Odin Sphere adds another great title to a already outstanding list of games released this year. Atlus' latest gift from Japan blends side-scrolling action with role-playing elements. Players control five characters throughout the game, beginning with a warrior princess. All of their tales tie into a vast storyline, with a child reading a book about a feud between soldiers and fairies.
Odin Sphere's world has been separated into a series of small stages connected through large maps. Players work their way around the circular levels, battling enemies and accessing doorways to newer sections of the map. Gameplay consists mostly of beat-em-up moves, including quick combo attacks and an aerial dive to hit bigger opponents multiple times. Over the course of the game, the characters absorb magic energy from fallen enemies and butterflies, which can then be used for more dominant attacks. Valkyrie, for instance, unleashed a Cyclone, a devastating wave of blue energy that washes over the landscape.
Other abilities also unlock over the course of the game. Characters can snag magic attacks, fruit, when eaten, can recover lost energy and offers seeds that can be planted to grow additional fruit. These items can be retrieved by pressing the circle button, which activates a handy item wheel. More spaces on the wheel would have been ideal, but enough space still exists for various supplies. Though a word of advice -- save the more powerful spell attacks for the boss fights.
Visually, Odin Sphere stands out from the rest of the role-playing pack. The hand-drawn animation in the main characters and the bosses look stunning. The game also features beautiful parallax scrolling backgrounds that may remind gamers of more artistic offerings from gaming's past, such as Astal (Kisuishoudensetsu Asutaru) on the Sega Saturn. The map is easy to read, complete with pinpoints for each marker and where they lead. However, when the screen fills up with so much action, the game almost comes to a complete halt. Slowdown issues also occur as gamers move around the game's large circular maps. While moving through each level, players must also put up with frequent loading sessions, ranging about ten to twenty seconds.
As far as audio goes, Odin Sphere's epic soundtrack by Hiroshi Sakimoto keeps things moving along breezily. Atlus also wins points for its vocal selections, as players can choose between English or Japanese voiceovers. The English track actually sounds great (a rarity), thanks to a very persuasive cast.
Incessant load times and slowdown notwithstanding, Odin Sphere's blend of vivid art style, marvelous audio and fitting gameplay makes it a game that all players should experience.
Final Score: 8 (out of 10)
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