More evidence of how game reviewers really shortchanged this JRPG: According to the gamercard of Gamespot's Kevin VanOrd, he only finished up to Disc 1 of Lost Odyssey before writing his review and giving it a disappointing score of 7.5.
http://www.gamespot.com/users/Kevin-V/
If you click on his gamercard and check his achievement list for Lost Odyssey, it clearly shows that he only finished up to Disc 1. That's just pathetic!
To think that gamers trust these people to give them a qualified opinion on games....when they don't even finish the games before they write their reviews. Are these game reviewers *gasp* casual gamers? Is that the new standard for gaming now, that my grandmother has to be able to stand them? That's just wrong. If that were to happen, we're in for another video game crash, because once all those casual gamers get bored and move on to the next big fad, gaming is finished.
Gamespot definitely fails right there. What, they weren't paid enough by Microsoft, or sent enough freebies? This is likely another possibility considering the recent Gerstmann-gate scandal.
Writing a review based on Disc 1 of Lost Odyssey isn't fair to the people reading the review who want a decent opinion based on the ENTIRE game, not an opinion based on biases for or against a particular genre. It would be really unfortunate if Microsoft paid attention to game reviews and stopped games like Lost Odyssey from ever being made. I've always believed in improving the diversity of Microsoft's game lineup for the Xbox 360, and Lost Odyssey is one game that's a step in the right direction. If they want to lose the stigma that their console is a "military shooter" box, they need more games like Lost Odyssey. That said, I hope the overwhelmingly positive feedback from gamers that's driving the game's sales is what is given more importance when Microsoft considers doing more games like Lost Odyssey in the future.
Here are other articles chronicling how Lost Odyssey was not reviewed fairly by the gaming press:
IGN AU couldn't beat Bogimoray, the 2nd boss of Lost Odyssey
Gamespy Reviewer for Lost Odyssey EXPOSED Part I
Gamespy Reviewer for Lost Odyssey EXPOSED Part II
IGN Hypocrisy: Lost Odyssey was their game of the month for February