Few games boast Lost Odysseys delicious pedigree; directed by Hironobu Sakaguchi, the brains behind Final Fantasy, and developed by the same team who brought Xbox 360 players the sublime Blue Dragon, this four-disc mega quest is the closest most digital swashbucklers will ever come to console nirvana.
Unlike action-based Western RPGs such as The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Lost Odyssey is an old-fashioned, distinctly Japanese romp where combat is slower and completely turn-based; a stop-start system thats an acquired taste, but offers rewarding battles and more considered character development. Moreover, while players can choose a mixture of human and immortal heroes to populate their party, clever balancing of the two factions is essential to stay ahead of the game and allow your favoured fighters to learn new skills, in turn adding a compelling taste of micro-management to the fanciful action.
Irksome challenges designed to entice action-RPG nuts, occasionally shaky graphics and tedious loading times taint an otherwise gripping adventure and almost threaten to lose Lost Odyssey its fourth star. But in a gaming world where time-honoured genres are rapidly giving way to balls-out blasters and half-cocked crime capers, this is a timely and impressive release.