Odin Sphere

Well I thought this was up but apparently it became lost so I'll give it the ol Z Flair and redo it.


Presenting another great review from Zerieth. The game Odin sphere has touched the hearts of almost every gamer that has played it. Done with very little budget from a company that put people more in mind of ice cream than a great game maker. No one will ever think of them as a large dish of wonderful vanilla ice cream again.

Odin sphere didn't touch my heart in quite the same way it touched everyone else. While yes I acknowledge the outstanding orchestral achievements as well as a revolutionary new battle field system I wasn't completely blown away. The game put me in mind of something shakespeare might have conjured up on the toilet and I don't like his works to begin with. Oh wait that was long ago before the age of games. My bad, I meant on the pot.

Anyways this synical person that has already ticked off the fans of the game Angry Birds (Refer to my angry birds review if you don't hate me already angry birds fan) may have ended up achieving the enmity of the odin sphere fans which is essentially ever rpg player out there. First let me reiterate the above paragraphs. I didn't actually hate the game. No seriously I didn't. Believe me, oh never mind.

I guess we'll start on the highlights of the thing. Odin Sphere may feature a story line from back in the 800's but it features a first class orchestra to make up for it. With your average out of the can music that has invaded just about every game these days Odin Sphere wouldn't have even dinged me and I'd be spouting hatred about most of it. With this though Odin Sphere just manages to pull off a classical story about the before and after of Armegedon along with several tales of love and romance.

Not only this but I also enjoyed the oppurtunity to play more than one character. Never before did I ever come across a console rpg were I wasn't stuck with a twit with a key (Sora Kingdom Hearts) or some other weirdo holding a sword that I couldn't relate to. While I still can't relate to any of these characters (losing hope that I can relate to any main character that isn't me) I can say that it gives variety. With 5, yes thats as high as I can count using just one hand, 5 playable characters all with different fighting styles, leveling paces, and strengths/weaknesses one will get a very long and variety filled fun packed game for a total of twenty dollars ((US) in todays economy.

You start off with some lady holding a spear who has just lost her sister. Both are princesses of a different sort. She goes on to fight off some rather mean enemies and a dragon, and eventually meets up with her gargantuan father with massive arms and very small legs. He sends her off to find some witch lady in a swamp, and this journey has led her to a mountain facing her kinds lackey. She slays him and gets banished for her troubles. After being placed with a sworn enemy whom she eventually falls in love with the story pretty much ends.

Next is some rabbit man fighting through hell to get his body and love back. Then a faerie fighting for her country. Next a demon knight fighting for his identity, and finally a witch fighting for the world. At this point one should remember the movie Crash were different characters are followed throughout and end up meeting with each other in some places. In each characters "Story" the others are featured either as friends or foes. After all the stories are completed you can fight the Armegedon demons choosing each character. So far I haven't been able to pass those fights simply because I didn't take the time to level well but from research I have found that different character choices unlike different story options.

Ok since I mentioned leveling I will say this for an improvement. Power does not level. Instead only max health and magic power level up based on the foods you eat during the game and the number of Phozons (Magic energy) the character absorbs. Getting the foods can be a huge pain but if you are good at earning money and buying ingredients you can level that health level very fast. The phozons come from enemies you slay so you pretty much have to go grinding to get that level up. The reward is more spells you can cast, and more shots of each spell you can use. I am especially partial to Cyclone. While it is a weaker spell it does cumulative damage and if the boss I used it on goes in the right direction it will keep doing damage until it fades. In most fights the bosses summons reinforcements. This solves that problem.

All the battle fields and areas essentially consist of a large circle. In order to pass to different fields you have to initially clear each. After that you can come back to cleared ones and battle more enemies and collect treasures they may drop. This way you can run as far as you like, and have as much room as you wish and not have to leave the area you are fighting. This hit it off with me as it is a first for the roleplaying scene.

The graphics as far as magic and attacks go was Ok. The story stuff kind of flopped on me. If it isn't small and diminutive it is massive with small legs. Kind Odin especially has this problem with thuggish huge arms and miniature stilts he managed to walk on. All the girls are fair and tiny, and most of the guys are rather large and manly. Both to extremely extreme extremes. This doesn't really sit with me but I guess I can't complain since it was all done on a small budget. That orchestra must have cost a lot.

So let me reiterate that I didn't actually hate this game. Actually I spent several enjoyable weeks playing it. That said it doesn't seems to have a lot of replay value because I didn't really "love" it. I liked it and I may play it again once I get a new console to use. I appreciated the work that went into it but compared to some bigger titles I can only give this game a 4/5.