Lost Odyssey: Old is the New New
How many games have we seen that open with an oily, grimy battle of Lord of the Rings proportions? Don’t strain your brain on this one — just know that the number will soon equal the number of combatants in such battles. The reason for this mass replication should be obvious; giant battle scenes are really freakin’ cool. But guess what: so are many tools used in other mediums of storytelling. And like an admiring younger brother, videogames tend to piggy-back off their older brothers’ successes. Now, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but little bro’ isn’t so little anymore; he’s ready to come into his own. Soon, his stories will be unique and individualized, but right now, he’s going through that awkward, in-between phase. Lost Odyssey on the Xbox360 lives in that gap — residing on the same console as Portal, Bioshock, and Half-Life 2, yet still managing to exclusively utilize storytelling techniques from both film, and more impressively, literature.
Lost Odyssey‘s overarching plot really isn’t all that impressive. Picture Final Fantasy VI, but with more politics. Basically, it’s a scrappy team of heroes versus a maniacal, back-stabbing manipulator dressed in funny clothes who constantly sucks-up to royalty. And I’m only getting started; the heroes include, among others, a young pair of twins clad in masterfully starched capes and collars, a spunky pirate girl, a lady-killer in thief’s (extremely flamboyant) clothing, and a brave yet stoic main character. But see, this is why Lost Odysseyis so surprising — these characters are beautifully crafted, and you’ll be enjoying them far too much to dwell on their initial stereotypes. For instance, Jansen, the hybrid thief/mage, does exactly as you’d expect of his character. He’s money-hungry and womanizing at first glance, but soon, his rocky exterior breaks away, and a gleaming, golden heart finds itself bashfully clutching its revealed body. Even in the face of such an obvious character progression, however, you can’t help but love a guy who, when told that he wears-out too quickly, quips, “At least I don’t wear-out in bed!” And then there’s the hilarious interplay between Jansen and Seth (pirate girl) that only further exemplifies the playful spirit Lost Odyssey exudes.
Seriously, those capes have to be made of cardboard or something.
In this respect, Lost Odysseygreatly resembles fellow Xboxian, Mass Effect. Mass Effect took a well-traveled story pattern — a hero journeys across galaxy chasing a significant evil, only to discover a bigger evil — and a seemingly cliched cast of characters, and polished them until anything reflected in them actually looked nicer than the genuine article. But while Mass Effectpreaches a minor progression in videogame storytelling — player-controlled conversations and plotlines — Lost Odyssey is content to find a selling point in recidivism. It doesn’t simply revel in cinematic qualities like cut-scenes and dramatic slow-mo — although it surely contains plenty of both — but also tears a page straight out of literature’s book.
One could argue, in fact, that Lost Odyssey‘s literature-esque qualities are its finest. At the very least, they’re the game’s most obvious differentiating factor when compared with other games of its genre. See, Lost Odyssey‘s hook — if you will — is that its main character is immortal, and as such, many of his memories have been lost to time’s ravages. Before long, however, Kaim begins having flashbacks of his daughter jumping from her “favorite play area” which was — I kid you not — a cliff. Flashbacks that don’t involve misguided rappelling attempts unfold in the form of actual short stories — text accompanied by only a few musical tracks and simple sound effects. These stories turn Kaim from a silently seething lead to a tragic hero. Many of his strongest memories are littered with crushing regret that, frankly, could only be done justice in written form. Kaim proves that immortality is truly a vice, whether it’s the unpredictable death of a wife and child or a horrifying war story. But at the same time, his stories inspire hope. His immortal viewpoint allows him to marvel at many spectacular events inspired by human beings’ knowledge that life is distressingly finite.
Yeah, Kaim’s that kind of immortal.
If only Kaim’s tale could be told through more modern gameplay and story methods, but such a change would be akin to tossing a cat into a bathtub — the whole experience would move unnaturally, seem awkward, and probably leave you with a few scratch marks. Foremost, the battle system is the perfect analogue to the game’s story. That is to say, it’s slow and detailed, with intermittent rewards. No battle can be won through an arrogant “Look Ma, one hand!” display of single-button mashing. Instead, expect to learn about your enemies, and even then, spend a few turns dismantling them. So now let’s perform a little thought-experiment; imagine Mass Effect’s fast-paced battles and conversations married to Lost Odyssey‘s short-stories. Yuck. I wonder who’s getting the nice china? In other words, it just wouldn’t work. What if, right in the middle of an adrenaline-fueled fire-fight, the game asked you to read a tale about your character’s encounter with a shoe-maker? Sorry, no dice.
That’s not to say that there aren’t any causalities resulting from Lost Odyssey‘s outright slaughter of modern gameplay and narrative techniques. I mean, by the time you reach the second disc, you’ll have practically developed a random-battle sense. Unfortunately, avoiding those battles isn’t quite as simple as back-flipping and shooting webbing from your wrists. Or at least, not as straightforward. And when the game’s Unreal Engine 3-powered graphics are so high-res that you can actually see veins on one of the game’s more buxom characters, it’s a little odd to watch enemies and allies alike line up for battle as though it were marching band practice.
Overall, though, Lost Odyssey epitomizes old-school videogame storytelling. In some ways, it spins a more powerful yarn than its trail-blazing brethren are capable of. Sure, old-school game design has its drawbacks, but it has its place as well. Maybe in the recently rumored sequel, we’ll get to see Hironobu Sakaguchi and company try their hand at game design that’s as deceptively innovative as its accompanying story. But until then, I’m perfectly content with Lost Odyssey‘s traditional approach. After all, kids shouldn’t grow up too fast.
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