Looking forward to Lost Odyssey, the next big thing from Mistwalker? Hope you enjoy reading then, because you'll be doing a lot of it according to IGN. Kaim, the game's protagonist, often has flashbacks to moments in his past. Considering he can't die, he's been alive for a very long time, which means he has a long history to look back upon. However, instead of letting the players journey back and actually experience these flashbacks through gameplay, they are played out entirely through text. The flashbacks are actually short stories penned by famed Japanese author Kiyoshi Shigematsu, and Lost Odyssey director Hironobu Sakaguchi decided to let players experience them in their "purest" form. All in all, there are 34 of these flashbacks, each taking 5-10 minutes to read. We have to wonder if these flashbacks are considered gameplay, because Sakaguchi has noted that fully half of Lost Odyssey's 40 hours of gameplay will be taken up by cutscenes.Japanese gamers will find out when the game is released on December 6th, while the rest of us will have to wait until February of next year.
[Via Joystiq]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-02-2007 @ 3:04PM
Xion said...
ive been pretty vocal about this story in Joystiq because is very misleading, so ill make a couple things clear before people read this and, like they did in the other place, go mad!
1) These short stories are not necessarily Kaim's Flashbacks, his flashbacks are represented as one would imagine, a short cutscene..these short story sequences Sakaguchi was refering to are scrolling text that tells a story about a part of Kaim's life, or the world in general. You come across them simply by walking into an area that tirggers it, or perhaps finding an item like a diary that may also trigger one.
2) the games story is NOT told through these short story sequences, they were written by an award winning novelist and are intended to give insight into the world or characetrs of the game, much like BioShock's audio diaries. They are not a mandatory read (you can skip them) and they can be read later from an option in the games start menu. the stories will also be released in book form.
3) the story sequences are included in sakaguchi's estimate of 20 hours of Event scenes (including cutscenes) so if you subtract the 4-6 hours that these short story scenes add, the game has about 10-12 hours or so of Cutscenes, all in-game rendered with the exception of about 1 hours worth done in CG, wich is just above the average of any PS1 or PS2 Final Fantasy game. There is full voice acting for most of the cutscenes as you would expect, and the game includes both english and japanese vocal tracks and subtitles. The lips are all synched to the English vocals.
I hope this was useful to anyone confused by the recent interview.
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10-02-2007 @ 3:19PM
SabishiiBushi said...
Durr...
I don like reading reading sucks its 4 faggotz.
Grow up.
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10-02-2007 @ 3:26PM
DjChad said...
I dont see what the big deal is. If you are playing this type of game chances are you like a good story and if you like a good story hopefully you've read a few books. More games should be like this IMHO and people shouldn't be so afraid of reading. Some novels are far more entertaining than games could ever be. If you absolutely hate reading then chances are you aren't even thinking about getting this game, or any other rpg, anyway.
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10-02-2007 @ 3:34PM
bjgoetz said...
sounds like poop.
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10-02-2007 @ 3:46PM
Michael C. Sherrin said...
They didn't what voice-overs to ruin the experience? Lazy. Reading on a television or computer monitor is never fun. I don't play video games to read. I want something interactive with a cinematic flair. The few short hours of gameplay there actually is better be great. Now releasing the stories in book form is a good idea. Maybe they should include that in the collector's edition (and not charge a huge amount for it separately).
*******
Michael C. Sherrin
http://www.prodigeek.com/
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10-02-2007 @ 4:13PM
Jon said...
Don't like it, don't buy it.
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10-02-2007 @ 4:19PM
Xion said...
i suggest you all read my previous postmn -_- Under your logic, Oblivion sucked because its books had no voice acting!
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10-02-2007 @ 5:05PM
Etchasketchist said...
I read books in Oblivion all the time. Big deal. Reading is fundamental.
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10-02-2007 @ 6:13PM
Anticrawl said...
Xion, just let it be. People will be people, atleast this person(me) understands.
"A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it." - K from Men in Black
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