Lost Odyssey Playthrough

I’ve just deleted my Lost Odyssey save files from my Xbox 360 (which, as I’ve just found out, you can do without deleting your gamerscore achievements) and I’m about to play through again. Let’s see how far I get…

I’m off uni until the 1st of Feb and nothing to worry about apart from a German exam on Monday so I’ve got plenty of time for gaming. I love academic holidays.

I’ll also take some notes on bits that I think are particularly difficult or interesting. I know there are already a lot of walkthroughs out there but I don’t suppose it can hurt.

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I’d forgotten how much I love the music in this game. The piece played during the title screen is beautiful. I’d also forgotten about the rather explosive video that plays if you don’t press start. There’s some stuff in there that I can’t wait to see now – I’m sure I saw a dragon!

My God that first FMV is amazing. The atmosphere created in this game is what marks it out from others, I think.

I’m already being annoyed by that bit of Kaim’s hair though and I’ve only made it through the very first battle.

I don’t know about anyone else but I do always feel very emotionally moved by the beginning of this game; I feel the horror of the battle as the inferior but clearly ‘good’ army is slaughtered by the black-clad giants that stand in front of them; I feel wonder and hope when I see the magicians raising fallen soldiers from the dead as they are carried forward onto the battlefield in their staff-like towers; I revel in the speed and agility of our hero when we first see him in the thick of the battle; I panic when I see fire raining down from the sky.

EDIT: Well it’s 10 hours since I started my playthrough and I’ve only clocked up about 20 minutes of gameplay because life got in the way and I had to turn the console off twice. I also spent a fair bit of time trying to figure out how to play Linkin Park’s ‘What I’ve Done’ from this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxgAccoOD8o

As you’ll see below though, I HAVE begun writing a walkthrough. (That should make getting back up to where I was a tad easier!)

EDIT the next day: I’ve started again right from the beginning so that I can check my walkthrough for the first part of the game, and also for the joys of seeing the first FMV again. I’ve decided that my favourite bit is Kaim’s final running kick which knocks over about a dozen Khent warriors like dominoes.

Watching Kaim swagger to the back of the armoured car has just really reminded me of the Prince of Persia.

EDIT an hour later: I’m glad I checked because I’d missed a pilferable item – Wind Seal Leaf.

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THE WALKTHROUGH

Your first battle may look daunting as your entire screen is filled with enemies (reminiscent of Final Fantasy X’s introductory battles at all?) but don’t worry: all you have to do is attack for a few turns and then the fight will be interrupted by a cutscene. This next battle is more difficult and requires some strategy rather than just selecting ‘Attack’ over and over again. Attack the Right Tank Unit and you should do (around?) 55 damage. You’ll see that the right unit’s defense system has been activated, meaning that you’re about to be hit with a Magma Blast. This might make you think you’ve done the wrong thing but you haven’t. Now switch to the Left Tank Unit for your next attack and you should do a similar amount of damage. The Right Tank Unit’s defense system will be deactivated and the left one activated. From now on, just keep alternating your attacks and you’ll soon make mince meat of the machine. (You’ll know if you’ve got it wrong because you’ll do single-figure damage. In that case, swap to the other tank.) You’ll take a bit of a pummelling in this battle but it’s nothing that Kaim can’t handle. If it turns out that he can’t handle it and he falls in battle, he’ll be quickly resurrected by those handy mages you saw earlier so you don’t even have to worry about healing.

After the battle you’ll be treated to another fairly monumental scene before you regain control of the game.

Save at the orange save point if you wish. Run forward a short way, taking care not to step on any glowing veins of lava as these will reduce your health, and you will initiate your first battle. Just attack each soldier in turn and they will go down without much of a fight. Follow your map north if you have it on, and ram the machine wreckage that is blocking your path to open up a new way. After that Kaim (your hero) will automatically pick up a bruiser ring. The ring will be automatically equipped, whether or not you view the tutorial. There is also a rammable machine part to the right of the one I’ve directed you to (before you cross your newly-made bridge) which gives you Healing Medicine.

Rings

Rings enhance the amount or type of damage you do when you perform a physical attack but the effect is not automatic. Once you have equipped a ring by going to ‘Equip’ in your Y menu, you are able to benefit from it in battle. Just hold the right trigger as your character rushes forward to attack the enemy and release it so that your shrinking circle overlaps the one you’re given on-screen. If you get a good, excellent or perfect the effect of the ring you have equipped will be added to your attack. Bear in mind that this is a double-edged sword. While base damage increases from rings like the Bruiser are going to help you take down any enemy in the game, an elemental ring can blunt or even reverse the damage you do to an enemy of the same element e.g. using the trigger against a water-elemental fish enemy while equipped with an aqua ring will do little or no damage, or even heal it.

Bruiser Ring – Damage Up Lv 1 – Slightly increases attack damage.

You should notice a dramatic difference in the amount of damage you do in your next battle, even if you can only get ‘good’s by pulling the trigger. It does take a bit of practice so don’t worry if you have trouble lining up the two rings at first.

Continue north, still watching out for the lava, and ram another machine on your right to obtain an Angel’s Plume. There’s another one slightly further north on the right hand side which gives you a Mana Herb. From where you stand to ram this machine carcass you should be able to see a flashing light on the left hand side of the screen. Go to it and pick up the Name Plate which will be useful slightly later.

Carry on north on the new screen and keep an eye out for burnt wooden boxes. You should find a Healing Medicine and a Mana Herb on this screen – just run over the boxes. On the next screen, save if you wish (there is another box containing Healing Medicine behind the save point) and then run forwards for a cutscene. Afterwards, be sure to retrace your steps and grab the items from the boxes that you see in the scene; there are 4 Whetstones in the chest on your left which trigger the Ring Assembly tutorial; an Angel’s Plume in the chest on your right; and Healing Medicine and a Mana Herb if you take the path back south to where you triggered the scene. Then speak to the soldiers and nurses if you wish and run to the back of the screen to board the transport home.

Ring Assembly

If you chose not to view the tutorial on ring assembly then here’s a simple explanation of how it works. You assemble new rings using components that you find in treasure boxes, or steal or receive from enemies you battle. Open your Y menu and go to ‘Ring Assembly’ to view a list of ‘formulas’ that you currently have. The ring will be dark grey if you don’t have the right components and light grey if you do. If you do have the components you can select the ring using A and create it. More possibilities will open up to you as you find the relevant components.

Speak to the other passengers if you wish. If you walk to the back you will trigger another cutscene. This person looks slightly less like your everyday soldier, do they not? Now off you go to the council meeting, pilfering all the way. The three canisters ((?) they look like bins to me) on your screen when you regain control of your character can be kicked to reveal hidden items. They contain a Whetstone, 10G and a Magma Fragment. Do not go through the door. Instead, head back along the path (the fourth canister contains a Mana Herb) and to the south. You can climb the ladder of the observation tower on the left hand side of the screen to get a Seed out of another canister and also a rather good view of the sky if you choose to look up at it. Since you can’t leave this area yet, indicated by the blue line across the path, you should go back to where you started and go through the door.

Inside is the lift that you have to take to get to your meeting with the council. There is also a cargo lift if you run around the back of the central lift which will allow you to get to a new area later (I haven’t managed to figure this out on previous playthroughs so I might need some help when we come to it later). At this point in the game you can only take the cargo lift up two floors before you come to a dead end so there’s nothing to be gained by using it. At the base of the central lift there’s a member of staff who’ll tell you that one of the soldiers lost his hat on the lift. If you’ve got good eyes you’ll be able to see the yellow helmet stuck in the framework when you take the lift up. When you regain control of Kaim, run back to the lift and ram the girder when you get to the bottom. Pick up the soldier’s helmet after it drops to the ground and Smiling Colen will come and give you an Antidote Brooch as a reward.

You can equip Kaim with your new accessory if you wish. You’ll notice that it comes with the Anti-Poison enhancement which ‘grants immunity to poison’. You might also notice that it has a bar labelled SP which is currently at 0/20. This shows Kaim’s progress in learning the skill. SP is earned by making it out of battle in one piece but as you’re stuck following the storyline for now so learning skills will have to wait.

Take the lift back up and follow the guards into The Great Gate Station. There are more items to be found here; a poster can be peeled back from the wall on your left to reveal an Antidote; another poster on the left hand wall once you’ve gone up the stairs is hiding 100G; one on the right-hand wall directly opposite that will give you 10G; and two posters at the back, near the guards, will give you Healing Medicine and your second Seed. If you’re having trouble spotting the posters then remember that you can zoom in by holding the right trigger and pan using the right stick to improve your view. The posters you’re interested in will flap in the breeze and Kaim will turn his head towards them. With your pockets significantly fuller than before you can board the monorail to progress the story. Enjoy the scene that plays when you take your seat at the back of the cab. (There goes that lovely music again! I’ve also just noticed how much I like the outfits in this game – the young woman who gets off the monorail in front of Kaim has a great look.)

After the council cutscene, look for the flashing light below the benches in the middle of your screen. This is the key item ‘Engraved Ring’ which you’ll see the significance of when you head downstairs. Remember to raid the ‘bin’ outside the lift before you use it and you’ll get a Cold Water Stone.

Use the save point when you leave the lift if you wish, then nip over to the information desk on the left hand side of the screen to receive a Cure-All as a reward for another noble deed. (You’ll be rescuing cats from up trees next.) The flapping poster at the top of the desk hides a Mana Herb. I think that’s your lot for now, unless you want to stand by the save point and turn your volume up to listen to the Uhran news service, so head out of the exit on the right.

Out on the streets you’re looking for small black item containers which look like pyramids from a distance and space-age boilers up close. The first is at the end of the lady’s bench in the raised seating area and will give you another Seed; the second is above that, at the west end of the row of shops and contains 2 Whetstones; the third is further along the shop walk, right after you have to circumnavigate a palm tree and yields an Angel’s Plume. There is another flapping poster in the group on the wall before the stairs. Pull it back for your fourth Seed. Carry on to the next screen, checking the poster on the girder between the citizen and the guards en route to find a Wind Seal Leaf, and you’ll be escorted the rest of the way through the city to the Council Hall.

Does anyone else think that Gongora’s excuse of ‘I could tell you about the spell but the knowledge might kill you’ is a bit suspicious? Also, if ‘death is determined by fate’ and one ‘cannot fight it’…why does Roxian decide NOT to take the chance that he might die? I don’t think I should get into the philosophy actually, it might hurt my brain. So…is it just the roomy robes or are all the men in this except Kaim built like brick outhouses?

If you wish to use it there’s another save point at the back of the screen when you regain control of Kaim. That’s the only thing of interest on this screen so leave it to the west. There’s another container on the left, just past the pair of conversing men, which will give you a Magma Fragment. Carry on along the path. There’s another flapping poster on the arch which will give you your fifth Seed. You might notice two bins in an alcove next to the gate but you can’t get to them with that fence in the way. There’s a poster on each side of the stairs as soon as you pass under the arch which will give you Healing Medicine and an Antidote. Go down the alley on your left to access another flapping poster which will give you 10G and a small gold pot which yields 2 Whetstones when probed.

The door on the left just above the alley leads you into the local tavern. There’s a gold pot on the right as soon as you step through the door which you can rummage through for 100G. And one either side of the pillar upstairs which give you an Aqua Bomb and another Seed. When you leave the tavern there’s another black container on the left of the screen, just past a bed of palm tress, which has a Mana Herb inside it. There’s a shop on your right but it’s not much use to you because the merchant is away. If only the developers had given us the option of a five finger discount… Well, the building above the shop is the inn that you were told about. So, pick up the Seed hidden next to the television in the street and then go into the inn. Speak to the innkeeper and Kaim will go upstairs for his night’s sleep.

Poor Kaim. That wasn’t a very restful sleep. The animators did a fantastic job on his facial expressions when he awakes though. You have just unlocked your first dream sequence, ‘Hanna’s Departure’, which you can view by pressing A, or decide not to view by pressing B.

Back to the game. There’s nothing in your room or in the next room along the corridor, but there are items in the two rooms at the corridor’s end. There’s a guestbook on the shelf in the room on the left if you want to read it as well as 100G which somebody left in the cabinet. The room on the right has a ‘street map’ which gives you information about Uhra, an Angel’s Plume in the cabinet and the Holy Knight Charm accessory in the chest between the beds. As you head downstairs you’ll find another Seed in the pot on the landing and an Antidote under the stairs. Use the savepoint in the foreground if you wish then go talk to the owner. Doesn’t that little bit about the items around the hotel being ‘compliments of the house’ take the edge off your skilful pilfering?