Fortunately, even though you do not have a choice as to when you fight, the enemies you encounter throughout the game are varied enough to keep things interesting until the game's completion. The leveling enemies are not all good news, however. You must pay close attention to keep all your characters leveling up as you go. Leaving one character on the virtual bench, many levels behind the rest, will come back to bite you in the latter portions of the game where you are forced into using game-defined parties.
The in-game menu for is well organized, and gives you a great deal of control over all aspects of your party. Making changes to your formation, equipment, and skills is quick and easy. The menu also allows you to take inventory items and create your own 'rings' to enhance your characters' skills on the fly. The one item that is sorely missing from the menu is a quest tracker to keep you informed of side quests you have initiated and the status of them. It makes the already unorganized side quests more difficult to track.
The game is a sonic and visual joy. The graphics, with the exception of a few poorly executed close-ups of character faces, look fantastic. The character models and enemies look solid, both in and out of cut-scenes. The art design in the game creates a world that hints at Final Fantasy, but never feels like a rip-off. Buildings and transportation feature fantastic futuristic technology that fits right in within the feel of the world. Each city you visit has its own unique feel and stylized look. Even the soundtrack sounds customized to the location and situation you are in, never getting stale. Though the game starts with some typically cheesy, philosophical dialogue, it quickly improves and turns into something you will not feel compelled to skip. The voice acting is fantastic throughout, perhaps none better than the comic relief provided by Jansen.
The game also deserves a pat on the back for nailing its distribution of achievement points. The game awards half of them, five-hundred, for beating the game and the other half for completing various feats while doing so. It feels like the perfect balance, as any gamer that has plowed through a game only to receive a paltry two-hundred achievement points can attest.
Despite its flaws, Lost Odyssey is hands-down the best turn-based RPG on Xbox 360. That might not sound like a ringing endorsement, given the dearth of options, but Lost Odyssey does get more right than wrong. If you despise turn-based RPGs, Lost Odyssey is not the game to transcend the genre and change your mind, but if you enjoy the long, grinding gameplay and epic storylines, it might just remind you of why you fell in love with them to begin with.
