My love for Lost Odyssey started well before I purchased the game. I tingled in anticipation for the chance to play a next-gen RPG that echoed the joyous refrains of the Final Fantasies of yore. I yearned for a turn based game that took hold of the high definition era and bent it over, grinding until it needed another component hole.


The game starts off in the most amazing way possible, with the main character(Kaim) as the sole survivor of a clash between two armies. He immediately is established as a badass and just shy of a god. What does it take to kill a god?




A Fucking Worm


That's right, the second boss of the game, a critter by the name of Bogimoray was my nemesis. There are much harder bosses in the game (the Immortal One) and much more annoying ones (Persona), but Bogimoray was the boss that violated me at the start of my game, and you always remember your first.

Kaim, Jansen (don't believe the lies- he is a fantastic character), and Seth are still weak and investigating a magic tower. -Or should be; they are interrupted by a freak of nature: Bogimoray.

As an early boss, it should pose no threat, right? Wrong. It sends its lackeys to decimate the party, using the cheap tactic of spamming the combat log with weak attacks. Not a problem for the well-prepared adventurer loaded to the brim with healing items.

And then it happens: Paralysis
The second boss in the game paralyzes most if not all of my party!
At this point in the game, I hadn't discovered all the nuances of the combat/skill trees. I had equipped each character to fight the best they could, and even had found a ring that prevents paralysis. RPG law dictates that I give that item to my weakest character, in this case: Jansen.

Bad move. Every time I fought Bogimoray, I went down. Every time I felt that I was closer to victory, but not close enough. Around this time, I discovered that I could teach both Kaim and Seth the anti-paralysis ability from the ring and then have Jansen equip it to keep my party safe.

Then, miraculously, I defeated the beast!








...or so I thought. Fucker has a twin brother. I'm still smiling from my 'victory' when the next identical consecutive boss wipes the floor with me.

(Second 2nd Boss not pictured)


Valentine's day rolls around, I have a nice afternoon planned alone with Kaim. Time to end these Bogimoray shenanigans. I'm losing because I'm not strong enough? Time for a training montage!

I grind with reckless abandon, taking on weak mobs with one spell. My characters start getting bored, and the wildlife of the Sea of Baus takes a large population hit. Kaim, Seth, and Jansen start working better as a team. They kill glowing blue crabs, rinse, repeat, until ... Showdown!

I am ready. I have trained. This Bogimoray chump has nothing on me.
The battle is fierce and long, but when the dust clears, there is one victorious trio.

My foe is reduced to a pile of dust with my boot print on it.

I've won! I am invincible! Another BATTLE!?!?! WHAT THE HELL! I'm immediately thrust into the nefarious clutches of a rival nation's army, thrown into a cell without a save point where I still don't know much of Kaim's backstory. Naturally, my satisfaction of beating the boss is secondary to my curiosity about Kaim. One of the famous story memories materializes, and I am glued to the words that appear on screen.

My phone rings. A girl I'm interested in is on the line- I had invited her out for coffee. I didn't realize how late it had gotten! Need to find a save spot, quick.

I don't want to skip anything- Jansen seems suspicious, Kaim has almost none of his memories, we're all in prison. I need to save my game, I had played for almost an hour and a half since the Bogimoray fight and not had a single save spot location.

Where are the save spots?
I break out of prison and see it- shining in all its beauty by the door to the next area: the savior of my game. I run up to the spot.. and onto the next screen.

Not a problem, I just back track and... can't.
Fuck.



I... can't go back?
I quickly scan ahead to see what I have to go through before the next save. Guards patrol the area, stealth is required. Stealth is the biggest time sink, and I just didn't have the time- It's Valentine's Day and coffee is calling me away from my 360.

I sigh and get up, turn off my T.V. (making sure the system is still running), and grab my things to leave.


I know that was a mistake. At the time, I didn't care- after all, I was going out for coffee, not going to the movies or something. I'd been playing for hours already, what was one hour when I wasn't playing going to do?

The date goes well. We celebrated our one year anniversary two months ago.
I dread my return to my apartment and fear the worst: the Dreaded RROD




But nothing was wrong at first glance. In fact, the system was off. Oh God!
I turn the system back on, and instead of being greeted by a RROD, it boots up just fine into the dashboard.

...........but no further. My dvd drive had broken. Nothing was being read: CDs, DVDs, Games.. nothing.
After a few failed attempts at making it Red Ring, it was time to say a few prayers for the system's passing and shed one single tear.

Oh well, 1-800-4MY-XBOX time. My coffin arrives in record time, and is sent out equally fast.
The month spent apart from the system was well spent with a blossoming relationship (which was indeed helped by the absence of any hardcore RPGing), and soon I stopped counting the days I must wait.

One day, a large box arrives from Microsoft with my name on it. It had returned from the crucible, a stronger, more reliable system. There remained one thing left to do:


Kick the shit out of that mook: Bogimoray