Odin SphereAtlus Software (PS2)
In the twilight of the PS2's shelf life comes Odin Sphere, an Action/RPG that can easily stand shoulder-to-shoulder with any next-gen adventure on the shelves. This should come as no surprise, as developer Atlus Software has been rolling out A-List adventures for over a decade now, releasing games with the hardcore gamer in mind. The vast majority (dare I say all?) hardcore RPG fans admire the path Atlus has forged--classic, hand-drawn graphics and soaring soundtracks wrapped around well-written legends with a fantasy bend.
Odin Sphere is one of the most beautiful games to ever grace the PS2, bar none. Every single pixel is lovingly crafted and expertly rendered. I will go as far as to say that Odin Sphere is the greatest example of why hand-crafted animation can be just as gorgeous as 3D models in our 1080p age.
Of course, no amount of graphic firepower would matter if the story, the main attraction in an RPG, was less-than-stellar. Luckily, this is not the case. Odin Sphere revolves around a storybook telling spanning five separate books, read by a young girl in an attic with her cat. (I know, I know - just give it a chance!) Each story has different heroes, heroines and storylines that eventually connect together in the most seamless way imaginable (think the first-third of Final Fantasy III and you're close).
