Odin Sphere trailer for the hand-drawn PS2 action-RPG; American release date set for May 29 2007

Odin Sphere for PS2Odin Sphere is a fantasy action RPG exclusive to the PS2. This 2D game is the spiritual sequel to the Japanese Saturn/PSP game Princess Crown. That game’s director and designer, George Kamitami, is heading up character design, scenario and direction on Odin Sphere. Developed by Vanilla Ware, Atlus will be releasing the Odin Sphere at a price of $40 in America on May 29th, 2007.

In Odin Sphere, players enact the story of their world’s end. A great kingdom named Valentine was brought apart by natural disaster and internal strife. As war broke out, the once-great nation became a wasteland. As a demon lord named Odin schemes to conquer it, a far-off sorcerer plans to use ancient magic that will bring an apocalypse. As the nations struggle for control, the world steadily slips unknowingly toward its demise, ancient prophecies are ready to be fulfilled — unless a young princess named Gwendolyn can stop the bloody feud between nations and fight for unity.

Here’s Odin Sphere’s first English trailer:


Key features are:

* Gorgeous hand-drawn artwork and animations.
* Intense side-scrolling action.
* Fully-voiced dialogue.
* 5 playable characters in all.
* Fantastic bosses that tower over the protagonists.

Penny Arcade got a review copy (that leads into a Sphere Factor comic) and give their first impression: “The game has interesting systems in place – I would describe it as clever, with its five interlocking stories, elaborate food options, and the Action RPG sugar-rush that binds men’s souls. But against this game’s art, no other feature breaks the surface. Like a soaring hawk, I often hear the cries below – the deep lament of those who crave the certainty and power of the second dimension, the dimension cast aside by budgetary realities and market demands. Odin Sphere’s luscious animation must been seen to be appreciated, which is why I linked to a trailer page – but even that is insufficient. We’d certainly seen screens and trailers before, but we’d never seen them writ large – seen the incidental animations that add so much life and spirit. Gigantic player sprites do battle with boss enemies that dwarf even them – sometimes literally dwarf them, because this game has dwarfs in it.

Being 2D, each skirmish area takes place on a circular track similar to Defender. You can go all the way around it either way, and when you’ve defeated all of a zone’s enemies (and been rewarded based on your performance) you can leave that circular area for another one, traveling through an entire map made of these nodes. When you run before multiple layers of painted, parallax countryside… I mean, when was the last time we got to say parallax? I would say that we had traveled back in time, but games of this type were never as beautiful. It’s really more like we have traveled sideways, into another timeline where the sprite is still king.”

Gametrailers has more new gameplay footage.