Fairytales, folklore and myths and legends - stories of love, loss, and the triumph of good over have been a staple of human life for centuries. And because we seem to love a good story, all too often you find references to the classic tales cropping up time and again, whether it be Disney's retelling of classic Greek myth Hercules (and subsequent battle with Cerberus in Kingdom Hearts), the heavy influence of Aladdin and Arabian Nights on platformer Prince of Persia or the now-standard fantasy races of dwarves, elves and orcs common to almost every role-playing game ever.
One such mythologically-inspired tale is upcoming action role-playing game Odin Sphere Leifthrasir, which wins the award for most unpronounceable subtitle of the year, and is actually a remake of an old Playstation 2 title which came right at the end of the console's life - now given a major overhaul for fans and newcomers alike. A fantastical tale based on Norse mythology, the game takes you on a bad guy-bashing, world-saving, epic quest through the eyes of five disparate characters, whose stories entwine in unexpected ways as you try to avert the incoming Armageddon. With its hand-drawn art style and flashy battles, we couldn't wait to go hands on with the title at a recent event organised by our friends at NIS America.
Is it a beard, or is it a moustache?! Answers on a postcard.
Told through the eyes of a young girl called Alice, who's in the attic reading a book, each chapter of the story focuses on a different member of the cast in turn. First comes the Valkyrie princess Gwendolyn, the youngest daughter of the demon lord Odin, who gets sent away to search for a way to control the apocalyptic weapon, the Crystalization Cauldron, while the next chapter focuses on Prince Cornelius, whose illicit romance with the homeless princess Velvet earns him his father's disapproval - and a curse to turn him into the rabbit-like Pooka, before being banished to the Underworld. Other characters include fairy princess Mercedes, who finds herself the ill-prepared leader of her nation in the midst of an uprising; Shadow Knight Oswald, a dragon slayer of legend; and the aforementioned Velvet, who's on her own mission to settle a score with Odin instead.
Torn between playing as the cutesy rabbit-y 'Pooka Prince' Cornelius and the Valkyrie Gwendolyn, we eventually decided to go for the latter, purely because she comes earlier in the game's story (and therefore should be less of a challenge for our less-than-stellar gaming abilities). Rather reminiscent of developer Vanillaware's previous title,Dragon's Crown, Odin Sphere plays out as a side-scrolling hack and slasher, as you essentially move from left to right through various hand-drawn areas, defeating enemies, searching for treasure and doing a spot of light platforming. It's all very easy to pick up and play, and we managed to get by with mostly button mashing, peppered with the odd special attack, which let us juggle the skeletal soldiers, tiny purple bear-like creatures and other such fantastical enemies endlessly with suitably flashy combos. From aerial swooping stabs to high speed full-force charges with your spear, and fancy-looking cartwheeling dodges, Gwendolyn's move set is all very acrobatic as she flies from enemy to enemy. Laying waste to everything on screen was a breeze, as we fought our way through lush green forests to dusty deserts and dimly lit castle hallways, racking up some rather high combos in the process. In fact, we even managed to come out with S ranks on each of the three levels we played, which is pretty much unheard of for us!
Even if Armageddon is approaching, it's never too late to stop and smell the... mushrooms?
Periodically you'll come across quieter 'Rest' areas, where you can buy supplies and prepare yourself mentally for the boss fight that likely follows. The boss fight we got to grips with was against a particularly feisty giant dragon - one that nearly skewered us several times, and would have turned us into toast (or at the very least, dragon food) were it not for the three health potions we chugged during the fight (and we still managed to get the top S rank!). When he wasn't busy throwing great big balls of junk our way, the oversized lizard took to charging at us instead, mouth agape, as if it thought we were a particularly tasty snack (and indeed, he did swallow us once or twice too) - but a few well-timed uses of the various spell potions we'd picked up in the previous levels put paid to him soon enough, as we pelted him with a few fireballs and ice spells from a distance. We also found, by accident, that whacking his balls (of rubbish, obviously) back towards him stunned him, giving us an opening in which to spear him good and proper. Things got somewhat hairier though when the swine decided he was going to burrow under ground for a while, chasing us back and forth, before popping up when we least expected it - Gwendolyn's flying ability came in especially handy for avoiding his re-emerging attacks, though, and before long we'd seen the beast off.
While we didn't get time to go hands on with the other characters in our short demo, each of the game's five playable heroes handles differently in battle, with their own move-sets, weapons, and strengths and weaknesses. While Gwendolyn is a fast and rather acrobatic character, focussed on speedy spear shots, 'Pooka Prince' Cornelius is the more traditional sword-fighter and Mercedes the fairy specialises in longer range attacks, both with her crossbow and her projectile magic attacks. Shadow Knight Oswald fights with the power of darkness, and is particularly good in close-combat situations, while Velvet, last but not least, wilds a fiery whip which can both attack enemies from a range and act as a protective shield.
Velvet - she may dress like a cross between a stripper and red riding hood, but her whip is a pretty formidable weapon in battle.
As you play, your characters will gradually grow in strength, learning new skills and abilities as they go. However, in a nice twist, it's not so much the repeated battles that help grow your characters, but eating the food you collect throughout the game's levels - either dropped by enemies or grown yourself from seeds. Eating the food will grant you a decent amount of experience points, but to get the full benefit, you really want to cook it into something more substantial at the various kitchen locations throughout the Kingdom of Erion - such as Maury's Touring Restaurant, which crops up all over the land, and can rustle you up a hearty meal from the ingredients in your possession in minutes.
Odin Sphere Leifthrasir will be hitting the Playstation 4, Playstation 3 and PS Vita in a few days' time, on the 24th June. In the mean time, why not take a look at the latest trailer instead, which spotlights the final character, Velvet:
