TOP Tracks #29 - "Fire Above the Battle"

• Track: "Fire Above the Battle"
• Composer: Uematsu Nobuo
• Game: Lost Odyssey
• System: X-Box 360
• Release: February, 2008

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If I had started TOP Gaming before 2009, I would have named Lost Odyssey 2008's game of the year. This game is the complete package. It has a great, epic story. It has really wonderful characters, some of whom are extremely well developed over the course of the game. The music is extremely well done. It covers all the bases I look for in a great game. Lost Odyssey plays more like a "Final Fantasy" game than any other "Final Fantasy" title in the last 13 years - which is incidentally how long it's been since Final Fantasy creator, Sakaguchi Hironobu left Square Enix. It's really not too surprising that when Sakaguchi Hironobu, Toriyama Akira, and Uematsu Nobuo get together they continue to create amazing results.

The game also hosts unlockable short stories that go into detail of the main character's incredibly long life, in a collection called Thousand Years of Dreams. These short stories are penned by novelist Shigematsu Kiyoshi and are each a delight to read, if you don't mind taking a break from playing a game to read a short story. Lost Odyssey really put Mistwalker Studios on the map for me. Their debut game Blue Dragon was cute and fun, but I felt it lacked some depth and maturity which is something I could not say about Lost Odyssey.

This particular piece of music I revisit fairly regularly. I am swept up by the strings. It's another great example of Uematsu battle music, and probably not the last example in this count down. As I listen to it, I think, "I need to play this game again." Lost Odyssey and Tales of Vesperia are perhaps the only reason I'm still hanging on to my X-Box 360. Along with Xenoblade Chronicles on the Wii, these games stand as pillars of Japanese-style role-playing games (JRPG) that have come out in the last decade. There's sadly too few of their quality these days.

- TOP
@TOPGamingBlog

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Unfortunately, I never had the privilege of playing Lost Odyssey. TOP said it was a great JRPG and one of the only decent ones on X-Box 360. I recall he told me it can be quick and simple if you blow through it, but also is deep and enthralling if you take your time and enjoy each facet of the game. I like that in a game. I miss the days of old where you'd have to wander around a game, talking to strangers for half an hour, and then piece together what the hell you were supposed to do next. I know games are evolving away from this, but in my eyes, exploration and discovery is half the fun.

I think I'd appreciate "Fire Above the Battle" more if I had played the game. It sounds fine and decent to me, but it doesn't drum up any emotion. Unlike many songs on this list, I don't get the urge to grab a sword and slay my enemies. It comes close, but it's not quite there. It seems more like a war room theme, playing in the background while generals furrow their brows and contemplate assault tactics. I'm sure it'd be a different case if I knew what trials and tribulations the player must endure throughout the game, but as of now it only seems a mediocre battle anthem. Feel free to comment if you disagree.

- Deez
@Deezer509

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Derivative Tracks

Sadly haven't found any, but I'll keep looking!

Week in Review - 8/24/2012

PC

• Final Fantasy XIV

New Aurora/Meteor Shower weather!

I still haven’t finished unlocking Paladin or Dragoon, but I did finally get my Alchemy to Level 50. I’ve turned my attention and my leves (daily quests) to grinding Goldsmith. I’m also working on Botany. Ultimately, I’m trying to rebuild my Linkshell, Resolution, but it’s a slow and kind of painful process. I don’t want a large group, but my small group is almost never on at the same time. I’m hoping to get something done tomorrow night with Resolution. The daunting task of Hamlet Defense looms. 

Playstation 3

• Renegade Ops

Tropical Vehicular Mayhem!

This is a top-down shooter that I got when I joined Playstation Plus. I didn’t think I would enjoy it, but I gave it a try and it’s honestly a lot of fun like an old arcade shooter. You pick a driver, each with a unique vehicle, and take on missions to defeat some evil terrorist or invader or something. Honestly, I don’t really care about the story or try to understand what’s going on. I just hop in my combat jeep and start shooting tanks and helicopters. It’s good mindless fun when I only have a few minutes to sit down and play. 

• The Walking Dead - Episode 2: "Starved for Help"

There's nothing creepy to see here.

This interactive graphic novel does not fail to disappoint. I’ve only seen the first 6 episodes of the TV show, but I happen to think this game does a much better job of building up tension and drawing the player into an exciting climax. Because I’m connected to the playable character, I am invested more in his well being (because he’s a projection of myself, my decisions, my actions) than I am a TV character that often does stupid things I would never do. Therefore I even find the rampant inter-personal dramas much more compelling than they are on television or in the comic. 

•  Warhammer 40,000 - Space Marine

Human on Orc action!

This is another game I grabbed from Playstation Plus program. It’s a third person action/shooter. If you don’t know “Warhammer 40,000,” it’s basically a fantasy game set far into the future, where humans and orcs can fight each other over planets and star systems rather than forests and gold mines. I played through the first chapter of this game, but I wasn’t drawn in. In fact, it rather bored me. I plan to give it another go to suck me into the gameplay or story, but so far I wasn’t really amused. I turned my attention back to Renegade Ops. 

Wii

• The Last Story 

Content > Graphics

This game came out the day my son was born, so I was at the hospital all weekend instead of tearing through it. However, I’ve played about 10 hours or so over the week and I’m fully drawn into this story and gameplay combined. After spending several hours playing through the game, I decided to take the fight online into Deathmatch. I am not usually into such things, but this is one of those rare cases where I felt the online competitive mode was amazingly fun, and rewarded me with clever items and color additions for my main story. It’s great fun.