Topic: Odin Sphere (Read 9077 times)

ScrambledGregs · « **on:** 25 Apr 2007, 15:39 »

Like 90% of the game community, I had no fucking clue that this game even existed until Penny Arcade posted about it today. But holy shit goes this game look good. It's a full blooded 2D action RPG but with the amazing graphics that I always thought Nippon Ichi strategy RPGs should have--kinda like the huge, beautiful story scene sprites from Phantom Brave, only you get to play with those rather than just watch them.

It's so rare to see a 2D RPG on a console these days, let alone one that looks absolutely amazing. It comes out May 22nd, though I would strongly recommend if you have any interest in the game after checking out some screenshots or movies that you pre-order it, since Atlus always does limited print runs of their games.

Blue Kitty · « **Reply #1 on:** 25 Apr 2007, 21:58 »

sadly this is all I can contribute

Storm Rider · « **Reply #2 on:** 26 Apr 2007, 00:39 »

I read about it on Gamespot once before and it sounded mildly interesting, but I don't know about many features until the Penny Arcade comic and the accompanying newspost.

It certainly sounds like the Nippon Ichi brand of crazy. That being said, I've never finished a Nippon Ichi game and sometimes I have holding my interest in something so ridiculously open-ended.

ScrambledGregs · « **Reply #3 on:** 26 Apr 2007, 06:37 »

Just to clear something up, this game is not developed or published by Nippon Ichi. I just thought it looked like a NI game, if NI were inclined to make an action RPG with relatively modern graphics.

Storm Rider · « **Reply #4 on:** 26 Apr 2007, 15:39 »

I know, I just said it sounds very similar to Nippon Ichi's style of game.

Storm Rider · « **Reply #5 on:** 17 May 2007, 00:00 »

Bumped because this game comes out next week! I am thinking I am going to go preorder it because the advance buzz is pretty high for this game. The Penny Arcade guys especially have been freaking out pretty hard.

ScrambledGregs · « **Reply #6 on:** 17 May 2007, 07:07 »

I think pretty much everyone is in the gaming press.

Narr · « **Reply #7 on:** 19 May 2007, 01:13 »

From what I've seen, it looks like it plays similar to a Tales Of game.

I am so getting it.

ScrambledGregs · « **Reply #8 on:** 22 May 2007, 09:46 »

This comes out today. Why aren't you all out buying it??

Storm Rider · « **Reply #9 on:** 22 May 2007, 16:10 »

I have a copy preordered, but it won't get to the West Coast until tomorrow.

Narr · « **Reply #10 on:** 23 May 2007, 02:29 »

OH SHIT REALLY?

I didn't know it was so soon.

Goddamn it. I still don't have a job and has no monies.

ScrambledGregs · « **Reply #11 on:** 23 May 2007, 16:36 »

I will totally buy this whenever I see it in a store. Barring that, online.

Storm Rider · « **Reply #12 on:** 23 May 2007, 22:56 »

I've played through the first two worlds now, and it's fun, but I think it's been built up a little too much. It certainly looks fantastic, but it's not the completely mindblowing experience I had been expecting considering the general response from the press.

Still, for a 40 dollar game, you could do a hell of a lot worse.

ScrambledGregs · « **Reply #13 on:** 24 May 2007, 06:56 »

I more or less expect a beat-em-up that disguises Final Fight gameplay under a sweet, sweet blanket of 2D gorgeousness.

Storm Rider · « **Reply #14 on:** 24 May 2007, 16:07 »

Toss an item creation mechanic, RPG elements, and an annoyingly small inventory on top of that and you've more or less got it.

ScrambledGregs · « **Reply #15 on:** 25 May 2007, 07:28 »

I love this game so far. The only thing that pisses me off is that you have to play an entire stage in one sitting before you can save. Granted they aren't that long, but I didn't know this and had to go to work before I could beat the dragon boss...

Postino · « **Reply #16 on:** 28 May 2007, 23:50 »

At pretty much any point in the game you can press start and then choose the save option. Also its fun, but very repetitive. Oh, and the difficulty level ouch... I mean just ouch...

Storm Rider · « **Reply #17 on:** 28 May 2007, 23:56 »

The biggest problem is the frame rate. It's pretty awful, and I'm not quite sure why. I mean, as fantastic as the art is, it's still 2D, so I can't exactly see it taxing the PS2 to its limit. That plus the insane difficulty level plus the annoyingly small inventory sort of brings down the game for me. It's still a pretty good game, but I feel like it could have been so much more with just another month or two in development.

Narr · « **Reply #18 on:** 29 May 2007, 00:50 »

2d stuff is vastly more taxing than polygons are, actually. Sprites have to rapidly be replaced with the next frame whereas polygons just move on their own.

That's why the Saturn is the best system for processing 2d graphics to this day. It was designed for that.

Postino · « **Reply #19 on:** 29 May 2007, 00:53 »

Sega Saturn... hmm now I wanna play Lunar again.

ScrambledGregs · « **Reply #20 on:** 29 May 2007, 08:38 »

OK so I was wrong about the saving thing.

To anyone who's having difficulty with the game: just play it on Easy. There's no shame in it, since the inherent difficulty of the game doesn't come from lack of skill on your part but rather the game's cheapness. Also, it's not too long into the game that you can buy extra Bags to store items with. You can only have a maximum of 8 at a time, but I've found it's more than enough. If you're hoarding every single item that drops, you are doing something wrong. Go sell some of that shit!!

I can deal with the frame rate drops and slowdown, but the load screens are what annoy the piss out of me. When you get to the bunny people village to go to the restaurants it's like two or three load screens in a row. I honestly think the only reason this game has so many technical flaws is because it was created by a small niche developer. They just don't have the time/resources needed to finesse a game. It's exactly why so many developers are skittish about the PS3 and to a lesser extent the 360.

ackblom12 · « **Reply #21 on:** 29 May 2007, 14:27 »

How could anyone dislike a game where you can plant a seed and have it blossom into two living sheep which you then slaughter and devour.

Perhaps I'm enjoying this aspect a little too much.

Postino · « **Reply #22 on:** 29 May 2007, 22:33 »

The plants do eat souls, and then turn into sheep.

Narr · « **Reply #23 on:** 01 Jun 2007, 23:51 »

I got my latest EGM today. Odin Sphere got game of the month. It beat out Ninja Gaiden whatever that also just came out, though very slightly.

Storm Rider · « **Reply #24 on:** 02 Jun 2007, 00:43 »

Ninja Gaiden Sigma? That isn't out yet, at least to my knowledge.

ScrambledGregs · « **Reply #25 on:** 04 Jun 2007, 15:26 »

I can't stress enough how good this game is, especially if you play it on Easy. Some of the enemies and bosses are cheap as hell, and if you don't feel like farming (literally and figuratively) it'll solve your problems with the game.

The only place I've found slowdown to be a game ruining problem was with the final boss of Gwendolyn's chapter. It was like fucking in slow motion molasses because of the boss's size and preponderance for spawning enemy after enemy.

Storm Rider · « **Reply #26 on:** 04 Jun 2007, 16:40 »

I dunno, I find the slowdown to be pretty killer for me. I finished Gwendolyn's chapter but then moved on to finishing Super Paper Mario and now I've gone back to Disgaea 2. Maybe I'll give it another shot later but the game would slow down so much in some of the later levels with a lot of enemies that it was nearly unplayable.

Cartilage Head · « **Reply #27 on:** 09 Jun 2007, 01:31 »

I had only seen one add for it up until it was reviewed by Electronic Gaming Monthly, and I'm really excited about it. After a couple months of Dragon Quest (and lots of Final Fantasy before that) I definitely need a new kind of RPG experience. This puts Dragon Quest VIII on my "Almost Finished" list.. dang.

Cartilage Head · « **Reply #28 on:** 12 Aug 2007, 12:48 »

Man I forgot that I had already posted about this game. Anyway I beat it just a little while ago, and it was very incredible. Beautiful visuals and a great story, and surprisingly a fun battle system. Worth the time and worth the money.

Storm Rider · « **Reply #29 on:** 12 Aug 2007, 12:59 »

Man, maybe before the game release avalanche starts (10 days until Bioshock!) I should go back to this and try playing it again. The slowdown was just so damn bad in the later levels.

Catfish_Man · « **Reply #30 on:** 12 Aug 2007, 18:31 »

Quote from: Narr on 29 May 2007, 00:50

2d stuff is vastly more taxing than polygons are, actually. Sprites have to rapidly be replaced with the next frame whereas polygons just move on their own.

That's why the Saturn is the best system for processing 2d graphics to this day. It was designed for that.

uh, what? If that were true everyone would just implement 2D stuff as textured polygons and bam, it'd be as fast as 3D (which, at least in systems like Core Animation, is exactly what they do; I'm less familiar with game engines though).

Cartilage Head · « **Reply #31 on:** 13 Aug 2007, 11:47 »

The slowdown actually does not stay bad! It only got bad on me when A.) I fought the Queen of the Dead boss, and B.) When I got a bunchh of one-hit kills at once. But seriously.. once you reach the final bosses and see them and fight them you realize just how worthwhile the game is. Plus I am a sucker for well told stories and the writers of this game are masters of plot.

THESE FORUMS NOW CLOSED (read only)

Author Topic: Odin Sphere (Read 9077 times)

ScrambledGregs

ScrambledGregs

ScrambledGregs

Narr

ScrambledGregs

Narr

ScrambledGregs

ScrambledGregs

ScrambledGregs

Postino

Narr

Postino

ScrambledGregs

ackblom12

Postino

Narr

ScrambledGregs