The Final Fantasy 13 games while good, are just not as good as Lost Odyssey. I did find them exciting and thoroughly enjoyed Final Fantasy 10, but again as for something completely new and fresh I will give the nod to Lost Odyssey.

Lost Odyssey has it all in that it actually feels like a new game. Emphasis on “New” because since MW doesn’t do traditional sequels, the only thing better than playing LO right now would be playing a spiritual sequel to Lost Odyssey with a few of the same characters to flesh out story. I cannot wait to play Final Fantasy 15 but the second Lost Odyssey 2 comes to pass I admit I would want that one a lot more, not going to pull punches here. Both are excellent for different reasons but Lost Odyssey offers such a different experience than all the other RPGs out there, and the dreams are incredible easily on par with FF which is hard to do.

With the western rpgs slowly releasing great games like Mass Effect/Dragon Age – LO gives a refreshing renewal of jrpgs. At least until reality hits home and you see the game sales were awful,company goes bankrupt and you are left wondering how dance barbie dance/or whatever your typcial wii game is can do so well while a gem of gems gets thrown down the shitter with no hope of more shinies.

If you're going to make a comment and want people to take you seriously, try using punctuation and/or correct grammar.

Ok this is all i have to say to ur comment granted i like FF…i grew up wit that game…but hands down lost odyessy kicks FFXIIIs ass….the reason u like that game so much is cuz when u play it u dont wanna think because ur high…thinkin while ur high doesnt work…lost odyessy is a challenge u must strategize which means u need to use ur brain…if u wanna be high and brainless while playin games play pong….go back to old school atari….and for anyone out there that likes atari im not dissin it im just sayin that u cant get more basic than that

The Backyard in this game alone, is nearly deep enough to outdo both the Monster Arena and Mark Missions challenge.
http://lostodyssey.wikia.com/wiki/Backyard

However, that is testament to the quality writing of the designer behind it. Sakaguchi has made incredible worlds for players to get lost in, since basically the 1980s and his games the Final Fantasy series are the most famous.

The short stories alone are like video games unto themselves, yet it may be challenging for new players to really appreciate how much more incredible the narrative is. Because in the case of Odyssey, it isn't all laid out before you in a forty minute lecture. You actually have to seek out the other parts of the story, and then as you do this the whole picture just quietly emerges by disc 4.

I like playing a game as much as the next guy, but if I really want to get into a story…I'll go read the notes left behind. And lots of researchers left very specific notes, audio/video recordings & story segments behind for the player to immerse themselves.

IMO, that's one of the reasons Odyssey really always moves smoothly. The game takes many of its cues from FF6 instead of futuristic games.

But either way, Final Fantasy 13 is an amazing game in its own right. It probably has the most awesome battle system of any modern RPG, and if somehow that level of presentation was mixed with the depth of Sakaguchi's games….I feel we would have an RPG of the year on our hands.

For instance, the mini games with the chocobo are just amazingly fun. It would be awesome if Lost Odyssey could incorporate similar things in the future. This is a classic trilogy in the making, and I frankly can't wait to hear more about Lost Odyssey II & the next upcoming game Last Story.

LO just edges out FF in every way, and these are definitely the best RPGs for 360 without fail….LO just has a lot more depth to it & is quite thrilling.

I own just about every single FF game(except III) and have been a huge FF fan for ages. However, I haven't played FFXIII nor do I plan on it. It never really caught my interest from the start and after doing research and reading reviews on it, I'm glad I didn't bother. I'm a hardcore fan of rpgs and from what I've heard and seen, it's missing a ton of elements that make RPGs so great. Transformer-like Eidolons? Kind of cheesy, IMO. The story itself seems to be something along that line as well.

On the other hand, Lost Odyssey was beyond epic. The characters are likable and the story is a rather mature one. It touches on the human emotions, thoughts, and ideas behind immortality. It really makes a person think. Sakaguchi really put heart and soul into this game. To me, it really is the best JRPG of this gen so far.

Going off topic a little bit…Tales of Vesperia is, like most games in the series, a pretty good game but, IMO, it's nowhere as epic as Lost Odyssey or the earlier FF games. I'll probably get some hate for this but it's just my opinion :]

Some of the characters were a bit corny sometimes, but I enjoyed the story a lot overall and it had a lot of epic moments to boot.

I can't compare it to FF XIII because I haven't really been sold on the latest Final Fantasy title so didn't bother buying it.

Hopefully with a Lost Odyssey 2 (if it happens) they'll use the more up to date Unreal Engine 3, or whatever engine they would use, for better graphics and shorter load times.

JRPG are really suffering from something, but I can't put my finger on exactly what it is. FF13 was pretty bad to be honest, I finished it, which makes it(I guess) better than 12. But, really, Sqeenix needs to step up and make FFV13 the best JRPG of this gen, and everything will be fine.

I really still have a lot of faith in that release.

LMAO!!!

STOP IT 5

No Not All Maybe 8,9 & 10 Is On Par But Not The Rest ANy After 10-2 Certainly Not

But every official FF before it (not including spin offs) smashes Lost Odyssey imo.

Good article though man.