Odin Sphere Leifthrasir is another banger game released by Vanillaware and between Muramasa and 13 Sentinels, the only other Vanillaware games i've played, this game falls in the middle of both camps. It has a strong gameplay-focus like Muramasa but it also has a good overarching narrative like 13 Sentinels. Though i wouldn't say Odin Sphere's plot is anywhere near as good as 13 Sentinels, i loved the sort of fairy tale simplicity that was going on in the narrative. It makes sense too, after all, this story is told through the eyes of a little girl reading books about legends from long ago. In fact, i would argue that Odin Sphere is a great example of "sometimes, simple is best". It's not a complicated tale and it's themes aren't particularly deep but it's characters have enough charm and it's through the simplicity of their stories that i was able to feel invested in them and their struggle. The overarching narrative also makes it really cool when you're able to see when two unrelated events are happening at the same time and how they may affect the overall narrative. The most noticeable example is when four of the five protagonists are in the Kingdom of Titania, fighting through the streets and the sewers are around basically the same time, yet for completely different reasons. But that's just the big one, as there are other moments in the narrative like this and it's just really cool to see. It adds an element of worldbuilding that you don't really tend to see in a lot of other games, even those that have excellent worldbuilding otherwise.
Character ranking: Velvet > Oswald = Gwendolyn >= Cornelius > Mercedes.
Gameplay-wise, it is a pretty fun 2D action game. I already found Muramasa to be fun and this game is just that but better. Unlike in Muramasa, each character plays completely differently so while the game can feel a bit repetitive in the areas you visit, it manages to mitigate that by giving everyone unique movesets. Gwendolyn and Cornelius are your standard lance and sword wielders respectively and i believe they came first because of how relatively simple they are to play as. Then Mercedes shakes things up by letting her fly freely and shoot very quickly, decimating enemies at the cost of her combo game. And if you were missing combos after playing as her, then good for you, because after Mercedes comes Oswald who literally has Devil Trigger. Velvet is a mix of Gwendolyn's range and Oswald's combo game thanks to her chains and as a result, she ended up becoming my favorite character to play as. Velvet really was a case of the best being saved for last.
Gameplay ranking: Velvet > Oswald > Cornelius = Gwendolyn > Mercedes.
The presentation of the game doesn't require me to say much. It's Vanillaware, makers of games with beautiful 2D art. I was really in love with how much this game embraced it's fantastical nature. Every stage background is gorgeous and the character designs are on point. Music good. I've got to say, this is easily the best-looking Vanillaware game. More of this please. I also have to give special shoutout to the command inputs. You're given five special inputs for your Psypher Skills but not only can you register more whenever you feel like it but you can even choose whether they are triggered by the D-pad or the control stick and whether or not they can only be activated on the ground or on the air. You don't see something like that in action-games a lot, at least i haven't. So good for you Vanillaware.
If there's any criticisms i have about the game, there is the repetition issue i mentioned earlier. Sure, it's mitigated by each character's unique movesets but if you continuously play this game, you might find yourself feeling a bit burned out. It's not super short like Muramasa is and it doesn't have the story/gameplay side thingy that 13 Sentinels has, so the possibility for burnout is there a little bit. As far as the story goes, while Mercedes grew on me as a character, i found her story to be the weakest one and that alongside the fact that i wished for a more combo-oriented character meant that i did admittedly have the least fun with her route, though it's not like i wasn't enjoying it. The presentation slightly tanks a bit whenever you do something in one character's story that leads into an event you already saw in another so the game just cuts to black and goes "and so, this this and that happened and now we go to the next scene". It's understandable why they did it but 13 Sentinels had several moments where you would see other character's stories playing out in the background while you're doing whoever's story it is you're doing at the moment. I won't hold it against Vanillaware for not doing something they end up doing in a later game, it would've been nice to see.
Odin Sphere is good and it gets the Armagon Seal of Approval.
Character ranking: Velvet > Oswald = Gwendolyn >= Cornelius > Mercedes.
Gameplay-wise, it is a pretty fun 2D action game. I already found Muramasa to be fun and this game is just that but better. Unlike in Muramasa, each character plays completely differently so while the game can feel a bit repetitive in the areas you visit, it manages to mitigate that by giving everyone unique movesets. Gwendolyn and Cornelius are your standard lance and sword wielders respectively and i believe they came first because of how relatively simple they are to play as. Then Mercedes shakes things up by letting her fly freely and shoot very quickly, decimating enemies at the cost of her combo game. And if you were missing combos after playing as her, then good for you, because after Mercedes comes Oswald who literally has Devil Trigger. Velvet is a mix of Gwendolyn's range and Oswald's combo game thanks to her chains and as a result, she ended up becoming my favorite character to play as. Velvet really was a case of the best being saved for last.
Gameplay ranking: Velvet > Oswald > Cornelius = Gwendolyn > Mercedes.
The presentation of the game doesn't require me to say much. It's Vanillaware, makers of games with beautiful 2D art. I was really in love with how much this game embraced it's fantastical nature. Every stage background is gorgeous and the character designs are on point. Music good. I've got to say, this is easily the best-looking Vanillaware game. More of this please. I also have to give special shoutout to the command inputs. You're given five special inputs for your Psypher Skills but not only can you register more whenever you feel like it but you can even choose whether they are triggered by the D-pad or the control stick and whether or not they can only be activated on the ground or on the air. You don't see something like that in action-games a lot, at least i haven't. So good for you Vanillaware.
If there's any criticisms i have about the game, there is the repetition issue i mentioned earlier. Sure, it's mitigated by each character's unique movesets but if you continuously play this game, you might find yourself feeling a bit burned out. It's not super short like Muramasa is and it doesn't have the story/gameplay side thingy that 13 Sentinels has, so the possibility for burnout is there a little bit. As far as the story goes, while Mercedes grew on me as a character, i found her story to be the weakest one and that alongside the fact that i wished for a more combo-oriented character meant that i did admittedly have the least fun with her route, though it's not like i wasn't enjoying it. The presentation slightly tanks a bit whenever you do something in one character's story that leads into an event you already saw in another so the game just cuts to black and goes "and so, this this and that happened and now we go to the next scene". It's understandable why they did it but 13 Sentinels had several moments where you would see other character's stories playing out in the background while you're doing whoever's story it is you're doing at the moment. I won't hold it against Vanillaware for not doing something they end up doing in a later game, it would've been nice to see.
Odin Sphere is good and it gets the Armagon Seal of Approval.