The Vita isn’t doing so hot, guys. Despite being a wonderful piece of hardware with a pretty decent lineup of games, players just aren’t giving it the attention it deserves. One factor many are citing to explain Vita’s failure to catch on is the lack of a Monster Hunter game anywhere on the release slate. When PSP was on life support, Monster Hunter helped revitalize the handheld in Japan. It quickly became a household system purely based on the popularity of this one game. Now that MH has moved to 3DS, it looks like we won’t be seeing the series hit Vita any time soon. Fortunately we now have a pretty good facsimile. It’s not quite up to Monster Hunter snuff, but Ragnarok Odyssey makes a valiant effort.
Ragnarok Odyssey begins with the creation of your character. There isn’t much to choose from depending on your class, but as you progress new avenues of character customization will open up. Within a few chapters everyone you see has their own unique look, and you will too. The classes are pretty general, including things like Mage, Hunter, and Swordmaster. You can choose the color of your outfit and hair, but not some incidental attributes. My character’s glorious white ‘fro and porcelain skin will never match his sweet mustache.
Each class has its own strengths and weaknesses, but as everyone does the same quests in the same order in the same way, it doesn’t really matter what you pick. The Swordmaster is fast but doesn’t hit as hard as some classes. And the Mage has very low defense but is agile and great at range. But every quest ends boils down to; “Kill this guy/bunch of guys” or “find this thing.” And every fight goes down the same way -- save for boss fights -- "hit guy until he’s dead." So your choice is pretty inconsequential, unless it’s Cleric which is the only support class available at the beginning. Later on, you’ll also be allowed to switch jobs at will, so don’t feel too anxious about your choice. Even if you don’t like the class you picked, just stick with it for a little while.
Quests are picked up in two places: the Guild or the pub. You won’t be spending much time at the guild, but I’ll get to why in a second. Quests picked up at the pub are more difficult than at the guild. Each hub includes a potion and card vendor. Players can map three different potions to the touch screen for use in the field, and cards are equipped as upgrades like armor. They can boost your health, attack and anything else to further customize your avatar.
The mission structure starts repeating itself quickly. Players are tasked with killing X number of X animal, finding X number of items or defeating a boss. Unlike most action RPGs, defeating an enemy gives you no experience. In fact, there’s no XP or leveling up involved. So, other than loot, there’s no reason for fighting enemies unless that’s your quest. All of the character evolution comes from their card/armor/attack upgrades earned as you complete chapters. And you'll earn a little boost in stats after completing a chapter as well. Each mission is timed, but you’re given waaay more of it than you’ll ever need.
If you’re trying to complete the game by yourself, you won’t get far. The difficulty ramps up but it’s the monotony that will get to you. By the end of the first chapter I was already done with the mission structure and was ready to write off the game. But it’s the multiplayer where the game really shines. A player hosts a room, chooses a quest, and then anyone can join -- as long as they’re up to that point in the game. Up to four team members share the quest and all the loot. There’s no quibbling over who gets what, because once someone picks something up, everyone gets it no matter where they are on the map. At the end of a mission, before you return to the pub, you’re given a list of what you’ve collected and have the option to sell it or send it back to your inventory right there. Then materials for upgrading weapons and armor, potions, or equippable items can be retrieved later from your room, the pub, or the guild. You also get to keep the loot you’ve collected even after failing a mission. So other than wasting your time there isn’t much drawback to failing.
Ragnarok Odyssey is not only built for multiplayer, it feels like it aggressively opposes playing alone. Very frequently, while playing single player, I’d wander into a room to have the doors magically sealed and tons of monsters spawn right in front of me as if to say, “You just walked into the wrong neighborhood.” Then the hundreds of bears or ambulatory fish will wail on me until I’ve been KO’d three times and fail the mission. Playing multiplayer doesn’t make it a breeze, but it makes it more fun. Though the bosses (Giants) are still a biiitch. Some are easier than others, but the bigger they get the harder they are to dodge and the cheaper they feel. The community aspect drives the game way further than the mechanics would take it alone. Even with the repetitive gameplay, playing online can make it a very fun experience. Communicating is difficult as there’s no voice chat; you can only speak to your team members with an on-screen touch keyboard or through canned phrases and motions. Most people end up typin lik dis to keep the flow of battle moving.
Ragnarok Odyssey is a solid ersatz Monster Hunter with a little Phantasy Star Online thrown in. It’s not a system seller for the Vita like the MH juggernaut, but if you’ve got one I can definitely recommend this. Without a leveling system and with the crafting system it has it’s a bit shallow as far as these types of games go, but there are still plenty of hours of fun to be had. The combat is fluid, online is solid, and it’s gorgeous. In fact, Ragnarok Odyssey is definitely one of the most beautiful looking handheld games I’ve ever played. It really shows off the Vita’s online and graphical power. The difficulty can be frustrating, especially if playing alone, but a good group can make it challenging fun.
