Odin Sphere HD Remake confirmed and new Vanillaware project teased

[ChupathingyX]

After a short countdown, Atlus and Vanillaware (creators of Muramasa and Dragon's Crown) have announced a HD remake of the PS2 game Odin Sphere for PS3, PS4, and PS Vita, named Odin Sphere: Leifdrasir.
http://atlus-vanillaware.jp/osl/


Gameplay footage has revealed that the game will feature new attacks, moves, animations and options, which means it's more than just a simple HD upscale/remaster. As someone who has recently become interested in jumping into Vanillaware's stuff I'm looking forward to this.
An art book will also be available with certain purchases. No info on a western localisation has been released.
http://gematsu.com/2015/07/odin-sphere-leifdrasir-announced-ps4-ps3-ps-vita

During the stream announcing the remake, Atlus/Vanillaware also potentially teased a new VW project which will be discussed further in September, presumably at Tokyo Game Show.

 

[DrOswald]

I am really interested in this, I hope they solve the slowdown issues the original had.

 

[Aiddon_v1legacy]

As I've said on other sites:

Definitely the way to do it; Odin Sphere has by far the best plot of the VW titles, but its gameplay is also the weakest (if we're to exclude GrimGrimoire as that's a strategy game and not a hack and slash RPG). The protagonists play differently, but they still have limited movesets and things get monotonous pretty fast, not helped by the inability to just teleport between different sections, as well as an inconsistent framerate due to how busy things could get. And let's not forget how you had to play the final chapter a minimum of FIVE FREAKING TIMES to get the true ending. They definitely got better with the gameplay part as evidenced by Muramasa and then Dragon's Crown's vastly expanded complexity and depth. So they really did need to tear the game down and rebuild it from scratch in order to really not show its age. Definitely worth a double-dip and hopefully Atlus over here can get a localization started.

The VanillaWare logo makes me think they're going to be doing a sci-fi game, especially with Kamitani showing off sci-fi artwork on the company's website. Would most definitely be a vast departure for them, the company having done Norse mythology, a not-Harry Potter, Japanese folklore amongst the backdrop of the Tokugawa shogunate, and pulp high fantasy in the vein of Robert E. Howard and D&D. Though the question is what type of sci-fi as there are a lot of different ways to tell it.

 

[EternallyBored]

As I've said on other sites:

Definitely the way to do it; Odin Sphere has by far the best plot of the VW titles, but its gameplay is also the weakest (if we're to exclude GrimGrimoire as that's a strategy game and not a hack and slash RPG). The protagonists play differently, but they still have limited movesets and things get monotonous pretty fast, not helped by the inability to just teleport between different sections, as well as an inconsistent framerate due to how busy things could get. And let's not forget how you had to play the final chapter a minimum of FIVE FREAKING TIMES to get the true ending. They definitely got better with the gameplay part as evidenced by Muramasa and then Dragon's Crown's vastly expanded complexity and depth. So they really did need to tear the game down and rebuild it from scratch in order to really not show its age. Definitely worth a double-dip and hopefully Atlus over here can get a localization started.

The VanillaWare logo makes me think they're going to be doing a sci-fi game, especially with Kamitani showing off sci-fi artwork on the company's website. Would most definitely be a vast departure for them, the company having done Norse mythology, a not-Harry Potter, Japanese folklore amongst the backdrop of the Tokugawa shogunate, and pulp high fantasy in the vein of Robert E. Howard and D&D. Though the question is what type of sci-fi as there are a lot of different ways to tell it.

Pretty much all VW games have had either bare bones plots (dragons crown) or just kind of weak/mediocre plots in general (muramasa, grimgrimoire), so its kind of weird that OS has such a far and away better plot considering their track record before and after.

I'm hoping it wasn't just a fluke and they can write interesting stories like OS again, because the story on the level of that game coupled with a better combat system would be wonderful. The trailer here shows new moves and animations, so here's hoping they at least improved the combat for this release, although you're right that making the combat system excellent would likely require a rebuild from the ground up. That weird stat upgrade system through eating food could probably be improved too, I remember being frustrated with it back when I originally played through the game.

 

[FPLOON]

Awesome! Now, I might be able to finish Odin Sphere this time...

Other than that, I am curious about that new project in terms of both story and gameplay...

 

[sageoftruth]

Boy. Watching this makes me want to pick up my old copy and play it again. Can't wait for the remake to come out. Hope it doesn't disappoint. I'll be checking the reviews.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Oh wow. This is one of my favorite games ever. I'd buy a remake in a heartbeat

 

[ThatOtherGirl]

I have never been a massive fan of Vanillaware, but I really liked Odin Sphere. Great music, great art, great story. The gameplay could get a bit repetitive at times, but it was still really fun. I hope it is a good port.

 

[Aiddon_v1legacy]

Okay, now I remember where that subtitle came from; Leifdrasir is an incorrect Anglicization of Lífþrasir, which references one of the two humans who survive Ragnarok in Norse mythology.

 

[KoudelkaMorgan]

I loved the game except for the slowdown that was so bad it got down to 1 frame per 3 seconds during certain bosses. Farming items was tedious but otherwise a great game.

I sold Muramasa after beating it once. It was just a very tedious game, and using all the swords didn't make it less so.

By contrast I found R-Type Final to be fun enough to unlock EVERY ship etc.

 

[Grimh]

Sweet. I never finished it completely on the PS2 but I really liked it. I like that they're looking to enhance the gameplay and not just upping the resolution, hopefully they don't somehow make it worse.
I hope it comes out here because I would definitely want to play that.

 

[Sleepy Sol]

Oh my god, I love Odin Sphere.

I'm actually really hype for this. Which doesn't happen all that often anymore when it comes to games.

 

[joest01]

Awesome! Now, I might be able to finish Odin Sphere this time...

Same here. And I really do finish most games I start. But I remember flying around levels in circles and wondering what to do. At one point after trying to get the story to continue and re-flying around the same levels for an hour I gave up and never wet back. But maybe if they improve the menues and map I might give it another try, because it was those that got me, not the gameplay, that was fine.

 

[DrunkOnEstus]

One of my favorite PS2 games, if all they did was fix the slowdown during boss battles and spruced everything up I'm fucking in. Having it on the Vita is a fantastic plus and would make a great companion to Muramasa and Dragon's Crown on there. Glad the Vita is still getting love. I would hope that I don't have to buy both the PS4 and Vita version, if it's a choice then I'm going with Vita as I'd love to play it wherever I happen to be.

Also, you would think that this is the type or artstyle that is timeless and wouldn't benefit much from HDification, but Muramasa on the Vita and Okami HD solidified just how gorgeous the original art turns out when presented in modern resolutions.

 

[CrimsonBlaze]

It's pretty nice, though I don't have much reason to replay it or buy it other than for collection's sake.

About the story, let's just say that it has the best female protagonists ever in gaming.

Amen. (Gwendolyn is my personal favorite)

It's funny to hear this announcement since I'm actually on the verge of completing the game on my PS2. It's a beautifully drawn game and I hope that its 'remastered' edition should serve as an example to developers that high-end, next-gen graphics are not required to make a visually inspiring, well-made, and fun title.

 

[Maximum Bert]

Seems kind of a weird title to remake I mean the original still looks beautiful I absolutely adore Vanilla Wares artwork. That said with Odin Sphere I was not a huge fan, the gameplay just turned me off I got pretty far last time but I stopped playing again as it just starts to feel like work.

I should just put it on easy and waltz through it. I do feel they improve with each game though Dragons Crown kept me going for quite a while it was as repetitive as most of their games but I feel it was much better designed and I will most likely get their new game although that announcement shows absolutely nothing.

I probably wont get the remake apart from fix the slowdown im not sure what else they could do to improve it uprezzing the already beautiful art means little to me same with any extras, I will just stick with my PS2 copy.

 

[Aiddon_v1legacy]

and now Atlus has announced it will be coming to America next year:

http://gematsu.com/2015/07/odin-sphere-leifthrasir-coming-north-america-2016