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| nobinobita
151th Post
 
Regular Customer
   
|  "Re(5):New Vanillaware Game for Wii" , posted Sun 9 Sep 00:24
quote:
Yargggggh! But Odin Sphere ISN'T like an RPG! The only RPG element is that you level up, but you level up in like every damn game that comes out now.
Wow, i gotta disagree with you big time on this one. Odin Sphere is very much like an RPG, but with an actual realtime battle system (and I don't mean like active time). The game is very much about conservation and strategy and rewards patience. You still have to do heavy item management and use spells and items at opportune times, but instead of waiting your turn, you need to actually find a good spot in battle to use all this stuff.
Aside from the graphics and the story, that's why i liked Odin Sphere so much. It takes so many RPG conventions, but makes them fun again by putting you in control.
The spells and items are such a big part of the game, but you have to find the best times to use them, instead of just simply selecting and casting whenever it's your turn.
I mean, it's an RPG where you actually USE your items! I don't know about everyone else, but in every Dragon Quest or Final Fantasy I've played, I hoard my items like a mizer. Which ironically you can afford to do in those games because items ares so easy to come by.
Odin Sphere is quite the opposite. I can't think of another RPG where it is actually difficult to come across money and items, yet you actually use both actively.
And using them is fun too! I much prefer planting a seed, knowing ahead of time that i'll kill enough enemies to make it sprout fruit (anticipating that i'll have taken some damage by then too) rather than just stocking an infinite amount of potions.
Even making the items is fun, because the items themselves act as a world building element of the game. They're not just abstract things that replenish your health, they are palpable, visually enthralling elements that bring you into the world. Ive never thought too hard on what a potion or ether taste like, but I can imagine very well how tender the Scythian Lamb's meat is, or how tart a mulberry is. And don't get me started on the Cafe foods!
Even beyond that, things that should be annoying like having to drink a heat potion in the snow level are actually fun. Because it conveys the feeling of drinking something warm on a snowey, quiet cold ass morning.
And man, even the way the characters USE their items is well thought out. Cornelius and Oswald scarf their food down, while Mercedes nibbles like a Princess, and even Gwendolyn the proud Valkeyrie makes sure to wipe her mouth (she's a princess too afterall). This effects gameplay AND conveys character.
It's all these little touches that make me love Odin Sphere so much. That's why I don't find it repetitive, because I much prefer how wholly integrated every element of the game is over other games, which admitedly might have more varied gameplay.
I can see how the game might not appeal to everyone, but it just really clicks on a personal esthetic level for me.
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| Red Falcon 5957th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
     
     
     
     
 
| "Re(7):New Vanillaware Game for Wii" , posted Sun 9 Sep 02:55
quote:
My point is though, that it's cool that they seem to be including alot of Yokai and more obscure demons, which gives the game a more folksy and scary feeling.
They seem to be doing their research. I like that I can look at the Raijin Woman and I can already see aspects of her pesonality and class coming through. Not only is it cool that she's so monstrously beefy, it's cool that the contours of her muscles are very much like a scroll painting. And it's cool that she's holding Vajra's, which according to tradition shoot lightning bolts. And it's cool that she's got elk like antlers, which means she'll probably be really strong, considering that the Japanese hold the elk-like Kirin in higher esteem than any other mythological creature.
Agree with all of that, the minute I saw Aobouzu in the one shot I was excited, ha ha ha.
A really cool site! Hardly comprehensive, ha ha ha, but neat.
 Best site EVER:Link Here
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"Re(5):New Vanillaware Game for Wii" , posted Sun 9 Sep 00:24:
you see?
