LTTP: Lost Odyssey

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LTTP or ‘late to the party’ pieces are opportunities for us to catch up and write about games we missed out on the first time around. They may contain spoilers.

Tackling a lengthy role playing game with a flaky disc drive is not a good idea. This was why it took so long for me to play Sakaguchi’s Final Fantasy equivalent for Microsoft. I wish I could have shaken off the Final Fantasy comparisons though. Was it my fault for seeing them? Or was it Mistwalker’s and Feelplus’ for dressing this game with such familiar garbs?

I lay the “blame” with the developers, but not because of appearances. Aside from a few special affects and menu similarities, Lost Odyssey established its own visual identity with some of the most peculiar designs decisions I’ve ever seen. There were soldiers with giant looped helmets, guys wearing armor with exposed mid-drifts and the ability to dress said guys with the most effeminate accessories possible. Still, I liked the designs of the core party members themselves; I’m particularly fond of Seth and Sed’s.

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A Day in the Life of Nobuo Uematsu

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Famous Final Fantasy composer, Nobuo Uematsu, gave 1UP one of the best interviews I had the pleasure of reading or watching. He and his wife allowed Mielke, O’Donnell and their translator Kyoko to spend a day at their summer home. They talked, drank and gave them an awesome glimpse into the man’s life.

They asked him about his inspirations, his childhood days, why he left SquareEnix and much more. The entire interview was as free flowing and natural as they come. An awesome 11 page interview which fans of this brilliant man’s work should read.

Who knew this self taught musician would be so successful?

Check out the full interview over at 1UP.

Musical Gaming Bliss: Rez HD and AudioSurf

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I have an infactuation for music games. No, I’m not talking about Guitar Hero or Rock Band. I am talking about games like Rez, Lumines and Everyday Shooter. If you took a look at those videos and were turned off by them — I’m not surprised. Videos do a terrible job at conveying these types of games. Well, I’m not here to entice you folks into playing these games, I’m actually posting to inform you all about Rez HD’s imminent release and AudioSurf, an awesome Indie game.

AudioSurf is absolutely brilliant. It’s like a blend of Guitar Hero + Wipeout + Tetris. Yes, it’s a musical rhythmic puzzle racer. DragonForce’s Through the Fire and Flames is also featured in a video here. What other songs are available? Anything you want. AudioSurf will analyze any song you have and generate a level for it. You can try out a very limited demo from the homepage, but since it only allows you play a handful of preselected songs at the moment, I’d wait for the full release.

As for Rez HD: it’s coming soon. Possibly this Wednesday, even. I’m not going to even bother explaining what Rez is about because this Wiki page does a better job. You can also try to understand the game through this video of a noob playing below:

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