Posts tagged Lostodyssey at Xbox 360 Fanboy

Posts with tag lostodyssey

Lost Odyssey's wordy little secret

Posted Oct 2nd 2007 2:45PM by Richard Mitchell
Filed under: News

Looking forward to Lost Odyssey, the next big thing from Mistwalker? Hope you enjoy reading then, because you'll be doing a lot of it according to IGN. Kaim, the game's protagonist, often has flashbacks to moments in his past. Considering he can't die, he's been alive for a very long time, which means he has a long history to look back upon. However, instead of letting the players journey back and actually experience these flashbacks through gameplay, they are played out entirely through text. The flashbacks are actually short stories penned by famed Japanese author Kiyoshi Shigematsu, and Lost Odyssey director Hironobu Sakaguchi decided to let players experience them in their "purest" form. All in all, there are 34 of these flashbacks, each taking 5-10 minutes to read. We have to wonder if these flashbacks are considered gameplay, because Sakaguchi has noted that fully half of Lost Odyssey's 40 hours of gameplay will be taken up by cutscenes.

Japanese gamers will find out when the game is released on December 6th, while the rest of us will have to wait until February of next year.

[Via Joystiq]

Lost Odyssey journeys through 4 DVDs

Posted Sep 20th 2007 4:45PM by Richard Mitchell
Filed under: News

Speaking to IGN in behind-closed-doors meeting at TGS, Hironobu Sakaguchi, head of Mistwalker, intimated that the upcoming RPG Lost Odyssey will span 4 DVDs. Considering Mistwalker's previous title, Blue Dragon Mass Effect managed to hit retail on 3 DVDs, this isn't exactly surprising. Still, in the dark circles of the internet, the announcement is still likely to spark up the Blu-Ray / DVD debate yet again. Note to 360 defenders: the galaxy-trekking Mass Effect fits quite nicely on one DVD.

In less flame-worthy news, Sakaguchi also announced that Lost Odyssey will ship with multiple language options including English and Japanese, though facial animations will be synced to the English dialogue. Sakaguchi explains that many western movies are shown in Japan and that English lip sync is more or less a sign of gratitude to the support of Mistwalker's western audience.

[Via Evil Avatar]

Sakaguchi gives tiny Lost Odyssey update

Posted Jun 6th 2007 5:00PM by Richard Mitchell
Filed under: News

Details on the progress of Lost Odyssey are few and far between these days, so we'll take what we can get. According to IGN, Hironobu Sakaguchi, head of Mistwalker, has given a small update on Lost Odyssey to Japanese gaming magazine, Famitsu. According to Sakaguchi, the game's background music and packaging are complete. Also, an outside development team known as Feel Plus is currently tweaking the wall system and other gameplay systems. Readers will recall that Lost Odyssey uses a system in which soldiers in the front lines must protect the vulnerable but powerful magic users in the rear.

Sakaguchi notes that there will be new details revealed in the near future. IGN speculates we may hear more at E3. Considering this is one of Microsoft's biggest projects, we're inclined to agree.

Sakaguchi reveals new Lost Odyssey details

Posted May 7th 2007 8:00PM by Richard Mitchell
Filed under: News

Speaking to Famitsu (translated by IGN), Hironobu Sakaguchi reveals new details of Mistwalker's current Xbox 360 project Lost Odyssey. The game is now 70% complete, and the development team has reached the "balancing and tuning" phase of production. The music (composed by RPG legend Nobuo Uematsu) is nearly done. Sakaguchi notes that the game's theme focuses on "humanity" and that the music conveys inner emotions. The camera will remain fixed in the game, though there will be cinematic rumbling and focus effects used.

Finally, Sakaguchi reveals more information about Lost Odyssey's combat. Lost Odyssey will use a wall system that requires the front lines to defend those in the rear. This is crucial, as magic users cause the most damage and must be protected (this is in line with what Sakaguchi told us at GDC) Also revealed, certain items will require skills to equip and the game features a crafting system that binds magical items to weapons.

More Lost Odyssey details are expected soon.

Kim "realistic" on 360's performance in Japan

Posted Mar 28th 2007 2:30PM by Richard Mitchell
Filed under: News

Speaking to Gamasutra, Shane Kim, corporate vice president of Microsoft Game Studios, says that Microsoft is "very realistic" about its prospects in Japan. Kim notes that Microsoft's approach was never to "win" Japan, but rather to do better than the original Xbox. Part of this strategy, of course, means recruiting Japanese talent like Hironobu Sakaguchi, who is creating both Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey for the console. Kim says the importance of Japan is motivated by more than financial numbers, but also by the amount of talent in the Japanese development community. Titles like Dead Rising and Lost Planet, says Kim, are illustrating to Japanese developers that Japanese titles can be financially successful in the west. Finally, Kim asserts that Microsoft's aims in Japan remain "realistic," and while Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey will be moderately successful in Japan, they will be successful in the west as well.

Rumor: Halo 3 in September?

Posted Mar 15th 2007 11:30AM by David Dreger
Filed under: Halo 3, Rumors

Halo 3 is slated for Fall 2007, as the poster would suggest. So, based on past experiences in 2001 and 2004, we can safely narrow that down from "Fall" to "November, duh", right? Well, in our GDC edition of the Fancast, we mentioned how Shane Kim said that Halo 3 will ship when it's finished and isn't bound to console launches or tattooed biceps. He threw out September as an example, then followed that with how it would ship next week if it was done as a means to cover his tracks. Well, we've got some more food for thought in regards to Microsoft's Fall '07 line up.

We're finishing off the year with the world-wide release of Lost Odyssey in December, so that month is covered. Grand Theft Auto IV is hitting shelves for both the 360 and PS3 smack dab in the middle of October, and Microsoft has no intention of releasing anything against that behemoth. So, that leaves Project Gotham Racing 4 and Halo 3 with either September or November. Using the aforementioned logic, you'd assume that PGR4 will hit in September and Halo 3 in November. Well, Shane brought up another interesting point in that releasing a game in September doesn't necessarily hurt sales. Fable came out in September, got good initial sales, and then an additional boost in November. He went on to say that Halo 3 could do the same thing, while coming out before GTA IV and "beating it" like the 360 did the PS3.

So, place your bets now, which of the two is the most likely month for Halo 3: September or November?

Fancast Xtra -- Q&A with Hironobu Sakaguchi

Posted Mar 8th 2007 8:45PM by Richard Mitchell
Filed under: News, Podcasts, GDC '07

During our preview of Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey on Tuesday, we were lucky enough to score a little question and answer time with RPG luminary, Hironobu Sakaguchi (and his translator). We learned a few things about Blue Dragon, Lost Odyssey, and the differences between them. We learned about the downloadable content in store for Blue Dragon, too. We also got to ask him about what its like to have his own company now (Mistwalker), what's next after Lost Odyssey, the 360's performance in Japan, and Sakaguchi-san's love for Gears of War.

We captured all the audio and now present it for download on MP3 (Fancast subscribers will get it automatically). As an added bonus, we also threw in a bit of the music from Lost Odyssey. Download and enjoy.

GDC 07: Sakaguchi part 2: Lost Odyssey

Posted Mar 7th 2007 9:00AM by Richard Mitchell
Filed under: News, GDC '07

After getting a first hand look at Blue Dragon, we were informed that we'd also get the first look at the US version of Lost Odyssey. As we've noted, Lost Odyssey will launch worldwide this holiday. We were treated to a brief video of the game in action. The section we saw was still a work in progress and some glitches were evident, but it showed promise. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see any gameplay; Sakaguchi told us we'd have to come to Japan for that.

Continue reading GDC 07: Sakaguchi part 2: Lost Odyssey

GDC 07: Lost Odyssey 2007 worldwide launch

Posted Mar 6th 2007 10:15PM by Richard Mitchell
Filed under: News, GDC '07

We mentioned it briefly in "Sakaguchi part one," but we felt it worthwhile to post separately as well, so here it is: Hironobu Sakaguchi announced today that Lost Odyssey will launch simultaneously worldwide this holiday. That's right, a game that most of us weren't expecting until 2008 will be spinning in our Xboxen before Christmas. Once we shake off the head asploding nightmare that is liveblogging, we'll post our impressions of Lost Odyssey in "Sakaguchi part two."

Blue Dragon gets rough North America release date

Posted Mar 6th 2007 5:45PM by Dustin Burg
Filed under: News, GDC '07

Blue Dragon, the only Xbox 360 game Japan cares about, will be coming to the Americas later this year. Microsoft just announced that Blue Dragon will see a North America release sometime in August. We also learned that upcoming RPG Lost Odyssey will have a worldwide release sometime this Fall. And remember kids, our culture isn't as familiar with blue dragons, but it is common knowledge in other parts of the world that they are indeed calm creatures. That is until they are cornered, told they are bad Japanese games, and that the color blue is so last year ... then they will hurt you.

[Thanks, dpcough]

Japan: What can Microsoft Do? do? do?

Posted Jan 31st 2007 4:00PM by Richard Mitchell
Filed under: Console wars

While those in the west see the Xbox 360 a definite success (so far), Japan is a completely different story. Having only sold 300,000 units throughout the first year in its lifespan, the 360 has a long way to go in the land of the rising sun. Gamasutra sits down with a localization specialist and Kotaku's Japanese correspondent to discuss Microsoft's prospects in Japan. The prognosis: it needs work. While the two disagree on a few points (the localization director sees the glass half-empty, whereas the other sees it half-full) the overall picture is somewhat grim. The Xbox 360 has been gaining some ground in the past few months. Titles like Blue Dragon (and to a lesser extent Gears of War) have helped generate 360 sales, but it's not nearly enough to gain a decent market share. Microsoft's biggest hurdle will be penetrating the culture barrier and understanding Japanese consumers (and apparently Do! do! do! isn't cutting it).

With more Japanese titles on the way (namely Lost Odyssey), Microsoft better get its marketing crew in gear if they want to stand a chance in Japan. If MS can get a foothold in Japan, it means more variety for everyone, and that's always a good thing.

[Via Xbox-Scene]

Video, Lost in a boring Odyssey

Posted Nov 3rd 2006 12:30PM by Richard Mitchell
Filed under: News

Okay, first thing's first: we apologize. Yesterday, we lamented that the Lost Odyssey demo was exclusive to Japan and isn't available to the rest of the world. Having watched a long, long video of the demo on Xboxyde, we take it back. Of course, we'll reserve final judgment for the game proper, but this video is bo-ring. The graphics are nice enough, the CG is incredible, and for all we know the story is great, but the combat ... ick. Sure, not everybody likes turn-based combat, but this is a stretch even for fans. Whoever played this demo almost completely avoided anything that would make the combat interesting. In the entire video, he uses one spell -- though he does stop for some hot trash can kicking action later. Lost Odyssey is obviously designed with Final Fantasy fans in mind, and it probably won't disappoint them. Honestly though, Blue Dragon looks more interesting at this point. If you can manage to sit through this video, tell us what you think. Will it scratch your RPG itch, or will this disc never hit the tray?

Japan gets Lost Odyssey demo, we get squat

Posted Nov 2nd 2006 2:00PM by Richard Mitchell
Filed under: News, Xbox Live, Xbox Live Marketplace

Godfree over at Gamertag Radio sent us a note that a demo of Lost Odyssey was available in Japan. Eager to try it out, we went and fired up our Japanese Live account to download it. After minutes of frantic searching, we gave up; it wasn't there. That's about the time that we finished reading the note. It turns out that a Lost Odyssey demo disc is available in the latest Famitsu. It's not known whether or not an English demo is in the works. Still, the fact that it's far enough along to release a demo bodes well for an early 2007 release.

We don't really understand the aversion to putting big titles on Marketplace in Japan (they did the same thing with Ninety-Nine Nights). Does having it on a physical disc make it special somehow, like a collector's item? Would any of our readers in Japan care to comment?

Tons of new X06 Marketplace content

Posted Sep 27th 2006 5:50PM by Richard Mitchell
Filed under: News, Downloads, Xbox Live, Xbox Live Marketplace

Following today's press briefing, there is now a boatload of new trailers on Marketplace. They are, in no particular order:

Assassin's Creed
Blue Dragon
Lost Odyssey
Halo Wars
Viva Piñata
Call of Duty 3
Marvel Universe
Banjo-Kazooie
PGR4
Splinter Cell: Double Agent
Bioshock
FIFA 07

All this and a bag of DOOM. We have to wonder, though: what the hell will we get next? They've got two more days to fill after all. Any predictions?

HD Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey tomorrow

Posted Sep 26th 2006 3:00PM by Richard Mitchell
Filed under: News, Xbox Live Marketplace

YouTube shaky cam be damned! Microsoft is set to bring us the real goods on both Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey tomorrow. That is to say, we'll be getting big, beautiful high definition trailers for both games on Marketplace. Make sure you grab 'em tomorrow and soak up the high resolution goodness.

Makes us wish the 360 could queue up scheduled downloads, Tivo style.

[Thanks, Sjohn]

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