Lost Odyssey

http://www.destructoid.com/elephant//ul/70121-LOCOMBO%20copy.jpg

left: US packaging
right: everywhere else's packaging.

Man I would try to return/exchange the game if that were the packaging I got. However, I doubt I'll get this game at least for a WHILE or until I hear just why I should/shouldn't play it (I'm still on the fence about whether or not I'd like it, although the level caps are really pleasing sounding, generally the more "old-school" an rpg is the more I hate it). And by then they'd ideally have fixed the packaging in new shipments (I'm in Canada but we usually get the exact same packaging as the States in these cases).

Shenmue II for Xbox came with a second inner tray, so it's not without a precedent. Wonder why they crammed everything in on this one? Will be interested to hear folks' reactions to this, as the trailers look great.

I'd probably buy this, if I still had time for an old-school, nigh-endless RPG. I don't want to buy a game if I have to take vacation days to really enjoy it.

74 on metacritic right now

Are you ure that you got the proper, USA retail box, and not the region-free English one that was for sale online a couple of weeks ago?

i actually haven't even purchased it yet. i haven't had a chance to leave the house for things that aren't work related, in like a week. hopefully tomorrow will be a different story.

from what i've read on the internet, that's the retail US packaging. apparently, blue dragon had the same type of case, with the 2 discs on top of eachother. the thing that really bothers me is the disc where the manual goes.

so, i bought this two days ago, and i have to say it's pretty damn great. it's what ff12 should have been.

AND HE LOOKED INTO THAT LITTLE CRIPPLE GIRL'S BLUE EYES AND SAID "DON'T WORRY, LITTLE GIRL, EVERYTHING'S GOING TO BE ALRIGHT". AND THOSE WERE THE LAST WORDS THAT LITTLE GIRL EVER HEARD (CONTINUES FOR 41 PAGES)

ha!
i know, right.

i actually really like the memory things. they're all written very well. my only complaint is that they're all pretty much the same. it's like.....
kaim see's old lady>old lady is old and sad>kaim cheers her up>old lady dies>kaim is sad about death.

just bought this.

i'm at the end of this, and have no feeling to finish it. not saying it isn't amazing. i got caught up in a bunch of other games, and forgot to come back to it.

oh by the way, in a hilarious postscript to the disc controversy, when i got home from buying it i realized that this (used) copy was missing the 4th disc so i returned it and never bothered to try again.

so if i want an RPG for the 360 that falls into the old school category without being nightmarishly slog-o-rama, do i get this or infinite undiscovery or ???

ok I want to know an answer to this too. I've been playing sandbox-y games like Fable 2 and Bully and Saints Row 2, but it's sometimes exhausting how many options you have. So I've been looking for something linear-ish to play, like an school rpg like a Dragon Warrior or a Golden Sun...but for 360 since that's my only console.

i've really come around on the tales game which is dull and just lazy to start but really picks up and actually has a half-decent multiplayer (i think u were asking about the another thread, euler???)

mass effect/oblivion are probably the obv answers

Oblivion is not very linear and quite sandboxy. Mass Effect is a little more linear, but not much more so than Bully.

Tales of Vesperia?

yah i meant tales of vesperia. altho it's less linear than eternal sonata but idk if that's the biggest qualification

Only having a 360 is a big drawback if you want to play RPGs.

lol thats exactly why i bought a DS

well i have a wii also, but the crop there doesn't seem much better.

i remember the demo for vesperia seeming a little on the cutesy-cute pokemonny side and that turned me off a bit but maybe i read too far into that or the demo was slanted that way a bit?

yeah, we had another thread on this, I'm just still fishing for insight. Eternal Sonata sounds nice as I could play it co-op with my wife. I'll pick up Mass Effect sometime soon, it's going pretty cheap used now. I played the shit out of Oblivion, and yeah, it was pretty sandboxy; loved it but I'd like something where the main quest is more involved, I guess...I got obsessive about finishing the side quests and by the end it got tiring to play. I have Fallout 3 on the shelf when I get the nerve back up to take on another Bethesda game.

is the PS3 better for rpgs? My kids have DSs so I could in principle play on one of them, but they'll give me a hard time.

tbh other than the DS i don't think any of the next gen systems are focused on RPGs esp trad/linear ones. the best RPG of 2008 was probably persona and that came out on PS2. tbh the whole genre is paralayzed right now i started a thread on this before i think

i'd go for tales i think i was bad-mouthing it on some other thread but i really did end up enjoying myself and the co-op is miles ahead of the multi option in eternal sonata

ok cool, I'll look for it.

ok so i bought this, and am about 5 hours in

PROS: looks gr8, sounds UNBELIEVEABLE (surround sound utilized better than most movies these days IMHO), dialog and characterization not driving me crazy and actually kind of compelling, some cool and interesting combat mechanics, total full on square-enix buzz w/o chocobo racing and cutesy big head heroes.

CONS: slooooooooow, subject to the "search every jar, kick every vase" problem, also subject to the "talk to every douchebag and obtain tiny grains of information" syndrome, some totally unbalanced boss fights, bad save point placement, long unskippable cutscenes (which are often between the save point and the really hard to beat boss which is 10000 lbs of arrrgghhh)

I DONT KNOW YET: text based cutscenes? srsly? like, long ones that are sort of melancholy fabular whatsits complete with whirly animated typesetting tricks intended to evoke feelings? so far oddly intriguing but damn could this potentially get old as we go on. also not sure where the ULTRAlinear vibe is going to go, but after sort of meandering off the track in fallout 3 and not knowing how to motivate myself to get back on track, it is refreshing

Fallout 3 seems like the best answer to this question.
Seriously, Valkyria looks worthwhile enough ALMOST to justify a PS3 if they were 300.

ya i love fallout 3 (as i have made painfully known around these parts) but i think it almost tips too far in the direction of pushing you away from the main quest. i was looking for the antidote where the plot linearity is extreme leaving more of the gameplay in the strategic leveling/supplying side of things. the sort of thing where your big fake branching decisions are based on throwing you on a world map and asking you where you want to go, but making sure that there is a blinking cursor next to the destination you need to go to, and having the residents of any other place you go basically greet you with "lol dummy aren't you supposed to be out killing lord wrgqwrgglleeebarthy" responses.

long unskippable cutscenes (which are often between the save point and the really hard to beat boss which is 10000 lbs of arrrgghhh)

ok this sounds horrible. Keep us posted on whether this turns out to be a long-term problem with the game. From your last post it sounds you're looking for exactly what I'm looking for.