katoarts

Critique: Lost Odyssey (VG)

A Final Fantasy clone for the XBOX360

Lost Odyssey is your run of the mill FF type RPG. You control Kaim, a quiet fellow who has lived for over a thousand years and has no memory of his past. The game takes place in a world where a Magic-Industrial Revolution is taking place and where graphics come before storyline. Thank Jebus it finally ended. I inevitably ran out of sidequests. I could have played another 50 hours. Not saying this game is any masterpiece or anything, but hell it is addicting. It really tickled my obsessive RPG completist nature. Although, other than some really enslaving gameplay, I can't say that many good things about it. In fact, I expect to shit all over this game in the review.

Graphics & Artwork 

 

Might as well start on the bright factor of this game. The game is beautiful. The landscapes and cities are all well thought out and give the surreal image of the magical-industrial society they live in. The cinematography of the game is very alluring. Great angles and pans make it feel more dramatic than it actually is! The dreams were these musical story sketches, vivid tales told in full color with sound effects and orchestration and were a unique part of the game. I'm sure most people didn't even watch them as they weren't really necessary. The world map was pretty stale and the underwater map was a dark, boring mess. Overall stellar aesthetics, but at what cost to everything else?

Gameplay

 

A Final Fantasy clone. Seeing that Hironobu Sakaguchi was holding the ropes this comes as no surprise. An old and tried formula for a game.  It's not bad thing, but it can be if you water it down enough. Beautiful artwork cannot cover up the lack of Summons, the weak and unoriginal spell selection, or the completely useless and time intensive Ring Creation system. How many Black Monster Bug Oils and Adamantine Ores do I randomly need to collect until I can make my god damned Monster Ring‽ Also, the insane load time in this game really made cinematic sequences very fragmented and unsuspenseful. And couldn't I have went and explored Khent before it was leveled to the ground, Hmm? Alas, there were many compelling elements. There's a whole bunch of great side quests, plenty of exploring to do, and one of the best RPG battles of my life.

Story & Characters

 

I really enjoyed the underlying story. That's probably why I read every single one of Kaim's lost dreams as irrelevant to the game as they were. The dreams were the most poetic and emotionally packed elements of the game, yet they never represented the cold and contained realism of Kaim's demeanor. Gongora, our 
tale's villain, was a complete failure. If there is one thing my father has ever taught me in life, it is that no story is complete without a mean, cold hearted, despicable villain. Preferably one that holds reason and wretchedness in the same light. Someone you wake up thinking about. I couldn't tell if Gongora was the main baddy until halfway through the game. I figured I would get to the man behind the man eventually but it never happened. Sad actually. You would think after 1000 years a man would find something more interesting to do than become a 'god'. All in all, the story was almost acceptable. It just lacked substance from the bland characters and for being a 60+ hour game it felt short and unfinished somehow. I could look at Ming's unnecessarily revealing chest all day though.

Sound & Music

 

A very bright point of the game that was dimmed by repetitiveness and bad voice acting. Bringing Nobou Umatseu was a very smart decision. As always his provocative compositions bring the magic into the story and the many atmospheres it accompanies. Although less melodic and more death metal than his other ventures, he successfully adds a new level of imagination and introspection into an already artistic game. Certainly not as memorable as his past soundtracks (I always compare to FF7). I also would mention that music is overused far too much and tends to water down drama when you've heard the same tracked used on all 4 disks.

Prologue (Good example of the main theme)

The sound design was solid. A sonic realism was used to create an organic world which was complimented nicely by the surreal electronic sounds of the magic-industrial times they lived in. A few stand out sounds included the airship spinning into the air and violently slamming back down into the water. The 'Roughs' in the Black Cave gave a wonderful zombie bird screech. But as for many modern games, the lack of stand out sounds comes with the territory as most games are now designed with organic sources rather than synthesized weirdness and also require 1000's of unique sounds and variations on each.

Awful English voiceovers. Absolutely awful. I don't know who was being catered to, but there were some poor voice actor choices with some poor voice direction in the English dubs. The Japanese voices on the other hand were incredible. Very emotional and believable voices that made the characters a little bit less bland.

Verdict = Still Holding 7 Eggs

I understand making games is a very exhausting process, creatively, mentally, and physically. I do wish all this talent and creativity did make a truly remarkable game. They didn't. Lost Odyssey had a super team working for it, an incredible Japanese folk tale to work with, and a renowned director. Yet it failed to reach any new heights. Yes, they did create a very playable and enjoyable experience, but they did not create anything new. Stunning graphics, artwork, and music never forgive bland and regurgitated gameplay, stories, and characters. I did use 70 hours of my life to complete it, so by all means please call me a hypocrite.

Amaaazing New Product!

I would like to publicly announce the opening of this fancy website. I aimed at making a portal for myself where I can throw my music away for free, display my aural craft, promote my studio services, and mouth off to the world. All of the above were, I believe, accomplished.

Now I would like to welcome you to the sometimes exciting human adventures of Billy and his tall, handsome and clean-shaven moniker Katoarts. 

The Key of the 'Key System'

Many in the East Bay may not know it, but it was once the home of bustling streetcars that connected the many cities this side of the bay. From Richmond to deep East Oakland, streetcars made the cities and neighborhoods of the East Bay much closer and less fragmented than ever before, perhaps even closer than they are today. Along with 8 different streetcar lines, the Key System opened a line on the lower level of the Bay Bridge that connected to San Francisco. It was said to take only 30 minutes to get from the Alameda Court House to the Transbay Terminal in San Francisco. Pretty good for 1935.

A sensational video showing off the Bay Bridge extension (1945)

The inevitable dawn of mass produced, cheap automobiles in the 40's and 50's and the eventual buyout from the General Motors Company led to the unfortunate dismantlement of the Key System in 1958. The publicly-owned AC Transit formed in 1960 which operates the buses to this day. Although there is a tasty conspiracy about why the streetcars in Oakland were removed (along with about 50 other cities), it seems to just boil down to a cultural and technological shift in the minds of Americans.

The automobile set people free in many ways. It unbound people from transit lines, allowed longer distance travel, had an overwhelming social appeal, and was a symbol of that sweet, sweet American Dream coming true. Along with millions of people buying into this private single-person vehicle came other devices like the Interstate Highway System, which included such beauties as the MacArthur Maze and the elevated I-580 (which happened to win the prestigious "Most Beautiful Highway in America" award in 1964).

We now know how wasteful, environmentally unfriendly, and expensive it is to live out our own vehicular individualism. The whole bay area is saturated with cars making even the shortest commutes painfully long. The highways have polarized parts of the city and proved to be historical eyesores.

Now yes, we do have BART and we have AC Transit. These are both viable modes of transportation but both have their limitations. Bart is fast, however expensive and not widespread. AC Transit is widespread and cheap, but unpredictable and incredibly slow for long cross city travel. Coming from a long line of conductors and train workers, I do have a special nostalgia for the ways of the rail. And looking past my own personal attachments I can see that there is a missing link in Oakland. If you strictly depend on public transit, Downtown is detached from most of East Oakland, Jingletown and Laurel are separated by two highways, Alameda is... well, It's Alameda and you're not welcome there.

Living in the area without a car for the past two years has taught me to either ride the slow and fragmented AC Transit lines, get a car, or ride a bicycle everywhere. I've chosen the latter as it's the cheapest and most convenient when combined with BART. I feel when the Key System was ripped from the ground, something deep in the roots of Oakland was also taken with it. I do want to better argue the cultural benefits of having streetcars over buses but I'll leave this post as a brief history of those simpler times... when people were together. 

The Timeless Oaf

Definition:

oaf (plural oafs)

   1. (obsolete) An elf's child; a changeling left by fairies or goblins, hence, a deformed or foolish child.

   2. (pejorative) A person, especially a large male, who is clumsy or a simpleton; an idiot.w

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    6. Patrick - SpongeBob Squarepants (1999) - IMDB

The most fun-loving and silly character on this list. He is well aware of his limitations, but stubbornly breaks through any barriers that lay in the way of his mental deficiencies. His home is under a large rock which is wonderful symbolism for his ignorant life style. Him and SpongeBob are an odd couple as they both lack common sense and logically reasoning. Although I love Patrick Starr he is really just a mix of every Oaf that has ever existed in film and TV effectively making him a hybrid oaf to rule them all. 

    5. Mongo - Blazing Saddles (1974) - IMDB

Who can forget Mongo? Mr. Brook's Greasy, dumb, and lovable creation. His brutal primitive actions are made innocent by the fact that he is a big troubled child inside. Kind of like a much larger, dumber, and racially confident Micheal Jackson. He is actually very reminiscent to Lennie, but without a proper counterpart.And although slow, his primitive wisdom does shine through. "Mongo only pawn... in game of life. "

    4. Lennie - from 'Of Mice and Men' (1937) - Wiki & IMDB

Lennie is who made me think of this list to begin with. I finished this brief Steinbeck tale on the train yesterday.  Lennie is a sweet, childish, and brutally strong friend of George, who is his smaller more socially slick counterpart. This genuine tale follows the wandering odd-couple in their journey to find happiness. As George tells a raptured Lennie, "We're gonna do it, we're gonna get a little place of our own an' live off the fatta the land." Already sounds sad doesn't it? I'll be watching '92 movie that features John Malkovich as Lennie shortly.

    3. Ludo -  Labyrinth (1986) - IMDB

So much love fills this over sized and hairy Jim Henson creation. For years I have been trying to recreate  his enormous cry with my own voice or complain about something smelly in his likeness. As is most of the characters in this film, he is a ruthless friend to the main protagonist, played by the stunning Jennifer Connelly. Ludo actually fits both entries of oaf. A success story to say the least.

    2. Glottis - Grim Fandango (1998) - Wiki

Glottis is on the edge. His physical appearance will get him thrown in with oaf community immediately, although his outward appearance does not reflect his deep and complex mind. Glottis is a demon from the underworld whose "roots lie not in any Earthly nation's soil. I am an elemental spirit summoned up from the Land of the Dead itself and given one purpose, one skill, one desire... TO DRIVE."  Like many of the best oafs, he teams up with a smaller and socially smoother counterpart. Here is Glottis at his most Glottistic:

1. Curly - Three Stooges (1933) - IMDB

No one can leave this hero off this list. A winner in everyones book. Every modern oaf is a large part of Curly. His wisdom. His charm. His blatent stupidity. His homosexual overtones. The stooges are unique in that they come in a trio. Where an oaf is usually matched with a guardian figure, the stooges are all foolish, childish men that manage to take care of each other. Curly is often full of excellent ideas when he is not attempting to be brilliant. However has great difficulty when actually putting his mind to something. "I try to think, but nothing happens..."

Winning in Life

I don't need to and don't often win things. Not to say I don't like excelling in my professional or personal affairs--I just don't have that supreme competitive drive that forces people to seek out useless challenges to pad their inner desire to win. It's a funny act. You can win the lottery,  a peace prize, a 1/2 gallon of milk, a heated game of Yahtzee, the possibilities are infinite. I personally like the feeling of win better when it's not based on chance or pity. Many probably disagree and treat all win equally. I received a nice taste of win the other day and it made me look back at some of the stupid things I've won in life.

•••

The Talent Show

I don't think I understood the meaning of win at this point in my life. I was a happy child doing what my parents told me, practicing my piano, doing my homework, being a good little Catholic school boy. Memories remain hazy of the days of pre-sixth grade, but a few remain. One being the amazing model Iroquois Longhouse I made with my father in the basement. Another being the day Sister Elsa dumped the contents of my desk onto me leaving me with bruised ribs. Another and most relevant being the 1995 Kingston Catholic Talent Show.

In my younger years I was considered a profound pianist. After only 2 years of playing I was better than anyone I knew and had a knack for performing. This is funny to me because somewhere along the road I've gained a phobia of performing and now avoid it at all costs.

Most memorable for me was Marie and Katie performing their unpracticed rendition of new Oasis hit 'Wonderwall'. I recall strong feelings of empathic embarrassment and confusion over the spectacle. I also remember a magic show put on by Philip. An unconvincing but very entertaining act. I'm almost positive he had a most excellent top hat. I also remember some primitive dance lesson chops and some better practiced sung songs.

Finally I was up. The piano was in the center of the gymasium/auditorium. I sat down at the old bright wood upright Steinway, stared at the keys for a moment--then started playing 'Spinning Song' which I had just recently mastered for NYSSMA.

Some strange boy playing Spinning Song

After I was done, everyone went wild not knowing the chops I had. And for the rest of grade school I would be made fun of because pianist sounds like penis. They also made a no-winner rule for all subsequent talent shows. I just had to ruin it for everyone.

•••

Amazing Magna Mountain Bicycle!

This was a random win. I put my name in one of those raffle bins they have at your local bakery or corner store. A few weeks later we got a call from the local fire department saying I was the lucky winner of a Magna Mountain Bike. "Great!" I thought. I like mountains and I need a new bike. This should be the perfect thing for me. 

No one informed me this was the worst bike ever. They just told me I won. This monstrous steel burden lasted for a few squeaky months before becoming completely unusable. Riddled with flat tires and an exuberant amount of rust, this piece ended up a permanent fixture of the garage where it still sits today. Thanks a lot Kingston Fire Department, ya cheap bastards!

•••

I know there is more, but many things I refuse to call winning. Such things as lotto scratch-off's, sandwich club cards, and Super Ghouls and Ghosts don't deem personal win. They are just life sucking bumps along the road that promise us glory.