Mistwalker\'s other Xbox 360 RPG, Lost Odyssey

Looks like they were taken with a cell phone camera...at least we know it\'s coming along.

looks like a FFX cut scene

meh

14 more screen shots here

Video here (7.1 MB)

May 13, 2005 - We already knew about Blue Dragon, one of Mistwalker\'s two Xbox 360 titles, but today\'s Japanese Xbox 360 press conference served as the unveiling point for the other game. Titled Lost Odyssey, this Japanese RPG is being developed under the watchful eye of Mistwalker founder Hironobu Sakaguchi.


Sakaguchi took the stage at the press conference and shared a bit on Lost Odyssey\'s background story. You play as Kaim, a man who\'s been sentenced to live for 1,000 years. The game\'s storyline takes you through Kaim\'s life as he lives through multiple generations, becomes a part of many families, falls in and out of love and gets into conflicts. All this is set in a world that is on the verge of a "mystical industrial revolution," where mankind has attained dark powers.
Lost Odyssey has some experimental qualities to it, with Sakaguchi revealing that he\'s trying a number of new things due to the length of the main character\'s life. The game world is said to look alive, which would suggest that Mistwalker is trying to truly put you in the shoes of Kaim as he lives his lengthy life. The game\'s storyline, according to Sakaguchi, focuses on the day-to-day events of Kaim\'s life. On a strictly speculative note, this could indicate that Lost Odyssey will avoid the cliche good versus evil theme that\'s used as the background story for most Japanese RPGs.

To create Lost Odyssey\'s storyline and scenario, Sakaguchi turned to a person he personally admires, award-winning Japanese author Kiyoshi Shigematsu. Shigematsu is working directly with Sakaguchi on the story sequences and commented, at the press conference, that while his initial hope was to preserve the emotional power of writing, Lost Odyssey seems to have surpassed that. He assures us that we will cry when playing the game.

Sakguchi also drafted another popular Japanese cultural icon for Lost Odyssey. The game\'s characters are being designed by Takehiro Inoue, known for his work on comic series such as Slam Dunk and Vagabond. Strangely, Inoue commented at the press conference that he\'s never played an RPG, and he was a bit worried that his style wouldn\'t translate well into game form. However, Sakaguchi asked him to make human characters for Lost Odyssey, and when he heard that Shigematsu would be taking a hand in development, he agreed.

Inoue mentioned one difference that appears when one serves as character designer for a videogame rather than working on a serial comic. For a serial comic, he creates new characters throughout the life of the series and nurtures them as the comic\'s storyline progresses. For games, his work is to create characters and hand them off to Mistwalker, who then builds up the characters through the game\'s storyline. Inoue is interested in seeing how the characters turn out.

Finally, Sakaguchi called out famed game music composer Nobuo Uematsu to make a few comments on his work with Lost Odyssey. One of the themes Uematsu is working into the composition for Lost Odyssey is "pop," suggesting we can expect a more modern flair to the music. Uematsu revealed that Sakaguchi asked him to provide jazz vocal music, which is a new field for him.

In addition to these three all star staff members, Mistwalker is turning to a separate studio to handle development on Lost Odyssey. Feel Plus, a new studio that was formed for the Lost Odyssey project and includes ex Square Enix employees, is handling development duties on the game. Serving as producer is Hiroshi Kawai, with Daisuke Fukugawa and Takahiro Kaminagayoshi serving in double director roles (for more on these three, see this story). All three are Field Plus staff members.

At the press conference, Microsoft shared a short trailer of Lost Odyssey. The trailer began with the ominous ticking of a clock in the background, suggesting that time will play a heavy role in the title\'s storyline. A few impressive in-game environment sequences were shown, along with what appeared to be a fight scene featuring dozens of characters on screen, but some of the footage seemed to be pre-rendered CG. The text that appeared on screen as the trailer progressed has us intrigued beyond the footage: "the tears of a man who cannot die."

Just hearing the premise of Lost Odyssey has us excited to learn more. Sadly, no screens or video footage were released to the public at the press conference, so we can only hope that E3 will reveal more on what could be a unique take on Japan\'s favorite genre.

Link

Video is amazing watched it earlier.