Odin Sphere Leifthrasir Review

Vanillaware bring one of their best up to date.

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Anything but Vanilla:

I’ve spent more than thirty hours with Odin Sphere: Leifthrasir, and I still don’t know how to pronounce that subtitle. Nearly a decade after the original’s release on PS2, Vanillaware are back with a beautiful remake: I absolutely loved Odin Sphere the first time round and was excited to play it again.

Story:

Leifthraisir’s story is a real treat that cribs heavily from Norse mythology – a popular source of inspiration at the moment but in 2007 it was pretty fresh. The narrative is the element least changed by this remake – at least as far as I can remember. We’re trying to stop the end of the world, with the twist being that we’re doing so from the perspective of five wildly different leads. These characters all interact with the world and each other in completely different ways, and it’s incredibly interesting to see someone as a villain and then become sympathetic to their cause as you play through their story.

Odin_Sphere_Leifthrasir_3

It’s a smart and effective way to spin a tale, and Odin Sphere handles what could have been a narrative mess incredibly well. It’s buoyed by great voice acting and the beautiful visuals (more on those later), but even without these great assets Odin Sphere would be a joy to take part in. There’s a storybook vibe to the whole affair that draws you in (not to mention a meta-narrative with a book loving girl named Alice, a nod that makes the Wonderland fanatic inside me giddy.)

Gameplay:

I’m thrilled to say that with Leifthrasir, Vanillaware haven’t simply bumped up resolutions and turned in a HD remaster like so many of its peers: this game has been rebuilt seemingly from the ground up. Everything you loved about the original is here, but heaps of extra features and smart changes truly make this the only version playing going forwards. (For purists, however, there is a classic mode where you can play the original release in its entirety)

Odin Sphere is a sidescrolling Action RPG that’s constantly working hard to surprise you. Playing as one of five protagonists, you work your way through levels, destroying enemies with melee and magic attacks, levelling up, finding secrets, grabbing new, more powerful loot and using it to take down the stage’s giant boss fights.

Odin Sphere Leifthrasir_20160218172222

Odin Sphere Leifthrasir_20160218172222

This core hasn’t been changed much from the original, although everything is smoother and more fun to play now. The combat – which will be immediately familiar to anyone who’s played a Vanillaware game (especially Murumasa) – uses simple inputs that flow from held buttons and analogue tweaks to form a deceptively complex battle system. Entire screens of enemies can be dispatched without much mashing on the control pad, which is rare for a game that is so combat-reliant, but it really works here. It’s not easy by any stretch, and it’s incredibly satisfying to take entire groups of enemies into air-juggles and combo them with screen-filling magic attacks.

Good

  • Unbelievably pretty
  • Smart changes and tweaks to original game
  • Massive amounts of extra content

Bad

  • Expensive for a remake
9

Amazing

Story - 8.5
Graphics - 9.5
Sound - 8.5
Gameplay - 9.5
Value - 9
Reviewer - GamerKnights

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