I must say I love the game. The graphics are beautiful, the bosses are larger than life, and the audio is excellent. I honestly had to make myself put the controller down on many occasions, or I would have stayed up all night playing, and missed work. :D

Now some people complain about having to plant seeds to grow health items, because the seeds use up phozons, which are the magical energy released from defeated foes. Your character also absorbs this energy to use for magic attacks. Well there is more than one way to gain phozons. One is from defeating foes, another is in the process of making potions.

There are many potions that you can make to aid you in your battles. Everything from Nitro that burns your enemies, to Health potions. Potions are created by combining items you gather, along with a base "material" flask that can be found after every battle, as long as you complete the battle with a good "grade". These base material flasks have a number value which can be increased by combining them with unused seeds and other items you no longer need. Raising the base value of a material flask means that when you finally use it to create a potion, excess phozons are released into the air. The higher the base value of the material flask, the greater the number of released phozons.

Yet another way to gain phozons is via one of the seeds you can find and plant, that grows and releases phozons. And finally, in later stages of the game you will gain a spell that allows you to release a small portion of your own stored phozons to feed the plant's growth. So you see there are many ways to gather and release phozons.

Another complaint I heard was about money and inventory. There are several merchants that sell larger bags for storing gathered items. Once you have several large bags, inventory isnt such a problem. And once you finish an area of the game, you are able to revisit it at anytime, and as often as you like, to gather more items. So once you have several large bags, it's rather simple to make a few runs into previously visited areas, gather up a lot of seeds, vegetables, material flasks, etc. and return to your home to sell them all off to a vendor. This will raise your money rapidly and is a simple task, unlike some RPGs that have you "grinding" or "farming" for hours and hours. I have to say, if people find the gathering of items in this game tedious, then they are not very familiar with RPGs.

The ability to revist areas you have already been, means that once you make your way through a couple areas, your character has leveled up and is stronger. Returning to the first area of the game means you are running through it again, but now your character is much stronger, making it easy to defeat the foes quickly, garner a high battle "grade" and be rewarded with lots of money, seeds, flasks, potions, etc. Since your character is stronger, you do not have to use magic to defeat these enemies, and can collect all of the released phozons to use in the next stage of the game where you fight more difficult foes.

The last complaint I saw was about the game slowing down when there is a lot of action on screen. I only noticed this in the final battle. It did slow down while I was fighting and there were many enemies on screen, as well as the HUGE boss. (My 62" TV really makes these GiNoRmOuS! lol) But this slow down really does not affect the player that I could see. You slow down, so do the enemies. It actually helped me because I could see what was going on and make decisions as to how to attack, when to retreat, time magic attacks to do the most damage to the most enemies at one time. I really didnt find it to be a negative and it in no way affected my opinion of the game.

This game is very unique in it's handling of combat, magic, and items and I simply love it. I have just about had my fill of all of these games that have beautiful 3D cut scenes, and horrible gameplay. Atlus has made a truely wonderful game in Odin Sphere.

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