After the release of the Playstation 3 you would have thought that the PS2's day had passed and no more good games would be released for it. After all, the PS2 at this point was quite long in the tooth and clearly been surpassed by the Xbox 360. While this reasoning may seem sound, it turns out to be incorrect- the PS2 still had some life left in it, as demonstrated by the release of a few notable games during this time. The biggest of these titles was God of War 2, but there were others, including Dawn of Mana and Odin Sphere. While it has remained under the radar of many gamers, I was pretty excited about Odin Sphere before it's release. From what I heard the game would be a somewhat odd one- a beautiful side-scrolling action RPG. Aside from being a big fan of side-scrollers and RPGs I found this game to be especially exciting because by having been release so late I knew it would be pushing the limits of the PS2 and really showing off what the system could do. Yes, it would probably be the last game to do this, but better late than never (especially for those of us who don't plan on picking up a PS3 any time soon). Even though I knew what to expect, when I first starting playing Odin Sphere I was surprised. It is a classic side-scroller, but the implementation is very cool. The characters are in the foreground and seem to pop out at you while the background, which tends to be quite well done, appears to be on a separate plane. The characters look great- very well designed and visually interesting- though they are pretty strange. Half the characters, the heroine included, are person-sized while others like the Demon King  (Odin) and many bosses are giants. Characters like the King and his evil advisor, General Brigan, are not only huge, but have a strange look to them that very much reminds me of the cartoon Ren and Stimpy. It should suffice to say that though it is unorthodox, this is one of the best looking games ever to come out on the PS2, though you will have to enjoy the cartoon-like style in order to really enjoy it. The music is also excellently done so, unlike many other games, the the game is as aurally enjoyable as it is visually. I don't want to get too much into the story, but since it's an RPG, it's imporant. You start gaming as a young girl who picks up book and sits down to read it in an easy chair. When the game starts you play as Gwendolyn, a young princess who wields a powerful spear, but as you progress through the chapters there are other characters that you play as. Gwendolyn is a valkyrie with magical powers and the ability it fly (or at least to glide very well) who wants nothing more than to be loved by her father. Overall the story is interesting enough to keep you playing, though it's not amazing, and it's often confusing, but the voice-overs are very good and the translation/transcription seems to be free of errors. Typical game play goes something like this- a movie scene to set things up, side-scrolling fighting, then move around to different boards (spheres) within the level, some of which contain bosses or shops, then a cut scene before the main boss, and finally back to the telling of the story. The fighting is fast and furious and if you think you can just hack away while moving right you will not get very far in Odin Sphere. Each stage (a chapter has generally has around ten) is actually a circle so enemies come at you from both sides, and you can circle back and attack them from either side. The attacking is fast and combo-based so you tend to hit enemies a number of times in each series which the last one being the most powerful. Once an enemy is killed it releases a floating purple sparkle (a Phozon) which you can collect for experience or you can allow to go to a seed which will grow into a powerup. By collecting Phozons and eating food you will gain two types of experience and your character will advance into higher levels. This does not affect the weapons/armor you use but you will become more powerful physically and your magic super powers (like a cyclone) will improve. By eating foods your experience will grow, but this is the only way to gain back the hit points that will quickly drain away as you fight. Phozons will add up to improve magic powers, but will also fill up yout magic attack (Psypher) gauge, and replenish your endurance level (which, if empty, will cause you to stop and rest for a few seconds). It all sounds confusing when explained in this way, at when playing it is not very intuitive at first, but after some time it all makes sense and it actually one of the best methods I have ever seen in an RPG. One result of all this is that buying and selling items, while possible and important to the game, does not play as important a role as in most RPGs. You need to buy certain items in order to grow food or power up the character, but you don't have to spend hours leveling up so you can get the mega-dragon sword and the flaming armor of truth or that sort of thing. It is much mor effective (and satisfying) to find ingredients and mix them into useful concoctions then to buy them from a shop. Overall, I found Odin Sphere to be extremely fun and wholy unique when compared to today's games. It is not your typical game, not even close, but it is very well done and once you get used to some of the idiosyncracies it is impossible not to have fun. I did find that at times the game can be frustating because without clear experience goals you can get ahead of yourself and get into boards that you just can't beat (usually due to your own skill or impatience) and this can be aggravating. Luckily their is no punishiment for dying (you just restart the stage) and you can turn the clock back one stage if you want to give up and regroup. One serious problem with the game is it seems to be a bit too much for the PS2- at times, especially during boss stages, there are serious slowdowns which hurt the otherwise excellent gameplay. Along with this, frequent loading (the stages are very short) is required. After each level you are rated on your performance and the gifts you get will improve as your performance improves. If you get hit even one you probably one get the highest rank (S) and will miss out on great prizes. The biggest single problem with the game is this- the attack button is the same as the block button. No joke. You press the X button repeatedly to attack, and you hold it to block. This is a serious flaw in the game design, especially in one where blocking plays an incredibly important role because when enemies hit you, it hurts. The game is so interesting possibly because it seems simple, but is actually pretty complex. At first it seems like you will be restricted to one character, but some around the 8 hour mark (if you are taking your time) you will finish the first six chapters (and the epilogue) with Gwendolyn and get the next character. This guy, a prince-turned-rabbit, is a complete newbie with none of the upgrades you worked for, but has a sword and a different attack style. There are other characters like this one so when you start getting bored, you at least know a change is coming soon. It is also kept interesting by using different skills levels which must be unlocked and there special "true" ending that you really have to work for. I think some people will find the game repetitive since most of the time you are just mashing the attack button while running back and forth, while occasionally jumping and using items, but I enjoyed the simplicity and elegance of Odin Sphere. Too much time has to be spend managing your item inventory, and some more attacks would really add to the game, but I was happy with the game. Factor in a cheap price and relatively long game play (>35 hours) Odin Sphere is one of my favorite games ever to come out on the PS2. I don't really have the patience to put in all the work for the "true" ending or completely every stage with a S rank, but it's something to shoot for and it could be rewarding if you really want to get all you can out of the game.