1. Lost Odyssey has better cast of characters and a better story overall:
 

Lost Odyssey main protagonist Kaim and his fellow companion personalities and characteristics are more interesting than Vanille, Lightning, hope and the rest of the cast of Final Fantasy XIII. When you talk about humor relief characters, Jansen is funnier and more entertaining than Sazh. Lightning the main protagonist of Final Fantasy XIII is the typical emo character, while Kaim is an immortal who has seen a lot of bad things happened to him or to the people he loved in his 1000 years of living. Themes that were presented in Lost Odyssey such as immortality are mature and more interesting than the typical themes presented in FFXIII. Final Fantasy XIII has some good moments in its story, but when you compare those high points with the high points found in Lost Odyssey, Final Fantasy XIII story feels average at best. The Thousand Years of Dreams also gives Lost Odyssey the edge over Final Fantasy XIII in story telling.
 

2. Lost Odyssey soundtrack is stronger and more memorable:
 

While some tracks from Final Fantasy XIII are good, it pales in comparison to the master work done by Nobuo Uematsu in Lost Odyssey. Lost Odyssey battle theme is more heroic and more epic. The boss battle themes in Lost Odyssey are more intense and gives the player a sense of danger while keeping the epic feel to them. Lost Odyssey soundtrack is one of the best soundtracks ever made for any game. It’s memorable, emotional and epic at the same time.
 

3. Voice acting in FFXIII is weaker:
 

Vanille voice over sucks, and the strange thing, it’s one of the most important and the most talkative character in the game. Which sucks. Also, Lost Odyssey gives the player the option to play the game in various languages while you can play FFXIII in English only.

4. Lost Odyssey is less linear and its world is more interesting to explore:
 

If you think that the lack of real towns and villages or exploration in FFXIII doesn’t hamper the experience, you are fooling yourself. Ok, FFXIII opens after more than 25 hours of gameplay, but after this point, you begin to get used to the linearity which discourages the player to explore the game’s world. Lost Odyssey gives the player more freedom from the outset which encourages the player to explore every area in the game. Also, FFXIII world is less interesting.
 

I presented to you four reasons why Lost Odyssey is a better JRPG than FFXIII, and I can give you more reasons, but I won’t. I’m not saying that FFXIII is a bad game, no it isn’t. But it isn’t as good as I was hoping for. The funny thing is FFXIII has a higher score on metacritic despite the fact that Lost Odyssey is the better game. Also, FFXIII sold over 1 million copies in its first week in the west while Lost Odyssey overall sales still didn’t hit 1 million. A very sad facts indeed.
 

1. Linearity VS More open ended gameplay:
 
 

- Negative: The game structure goes like this: battle, movie, repeat. No side missions, hidden sequences and no NPCs to chat with. FF XIII is the most linear game in the series. I have to play the first 25 hours like this. Screw that.
 

- Positive: It’s like an interactive roller coaster movie. Keep pushing forward, no need to get distracted by unimportant things. Also, the game gets more open ended after the first 25 hours, so you will get your fix.

2. No Towns VS more focus on the story and characters development:
 
 

- Negative: What Square-Enix were thinking? No towns? We love JRPGs because we want to play in a fantasy world with lavish vistas and great/unique looking towns. We love towns in JRPGs because they break the repetitiveness of the grinding and fighting.
 

- Positive: Talking to NPCs is a repetitive task. Square-Enix ditched the Town thing in order to give us a better story and deeper characters development.
 

3. No XP, no level up VS Crystarium System:
 
 

- Negative: FF X had AP, leveling and the sphere grid system, so what does the Crystarium System bring new to the table? Nothing.
 

- Positive: Who wants leveling and XP, when we have something more streamlined? Crystarium System is the future of RPGs.

4. No direct control over other party members VS faster, more action packed combat system:
 
 

- Negative: There is next to no strategy or skill involved, just keep pushing or mashing the attack button mixed with some magic attacks and you will be fine. Seriously.
 

- Positive: Paradigm system gives you the ability to change party members roles, so you actually have the ability to change the outcome of the battles in the game. Faster battle system that will make you concentrate on the action rather than worrying about managing your team members.
 

So, what do you think? Is FF XIII the future of JRPGs or it’s a step back for the genre and for the series?
 

The first quarter of 2010 will bring to us some of the most anticipated games this generation. Two of those are favorites among RPG lovers, Mass Effect 2 and Final Fantasy 13. While I have enjoyed some JRPGs this generation (Lost Odyssey, Tales of Vasperia, and Varlkryie Chronicles just to name a few), WRPGs are becoming the dominant choice for RPG gamers around the world, unlike last generations. So, If you look closely at the title of this article, you are going to see a battle not just between two of the most anticipated role playing games this generation, but also between two different style of role playing: the western style VS the Japanese style.

Mass Effect 2 is the sequel to the highly acclaimed space opera RPG, Mass Effect. The game takes place in the year 2185, two years after the conclusion of Mass Effect. With the Reaper invasion stopped and Saren and the geth defeated, Commander Shepard learns that entire human colonies are mysteriously vanishing. Shepard won’t act solely by himself, so in addition to his team mates (old and new ones), he will be joining with the human supremacist organization Cerberus to resolve the mystery behind the vanishing of the human colonies.
 
 

The infamous conversation wheel system will make a comeback in the sequel but with more complicated moral choices this time. Mass Effect 2 also features regenerating health as its primary health mechanic, instead of being able to heal with “medi-gel” as in the first game. In addition, the overheat system for weapons has been replaced with collectible ammunition. The game’s visuals has been improved drastically, and some of the glaring technical issues has been ironed in the sequel.
 

On the other hand, you have Final Fantasy 13, which its plot revolves around the fal’Cie who has constructed a paradise for humanity: the shell-like city of Cocoon, which floats high above the surface of the world known as Pulse. Both Pulse and Cocoon are maintained by their own fal’Cie. Cocoon’s fal’Cie created life forms and machines for its inhabitants to use, and humanity flourished. Over time, the people of Cocoon began to fear for the safety of their world, and they worried that it would be cast down from the sky into the hell that they saw Pulse to be.
 
 

Final Fantasy 13 will be the first game in the series to have HD visuals, and the result to this will be a fantasy journey like no other. The game uses an overhauled turned based battle system; multiple commands can be stacked into slots per turn and released at the same time to form a combo. The number of command slots increases as the characters grow in strength. Also, the game does not make use of MP but introduces “cost points” for each command, which determine how many times the commands can be used per turn. Summoning fierce creatures and casting your favorite magic attacks will make a comeback but with a next generation feel to it.
 

Bioware will bring to us a sequel to one of the most beloved games this generation, at the same time, Square Enix will also bring the most popular RPG franchise ever for the first time to HD consoles. So, I have a couple of questions for you folks to answer: Which game will offer an overly better role playing experience in 2010? And will Final Fantasy 13 bring the JRPG genre to the top of the game?
 

I was expecting Mistwalker to unveil their next project at TGS 09, but that was not the case. Also, I was expecting Microsoft to shock us by announcing the end of exclusivity for one of the biggest JRPGs for the PS3; like what they did with FF 13, but that was not the case either.
 

Now with the Tokyo Game Show had closed its doors and we already have seen what will come in the future for Xbox 360 from the Japanese developers, it’s obvious that Microsoft’s strategy is changing in Japan.

So, will Microsoft stop bringing more JRPGs to Xbox 360? No, I don’t think so. But I think they are shifting their strategy in Japan; from focusing on JRPGs to Natal. Microsoft has been capturing a lot of exclusive JRPGs for its console during the past few years, but was that worth it? Back in the days of last generation, Microsoft had managed to sell 470,000 Xboxes in Japan and that was without the effort in bringing a huge list of JRPG. In the other hand, you have Microsoft’s current console, Xbox 360, with 1.16 million console sold and that with the help of a great list of JRPGs such as Blue Dragon, Lost Odyssey, Tales of Vaseperia, The Last Remnant and much more. While I call this an improvement, it wasn’t the huge leap for Microsoft in Japan.
 
 

Microsoft had hosted a discussion panel during TGS 09 in an attempt to promote project Natal in Japan, and with all the compliments about Natal from legendary game makers such as Hideo Kojima and Inafune, it seems that Microsoft is on the right track. But to tell you the truth, one of the reasons why I had bought a Xbox 360 was and still to get my JRPG fix and I’m starting to feel that Microsoft will not support the JRPG genre on Xbox 360 as before.
 
 

The Japanese market has transformed during the last few years; JRPGs doesn’t sell as it used to be, the Handheld business and the casual games are taken over the market in Japan. Which is making a common sense for Microsoft to change their strategy in Japan.
 

with all of the changes in this ever evolving industry and the attempts to bring more consumers to game, will project Natal be the magical solution for Microsoft in Japan? We have to wait and see. But in the mean time, let us know your opinion by leaving a comment.
 

After the cancelation of cry on, I was expecting Mistwalker to unveil their next game at Microsoft E3 press conference last month but it did not happen. So visiting their website is the only option I have to get some information and guess what I found some.


When you visit there website you are going to notice “column by Sakaguchi” one of  his posts called “Lego4″  hinted that his new game will have a blend of rpg style strategy and character growth,  and we will know more about the project at the end of the year (may be TGS 2009). Then another post called “Ray of light” was published by him mentioning that he is going to Tokyo for a new project, as he has implemented a system of battle field called “order and chaos” during real time scenes.


So what do you think he is up to? Will he make a traditional JRPG or something new, and what the possibility of him working on Xbox 360 using nattal to revive the JRPG genre?


Let us know by leaving a comment.