Lost Odyssey review Xbox 360

An epic adventure with a storyline to put most RPGs in the shade, Lost Odyssey is a major new arrival from Japan. The plot is vast and involved, the graphics and design polished and the battle-scenes can be spectacular. It's quite distinct from the more action-based RPGs that Western gamers are used to - will the slower, more cerebral approach appeal to you? Find out all about Lost Odyssey in our full review in this issue of 360Zine.
Click here to read our Lost Odyssey review for Xbox 360 now!

Lost Odyssey review for Xbox 360
When was the last time a game made you cry? It's not often this wonderful medium of ours can reduce us to salty man-tears, which is perhaps why Lost Odyssey feels so special. Aside from being a bit on the emotional side, it's also a cracking RPG - as long as you're prepared to put up with some of its old-school foibles. It starts with a huge, stunning battle taking place between hundreds of troops and robots, which is where immortal Kaim Argonar comes in, single-handedly taking out swathes of soldiers and huge mechs with just a few swift slashes of his enormous sword. It's a Japanese role-player, so naturally he's lost his memory - while a significant portion of the story focuses on Kaim finding out the cause of his acute amnesia, there's plenty of double-dealing, political intrigue, and baddies with ridiculous eyebrows to boo and hiss at.

In truth, after such a startling opening, it takes an age for the plot to get moving, with lengthy cutscenes interrupting the game's flow, and characters being introduced left, right and centre. And once you're over that small hump, you've got a couple of hours of tutorials to look forward to, and that hoary old J-RPG ‘favourite' - the random battle. Though in reality, it's not as bad as that sounds - it's essential to learn the ins and outs of the combat to really get to grips with the tactical nature of battling and arranging your party effectively, while the encounters are far less frequent than you might think.

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