Lvl. - Odin Sphere

Sailing the Blue Skies since 2001.

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Odin Sphere (PS2)

Pub: Atlus/Dev: Vanillaware

ESRB: T/Players: 1

W- Odin Sphere lost a lot of its charm with me after about 10 hours. It has great music, gorgeous spritework, likable characters and it controlled well enough, but there's some key problems that really are a killjoy.

1) Enemies that REQUIRE items to be killed. The slimes suck. And the game doesn't really prep you for it, so you'll stumble into it without much of an idea of what to do. I had to look up a FAQ, which isn't a good thing. On top of that, the slimes kill you instantly if they grab you. Frustration galore.

2) Enemies can punish you unfairly. You have a hit stun that cancels your attack when you get hit, but the enemies usually don't. Therefore, when you begin a combo, 9 times out of 10 you'll get struck out of it by an enemy who started attacking after you did because he/she won't get stunned. Along with that, the damage that can deal out is way out of proportion, and they can juggle you, leading to instant deaths quite often. Luckily, the game does plop you back at the same stage when you die, but still...it's annoying. Lastly, bomb enemies are evil. They shouldn't kill you. Damaging you a little bit would be fine, but outright death is cheap, especially in the thick of battle when you're surrounded by so many enemies that spotting a dying Bomb or a thrown explosive from a dwarf is difficult at best.

3) The coin system is broken. To level up your HP, the best place to do so is the Pooka Village. But many of their recipes require a specific kind of coin. And if you don't plan ahead, buying other items will quickly deplete those coins, which quickly becomes bothersome. It's something else to strategize for I suppose, but I'd rather have one form of currency or some other method of acquiring HP experience instead of what's here.

The game can be fun, but these flaws build up over time, and they get to a point that the game isn't all that enjoyable anymore. I was near the end of Cornelius' quest, but I know I won't have the patience to keep at it (that, and I sold it). And that's a shame, since the game has a lot of potential to be something really special. But sometimes it only takes small annoyances to break the overall game experience, and alas, it's happened here. Although I do feel a bit bad about selling it, I didn't have any more drive to get any farther in it. The art for the game is really nice, though...so I'll be keeping that. :)


	Sailing the Blue Skies since 2001. Opinions Features Looking Forward Staff Bios Wildcat's Art Imagery Links Odin Sphere (PS2) Pub: Atlus/Dev: Vanillaware ESRB: T/Players: 1 W- Odin Sphere lost a lot of its charm with me after about 10 hours. It has great music, gorgeous spritework, likable characters and it controlled well enough, but there's some key problems that really are a killjoy. 1) Enemies that REQUIRE items to be killed. The slimes suck. And the game doesn't really prep you for it, so you'll stumble into it without much of an idea of what to do. I had to look up a FAQ, which isn't a good thing. On top of that, the slimes kill you instantly if they grab you. Frustration galore. 2) Enemies can punish you unfairly. You have a hit stun that cancels your attack when you get hit, but the enemies usually don't. Therefore, when you begin a combo, 9 times out of 10 you'll get struck out of it by an enemy who started attacking after you did because he/she won't get stunned. Along with that, the damage that can deal out is way out of proportion, and they can juggle you, leading to instant deaths quite often. Luckily, the game does plop you back at the same stage when you die, but still...it's annoying. Lastly, bomb enemies are evil. They shouldn't kill you. Damaging you a little bit would be fine, but outright death is cheap, especially in the thick of battle when you're surrounded by so many enemies that spotting a dying Bomb or a thrown explosive from a dwarf is difficult at best. 3) The coin system is broken. To level up your HP, the best place to do so is the Pooka Village. But many of their recipes require a specific kind of coin. And if you don't plan ahead, buying other items will quickly deplete those coins, which quickly becomes bothersome. It's something else to strategize for I suppose, but I'd rather have one form of currency or some other method of acquiring HP experience instead of what's here. The game can be fun, but these flaws build up over time, and they get to a point that the game isn't all that enjoyable anymore. I was near the end of Cornelius' quest, but I know I won't have the patience to keep at it (that, and I sold it). And that's a shame, since the game has a lot of potential to be something really special. But sometimes it only takes small annoyances to break the overall game experience, and alas, it's happened here. Although I do feel a bit bad about selling it, I didn't have any more drive to get any farther in it. The art for the game is really nice, though...so I'll be keeping that. :)