Started really slow but it's starting to pick up. Hanna's Departure (those that know know what it is) was HEARTBREAKING, and really the :O thing that sparked interest in the story itself. Because it starts...*reeaaaally* slow.

About UE3, now that I play this game I realise just how pointless my previous comments were. Yes, this suffers from UE3 syndromes all over, none of which pertain to anything I mentioned except perhaps shadows. The art save the day and while the character design apart from Kaim and Seth is pretty bland so far, those two look absolutely awesome.

However, the engine doesn't really slack off in trying to make the worst of every situation, and I'm nearing Alimo levels of UE3 bitterness. Not only does the framerate always have this balancing-on-30fps thing going on inherent to EVERY UE3 game including Bioshock, there's also texture wonkyness when you run into a new area, aliasing is everywhere, and the shadows have this thing where they sort of "wash" over models as soon as they move. The shadows thing wasn't a problem with Marcus and his pals because they had nothing worthwhile to mess up in the face area, but these models are beeaauutiful, and you just wanna kill someone when this effect ruins a moody cutscene.

Lip sync and character animation ARE pretty nice, but the robotic movements of "bones" in their faces again mimic that of Marcus endeavours, but once more where his rigid stone gob moves suitably rigidly, Seth's subtle emotions need something way more flexible than this.

It still gets by for sure, but if you allow yourself to think about the possibilities of a custom engine instead of this made-for-shooters-with-zero-character mess, you CAN'T HELP BUT BE ANGRYYYY! *rips shirt*

And you can't help thinking about what FF13 could look like, because despite all the engine troubles here the relentlessly awesome design does shine through, and at times it's so poetic and subtle that you just wanna dance around for a bit. (and do if you're me) and the potential for a game where everything is built to complement it is... scary.

All that frustration vented though I'll just give some quick impressions on the game itself. It should be noted that I hate jRPGs with a fiery walls-of-house-melt-and-rise-again-in-the-shape-of-nude-men-with-horns-for-nipples passion but I am working on it. It's like an.. about one year long conditioning process, a project of mine to unlock the doors to what has to be the single most epic genre available - that of japanese RPGs.

So, my impressions are really that of a relative newbie. I mean I had encounters with Shining Force and Grandia and Panzer Dragoon Saga and stuff so I've played a few, but the full on "it's your turn to bonk heads" 80 hour spectacle is not something I'm used to.

All that said, my playtime with Lost Odyssey has established one thing in particular; I don't hate fighting in it. I don't hate being the subject of constant sneaky random attacks when I'm running about because encounters are visually exciting without going overboard with combat animations. Whether this is a product of my obsessive conditioning (that has included 20ish hours of FF12 - a game I enjoyed thoroughly despite protests among RPG connoisseurs on this site) or if the game itself is doing something right is hard to say.

I'm also usually pretty annoyed by the whole superficial emo darkness thing that goes on with Kaim here, but I reckon the thousand year dreams lend him some humanity and warmth, the lack of which would otherwise have me not give a crap about him at all. Sadness if justified is gripping, sadness if applied like an ointment to a character for fast-acting appeal is just stupid. And common. Oh man, ALL TOO common.

In fact I think the dreams do a good job of jump starting the story. I dunno how accessible they are to people allergic to reading, which.. let's face it some people are.. but I reckon they help a lot in catching your attention before the main story has had time to get off the ground.

So yeah it feels good. By no means exceptional (make of that what you will considering my limited experience with the genre) but very competent and visually certainly something different from the usual anime fare, while still being decidedly un-Turok/boring scifi marine/western flirt orgy.

And hats off to Nobuo Uematsu whose music here has energy sorely lacking from his other recent works. I think Mistwalker is a very healthy creative relationship and I hope they can flourish in whatever form, on whichever platform.

lol

Indeed. That turned out to be a bigger post than I expected. :D

And yeah, I'm happy I'm happy with it too. I've also warmed a lot to Luminous Arc, but I'll deal with that in the Wii/DS thread. :)