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Odin Sphere Review (continued)
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Manufacturer: Atlus
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ESRB Rating: Everyone
Platform(s): PlayStation2
Release Date: May 17, 2007
Average Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars
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Retail Price: $19.99
Online Sale Price: $17.60
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More User Submitted Odin Sphere Reviews
Date: 2008-01-07
odinspheare
tHIS GAME HAS GOOD GRAPHICS AND IS FUN TO PLAY. BUT IT REALLY NEEDS A STRATAGY GUIDE OR SOMETHING TO USE TO GET STARTED.
Date: 2007-12-31
Game of the Year 2007!!!
Odin Sphere is the Game of the Year for 2007! While it may have a few gripes in terms of gameplay, and is on a last-gen system; one thing stands out the most with Odin Sphere that doesn't with all other games this year: you have absolutely NEVER played a game like Odin Sphere before. Vanillaware has produced a game that blends gameplay, graphics, and story together so strongly and intricately that it is nothing short of amazing. You will play Odin Sphere to build and develop your character, you will play to witness the amazing story that is being unfolded for you through the eyes of 5 different characters, you will play to fight the next AMAZING boss that lies in wait for you. Odin Sphere isn't simply a game, it is an experience! Like Okami, Dragon Quest VIII, and Shadow of the Colossus before it; Odin Sphere is an epic experience that will make you treasure the fact that videogames exist.
Date: 2007-11-25
Great artistic game.
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.
Date: 2007-11-08
Good game hampered by an aging system
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.
Date: 2007-09-30
One of the last great PS2 RPGs
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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