Lost Odyssey opens in the middle of a fierce battle between the nations of Uhra and Khent. Thousands of soldiers rush onto the dreary Highlands of Wohl, clashing in a fight pitting magic and steel against each other. Magic Khent soldiers slice their Uhra enemies to pieces only watch them be resurrected by life-giving mages. As the battle intensifies, Kaim Argonar rushes into the thick of the fighting. It's at this moment you take control, facing innumerable Khent soldiers and an enchanted heavy tank. The conflict is cut short, however, when the thick gray cloud above part to reveal a meteor descending to the surface. Molten bits of rock stream down from the sky into the bodies of helpless soldiers below until the meteor crashes in full. All that remains is Kaim, unscathed.
Thirty years earlier, the world of Lost Odyssey underwent the greatest transformation in its history due to the discovery of magical energy. The resultant Magic-Industrial Revolution progressed standard of living in dramatic ways. As Kaim makes his way back from the battlefield to Uhra's capital, the affect of magic industry is apparent. Unending stretches of factories, motorized vehicles, and all manner of mechanical trinkets dot the landscape. This rapid progress has come without any prescience of its true effects.
Much like our own natural world has reacted to the spread of human industry, the consequences of magic industry are proving unpredictable and devastating. Uhra council members believe the sudden appearance of the meteor at the Highlands of Wohl is related to ever increasing magic use. A gargantuan magical relay project, known as the "Grand Staff," is the focus of council blame. Development is put to a halt and Kaim accepts the council's request to investigate the project. As the project's coordinator Councilman Gongora explains, Kaim's immortality leaves him as the only individual capable of investigating Grand Staff due to the toxic magic that surrounds the area.
A millennium earlier, a powerful spell rendered Kaim immortal; however, his memories were lost in the process. Through the course of the game, you recover his memories through short vignettes commencing during sleep. These empower Kaim, giving him knowledge that strengthens his resolve in the arduous fight to counter the pejorative effects of magic-industrial development on the natural world. Of course, there's a sinister plot running beneath this surface story that complicates the situation, but we're leaving that for you to uncover.
Anyone familiar with the earlier works of Hironobu Sakaguchi should immediately see parallels with Final Fantasy VI. Nature's collapse at the rise of abused magical power is a theme shared between that game and Lost Odyssey. Similarities essentially end there, for Lost Odyssey borrows gameplay mechanics from contemporary titles and even introduces some original elements of its own. Both games share an epic feel, which was arguably lost in the luminary's first Xbox 360 role-playing game Blue Dragon. Sakaguchi has publicly stated he prefers the realism of Lost Odyssey and the serious quality of the game clearly demonstrates that.
As with any role-playing game, the experience is defined by the battle system as much as the narrative cutscenes. Battles occur at random on a screen separate from the exploration map. Characters in a party of three take turns with enemies, the order displayed at the bottom left corner of the screen. The turn order display is incredibly small and needs to be blown up in size to make viewing easier. Naturally, you can influence the turn order by casting spells such as Speed and Slower that hasten and decelerate a character's agility.
An inventive target ring system throws an element of real-time interaction into the mix, which honestly prevents battles from descending into complete mediocrity. Characters equip special rings that complement their basic attack. When a character goes into attack, holding the right trigger instigates an alignment mini-game. Successfully match up the rings that appear around the enemy and the attack bonus tied to the equipped ring is activated. You're given only a few short moments to align the rings, so you have to be attentive. Throughout the game you can find new rings with various effects and even craft your own via the ring assembly option in the party menu.
