Lost Odyssey - Day 6

Haven't updated in a couple days, but I have been playing it in short bursts. Though, finally I got back to the open world, in a new boat. Makes me happy... and then bored after I go searching for underwater treasure for half an hour.

The story so far is really good. Getting a little tired of Gongora's smug self. Claiming he is the king, drinking blood; it really sends off a creepy vibe. And, while I'm on the subject of creepy, kinda creepy to see a man older than one of the immortals call her "Mommy." Just doesn't seem right, but is a little funny sometimes.

There was a small mini game of sorts to end disc 3. Had to do with dodging attacks in the ship you pick up. I didn't fail out of it (I got close though), but I know that this game is fairly forgiving about things like that.

I wish that when people from your party leave for random reasons, they would at least leave their accessories. I would have liked to have the accessories that were on Kaim and Sarah for a couple of battles I had. Really would have helped to have someone else with water resistance...

At least my guide is helping out a lot. I had to fix a couple things (like one of the treasures in Terrace Cave is a treasure hunt treasure.) All in all, it was definately worth the money I paid for it. Hopefully, I can get the treasure achievement by endgame.

That will do for now. More sidequests to be done.

Achievement Progress - Lost Odyssey
8 of 42 Achievements
495 Gamerscore

New Achievements - Lost Odyssey
No One's This Perfect - 10 GS
Surfacing - 125 GS

Lost Odyssey - Day 5

Damn, thieving little monkies. Luckily, my guide told me about them, so I focused on them first. Didn't take long, and didn't lose much to them. But, at least you get it all back later.

I'm happy I bought the Prima guide to the game. It has most of the info, but I've found myself making a couple notes here and there. Its really nice to have maps to where I am and where I'm going. Not even Gamefaqs has a world map (which would have helped a little more in the earlier parts of the game.)

I do love how this game looks visually. This is really on the level of how Gears of War is in the level of detail (especially when walking around in the city.) Most of the cut-scenes are in game, very little is CGI, and even when it is there isn't much of a difference. And, most of the story related conversations outside of the cut-scenes still has the voices.

Yet, this game doesn't seem like a J-RPG (Japanese RPG) to me. Even though the characters look it, the style seems like it; I just can't wrap my head around the fact that it resembles a J-RPG so much. The ring system is a great distraction, along with how the combat flows (not many games include spell disruption.)

Though, it is a little depressing to see the party split up after you took so much time to form it. I won't spoil anything, but the person you expected to screw everything up, does. And he uses his errand boy in a similar way that Janson was used. But that is enough for now.

Achievement Progress - Lost Odyssey
6 of 42 Achievements
360 Gamerscore

New Achievements - Lost Odyssey
None

First 10,000 Points/Lost Odyssey - Day 4

Well, I finally got 10,000 total Gamerscore. Technically, I overshot it by 96, since a disc complete in Lost Odyssey is 125 GS. But, that is beside the point.

I had been shooting for 10,000 for a while now (especially when I saw how easy it was to get 1000 in Oblivion.) Mainly the games that helped me get to it were:

• Oblivion (all 1250, especially after the expansion)
• Rainbow Six: Vegas (1 & 2)
• Splinter Cell: Double Agent
• The Darkness
• Marvel Ultimate Alliance
• Mass Effect
• and finally, Lost Odyssey

All helped immensely in achieving my stupid goal of getting to 10,000 GS, but I am happy for it. And now, I will try to get to 20,000

But now, to the other part of this post: Lost Odyssey. I finally got through disc 2 tonight, and am really liking the story so far. Dreams are still coming in like bad Powerpoint presentations, but I can't really complain.

Since I stopped milling SP, it's not as tedious to play. Definately more enjoyable than waiting for one or two certain Silver Keolons to show up, and running from a bunch of battles until I get one with them. But, at least I am finding plenty of accessories to make it better, and more interesting. Nothing better than picking up a bracelet that opens up 3 more skill slots.

It's good to see the memories unlocking for the characters. And...to see Jansen look and act like an ass. Nothing better to see a painted up man lusting for a woman...really makes you think...

Achievement Progress - Lost Odyssey
6 of 42 Achievements
360 Gamerscore

New Achievements - Lost Odyssey
Out to Sea - 125 GS

Lost Odyssey - Day 3

I spent most of yesterday just power leveling and getting as many skills learned as possible. I know, Lost Odyssey was made to fight the need to power level. But, if you want the achievements for skills, it is almost necessary to play it to get the skills.

Luckily, with the right spells and skills, it makes it easier. The answer is Silver Keolons. While they run away, if you boost your casters while they cast gamble, you have a good chance (especially at higher levels) of killing them in one shot. Each silver keolon nets 8 SP (skill points), and enough xp to level up (until you reach 39, then it takes more and more keolon kills to level up.)

But, after a while, I got tired of it and decided to move the story along more. I unlocked a few more dreams, and the final immortal to join my party (which, by the end of last night, I was power leveling again for the new immortal.)

What I have noticed about the dreams, is they are basically like Powerpoint presentations. Sure, they can be really cool to read, but if you just skip through them, its like watching a Powerpoint presentation. The graphics are cool, and some of the fonts are cool too.

I didn't realize it at first, but the accessories that you put on the person, will be seen on them in battle. For the longest time I was asking myself "Why the hell does Kaim have cat ears? Is it a glitch?" No, I had the "minimet ears" on him, and they were being shown on him. Just like various earrings can be seen on the people, depending on what accessory it is you choose for them. I think it's cool, just would have been nice to have been given a heads-up that they would be shown like that.

Achievement Progress - Lost Odyssey
5 of 42 Achievements
235 Gamerscore

New Achievements - Lost Odyssey
None

Lost Odyssey - Day 2

I've been a little lazy the past couple days on writing here. But, I have completed the first disk as of like 2 AM this morning.

The story is really cool so far, though a little confusing. From what I have gathered, here is the story:

Kaim (the main guy from the commercials, fighting in the middle of all the soldiers) is an "immortal" and has lived for 1000 years. Unfortunately, he doesn't remember anything in particular. As the place where he was fighting gets nuked by a meteor, another immortal (named Seth, who also has amnesia) is also out there and survives. Gongora, starts "helping" Tolten, the old regime's prince (who Jansen refers to as "Golden Boy" later on,) survive attacks set against him.
While Kaim, Seth and Jansen are out, Kaim and Seth start to regain their memories. It all culminates for Kaim when he sees his daughter and finds out he has 2 grandchildren.

It's really confusing, but that is what I gathered so far.

I finally developed a system to get perfects nearly every time (which helps for the 3-in-a-row achievement.) Watch the timer instead of the ring itself. Hold down the trigger before the character's turn comes up, and when the timer is around 41-35 seconds, let go. That is the area where getting a perfect can happen, no matter what level ring you have equipped.

The sidequests are a real pain. Without having a guide other than the ones from Gamefaqs, it's hard to know were the seeds are (easily) and know where to activate the sidequests. They aren't really that bad all-in-all though. Nothing really intense to make it impossible to finish (with the exception of a couple sidequests.)

I will talk more about this later. Right now, I'm getting ready to see if I can get another 30 GS to bring my total Gamerscore total to 10,000 (though, since I have an odd number of points, I will be over if I get 30.)

Achievement Progress - Lost Odyssey
5 of 42 achievements
235 Gamerscore

New Achievements - Lost Odyssey
Perfect Three - 30 GS
Survived - 125 GS

Lost Odyssey - Day 1

Well, before I start with this, I finally got enough XP to rank up in Vegas 2... so I got my officer achievement and realize I wasted a lot of time to get the gamerscore for it.

But, onto happier topics. The new[ish] game I got was Lost Odyssey. I watched the awesome commercial (except the ones I saw were like 30 seconds) and was greatly impressed. I didn't get the JRPG (Japanese RPG) vibe that I would normally get when I see a game like Final Fantasy. Especially by just how the war scene looked.

The opening to the game was just bad ass. That's all I can really say about it. It was cool, and the opening fights were interesting. Of course, the opening fight would be easy, considering its trying to introduce the whole system to you.

Though, once all that was done, it really hit me that it was a JRPG. Lots of random things to pick up, many healing items, and men with makeup. Luckily, it has some cool things in it.

I like the ability to equip rings, and have a chance to increase damage yourself (instead of random criticals that JRPGs love to serve.) Also, you don't just go around opening every chest you see; you shake trees, look in pots, and even check behind posters. It's nice to see that they aren't all the same.

And, the fights are interesting enough. The more damage the front row takes, the less they defend the back row. And, it doesn't come back if you heal the front row (at least, it doesn't come back in THAT battle.) Which, really sucked because I had my ass handed to me by THE FIRST BOSS I FOUGHT (the opening battle doesn't count, since you can't die and you can't lose.) But, the experience is enjoyable so far. All I need to do now, is get a guide so I can collect everything I need for the game's acheivements. Guess it's not a good thing that I am a collector/completionist when I play RPGs...

Achievement Progress - Lost Odyssey
3 of 42 Achievements
80 Gamerscore

New Achievements - Lost Odyssey
The Dreamer Wakes - 20 GS
Ring Assembler - 30 GS
Skill Linker - 30 GS