I’m a sucker for
JRPG’s, ever since I got into them I’ve found something truly
entrancing about them. Mind you my love of JRPG’s only really came
to fruition a few years ago which meant that many JRPG’s have
managed to slip under my radar for whatever reason, maybe they were
too obscure or never got a European release. Whatever the reason, I
missed out on them.
One of these games
was Odin Sphere, which was originally released on the PS2 back in 2007
in America and 2008 in Europe and Oceania. I would have been around nine at the time which is probably why the game completely slipped by me,
well that and the fact that my family had only just got our hands on
a Wii but that's besides the point.
So now, less than ten years after the release of the original we have an updated HD remake
entitled Odin Sphere Leifthrasir, and trust me, this game has given me
a lot of stuff to talk about so with that being said, lets start.
Story:
The story is...
interesting to say the least. Honestly the interesting part isn’t
the story itself but rather how the story is told.
You see, Odin Sphere
is split up into multiple “books”. Each book represents a
different characters campaign. While each character is going through
the same overall story each characters stories will be told from
their perspective and fill in blanks that might be present from other
characters stories.
It’s an
interesting way of telling the games narrative and honestly I think
it works quite well. The game provides you with a special chart to
show specifically where certain events happen in the timeline and
also where certain characters events overlap. Each character will go
on their own adventure but the things that occur in those stories all
are important in the large overarching plot.
It’s a clever
system for telling the story and one I don’t think I have really
seen before in a game. Problem is because of this system it makes
talking about the story itself a bit difficult if you haven’t
played through the whole game.
What I can say
though is that the story itself borrows elements from Norse Mythology
and also feels a little Shakespearean in how it is told (heck there
are scenes where characters get a spotlight shone on them making it
look like a stage-play and everything).
So while I can’t
say too much about the story I can say the way it is told is
extremely creative. That's all I can really say without getting into
spoiler territory.
Gameplay:
Now this is where
things get interesting. Odin sphere isn’t a JRPG in the classical
sense of the term. In fact the gameplay is completely different to
what I expected.
You see, Odin Sphere
plays a bit like a side scrolling beat-em-up. No I am not kidding.
Let me explain.
Odin Sphere plays
out entirely on a 2D plane. You run about in 2D and you fight in 2D.
Dungeons contain three types of rooms: battle rooms, rest areas and
normal rooms.
Battle Areas are
just as they sound, you enter the area and a battle commences. This
is where the 2D fighter gameplay starts bleeding in.
Combat heavily
revolves around chaining together attacks which is a very simple and
smooth affair. You only have one attack button which gives you a basic three hit combo as well as the ability to juggle enemies when coupled with
pressing up on the D-pad but really that is all you need. The combat
is incredibly smooth and fluid and despite the fact that I am a total
idiot at fighting games I found myself getting the hang of chaining
together attacks and pulling off flashy combos quite quickly.-
With Odin Sphere, I
always felt like I was in control while fighting, inputs were
responsive, combos weren’t a pain in the backside to pull off and
skills were simple to pull off but effective at the same time.
Speaking of skills
they come in two types, Passive and Active. Passive skills are always
active while active skills require toggling using either a button
combo or the skills menu (which can be accessed at any time during
battle with the L button).
Now the skills menu
is nice to have but I find it a bit of a pace breaker. Combat is
quite fast and frantic and having the game pause while you pick a
skill is a bit offputting.
However thanks to a
wonderful thing called shortcuts this isn’t really a problem. In
the skills menu you are allowed to assign skills to a surprising
amount of button combinations. You have basic combinations of pushing
a direction and circle at the same time but if you so desire you can
pull skills off Street Fighter style by setting advanced button
combos. I really like this feature. It allows players to set
shortcuts in a way that they can handle. New players can use the
simple shortcuts while other players (like myself) can map skills in
a more advanced way. Really there is just something so satisfying
about pulling off a skill through the use of a good old quater circle
attack motion.
There are two different meters that a skill can deplete. The POW gauge and SP.
Skills that deplete POW are able to be used more often as the POW
gauge recovers by itself over time. SP skills however require SP and
actually replenishing SP can only be done through the use of an item
or by picking up Phozons (these little purple crystal things that
replenish your SP and are the way you upgrade your skills).
Now some might call
me a bit of a skill spammer but I found myself running out of SP A
LOT during the early game. This is probably why I find myself using
POW skills more as the POW gauge recharges by itself over time. It’s
a minor nitpick but it would have been nice if they had reduced the
SP cost for SP skills just a tiny bit.
The important thing
to note about battle areas is how they are shaped. You see, Odin
Sphere does something interesting with its dungeon design. Rooms come
in two flavours, vertical/horizontal and cylindrical. Yes, cylindrical.
This is how battle rooms are shaped and honestly, in practise it is a
really clever idea.
The thing with these
rooms is that because they are shaped in a circle you will well...
keep running around the circle. This means that you don’t run the
risk of off screening yourself while in a battle area and that is a
total godsend in my opinion.
It also means that
the camera is almost always placed sensibly in battle rooms so you
can see what is going on. It’s simple but incredibly useful.
The other type of
room is the vertical/horizontal room. These are just as they sound,
nothing really too fancy about them. Sometimes they have enemies in
them but most of the time they are just connectors between battle
areas.
However these rooms
are usually where you will find secrets. You see, Odin Sphere has an
interesting system when it comes to learning skills. You don’t
learn them as you level up, rather you learn them when you find
special Phozon Prisims hidden around the place.
Sometimes you’ll
get a prism for finishing a certain battle area but usually you will
find them in hidden rooms not displayed on the map.
This really adds a
bit of Metroidvania to Odin Sphere's gameplay which is something I
really REALLY like. I’ve always liked Metroidvania games and adding
a dash of that into Odin Sphere just makes it all the more fun for
me.
Finally we have rest
areas. These are just as they sound, areas where you can rest. Here
you will find a store, item box (yes you do have a limit to how much
you can carry in your bag), touring restaurant, checkpoint/warp point
and a few other things.
This is probably a
good time to get into some of the other mechanics that Odin Sphere
has. Firstly we have the alchemy system. In a nutshell this allows you
to combine certain items from your inventory and create potions. To
do this however you require special empty vials called material (yeah
I dunno why they’re called that either). You can them combine
material with items you have picked up to create potions. The most
useful of these items would be the mandragoras which are basically
vegetables with legs. These guys are found in the ground and upon
walking over one that is hidden you’ll hear a little squeak sound.
Once you get them out of the group you just need to give them a
little wallop with whatever weapon you are holding and then you can
pick them up.
Mandragora’s can
be used to create the more useful potions, namely healing potions,
antidotes and potions that can be used to hurt enemies when thrown.
As you continue
through the game you’ll pick up scrolls with new recipes on how to
fuse different potions. However you don’t require these scrolls to
make the item found on them which is nice.
The alchemy system is
one of the systems you will be using the most due to how useful it
is. Alchemy can be performed anywhere, even in the heat of battle and
you can take as much time as you want because the game pauses itself
when you open the items menu.
The other system you
will most likely be using a lot is the planting system. You can plant
seeds that you find and when given phozons they will produce fruit.
The useful thing about this fruit is that when eaten it not only
gives you experience points but it also boosts a few of your stats a
bit. If you want to survive in this game you are going to want to
make use of this system. All food in Odin Sphere is like this with it
giving you EXP boosts, stat boosts and other things when eaten. The
nice thing about this is that it basically removes the need to grind
entirely. This is also where the touring restaurant comes in as with
the right ingredients you can make some dishes that boost your exp a
TON.
Now these aren’t
the only mechanics in Odin Sphere (trust me there are quite a few)
but these are really the two main ones that you will be using the most
often. The other mechanics are just fine but you simply won’t be
using them as often as the two mechanics I just mentioned.
Odin Sphere also
sports excellent controls. They feel great, incredibly natural and I
always feel like I’m in control.
Overall I find that
the gameplay of Odin Sphere is by far one of its strongest aspects.
It’s fast paced, smooth and most importantly, fun.
Graphics and Sound:
I’m just going to
say it right now, Odin Sphere looks and sounds fan-flipping-tastic.
Seriously, this is one of the best looking games I think I have ever
played.
Multiple times I was
left simply gawking at my Vita for a minute or two just from how eye
poppingly beautiful the game looked. This is partially due to the
multi layered backgrounds which are all so detailed and have tons of
stuff going on in them. From leaves blowing past to spurts of lava,
there is always something going on in the backgrounds and it looks
stunning.
The foregrounds have
a lot going on too with more little details scattered all around that
just make the game look stunning. To top it off the character and
enemy art is top notch, it looks amazing and is extremely detailed
and very well animated.
In fact, not only
does Odin Sphere look amazing but it also is smooth as butter both
animation wise and performance wise.
Animation wise
everything is incredibly smooth and slick. The animation is spot on
with no jagged edges or odd frames. What makes this smooth animation
even better though is the games performance. Odin Sphere runs at a
consistent rock solid 60 frames per second and coupling that with the
animation and art it makes for the most beautiful game I think I have
ever seen on my PlayStation Vita.
If you’re like me
and own an OLED Vita then you’re in for an extra treat as well. The
OLED screen really makes the games colours pop and it looks all the
more amazing because of it.
Not only does the
game look pretty however but it sounds excellent as well. This is one
of those games where I would highly HIGHLY recommend that you use
headphones because using the Vita's speakers would be doing this games
soundtrack a horrible disservice.
The soundtrack to
Odin Sphere is amazing, heck even the developers know it’s amazing
because they slap the logo of the group who composed the music among
the company splash screens.
Coupling the music
and the graphics really makes Odin Sphere come alive in a whole new
way. The music and graphics fit the setting so well and it makes the
world of Odin Sphere really pop. Really no amount of praise can do
this game justice when it comes to how well it is presented and I
highly recommend you experience it for yourself (which you can do at
the time of this review by downloading the demo off the PlayStation
store).
Verdict:
Going into Odin
Sphere I didn’t quite have much of an idea on what to expect but
what I got was a game that was not only beautiful to look at but
great fun to play as well. The game is full of things to do, secrets
to find and areas to explore and the amazing presentation makes it a
visual and audio pleasure to play. The game also plays amazingly on
the Vita giving a lag free experience which just makes the game all
the more enjoyable.
If you enjoy JRPG’s
and are looking for something unique and enjoyable then give Odin
Sphere a look. If you already played the original on PS2 then pick
this remake up anyway because it tweaks and fixes all of the problems
that the PS2 version had to make this version of the game the
definitive experience.
Odin Sphere
Leifthrasir gets a Highly Recommended
The Vita is
certainly getting a lot of love this year with all these titles
coming out and I’m sure I’ll be back with another review soon but
for now this is BDVR Guest author Nathan Green signing off.
Odin Sphere
Leifthrasir will be releasing on June 7th in North America
and on June 24th in Europe for PlayStation Vita,
PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4.
PEGI: 12
ESRB: T
CERO: B
OFLC: PG
(Unrestricted, Estimated Rating)
Game and cover image provided by Atlus.
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