It took a while, but it’s done. I finally managed to complete 3 of their biggest and most important games: Lost Odyssey, Last Story and Blue Dragon. Do they stand up to Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest games? Which is the best one out of those 3? What are your overall thoughts on Mistwalker and their existence?
I’m not sure if Mistwalker was created for Microsoft or because Sakaguchi got fired and he wanted to start a new company regardless. All I remember was that there was a lot of hype behind LO and BD. Microsoft backed those games heavily to have their own FF and DQ in order to appeal to the Japanese audience. I think that many gamers had high expectactions of those games with that.
My feelings about these games are very mixed. I didn’t really follow information about these games. I felt excited only for the fact that they were made by the father of FF. So when I got my hands on them, everything was unknown to me besides very general information. It is clear that LO was trying to replicate FF and BD was trying to be a DQ game. When it comes to the styles, they have succeeded. You can tell the games are made by Sakaguchi, right down to the gameplay, gameplay progression and story themes. While I enjoyed my time with them for the most part, I feel like they miss something. They miss a soul…they tried to copy FF and DQ so much that they felt like empty shell at times. It’s as if the developers had to fill a checklist.
I feel that LO is a little bit better than BD. It leaves a better impression for being its own game thanks to the whole ageless characters and how that works with the story and gameplay. BD has it better when it comes to respecting the player’s time. Save spots are frequent, the ability to warp to any previous places was pretty much there from the start and the story being minimal.
After playing LO, it took a while for me to play the next Mistwalker game. It was Last Story. I was excited about that game from the start…I followed information about it before release…made sure it was on pre-order and played it straight away. I felt that Sakaguchi and his team really put their heart and sole into LS. It was not perfect by any means but it felt incredibly refreshing. The battle system was something I have not experienced before. The characters had excellent chemistry and the voice actors did a great job. The pacing was also good, it took me 25 hours to complete the game and it felt very satisfying.
LS showed me that Sakaguchi still had it to create something special while it still has that typical Sakaguchi charm about it. LO and BD are decent games, they really do have some special moments. I appreciate that the games were made but they don’t feel as good or unique when they are being compared to previous works.
What are your thoughts guys?