Odin Sphere is another JRPG with plenty of visual eye candy and an enjoyable
but occasionally trying battle system.
The first thing to note before you consult other reviews on this game is that
alot of them may comment on the ‘slowdown’ issue. This is not a problem with
the PAL release of the game as they have vastly improved these, and you will not
notice any significant slowdown unless you are chaining a character spell like
the energy burst over and over.
Odin Spheres story is both depressing and engrossing, and each character has
certain styles or quirks to them to make them memorable, whether it's Mercedes
blushing after shes eaten, or Velvet's agility and reach with her chains and
movement. Each character has a book that you will have to read in a certain
order as you build each character up for the armageddon. There is alot of
interconnectivity with the characters as well as multiple endings that can be
explored.
The battle system itself is fluid and action packed hack and slash. People
who button mash may find Odin Sphere too difficult, and there are no
repercussions to turning down the difficulty whenever you wish. Good use of
alchemy, the pooka shop and understanding how your character fights all
contribute to enjoying the battles more.
Lastly, this game shows a promising trend of the future. The option to switch
to Japanese voice actors means that the game can be played using the original
voice actors while the text is still in English. While English voice acting has
improved over the years, the quality (and the pay gap) between English and
Japanese voice actors ensures that the multiple grunts/squeals (or squawks in
the case of the English Velvet) in battle as well as the emotion you hear in
cutscenes are more professional when you switch to the Japanese track. The
switch can be performed between English and Japanese or vice versa at
any time.
And at the current price of 29.95 its a steal!
