After playing Lost Odyssey for about 10 minutes, I thought to myself "hey, this looks like the same engine as Blue Dragon", and moments later "except that this actually looks cool". Only minutes ago did it even occur to me look at the developer credits and confirm that, oh yeah, it is from the same people that did Blue Dragon: Mistwalker. As with Blue Dragon, Lost Odyssey's big claim to fame is that its producer is the same guy that created the Final Fantasy series.

For once, though, Hironobu Sakaguchi has deviated from the stereotypical JRPG trope of children late for school saving the world whilst the adults stand around with their thumbs up their collective asses. Instead, the main character is an adult. And while he may look to be, at most, 22 years old, he's actually an immortal who's lived for a thousand years. Of all of the JPRGs I've played, Lost Odyssey is one of the few with a story, world and cast compelling enough that I actually care what happens.

The story follows the exploits of an immortal amnesiac named Kaim Argonar. There are a few other immortals and some of them join your party, but Kaim's life is the main focus. While fighting in a war, for reasons unclear, a catastrophe wipes out both armies except for Kaim and a very few others and it falls on Kaim to search for an explanation. Or so it would seem. There are many plot twists, some more transparent than others, though I have been surprised a couple of times. Transparent or not, I'm finding myself very engaged in the story.

As games go, it's got to have one of the saddest stories I've even encountered. As you explore the world, Kaim will see people or events that will trigger a memory of his past. A lost, long past filled with the kinds of memories that make it clear how much being an immortal can suck. These memories, which the game refers to as dreams are presented as text which animates into position based on cheesy ideals of what the words convey. Some will fade in, some will slide, some will ripple. In the background will be dreamy images and music that somehow relate to the text. Despite the cheesy presentation, which you can thankfully skip via button pushing, the stories themselves are actually very interesting. Kaim gets around, and he remembers some pretty interesting stuff.

The world of Lost Odyssey is undergoing a techno-magical revolution due to the discovery of magic some thirty years ago. The current tech level of the world seems to be some sort of early industrial era magical steampunk. There are tanks and magical televisions and magical spyglasses and swords and magical taxis and trams but oddly, I haven't seen any handguns. There are magic spells and magic monsters and some absolutely amazing graphics. Lost Odyssey is, by far, one of the most visually appealing games ever produced. For any platform. The art direction and character design and everything else are truly outstanding and bring the world to life.

As JPRGs go, most of the gameplay mechanics are fairly standard fare. Most of the time, your main character acts as avatar for the party, running to and fro from town to forest and such, encountering people, monsters and improbably stocked vendors along the way. The two annoyances that seems to define JPRGs come along for the ride too: invisible random monster encounters and save points. Much as I hate both on principle, Lost Odyssey at least, handles both better than I've seen in the past. The random monster fights that you can't see coming happen frequently enough to get you up to the level you need without happening so often as to prevent you running down a simple hallway. And the save points are placed close enough together that they're not a burden, just an annoyance.

Combat takes place in your standard JPRG menu driven style. Before each round, you set the action for each member of your party, and then they fight. Fight order is determined by a number of factors such as the overall speed of the actor and the length of time the action normally takes. Melee combat types (of which Kaim is one) can make use of rings which have various magical effects in combat. These rings are fabricated by you out of various found materials: insect parts, magic water stones, fire stones, and so on. The Bruiser ring which is made out of whetstones, for example, bumps up overall physical damage. The ring system isn't just a buff, though, you have to interact with it.

During combat, when it comes time for your melee guy to swing his sword, two magic circles will appear on the screen, one on the opponent, one by your character. Pulling and holding the right trigger will cause your ring to travel towards the opponent if you let go when they match up, your ring's bonus will take effect. The extent of the effect will range from "bad" to "perfect" depending on closely you match them up. It sounds kind of goofy, but it can have a significant impact on the outcome of some fights, and it does add a little interactivity to what is normally just set of scripted events.

The skill system is somewhat interesting as well. Mortals each have a class, and level up and learn skills based on their class. Since this is a JPRG (and not a proper RPG), class selection is not an option you enjoy. You get what you get. Your first mortal party member will be a mage. As he levels up, he'll get new black and white magic spells. As Kaim (and the other immortals) level up, he gets jack, except for hit points. The way immortals learn skills is by "skill linking" with mortals in their party. So if Kaim wants to learn Black Magic Level 1, he skill links with his friendly mage and picks Black Magic. After a few fights, the required number of SP (I assume that means skill points) will be earned and the linked skill will be learned. Then Kaim is free to choose another skill to link. Skills can also by learned (again, only by immortals) from accessories. For a mortal an accessory only provides benefit whilst being worn. For an immortal, the benefit can be "learned" just as a linked-skill can. Say Kaim finds a poison immunity charm. If he wears it for long enough, he gain poison immunity as a skill, at which point he can pass the accessory off to someone else.

Mortals can always use any skill they learn, but they're stuck to one class. Immortals can learn any (and all) skills, but can only use a few at a time. They have to be equipped, and slots are limited, though you will find items to increase skill-slot count. So yes, just because Kaim can learn every kind of magic and every fighting style and resistance to poison and petrification and whatever else, that doesn't mean he's some sort of uber resistant mage-tank. And even though Kaim may know Black Magic Level 3 doesn't mean he's going to use it very often. Even immortals have base level stats which determine what they're good at. Kaim is a swordsman, even so, there are times when a sword simply cannot harm your opponent and only a specific spell will do, for those times, having your immortals learn everything can be handy. There are times when it's better to be an ineffective caster than it is to do nothing.

Funny thing about JPRGs: I love the mechanics. I like the turn based menu driven combat. I like the quirky skill systems -- and they all have their own oddities. But in the end, most of them bore me before I can reach that 50th hour end game. I don't think that's going to happen here. I'm just shy of 20 hours in and really really really want to know what happens next. And after what ever that is happens, I'm sure I'll really really really want to know what happens next.

I cannot recommend this title highly enough.