Originally launched on the Wii, the spiritual successor to
the beautiful Odin Sphere is set in ancient Japan and follows the journey of
two characters. You must pick from either Kisuke, a fugitive swordsman
suffering from memory loss or Momohime, a princess possessed by an evil spirit
and head out to find the many blades that will aid you to complete the
characters respective quests.
The first thing that hits you about the game is that is
looks and sounds stunningly beautiful. A 2D side scrolling fighter at heart the
environments you explore are simply breath-taking. This is possibly the highest
quality 2D art work we have ever seen and it looks magnificent on the Vita
screen. From fields to waterfalls to cherry blossom groves the game will have players
continually stopping to take screen shots to use as background wallpaper.
Complementing the visuals is a massively impressive
soundtrack. Japanese strings and pipes swirl and play to build the atmosphere
and create a truly magical environment for our two heroes to explore. In terms
of presentation this is out of the top draw, which is a good thing as you're
going to be seeing those environments repeatedly and for a fair amount of time.
Gameplay involves your character running through said lovely
backdrops left and right and then being stopped by an enemy attack. When this
happens a warning flashes up on screen and your character will draw their
sword. What follows is normally a very swift and brutal fight against numerous attackers
before a result screen is displayed and you move on. The swiftness of the combat
manages to capture the samurai style atmosphere brilliantly. Your character
never draws their sword unless a fight is about to happen and the swift nature
of battles helps to keep momentum and the feeling you are a master swordsman
going. As you progress thing get decidedly more difficult and bosses can easily
crush players but it’s those fights out in the fields and roads that help build
the atmosphere and feeling of ancient Japan perfectly.
Combat itself is flawlessly fluid. You have a mass of different
moves available from the start and will need to get used to all of them,
especially the blocks and parries, by the end of the game. You can create huge
combos by air juggling and darting across the screen to the next foe and also
switch between any of your three equipped swords on the fly to change momentum and
style.
Swords are what the game is all about and you can collect
over a hundred of them, each with different characteristics. You have a sword
gauge which when depleted will break the blade, so you need to be careful and
quickly switch between them in battle. Swords will also flash and when this
happens changing blade will unleash a special attack. A broken sword needs to
be returned to their sheath to repair but will return to combat readiness over
time.
The catch to this most beautiful looking and sounding game with
precise and satisfying combat is repetition. This is a long game and you’re
looking at getting into the thirty to forty hour mark to finish both quests
properly with a decent amount of blades. It’s not repetition of combat as such but the traveling
from one side of the map to the other, often with little happening. This is offset
somewhat by the beautiful backdrops but there isn’t much to find or that many
people to talk to within the environments. As you wander through screen three
or four of the same forest you’ll begin to want to just get on with it. It’s
not a major issue as your characters move pretty swiftly but after a few hours
you’ll want that quick travel option to open up as soon as possible.
It’s a fairly minor point in what is in the most part a stunning
game. If you can look past the trudging back and forth you’ll find a game quite
unlike any other with a unique look and style all of its own. It’s a game that
looks like it was born to fit the Vita and the controls are far superior to
those present in the Wii version. It’s a beautiful and dark Japanese folktale
come to life and even though there are flaws we can’t help but love it for its
fluid combat, magical sound and gorgeous visuals.
Overall 8/10
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