Odin Sphere

I’ve had this languishing on my shelf forever, only tried it out once. During my RRoD episode I decided to give it a thorough play-through. I suppose anything than can be said of this has been said already, but I really was struck by just how “pretty” this game was. There seemed a greater emphasis on the art form of games in this. I thought it wouldn’t be as stunning on an HDTV (as SD signals tend to look “off” in some way) but in actuality the larger screen helped me notice just how much there was to it. It is no surprise that PS2 players suffered from slowdown, as you had the movement of the main stage, plus up five backgrounds, most with some sort of activity, particularly with the forests, in which you could observe tree swaying in the wind all-throughout. The story was particularly entertaining, and I plan on going through a chronological chapter by chapter viewing of the scene selections at some point later. I won’t say it was stunning, but the music had a few wonders hidden within its tracks. With all that said, one might assume it was a smooth and magical experience. One would be wrong. While I do say that this was a great game, it had some of the most frustrating stages I have ever played. And I beat Strider. Seriously, there were a few choice stages in this in which I cursed more than the entire length of Shinobi. Anyone who said this was a breeze either played on Easy or didn’t get to Mercedes’ Chapters. That being said, the tragic story, strong characters, flowing art and spouts of hectic swearing have cemented this title in my heart. Or that gaping wound where its supposed to be.
I also started Persona 4 shortly afterword. I particularly enjoyed P3, so I’m looking forward to the length of this.