SwordBreaker Posted July 2, 2007 Share Posted July 2, 2007 Been playing this game for a week. I'm REALLY impressed by it, especially the sprite-based graphics. Never in my life have I seen sprites look and animate THIS good...you can literally see some of the big characters' chests heaving in and out. I can definitely say that this game has the best 2D graphics in history. The backgrounds are really colorful and full of life, too. As for the gameplay, it's a bit on the repetitive side, yet addictive. It's similar to Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, with less exploration and more action. It's really fun to level-up your character, too. Feed him/her different types of food and/or cooked meals to update HP, and draw souls to update your magical attacks. The item creation system is really unique, too. Always keeps you on your toes to make items...I think it's impossible to move forward without creating items... Localization-wise, this is probably Atlus' best work yet. The dialogue has this medival-ish feeling similar to FFXII. Voice-acting is pretty good. The music is amazing, composed by Hitoshi Sakimoto. I personally find the music here better than FFXII. I'm almost done with the first character. So...anyone else has been playing this game? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Necrotic Posted July 2, 2007 Share Posted July 2, 2007 Funny you'd bring it up cause I just started playing it again. I bought it and couldn't put it down for a few days, which is amazing for me because I usually put new games down in like a day to test it out and then go back to the games I haven't finished yet. I have to say, one of the most beautiful games I've played in a long time in many senses (artistically, musically, graphically) and is awesomely addictive. Tough too. Plus, as with all Atlus games there's an option to turn the voices to Japanese. This is probably the first game I didn't bother switching; the voice acting is fine, for once! The storybook feel and story actually make me want to go back to play it now. I'm still on the first character... apparently the most boring arc of the story, which is good, because I'm having a ball. Highly recommend this game! -Nick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Culturekoi Posted July 3, 2007 Share Posted July 3, 2007 The Valkyrie part is killing me. I really like the game, the gameplay is great, music and visuals are amazing, but I'd really love to be able to move from character to character. Not even freely, but doing a certain part of one character's story opens the next part of another's story, you know? It's a great game, but the same character gets old fast. Well, at least the other characters' stories provide incentive to continue (Cornelius looks like a blast to play). This game is hard, too. One of the first games in a while where putting it on hard difficulty actually makes the game harder. What a concept, eh? But really, I like the boss fights. Sure, it always devolves into square, square, square, square, jump away, Heal, rinse and repeat... but it's a pretty intense rinse and repeat, to be fair. At this point I'd give it an 8/10, but as I continue I'm sure it'll get to at least a 9/10, judging by the other character's backgrounds. Good times, kudos to Atlus. Now where the hell is Disgaea 3?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SwordBreaker Posted July 3, 2007 Author Share Posted July 3, 2007 The difficulty ROCKS like you guys are saying. One of the few games I have no mind to switch to hard to. Been playing hard ever since I started and I didn't switch to normal yet. I can't seem to put my finger on it, but I'm willing to bet that playing on hard is personally more fun for me than on normal, even though I did not try it on normal yet. Some of the 5 star areas get really adrenaline-pumping, forcing me to pull back and regroup my shit together (aka fill up HP, gathering more souls for special attacks, etc). Surprisingly, I haven't been having much difficulty on the main bosses up to now (just beat that fairy queen with relative ease)...probably because I'm equipping the relic which ups my attack 20% in addition to casting the magic which doubles up my attack temporarily. Most boring arc of the story, Necrotic? Wow...looks like I ain't seen nothing yet! The only thing this game is missing are puzzles and/or platforming, similar to Valkyrie Profile Lenneth. Man, if the game had those elements it would've been perfect! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UnforgivingEdges Posted July 3, 2007 Share Posted July 3, 2007 You guys are going to be really disappointed when you find out that the game recycles all 8 levels and all 10 bosses across all 5 characters. Rather than being a 35-40 hour game, it feels like five different 7 hour games back to back using the exact same assets. I was really loving at first, then not so much, and now it's just kind of "eh, more of the same." By the way, if you think Valkyrie is the most boring story, you're really going to hate Cornelius and Mercedes. Oswald's story is the most interesting and his character abilities make him the most fun to play as. Game is a 7/10, could have been more if there wasn't so much repetition of everything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yoshi3gg Posted July 3, 2007 Share Posted July 3, 2007 I rented it a while back, and liked everything but the gameplay, unfortunately. I find the alchemy system (combined with the limited inventory) to be kind of off-putting, and the actual combat is just a bit too unresponsive and repetitive for my tastes. It's a real shame, though, because I thought the art direction and music were absolutely ACE. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth GourryGN Posted July 3, 2007 Share Posted July 3, 2007 Odin Sphere is quite bitchin'. I don't mind the repetition. Everything just works so well. I love the thrill of farming and alchemy during battle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wormguy Posted July 3, 2007 Share Posted July 3, 2007 I was thinking about picking this up, nobody seems to be saying bad things other than it's a bit repetitive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eternal Zero Posted July 3, 2007 Share Posted July 3, 2007 Odin Sphere is amazing on all but very few accounts. -lots of loading screens, but nothing exceptionally long -slowdown during the biggest of boss battles due to the sheer number of things onscreen -repetitive in nature, but if you've ever enjoyed an MMO, this shouldn't be a problem as it all has a purpose -some characters are so much fun you want to play them more when you should be continuing the story, one is way too powerful On positive notes: +What a story! Man, I'm a sucker for stories, but this one is really just well done. The fact that you have five characters showing their side of it, you get quite the comprehensive storytelling experience. +Alchemy is quite innovative considering the main point of the game. +Gameplay is solid and tight +The entire world looks amazing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsuribachi Posted July 3, 2007 Share Posted July 3, 2007 I think Odin Sphere is great. I'm still on the first story though. The thing I love most is the difficulty. It's just right for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SwordBreaker Posted July 3, 2007 Author Share Posted July 3, 2007 You guys are going to be really disappointed when you find out that the game recycles all 8 levels and all 10 bosses across all 5 characters. Rather than being a 35-40 hour game, it feels like five different 7 hour games back to back using the exact same assets. I was really loving at first, then not so much, and now it's just kind of "eh, more of the same." By the way, if you think Valkyrie is the most boring story, you're really going to hate Cornelius and Mercedes. Oswald's story is the most interesting and his character abilities make him the most fun to play as. Game is a 7/10, could have been more if there wasn't so much repetition of everything. You serious? Man I was expecting something like another world map depending on the character or something. Man...that kind of blows. Digging Valkyrie's story though. So I'm guessing I won't have any problems with other characters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
razor's edge Posted July 11, 2007 Share Posted July 11, 2007 I finished Odin Sphere a few days ago, and wow, I couldn't put the game down. Best game I played so far this year--I'll see how Persona 3 compares to it soon enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atomic Skull Posted July 12, 2007 Share Posted July 12, 2007 This game isn't nearly as "hand animated" as people seem to think. Just for fun ran it in Pcsx2 (I have a real game so don't flame me) and changed the emulator to wireframe mode. As it turned out the sprites in the game are really made up of dozens of little polygon billboards with hand drawn textures on them and linked together like a puppet. Same for the backgrounds, most of the plants etc are multiple polygon billboards all linked together to form a larger object. Remember the old wolfteam games on the genesis like Earnest Evans? This is the same thing only much more advanced. Here is a screen shot with the game rendering normally on the left and in wireframe on the right. http://s8.photobucket.com/albums/a11/askull/?action=view¤t=odinspherepolygons.jpg I'm not trying to say that it's not hand drawn, but they sure did cheat like crazy on the animation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth GourryGN Posted July 12, 2007 Share Posted July 12, 2007 This game isn't nearly as "hand animated" as people seem to think. Just for fun ran it in Pcsx2 (I have a real game so don't flame me) and changed the emulator to wireframe mode. As it turned out the sprites in the game are really made up of dozens of little polygon billboards with hand drawn textures on them and linked together like a puppet. Same for the backgrounds, most of the plants etc are multiple polygon billboards all linked together to form a larger object. Remember the old wolfteam games on the genesis like Earnest Evans? This is the same thing only much more advanced. Here is a screen shot with the game rendering normally on the left and in wireframe on the right. http://s8.photobucket.com/albums/a11/askull/?action=view¤t=odinspherepolygons.jpg I'm not trying to say that it's not hand drawn, but they sure did cheat like crazy on the animation. But seriously, though. I've never heard/read anyone say anything about it being "hand animated" before. Why do you bring it up? I really like what they did. The puppetyness pleases me. If that's cheating, then fuck the rules. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atomic Skull Posted July 13, 2007 Share Posted July 13, 2007 But seriously, though. I've never heard/read anyone say anything about it being "hand animated" before. Why do you bring it up? I really like what they did. The puppetyness pleases me. If that's cheating, then fuck the rules. It looks good I won't deny that. And when you understand how they did it it's even more impressive. But it's not merely a high res SNES game. The animation system is far more advanced than that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoopyFrood Posted July 20, 2007 Share Posted July 20, 2007 I'm currently at the fifth chapter of "valkarie" and the fire caverns are VERY impressive. Just to ask did any one find <Spoiler> the boss fight with General Brigan at Winterhorn Ridge <End Spoiler> to be a hard battle, or was I just doing it all wrong? I personally can't wait to see what else Vanillaware will do. ( I already know about Grim Grimore. ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeFu Posted July 22, 2007 Share Posted July 22, 2007 I got really bored by the end of the first book. I think i'm supposed to go rescue that guy from the underworld or something, but the game just isn't that fun after a while. I wanted to like it too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atomic Skull Posted July 28, 2007 Share Posted July 28, 2007 I got really bored by the end of the first book. I think i'm supposed to go rescue that guy from the underworld or something, but the game just isn't that fun after a while. I wanted to like it too. You "think"? what are you skipping over the cutscenes? /slap Go back to playing God of War II or whatever 3D crap people are currently going ga-ga over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeFu Posted July 28, 2007 Share Posted July 28, 2007 I stopped playing like a month ago, i don't remember what I'm doing in the game. And I don't like God of War either, that game got too repetitive too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UnforgivingEdges Posted July 28, 2007 Share Posted July 28, 2007 You "think"? what are you skipping over the cutscenes? /slap Go back to playing God of War II or whatever 3D crap people are currently going ga-ga over. Hey look, it's Atomic Skull here to dispense his own brand of superiority and elitism! Odin Sphere devolved from a beautiful game full of potential into a beautiful game full of repetition and tedium. Now, GrimGrimoire. That's the game Odin Sphere should have been. It's dynamic, it's fun, and it has a story that's far more interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeFu Posted July 29, 2007 Share Posted July 29, 2007 Is grimgrimoire awesome? I thought Odin sphere would be awesome, but it was waaaay too repetitive for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UnforgivingEdges Posted July 29, 2007 Share Posted July 29, 2007 Is grimgrimoire awesome?I thought Odin sphere would be awesome, but it was waaaay too repetitive for me. GrimGrimoire is indeed awesome. This coming from someone who very rarely plays RTS'. If I had to recommend one of the games to someone who could only get one of them, I would recommend GrimGrimoire 10 times out of 10. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth GourryGN Posted July 29, 2007 Share Posted July 29, 2007 If GRiMgRiMoiRe is so much better where's the GRiMgRiMoiRe thread? What! It's taking over this one? Odin Sphere is better! 11/10! Take THAT, people with differing opinions. HA. But I guess that doesn't mean Grim Grimoire can't also be awesome... since Vanillaware is awesome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoopyFrood Posted July 30, 2007 Share Posted July 30, 2007 I personally like the story and the repetition doesn't bother me too much. But back on topic, the August issue of Hardcore Gamer Magazine has a import review of the remake of Princess Crown for PSP(the game that Vanillaware did on the Saturn before Odin Sphere). The reviewer makes a very good point that some of the things that don't work well in Odin Sphere (pow meter and eating food in the middle of battle) are hold overs from Princess Crown. But then again, I enjoyed the single player in PSO so who am I to judge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warmech Posted August 8, 2007 Share Posted August 8, 2007 Am I just playing this game wrong or just trying to beat everything way too quickly because I'm having trouble with some of it. I just beat Valkryie's fifth act, and that boss was pretty simple, but I probably spent an hour trying to get through the act four boss. Now I'm trying to get through act six and am stuck fighting two Unicorn Knights in this one area and it is not going well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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