thirdworldgamer

In my third world country, we have a saying: "Bato bato sa langit, kung tamaan ay huwag magagalit." Game reviewers are not gods. They do not decide the fate of a game in the marketplace. This has been proven time and again with games like Assassin's Creed , Dead Rising , Lost Planet , and now, Lost Odyssey . You can check any major forum right now and you'll find the same thing: Positive impressions across the board. Gamers touched emotionally by the game's finest character moments. Appreciation for the strongly TRADITIONAL turn-based JRPG system. Maybe a few comments of frustration on the challenge and difficulty of the game, but I don't see that many Xbox gamers giving up that easily. A lot of the ones who don't surrender right away come off with a sense of complete satisfaction once they've overcome the game's initial baptism of fire: Grilgan and Bogimoray. Lost Odyssey is here. And it's as massive and epic as it was promised to be. Now,...

While my husband is still exploring the world of Lost Odyssey in Disk 4, he asked me if I could make a video of my fight with the first two bosses of the game: Grilgan and Bogimoray. The video shows that I didn't really grind/power-level in order to beat Grilgan. Practically all the items that I have are items I obtained from exploring the map. And last I checked, exploring the map for the first time doesn't exactly count as grinding. Note that my characters levels are the following: Kaim (13), Seth (13) and Jansen (12). The video also contains the skill and equipment that I have equipped. Please note that our video capture card doesn't belong to the high end variety. The text may be unreadable. I started the offense with Grilgan by throwing a Flare Bomb at his direction. The Flare Bomb was obtained while walking through the world and not through an NPC. Other than that I made sure that Jansen had 'Shield' cast on him. The 'Shield' spell should increase your...

...and gives it a fair shake, even posting TWO scores. Wow, thanks Game Informer. I'm glad they understood what makes the game so special. http://www.gameinformer.com/NR/exeres/01C1078E-686D-4860-AF34-047F685AC157.htm " Immortal Beloved: Game Informer Reviews Lost Odyssey Main Review "The RPG genre as a whole is one of the most conflicted in gaming today. It is built on conventions that are over 20 years old, and as much as role-playing titles thrive on these traditions, developers also struggle against them, attempting to find new and innovative ways to engage gamers. This is not a battle that Lost Odyssey fights. The latest epic from RPG legend Hironobu Sakaguchi is not diplomatic, and doesn’t attempt to find a middle ground between convention and innovation; it sides with convention all the way. The result is a rich experience replete with classic gameplay, familiar mechanics, and one of the most compelling tales ever told on the Xbox 360." ... What really takes ...

With all the hits we've been getting lately for Lost Odyssey, we're about to exceed our bandwidth already for photobucket. While the site and articles will still be up, some of the pictures may not load....we apologize in advance in case that happens anytime soon. Interest in Lost Odyssey is at an all-time high all over the 'web. This game seems like it is a massive hit among JRPG gamers everywhere. I hope it will do well enough in the marketplace to have Mistwalker continue their amazing work on the Xbox 360.

So this is it. By now most of the people who are geniunely interested in the game, despite the foul up with the box, should be playing it. For the last two weeks, we have blogged so much about Lost Odyssey. Back then, my husband and I felt that this game was going to be trashed in the reviews and we were right. The very first review we heard was from some Swedish gaming magazine who gave it a 5/10 since it would have been better if it was made by some other team (*whatever that means*), prompted us to blog like crazy. I was personally hesitant to blog about Lost Odyssey, after Blue Dragon. I liked Blue Dragon but most of the XBOX gamers seemed to hate it. I was discouraged from even posting my thoughts on the game since I represent a very small minority of XBOX gamers. (Heck! We even live in an unsupported region, the Philippines!) But my husband, Scytherage, persisted in blogging all the stuff that I was telling him while I was playing. Alot of the effort that was put in this blog, wa...

Seeing that many people are already getting the game, some might be having trouble with the first and second real boss (the first machine you face doesn't really 'count' as a boss): To the ones who have made it through, post your best tips for those two bosses here. My first, major tip: Don't power-level or grind. You'll ruin the game for yourself and there's no strategy there....you won't learn how to play the game. Other tips: 1. Water kills Fire, Fire kills Wind, Wind kills Earth, Earth kills Water. I forgot the element of the griffin boss....use the appropriate magic against it. 2. For Grilgan, be aggressive with the HEALING. Play defensively and protect your characters as much as you can. 3. If you have a flare bomb, ground bomb or any other type of bomb, use it now. Don't worry, you'll find others in the game. 4. If you have an instant heal potion of some kind, use it. Again, don't worry, you'll get more later in the game. 5. For Bogim...

*this post is somewhat a spoiler so if you want to stay completely spoiler free, don't read....I don't mention story bits but I do mention 'what' happens that changes the gameplay a bit* Now on Disc 3. With the adventuring party split into three groups, now I had to become more careful with my inventory. The inventory is shared between characters despite the split; however, if you're not careful, you could leave an item equipped on one character that the other party (in another location entirely) would need in a later situation. I only remember one other JRPG that did this, from a long time ago. That JRPG was Final Fantasy 6. The game benefits from this approach because it helps flesh out the other characters in your party. Unlike other JRPGs where there's a lot of focus on the male and female lead, this game manages to give everyone their own interesting moments. In that sense you admire your entire adventuring party as a whole, and each character's person...

This is certainly a sobering news for North American gamers who are anticipating Lost Odyssey. As reported in this site , it seems like North American box is different from the NSTC-J and PAL boxes. Apart from the 'late' release of the game in North America, this is certainly a little disappointing. While it will not change the value of the game, I do hope that Microsoft standardizes the quality control between Singapore (where the Asian NTSC-J and PAL versions are printed) and Mexico. This is not the first time that this has happened to the North American gamers. The first was with the 'Limited Edition' of Halo 3 then the release of Blue Dragon. UPDATE: It's been confirmed that the US box is indeed different from the Asian and PAL boxes . Credit for the confirmation goes to eBay Seller, bsc1968 . Check out his auction for the Lost Odyssey North American version. Please note that the pictures below are from the Asian version of the game. All Asian multi-disk game ...

Before anything else, I'll warn you guys in advance that this is a LONG review spanning a total of around 7 pages. I did my very best to keep this review spoiler free. However, occasionally I do reference to some of the reviews this game got from major gaming sites. By now, most of you should have known that the average review score of Lost Odyssey falls around an 8. While its certainly not a bad score, once I read the content of the review I cringe. It seems to me that most of the reviewers just echo each other's opinion. They also seem to echo a startling lack of knowledge about the game and it makes me wonder if you have to FINISH a game BEFORE you can review it. I have provided several impressions throughout the blog regarding Lost Odyssey, some of which are included in my final impressions. Please note that I do not wish to give numerical scores to any game since I don't think it reflects an accurate opinion. I apologize in advance for the seeming lack of cohesion in m...

From Andrew Fitch, on 1UP's Lost Odyssey review: " Early on in Lost Odyssey (Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi's Xbox 360 follow-up to the disappointingly kiddie Blue Dragon) it becomes clear this is not the Japanese role-playing game of your childhood. As the gloomy protagonist Kaim and his cohorts set off on their adventure, they're greeted not by pomp and circumstance but by a womanizing rogue named Jansen, who stumbles in drunk, having spent the night with a trio of scantily clad sexpots who can only be described as "ladies of the evening"...and these buxom babes summarily attempt to entice Kaim's female companion, Seth, to come hither as well. Unfortunately, Lost Odyssey doesn't quite go far enough with the grown-up mindset, sabotaging the story early on with the introduction of a couple of loudmouth, grating kids -- straight knockoffs of Palom and Porom from Final Fantasy IV. And just like on a claustrophobic plane ride, these unwelcome ...

http://blog.capcom.com/archives/877 From Capcom to Xbox 360 fans everywhere: "Usually, software and hardware publishers keep their numbers close to the vest, out of concerns that info could be spun against them. The Microsoft LIVE guys, however, are much smarter than that, and were very pleased to share with us the recent news that, as of Saturday, Feb. 9, 2008, the Devil May Cry 4 demo had been downloaded over a million times by 360 players worldwide! According to the LIVE crew, not only is this the first demo of the year to hit a million downloads, but it’s also one of the fastest downloads to hit the one million mark in the history of the LIVE service. The demo dropped on January 24, and was averaging over 25,000 downloads a day. That’s a lotta devil bringing, folks. Thanks for making the DMC4 demo — and the game! — popular like a donut shop next door to a Weight Watchers." Once again, the Xbox 360 proves it's the most profitable platform for third-party developers. W...

Sorry guys....my wife is taking her time with the Lost Odyssey review. She wants to write a review that's worthy of this epic game. So she isn't rushing things. As everyone may know, we aren't paid to write these things...She'll get the review out soon, but she's taking her time. I think everyone has already figured out by now that we heartily recommend to everyone to buy this game. But of course the reasoning for this opinion will follow soon.

My wife just finished LOST ODYSSEY at Level 48, with 55+ hours of play! Her goal was to FINISH THE GAME WITHOUT POWER-LEVELING / DOING ANY OF THE SIDE QUESTS! With this accomplishment she has clearly established that IGN and GAMESPY'S reviews were DEAD WRONG about the game. It is possible to finish the game without power-leveling/grinding . The turn-based gameplay in Lost Odyssey is very strategic and a person who plays the combat right can finish the game without going through too much grind! Now, you're probably asking, WHERE'S the PROOF? Actually, the ending is playing back in the background right now as I'm typing this. She took pictures of her menu and some ending screens. She's going to post those in a minute. I can't look at her pictures because I don't want to get spoiled! (I didn't watch the ending credits too, but I know it took quite a while....it was a long ending!!!!) As I've posted earlier I'm just on Disc 2, and with her reacti...

I just thought that Xbox.com's LOST ODYSSEY spread looks awesome. Wow! Great work Microsoft.

Found this info on a thread on Penny-arcade. Lost Odyssey is now the #2 game right behind Call of Duty 4, with better sales than Devil May Cry 4, Halo 3, Guitar Hero 3 and Rock Band. I'm glad that Microsoft is stepping up their marketing efforts. This game deserves a better push, and I want it to succeed in the marketplace. If it does, not only is the Xbox 360 ensured more support from Mistwalker, it also encourages Japanese developers to continue developing games with a unique touch from their Western counterparts. I wouldn't want every game to turn out like Mass Effect (Note: I do think Mass Effect is a great game....it's just that we Xbox 360 owners deserve some variety every once in a while, and with that, Mistwalker truly delivers). Here's the link to the Amazon Xbox 360 Bestseller chart. Here's a screenshot.

Time and again, it has been claimed by some game editors, analysts and Sony fanboys that Europe is Sony territory. It's quite unusual, then, for the once-playstation-exclusive Devil May Cry series to be selling more now on the Xbox 360 than on the Playstation 3: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=238425 "Capcom celebrate No1 with ‘Devil May Cry 4’, the long-standing Sony PS2 exclusive arrives on PS3…but is now no longer entirely a Playstation brand and debuts simultaneously on Xbox360. It has been nearly 3 years since the last version and ‘DMC4’ achieves something none of the other versions did – a No1 position on the All Formats chart and the individual format charts (DMC as a PS2 brand only ever got to No2). Xbox 360 takes the lion’s share of DMC4 sales with 61% over the 2 formats. Sega’s ‘Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games’ climbs 2 places to No2 (+85%) thanks to the arrival of the DS version to accompany the huge-selling Wii version (half a million sales in i...

Wuffy created a map of the world of Lost Odyssey. Here it is: *Spoiler Alert!* *End Spoiler* Click on the image for the larger version of the map. If there are areas that are missing, please let us know.

Nope, Lost Odyssey doesn't have a wide array of merchandise such as key chains, lighters, necklaces and water bottles disguised as healing potions. But for those interested, there are a few of them available in Japan. The first one is a book containing the short stories of “A Thousand Years of Dream” written by Kiyoshi Shigematsu. Lost Odyssey's Executive Producer and the Father of Final Fantasy comments about this in several interviews : "So, Kiyoshi Shigematsu is a very famous writer in Japan, and writes short stories that have special human touch elements in them. And those are the things we haven't seen in games, and those elements haven't really fit into games, but I wanted to put that kind of element into the storyline." "The reason I've used Kiyoshi Shigematsu as part of this project because we don't see enough emotion in videogames yet. Whether to do with family, or some other emotional elements - something that bring tears to your eyes. ...

My progress report: I'm midway through Disc 2 while my wife is on Disc 4. She's on the verge of finishing the game while I'm just halfway through it. In the past most of the comments I've written were on her behalf. Now I'll get to say something. This is probably the most challenging Japanese RPG (JRPG) I've played on the Xbox 360. It isn't that the enemies become impossible, it just takes a bit more effort to get through some areas. I don't want to spoil things, I will say this---Lost Odyssey doesn't serve things to you on a silver platter. You've gotta earn the right to get to the next area, next town or the next cutscene. In some cases I think some will get frustrated (as I did, in one spot on Disc 2). But I will say that once you overcome some of the harder enemies and areas, the game is very rewarding. That's because the cutscenes are well done and really make the characters come alive. So I was thinking of writing this for our fello...

Check out this massive discussion thread for all things Lost Odyssey over on the Brotherhood of the Box (Singapore's First and Largest Xbox Community). It has over 15,500+ views and 625 replies: http://www.bob.com.sg/forum/showthread.php?t=46115&page=35 Well worth checking it out if you want to hear more feedback on the game other than from me and my wife :D There are also some gameplay tips in there, too. On a side note, ah Singapore....so many great memories :D The shopping there is fantastic! Especially if you're going shopping for computer gear or gaming related items.