The setting for Lost Odyssey is a steampunk-type civilization, a world where magic and machinery co-exist, and the story revolves around a man who has literally seen and done it all… many times over. After initially being dumped into the middle of a raging battle which gives you a taste of the action to come, tutorials are drip-fed as required, allowing you to become acquainted with the controls and game play over a comfortable period of time. The plot is not entirely unpredictable (hardly any of 'em are these days), but it is extremely well written and moves at a pace guaranteed to maintain your interest.

Burdened with both immortality and some serious memory loss, mercenary Kaim Argonar steps forth from the ruins of yet another battlefield – although this particular battle provides a dramatic starting point for the events to follow. As the game progresses, Kaim finds himself thrown together with characters both mortal and immortal, as he quests across a sizable map.

With any RPG it takes a bit of time to be drawn into the plot and to warm to the main characters. This 'getting to know you' phase usually involves a game of 'spot the stereotype' and as far as these are concerned, the gang's all here: brooding heroes – not all of them noble; scantily clad, 'kick-butt' heroines; cutesy kids, dastardly villains and comic relief in the form of a hedonistic rake. There's a good mix of colourful personalities and the high standard of voice acting makes for some entertaining character interaction.

Kaim's forgotten memories are gradually revealed in a series of dreams in text format entitled A Thousand Years of Dreams. These are unlocked at certain points in the game and take the form of short stories penned by award-winning author Kiyoshi Shigemaru and set against a backdrop of accompanying images and music. Of course, if reading just ain't your thang you can skip the dreams, but why deprive yourself of one of Lost Odyssey's standout highlights? Not only are we treated to some poignant narrative offering insight into Kaim's past; the dreams are welcome interludes from the repetitive business of fighting your way across the map.

Combat is turn-based and very traditional in its execution, in that you give party members their instructions at the beginning of each round then sit back to watch the carnage unfold. In typical JRPG fashion the commands used in battle are fairly straightforward and of limited scope, however there are some noteworthy features which set Lost Odyssey apart from the others. These include the introduction of a damage-enhancing Aim Ring System – the effectiveness of which depends entirely on the player's aptitude with the right-hand trigger, and removal of the standard combat grid. While they don't quite blur the line between turn-based and real-time combat, they do ensure the sequence of events flow smoothly and at a cracking pace.

Players in the party's front rank form a defensive wall which offers a certain level of protection to those in the rear rank. This in itself is not exactly a new concept; however Mistwalker has added a novel twist by linking the amount of protection afforded the rear rank to the physical status of the front rank. The more injuries they sustain the less effective the wall becomes. Fortunately the same holds true for enemies as well.

There are the usual displays of pre and post combat braggadocio by the characters, the dazzling spell effects we've come to expect, and plenty of rewards to be earned for the victorious. Mortal characters acquire new skills simply by levelling up. While the immortal characters do not possess special skills of their own they are able to 'link up' to mortal members of the party, and learn their skills over time. Other skills can be learned by wearing magical accessories in battle. There's certainly some flexibility in character development through mixing and matching skills to suit your style of play, and you can also assemble your own enhancement rings from components found around the map.

Love 'em or hate 'em, cut scenes are part and parcel of RPGs - particularly Japanese ones. They serve to progress the plot and, if the developer has put in the hard yards, give the player some dramatic, cinema-quality visual snippets to drool over. Lost Odyssey features plenty of high quality cut scenes, some of which are rather lengthy (but we're not complaining). You can manipulate the camera angle manually – if only to a limited degree. This initially feels restrictive when, like a tourist you want to stop and admire the scenery from all angles, but thanks to the automatic and seamless camera angle changes as Kaim moves from screen to screen, you barely miss it. There are some dazzling in-game special effects, with the split screen technique used often and to great effect.

Characters are well designed and as you might expect are attired in fanciful – but not always practical – costumes. Every movement, every subtle gesture oozes realism and conveys emotion convincingly; sadly the characters' faces do not. Mistwalker has obviously spared no effort in bringing these key players to life, so it was somewhat disappointing to see their faces largely devoid of expression – even when the body language and emotively delivered dialogue dictate otherwise. Deadpan may work well for Flight of the Conchords, but not here.

There are a couple of points where the framerate struggles to keep up with the action, and load screens are more frequent than we've seen in most RPGs – although the load times are thankfully brief. The only other gripe concerning graphics is over the onscreen text size. It's tiny, and even on a HDTV you need to sit relatively close in order to decipher it. These flaws are relatively minor, however, and a small price to pay for such a satisfying visual feast.

The musical score by composer Nobuo Uematsu (the gifted Final Fantasy maestro) is a real treat. For over two decades he has churned out magnificent music of a consistently high standard, so it stands to reason that only the best would do for such an ambitious project.