It’s not easy to capture lightning in a bottle once, let alone twice. Yet developer Vanillaware has managed to do exactly that. Odin Sphere: Leifthrasir is an absolutely amazing remake of their 2007 sidescrolling action RPG that recreates and enhances everything I adored about the original, while strengthening and expanding its combat and role-playing to create one of the best gameplay experiences I’ve had in a long time.
A Valkyrie, a brooding warrior, a bunny, a fairy, and an enchantress? We were in right away. Collectively as our first ever Vanillware game, we were drawn into the world and subsequently lost to it, as we spent the next entire week digging in.
I felt that same joy all over again with Leifthrasir.
Visuals are definitely a highlight here. The lush colourful environments and detailed character models and animations make Odin Sphere Leifthrasir one of the best looking games ever. It also runs smoothly, only noticing a few drops in framerate on the Vita during certain boss fights where there were heavy particle effects at play. Other than that, it took everything I threw at it, chewed it up and spat out gorgeous and fluid visuals that had me hitting the Share button more often than I should have on PS4.
Visuals are definitely a highlight here. The lush colourful environments and detailed character models and animations make Odin Sphere Leifthrasir one of the best looking games ever. It also runs smoothly, only noticing a few drops in framerate on the Vita during certain boss fights where there were heavy particle effects at play. Other than that, it took everything I threw at it, chewed it up and spat out gorgeous and fluid visuals that had me hitting the Share button more often than I should have on PS4.
With lessons learned from its original release along with the experience of other titles under Vanillaware’s belt, Odin Sphere Leifthrasir surpasses what I tend to expect from a remake these days. It expands, streamlines, and enhances almost every aspect of Odin Sphere with the utmost care without leaving behind individuals who loved the original experience. This is the best case of a video game remake done right.
