''LostOdyssey'' was the second of two Japanese-style {{RPG}}s developed for the Xbox 360 by Mistwalker, the other being ''BlueDragon''. Whereas ''BlueDragon'', with its KidHero cast and Akira Toryiama character designs, was clearly intended to be the Mistwalker equivalent of ''DragonQuest'' and designed primarily for the Japanese market, ''LostOdyssey'' was clearly designed with the Western market in mind, and bears a closer resemblance to the ''FinalFantasy'' series. The game was produced by ''FinalFantasy'' creator Hironobu Sakaguchi, scored by NobuoUematsu, written by award-winning novelist Kiyoshi Shigematsu, with character designs by Takehiko Inoue, the manga artist who single-handedly popularized basketball in Japan with the SlamDunk series.

Now that your expectations are appropriately high, let's move on.

''LostOdyssey'' is a ''very'' [[WidgetSeries Japanese]] {{RPG}}, centered around Kaim Argonar, TheHero, an [[LaserGuidedAmnesia amnesiac]] mercenary who is apparently [[{{Immortality}} immortal]]. As the game opens, he is serving in the army of the [[TheFederation Magic Republic of Uhra]], a nation still in turmoil from the abolition of its monarchy, in their war against the beastmen of Khent. The game opens with the final battle of the war, which is concluded by a meteor strike ([[DidNotDoTheResearch which takes the form of lava pouring out of the sky]]) that wipes out everyone on both sides save Kaim and another amnesiac immortal, a woman named Seth Balmore.

From the moment he meets Seth on, Kaim's memories start coming back. At the same time, Uhra is convinced that the meteor was the result of some finicky wiring in their new {{Magitek}} tower, and send Kaim off to investigate. The plot thickens as [[EvilChancellor Councilor Gongora]] schemes to restore the inept Prince Tolten to the Uhran throne and restore [[TheEmpire the monarchy]]. All of this is set against the background of the "Magic-Industrial Revolution," as the nations of the world are struggling to incorporate {{Magitek}} into their daily lives. Prominent characters include:

* Kaim, TheHero; begins as TheStoic, but gradually becomes more emotional as he recovers his memories
* Seth, TheLancer; Flirty ActionGirl and former {{Pirate}}
* Uhran wizard Jansen Friedh, TheMole, for all of about five minutes, PluckyComicRelief by way of being a HandsomeLech and ChivalrousPervert. Narrowly RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap by a good vocal performance and the guiding hand of CharacterDevelopment.
* Ming, the immortal Queen of Numara.
* General Kakanas, leader of Numara's armed forces
* Mack and Cooke, two [[KidHero kids from Numara]] who tag along for the ride. Also, [[spoiler:Kaim and Sarah's grandchildren]].
* Sarah, [[spoiler:Kaim's immortal wife]].
* Sed, {{Pirate}}, CoolOldGuy and [[spoiler:Seth's son]].
* Prince Tolten, the heir to the throne of Uhra and chronic XanatosSucker.
* Gongora, the BigBad and an extremely SmugSnake. Although by the time you complete the game, [[CompleteMonster that will be the]] ''[[CompleteMonster least]]'' thing [[MoralEventHorizon you hate about him]]. Made somewhat less than frightening by his uncanny resemblance to Freddie Mercury.

The gameplay is classic turn-based combat based around a skill system. Mortal characters, which form most of the party, learn new skills by gaining levels, and can temporarily gain new skills by equipping items, while immortal characters can learn skills from the items they equip and by "skill-linking" with the mortal characters. Magic is divided into four categories - Black offensive magic and White defensive magic, which are obvious holdovers from ''FinalFantasy'', as well as buffing-focused Spirit magic and Composite magic, which is a fusion of spells from other schools. General gameplay resembles NES- and SNES-era entries in the ''FinalFantasy'' series, but with the benefit of the Xbox 360's graphical power and much more elaborate {{Boss Battle}}s.

Another gameplay feature of note is the "Thousand Years of Dreams" - as the game goes on, Kaim starts to recover his memory in the form of dreams. These dreams are displayed in the game as short stories. Read these at your peril. [[TearJerker Tears]] ''[[TearJerker will]]'' [[TearJerker be jerked]]. The game can be played with dialog in both the original Japanese and in English, to satisfy both sides of the SubbingVersusDubbing debate, and both are very high quality performances. The game was not much of a success in Japan due to the 360's unpopularity there, but enjoyed much greater success in the West. If thats what you want to call it.

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This game contains examples of:

* ActionGirl: Seth
** More like [[spoiler:Action Mom.]]
* ArbitraryHeadcountLimit, though a rather generous one by modern standards
* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: You will have ''two'' monarchs in your party by the end of the game.
* AwardBaitSong: ''What You Are''.
* BadassGrandpa: Sed. Kaim is both badass and a grandfather (several times over, according to ''A Thousand Years of Dreams''), but his eternal youth makes him not an example of this trope.
* BagOfSharing: Even when the party members are continents apart.
* BlingOfWar: Tolten's diamond-studded gold armor.
* BonusBoss: Lots. Persona, [[ShoutOut Blue]] [[BlueDragon Dragon]], Holy Beast, Cave Worm, King Kelolon, Ghost of Eastern Ruins, Golden Knight, and Killalon from the DLC dungeon.
* BrattyHalfPint: Cooke. Mack is significantly more mature.
* BreakTheCutie: Poor Sarah.
* [[CantCatchUp Can't Catch Up]]: Beyond a certain point, the mortal characters in the party will pale into insignificance in battle compared to the four Immortals.
* CharacterLevel
* ChaoticGood: Seth. She was basically the pirate version of Robin Hood and she hated the law.
* ChivalrousPervert: Jansen, and how!
* CompetenceZone: A ''very'' broad one. Even without the immortals.
* CompleteMonster: Since [[spoiler:Gongora's]] enemies can not die, [[spoiler:he]] makes them ''wish'' they were dead.
* CoolOldGuy
* CriminalAmnesiac: [[spoiler:Kaim and Seth are in this state when the game starts]]
* CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming
--> Momma!
** Even though you saw it coming a mile away, [[spoiler:Jansen marrying Ming during the ending put such a smile on your face.]] Admit it, you know it's true.
* CrowningMomentOfFunny: The one shouting "momma" is visually about three times older than his mother (and quite spectacularly grizzled), yet he's still acting like a happy 4-year old.
* CrowningMusicOfAwesome: The soundtrack was written by Nobuo Uematsu. It's outstanding. Except for that Sheena Easton number during the credits.
* CutscenePowerToTheMax: ''Mostly'' averted, but don't expect any of the immortals to be ''quite'' as indestructible in gameplay as Kaim is in the "meteor strike" cutscene.
* DefrostingIceQueen: Male subversion with Kaim; starts as TheStoic then begins to warm up once he [[spoiler:meets his grandchildren and reunites with his wife, Sarah.]]
* DespairEventHorizon: [[spoiler:Gongora's plan to wipe the memories of the other Immortals requires a personal trauma serious enough that they ''want'' to forget. [[MoralEventHorizon So he arranges them.]]]]
* DoomedHometown: [[spoiler:The Immortals. Their planet was dying of a virus. The Immortals came to the mortal world to find the cause for the virus. The cause itself is the power of human emotion and magic energy.]]
* DungeonPunk, arguably
* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler:In the dream, "Letters from a Weakling" a girl named Myna marries into a judgmental, possibly racist, and closed-minded family and community. Their lack of acceptance eventually drives Myna to commit suicide by hanging herself in a barn.]]
* DrowningMySorrows: Mentioned in Kaim's dreams and quite expected of him; he's seen a lot of horrible things in a thousand years.
* ElementalRockPaperScissors: Notably, uses the Western elements but with strengths and weaknesses defined by an Eastern cycle.
* EnsembleDarkhorse: Jansen. Even people who aren't terribly fond of Lost Odyssey will attest to how, despite his rocky start, Jansen becomes incredibly likable.
* EvilChancellor: Both Gongora and Kakanas
* ExpositionBreak
* FantasyGunControl: Averted, sort of. ONE character (Sed the pirate) uses a gun called a magic rifle, but wars are still fought with swords and shields. They have big magic tanks and cannons though.
* FateWorseThanDeath: Since he couldn't kill his fellow immortals, [[spoiler:Gongora]] had to get ''creative''.
* FetchQuest: One wonders who thought it would be a good idea to render a ''funeral'' as a tedious fetch quest followed immediately by a broken MiniGame.
** To be fair, it worked as an emotional enhancement for this troper. There's something to be said about about being able to collect flowers for your dead relative and burn the ribbons that will send their pyre-boat into the ocean. Though this troper supposes it worked better for him due to being unable to share the last few days with all of the major deaths in his life.
* FunctionalMagic
* GameplayAndStorySegregation: The immortal characters are still immortal in gameplay, in the sense that they revive after about two rounds if knocked out, but they ''can'' be knocked out and otherwise injured and if the entire active party is [=KO'd=] it's still GameOver, even though Kaim and Seth withstood a catastrophe that obliterated two armies in the opening [[CutscenePowerToTheMax cutscene]] and weren't so much as singed.
* GeneralRipper: General Kakanas
* GrandmaWhatMassiveHotnessYouHave: Sarah.
* HandsomeLech
* HermeticMagic
* [[HeyItsThatVoice Hey It's That Voice]]: Cooke sure is a [[{{Rugrats}} rugrat]], [[IncrediblyLamePun isn't she?]]
** Seth is [[FinalFantasyX Rikku]] and [[TalesOfSymphonia Presea]].
* HopelessBossFight: [[spoiler:Gongora in Disc 2. It seems winnable at first, given that he doesn't do ''too much'' damage, but then he decides to stop playing around and, by using Pain Surge, instantly kills your entire party. No question.]]
* HotShounenMom - Both Seth and Sarah, who also qualifies for GrandmaWhatMassiveHotnessYouHave
* {{Idiot Plot}} - Much of the plot relies on EVERYONE trusting the Big Bad. Even when he laughs insanely, and they are TOLD he is evil!
* {{Immortality}}
* ImpracticallyFancyOutfit: Where to start? There's a possible LampshadeHanging during the opening scenes in which a pair of soldiers wearing headgear with '' giant rings'' on them are surprised that Kaim - possibly the least fancily dressed character in the game - managed to survive, "especially in that outfit."
** In fact, Kaim, Seth, and Sarah all have relatively modest outfits, all things considered. Everyone else... not so much.
* ISeeLondon: Oh General Kakanas, you wacky jingoistic traitor....
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold
* KleptomaniacHero: While nearly every pot, bookshelf, chest, and drawer in the visitable parts of town has useful items in it, the game has a hilarious LampshadeHanging for this trope, in that the inhabitants of houses and proprietors of inns ''want'' you to take them for some reason. The innkeepers say that all the gold and potions lying around their businesses are "complimentary," while private citizens consider it a favor if you removed some of the clutter... you know, those piles of 100 gold coins that just do nothing for the flow of the room.
* LargeHam: Gongora leaves no scenery unchewed.
* [[LetsSplitUpGang Let's Split Up, Gang]]: Used very briefly for a pair of bosses at the end of the game. You seperate into two teams of two characters and both parties must defeat their respective boss on the same turn.
** Also used in the Eastern Spirit Temple in Disc 4.
* LoadsAndLoadsOfLoading: Loading screens stick around for a while, but contain information on party member statistics.
** The loading times are successfully mitigated by loading the game onto your system's hard drive (to the point where it's hard to take in the party member stats that quickly)... of course, that takes up over 24 gigs of memory for the ''four'' discs.
*** Unless you just install the disc you're currently on, then delete it and install the next one when you reach the changeover point.
* LukeYouAreMyFather: [[spoiler:Occurs when Kaim meets Lirum in Numara.]]
* {{Magitek}}, and lots of it
* MaleGaze: When Ming has to prove her identity as the Queen of Numara, she removes the silver emblem on her chest to reveal a royal crest. The camera focuses quite intently on her breasts during this.
* MayflyDecemberRomance: Jansen and Ming
* ManipulativeBastard: Gongora
* ManlyTears: [[spoiler:Kaim, who worked as a mercenary for countless battles, wars, and various odd jobs in the past, bursts into tears when he finally reunites with his daughter, Lirum, on her deathbed.]]
* MedievalEuropeanFantasy
* {{Meganekko}}: Sarah.
* {{Narm}}: Everyone just so happens to die JUST as Kaim gets there... A bit sad at first, but when such horrible time is so excessive (and so very dramatic) it starts getting funny.
* NonLethalKO: Immortal characters automatically revive themselves after a few rounds.
* {{Pirates}}: Seth and Sed. Cooke wants to be a pirate when she grows up.
* PointOfNoReturn: Subverted twice with Grand Staff 1+2 and then played straight with the Tower of Mirrors
* PuzzleBoss: Quite a few of these.
* RagsToRoyalty: [[spoiler:Jansen]]
* RandomEncounters
* [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld Really One Thousand Years Old]]
* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething
* SavePoint
* SisyphusVsRock: Exactly what [[spoiler:Gongora]] wants to prevent. The fact that [[spoiler:he tremendously pissed off Kaim, Seth, Sarah, and Ming ''does not'' work in his favor.]]
* ShoutOut: A couple of these, such as the Kelolon and the BonusBoss Blue Dragon, both references to fellow Mistwalker game, Blue Dragon
* SmugSnake: Gongora. He has enough power, intelligence and [[ManipulativeBastard "interpersonal skills"]] that you'd ''think'' he'd make a fine MagnificentBastard... but he's so obviously evil and completely lacking in charisma, pummeling the slimy little git is all you'll think about.
* StaffChick: Subverted. Cooke is female, a healer, carries a staff... and is a BrattyHalfPint who wants to grow up to be an ActionGirl. Played straight, however, by Sarah.
* StealthBasedMission: After you're captured on The White Boa, you're forced to sneak through the ship to retrieve your equipment.
* {{Stripperiffic}}: Queen Ming.
* TagAlongKid: Mack and Cooke.
* TearJerker: [[spoiler: Lirum's death]], [[spoiler:Seth's return through the mirror]] in the ending. And if you're not bawling your eyes out at A Thousand Years of Dreams, you are one ice cold bastard.
* TedBaxter: Jansen.
* ThatOneBoss: Grilgan, Bogimoray, and the battle with the Numaran soldiers over Cooke and Mack's flowers are three good examples just from the first disc alone.
** The Old Sorceress in Disc 2 can be troublesome if you aren't prepared to ignore going for the elemental weaknesses because her Scream ability randomly changes their weakness.
** Living Ice in Disc 3. Your party consists of only [[SquishyWizard Jansen, Ming, Cooke, and Mack]]. Living Ice's All-Aquara hits for about 750+ to the entire party and it can easily kill you if you aren't prepared.
** Ancient Fiend in Disc 4. Whatever you do, ''do not kill both of the Keystones'' or you will be asking for a world of pain.
** Getting three stars on The Ring Master. Prepare to go into battle excessively prepared if you want a CHANCE of beating him.
* TheCallKnowsWhereYouLive: The basis of what [[spoiler:Gongora does to the other immortals.]]
* TheFogOfAges: Kaim is a 1000 y/o amnesiac immortal, although his amnesia is really LaserGuidedAmnesia.
* TheHighQueen: Ming
* TheScrappy: Tolten seems to get a lot of hate for his [[{{Wangst}} wangsting]].
* TwoLinesNoWaiting: Compromises a majority of the plot development in disc 3. [[spoiler:Seth accidentally returns to Uhra with Tolten and reunites with her son, Sed, Cooke and Mack try to find a violet aurora that can reunite them with their deceased mother, Kaim and Sarah chase after them, and Gongora's weather machine separates Jansen and Ming from everyone else.]]
* WarIsHell: A number of Kaim's dreams deal with the horrors of war.
* WarpWhistle
* WeAreAsMayflies: [[spoiler: Immortality is not genetic, so Kaim outlives his daughter and Seth looks younger than her own son.]]
* WhoWantsToLiveForever: Another major theme, for obvious reasons, but it's subverted by the ending [[spoiler:in which the characters agree that eternity isn't so bad after all]].
* WidgetSeries
* TheWomanWearingTheQueenlyMask: Ming Numara
* TheWoobie: Several characters have their moments, but none more than Sarah and Kaim.
* {{Woolseyism}}: Evident if you understand some Japanese and play with that audio track, much of Jansen's dialogue has changed completely and his voice acting is the best in the game.
** The English lines were recorded first, making this an inversion from an English speaker's perspective.
* XanatosSucker: Tolten is such a well-meaning idiot it's almost painful to watch.
* VictoryPose: Humorously, amidst the standard {{Victory Pose}}s of the other character's, Tolten's is a relieved sigh.
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