Lost Odyssey and Blue Dragon

**muchuukuri** · 05-13-2005

Sakaguchi may have done it again... and I doubt the man... well, I still do! But I'm waiver quite a bit. ^^

Lost Odyssey

Lot's more pictures can be found here:
http://www.famitsu.com/game/news/200...39064,0,0.html

Blue Dragon

A couple high rez shots here:
http://www.itmedia.co.jp/games/artic..._ge_xbox05.jpg

Pictures of the press conference. There's a little list of the pages on this article at the bottom of the page.

http://computers.livedoor.com/series...d=12463&page=1

And even more here

http://ebinavi.oshietekun.net/modules/news/69.html

Thanks to the guys a B3D... they found the links I just posted them all as one.

AND BECAUSE I LOVE YOU SO MUCH... MOVIES!!! ^^

http://203.131.197.132/misc/20050513_blue01_Custom.wmv
http://203.131.197.132/misc/20050513_lost01_Custom.wmv
http://203.131.197.132/misc/20050513_nine01_Custom.wmv

**Fedos** · 05-13-2005

Those pics of Lost Odyssey looked...wow! I'm more taken aback by what was revealed in the screen shots than the movie, even though it was top notch. A man that can never die? What kind of a game could that be? And some people on here were saying that Sakaguchi had lost it and that all he could create were games with "crystals" and "chosens." The man co-developed VII's story with Nomura! Lost it? He's got plenty left in the tank. Can't wait to see a longer movie of this game.

**Makaveli_786** · 05-13-2005

Nintenty Nine Nights is really eye opening, I hope the gameplay is as good as the graphics, the rest of the games look.. well crap

**muchuukuri** · 05-13-2005

Actually... there WERE crystals and chosen in Lost Odyssey AND Blue Dragon. ^^

Just 'cause they look good and may in fact be good doesn't mean they're not formualic (Sp).

It's blatantly obvious Blue Dragon is supposed to combat Dragon Quest and Lost Odyssey is supposed to combat Final Fantasy. If anything right now it's the M$ money that's making those games pop. Toriyama and Takehiko are HUUUUUUGE!!! Obviously, there's a LOT of money being thrown around. It's still got me plenty excited, but this doesn't make him a genius... it just means he remembers the square formula card, which may be more than enough.

**Fedos** · 05-13-2005

Umm...I didn't see any crystals or chosens in those screen shots or the movies. I just saw movies of a girl looking at the sky and pics of a male with descriptions that said a man who couldn't die. There were no synopsis' given saying that they had to "revive the crystal" or "the chosen can't die." In fact, it seems to me that with the descriptions given the protagonist has a pretty hard life. So where do you get your conclusions?

**Damnit** · 05-13-2005

Them Japanese are so frikkin talented. Seeing them Nintynine shots now makes me think is UE3.0 really that good? Wow, this just shows M$ better work on their Japanese relationships or they'll suffer. Japanese have a knack for squeezing graphics out of systems. Just look at these 1st-gen shots. Nintynine looks good but I can't say about the other two games. The odyssy seems like current gen world of warcraft type, nothing eye opening there. Blue dragon is so nintendo, maybe he should re-release that for nintendo if he wants it fame in US/Japan.

All that said and done. Nintynine is a Kessen/Dynasty warriors rip off to get attention from Japanese, I thought the rez creator was more original than this, sheesh. Odyessy is an FF Ripoff , again to cater Jap taste instead of being original. Blue dragon is just a pokemon with million polygons as it seems right now.

**bustabusta196** · 05-13-2005

WOW look at this screen..

**muchuukuri** · 05-14-2005

THAT is CG busta.

Also, Fedos... sorry, you're right the crystal isn't in those pictures... I have an extended version of those movies, which I got through a private server, so please just take my word for it about the crystal.

As to the "chosen"... you're telling me a 1000 year old man caught in the middle of an epic proportioned war doesn't count as a "chosen"?? Or that 5 young kinds who happen upon mysterious ruins with strange shadows that fuse with them and become an extention of the (Blue Dragon) isn't "chosen"??? Come on.

**Makaveli_786** · 05-14-2005

That screen is amazing, I can't wait till they can pull that off on consoles, PS4 or 5 maybe in all honesty.

**Fedos** · 05-14-2005

I'll concede for Blue Dragon having kids as "chosen" but the protag for Lost Odyssey probably fits the coin of an anti hero than anything else. I've been reading on other sites and they've said that he is cursed to live life for 1000 years, so whoever "cursed" him didn't do it so he could save the world in the end or protect it during those 1000 years. It's a punishment. If he ends up protecting people that he's never met before then that's just a sideffect of said punishment.

Also, Sakaguchi, from what I've read, said that the storyline of the game will involve the everyday actions of the protag. That sounds more like a western style rpg than any of the stock japanese storylines.

**Makaveli_786** · 05-14-2005

Well the storyline has some good aspects but I'm not sure if I'm digging the western style.

**Damnit** · 05-14-2005

Originally Posted by Fedos

Also, Sakaguchi, from what I've read, said that the storyline of the game will involve the everyday actions of the protag. That sounds more like a western style rpg than any of the stock japanese storylines.

IF its exactly as you say Fedos. And that it sounds like a western RPG. Here is what I think then.

[Spec ahead] Might I say, Sakaguchi has already fuck the Japanese than win them over! I mean wasn't Sakaguchi onboard M$ to attract Japanese more than Westerners? Holy Moly, I mean look at FF8 and FF7. Which got more popularity in Japan and which got more fame in US. We all know what game fared the most in what territory. If a western style RPG is Sakaguchi-san's idea of a game, lol M$ just dug their graves in Japan. [Spec ends]

**Makaveli_786** · 05-14-2005

LOL thats true he's supposed to be appealing to Japanese crowds and the guy is designing a western game.. yes yes pure genius!! I knew the dude had lost the plot

**Fedos** · 05-14-2005

Well, maybe he's trying to blend the two different sub genres. I mean, I was just speculating on the information that was presented to me from the site. It just didn't sound like the normal Jap RPG of saving the world from a tyrant and frequently meeting said tyrant throughout the game.

You have to remember this too, if Microsoft is to attract the Japanese market then they have to try new things. If they just go out and develop a game with a stock FF type plot, which is something that the Japenese can get on Playstation, why would they take the plunge to the 360? But on the other hand, if they go out and try to innovate, producing a type of game that the Japanese have never seen, then they're more likely to attract the Japanese public. Anyway, here's the link with a good deal of info and also this is where I got my western conclusions from (which the author of the article noted himself and which I probably gleaned from). It's from IGN.

http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/613/...html?fromint=1

**Fedos** · 05-14-2005

Well, maybe he's trying to blend the two different sub genres. I mean, I was just speculating on the information that was presented to me from the site. It just didn't sound like the normal Jap RPG of saving the world from a tyrant and frequently meeting said tyrant throughout the game.

You have to remember this too, if Microsoft is to attract the Japanese market then they have to try new things. If they just go out and develop a game with a stock FF type plot, which is something that the Japenese can get on Playstation, why would they take the plunge to the 360? But on the other hand, if they go out and try to innovate, producing a type of game that the Japanese have never seen, then they're more likely to attract the Japanese public. Anyway, here's the link with a good deal of info and also this is where I got my western conclusions from (which the author of the article noted himself and which I probably gleaned from). It's from IGN.

http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/613/...html?fromint=1

We already knew about Blue Dragon, one of Mistwalker's two Xbox 360 titles, but today's Japanese Xbox 360 press conference served as the unveiling point for the other game. Titled Lost Odyssey, this Japanese RPG is being developed under the watchful eye of Mistwalker founder Hironobu Sakaguchi.

Sakaguchi took the stage at the press conference and shared a bit on Lost Odyssey's background story. You play as Kaim, a man who's been sentenced to live for 1,000 years. The game's storyline takes you through Kaim's life as he lives through multiple generations, becomes a part of many families, falls in and out of love and gets into conflicts. All this is set in a world that is on the verge of a "mystical industrial revolution," where mankind has attained dark powers.
Lost Odyssey has some experimental qualities to it, with Sakaguchi revealing that he's trying a number of new things due to the length of the main character's life. The game world is said to look alive, which would suggest that Mistwalker is trying to truly put you in the shoes of Kaim as he lives his lengthy life. The game's storyline, according to Sakaguchi, focuses on the day-to-day events of Kaim's life. On a strictly speculative note, this could indicate that Lost Odyssey will avoid the cliche good versus evil theme that's used as the background story for most Japanese RPGs.

To create Lost Odyssey's storyline and scenario, Sakaguchi turned to a person he personally admires, award-winning Japanese author Kiyoshi Shigematsu. Shigematsu is working directly with Sakaguchi on the story sequences and commented, at the press conference, that while his initial hope was to preserve the emotional power of writing, Lost Odyssey seems to have surpassed that. He assures us that we will cry when playing the game.

Sakguchi also drafted another popular Japanese cultural icon for Lost Odyssey. The game's characters are being designed by Takehiro Inoue, known for his work on comic series such as Slam Dunk and Vagabond. Strangely, Inoue commented at the press conference that he's never played an RPG, and he was a bit worried that his style wouldn't translate well into game form. However, Sakaguchi asked him to make human characters for Lost Odyssey, and when he heard that Shigematsu would be taking a hand in development, he agreed.

Inoue mentioned one difference that appears when one serves as character designer for a videogame rather than working on a serial comic. For a serial comic, he creates new characters throughout the life of the series and nurtures them as the comic's storyline progresses. For games, his work is to create characters and hand them off to Mistwalker, who then builds up the characters through the game's storyline. Inoue is interested in seeing how the characters turn out.

Finally, Sakaguchi called out famed game music composer Nobuo Uematsu to make a few comments on his work with Lost Odyssey. One of the themes Uematsu is working into the composition for Lost Odyssey is "pop," suggesting we can expect a more modern flair to the music. Uematsu revealed that Sakaguchi asked him to provide jazz vocal music, which is a new field for him.

In addition to these three all star staff members, Mistwalker is turning to a separate studio to handle development on Lost Odyssey. Feel Plus, a new studio that was formed for the Lost Odyssey project and includes ex Square Enix employees, is handling development duties on the game. Serving as producer is Hiroshi Kawai, with Daisuke Fukugawa and Takahiro Kaminagayoshi serving in double director roles (for more on these three, see this story). All three are Field Plus staff members.

At the press conference, Microsoft shared a short trailer of Lost Odyssey. The trailer began with the ominous ticking of a clock in the background, suggesting that time will play a heavy role in the title's storyline. A few impressive in-game environment sequences were shown, along with what appeared to be a fight scene featuring dozens of characters on screen, but some of the footage seemed to be pre-rendered CG. The text that appeared on screen as the trailer progressed has us intrigued beyond the footage: "the tears of a man who cannot die."

Just hearing the premise of Lost Odyssey has us excited to learn more. Sadly, no screens or video footage were released to the public at the press conference, so we can only hope that E3 will reveal more on what could be a unique take on Japan's favorite genre.

**Fedos** · 05-14-2005

Well, maybe he's trying to blend the two different sub genres. I mean, I was just speculating on the information that was presented to me from the site. It just didn't sound like the normal Jap RPG of saving the world from a tyrant and frequently meeting said tyrant throughout the game.

You have to remember this too, if Microsoft is to attract the Japanese market then they have to try new things. If they just go out and develop a game with a stock FF type plot, which is something that the Japenese can get on Playstation, why would they take the plunge to the 360? But on the other hand, if they go out and try to innovate, producing a type of game that the Japanese have never seen, then they're more likely to attract the Japanese public. Anyway, here's the link with a good deal of info and also this is where I got my western conclusions from (which the author of the article noted himself and which I probably gleaned from). It's from IGN.

http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/613/...html?fromint=1

Originally Posted by IGN

We already knew about Blue Dragon, one of Mistwalker's two Xbox 360 titles, but today's Japanese Xbox 360 press conference served as the unveiling point for the other game. Titled Lost Odyssey, this Japanese RPG is being developed under the watchful eye of Mistwalker founder Hironobu Sakaguchi.

Sakaguchi took the stage at the press conference and shared a bit on Lost Odyssey's background story. You play as Kaim, a man who's been sentenced to live for 1,000 years. The game's storyline takes you through Kaim's life as he lives through multiple generations, becomes a part of many families, falls in and out of love and gets into conflicts. All this is set in a world that is on the verge of a "mystical industrial revolution," where mankind has attained dark powers.
Lost Odyssey has some experimental qualities to it, with Sakaguchi revealing that he's trying a number of new things due to the length of the main character's life. The game world is said to look alive, which would suggest that Mistwalker is trying to truly put you in the shoes of Kaim as he lives his lengthy life. The game's storyline, according to Sakaguchi, focuses on the day-to-day events of Kaim's life. On a strictly speculative note, this could indicate that Lost Odyssey will avoid the cliche good versus evil theme that's used as the background story for most Japanese RPGs.

To create Lost Odyssey's storyline and scenario, Sakaguchi turned to a person he personally admires, award-winning Japanese author Kiyoshi Shigematsu. Shigematsu is working directly with Sakaguchi on the story sequences and commented, at the press conference, that while his initial hope was to preserve the emotional power of writing, Lost Odyssey seems to have surpassed that. He assures us that we will cry when playing the game.

Sakguchi also drafted another popular Japanese cultural icon for Lost Odyssey. The game's characters are being designed by Takehiro Inoue, known for his work on comic series such as Slam Dunk and Vagabond. Strangely, Inoue commented at the press conference that he's never played an RPG, and he was a bit worried that his style wouldn't translate well into game form. However, Sakaguchi asked him to make human characters for Lost Odyssey, and when he heard that Shigematsu would be taking a hand in development, he agreed.

Inoue mentioned one difference that appears when one serves as character designer for a videogame rather than working on a serial comic. For a serial comic, he creates new characters throughout the life of the series and nurtures them as the comic's storyline progresses. For games, his work is to create characters and hand them off to Mistwalker, who then builds up the characters through the game's storyline. Inoue is interested in seeing how the characters turn out.

Finally, Sakaguchi called out famed game music composer Nobuo Uematsu to make a few comments on his work with Lost Odyssey. One of the themes Uematsu is working into the composition for Lost Odyssey is "pop," suggesting we can expect a more modern flair to the music. Uematsu revealed that Sakaguchi asked him to provide jazz vocal music, which is a new field for him.

In addition to these three all star staff members, Mistwalker is turning to a separate studio to handle development on Lost Odyssey. Feel Plus, a new studio that was formed for the Lost Odyssey project and includes ex Square Enix employees, is handling development duties on the game. Serving as producer is Hiroshi Kawai, with Daisuke Fukugawa and Takahiro Kaminagayoshi serving in double director roles (for more on these three, see this story). All three are Field Plus staff members.

At the press conference, Microsoft shared a short trailer of Lost Odyssey. The trailer began with the ominous ticking of a clock in the background, suggesting that time will play a heavy role in the title's storyline. A few impressive in-game environment sequences were shown, along with what appeared to be a fight scene featuring dozens of characters on screen, but some of the footage seemed to be pre-rendered CG. The text that appeared on screen as the trailer progressed has us intrigued beyond the footage: "the tears of a man who cannot die."

Just hearing the premise of Lost Odyssey has us excited to learn more. Sadly, no screens or video footage were released to the public at the press conference, so we can only hope that E3 will reveal more on what could be a unique take on Japan's favorite genre.

**Makaveli_786** · 05-14-2005

It doesn't seem too western Fedos unless I'm missing something, this game has a pretty good concept, I won't get my hopes up like I did with Fable but I think this might be one to look out for.

**muchuukuri** · 05-14-2005

Wow, you guys have SUCH a narrow view of japanese story telling...

The guy who was cursed to live an eternity beaten by the pains and anguish of eternal life the death and rebirth the ever changing to his unchanging in misearable flow and ebb of time only to reborn with hope and purpose as he meets that one special person eons centuries later yet at the same time the two are caught in the horrors of the time beaten and bruised yet they continue on through strength and perserver changing the world bringing forth change... ... is GENERIC!!!!!!!!!! Please, that's SO tired and SO old that I could prolly list a hundred plus games/manga/anime that have done that story. Sakaguchi's following the play ladies and gents, no ifs and or butts.

One thing I can say about myself is that I'm very good at guessing how plots will unfold... mainly because I've seen it so many time.

Oh yeah... Lost Odyssey, regardless of what Uematsu said, sounds a heck of a lot like FF from what I heard in the trailer. I dunno what he means by "pop"

By the way... I guess the videos I have up aren't legal... so see 'em while you can, they may go down.

**Fedos** · 05-14-2005

Umm...the music in that trailer doesn't sound like FF to me. I had to listen to it a couple of times just to make sure too. It sounds like something from maybe an anime. In fact, it really doesn't even sound like a Uematsu piece. But you never know. Even though I could pretty much tell which pieces were Uematsu's in X I may be thrown for a loop here. Uematsu I think really proved his worth with pieces like One Winged Angel, Otherworld, and Lunatic Pandora. He can be very versatile at times and also very simplistic. But if you listen to the man enough you can pretty much tell which works are his, which is why I'm a little taken aback by this piece, it doesn't sound like ANYTHING from either of the FFs I've played, VI-X.

EDIT: Oh, and that woman in the trailer, she looks almost as good as the recently released Grandia 3 CG. I've compared the two on my comp and came to that conclusion. And there's no reason for me to believe that that's not in game either.

EDIT EDIT: I take that back, these screens below look BETTER than Grandia 3's CG work.

http://xbox2.gamegossip.com/images/x...ts/video/1.jpg

Also here http://xbox2.gamegossip.com/images/x...ts/video/4.jpg

**bustabusta196** · 05-14-2005

Originally Posted by Makaveli_786

That screen is amazing, I can't wait till they can pull that off on consoles, PS4 or 5 maybe in all honesty.

I swear you said the same thing about NBA2K6.. about how the full body and stuff of a player wouldnt be shaking and stuff and muscles reacting this generation.. when clearly IT DID in the video they displayed. Right now i wish EA didnt have the freaking rights to NFL.. cause i can just tell 2k would blow EA out of the water in NFL.

**Chaotic_King** · 05-14-2005

Neither of them interest me too much...Well, to be fair, I wasn't expecting much from them anyway. Artoon is handling the coding/development...

**bustabusta196** · 05-14-2005

Everyone is expecting so much... and there like "im not impressed with it", just because its xbox360.. well it would be funny if the first games to come out looked similar to the ones on xbox360 for ps3.. but just loaded faster. STOP complaining jesus, my ears are bleeding already lol

**muchuukuri** · 05-14-2005

?? Busta, I think you need to reform that statement... you seem to left out a few key nouns and verbs...

Also, yes, while in all honesty artoon is FAR from what I'd call the best, they're only handling the coding... in other words... they're not in charge of story, gameplay, and so on... they just implement what they're told and move on... if it turns out though, that artoon is in fact handling more than just code my expectations will have hit the fan. Hopefully, if they do, they'll be in an enviroment they're more used to... there's a number of ex-square employees working at artoon... ... ... ... you know, I just realized something... Sakaguchi is just gathering ex-square employees to make his games... geez, try something a bit different why don't you. Meh.

**Makaveli_786** · 05-14-2005

Originally Posted by bustabusta196

Originally Posted by Makaveli_786

That screen is amazing, I can't wait till they can pull that off on consoles, PS4 or 5 maybe in all honesty.

I swear you said the same thing about NBA2K6.. about how the full body and stuff of a player wouldnt be shaking and stuff and muscles reacting this generation.. when clearly IT DID in the video they displayed. Right now i wish EA didnt have the freaking rights to NFL.. cause i can just tell 2k would blow EA out of the water in NFL.

And I was right, look at the video and when the muscles shake look at the background, you'll see what I mean.

**True Poet** · 05-14-2005

I am more than a little intrigued with Lost Odyssey. The premise, the massive amount of talent being poured into it, and the graphical presentation seems to be right up my alley. Here's hoping it'll be SPECTACULAR!