{"id":11084,"date":"2019-08-06T17:15:29","date_gmt":"2019-08-06T15:15:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.satrapov.net\/mysst\/?page_id=11084"},"modified":"2020-05-30T12:32:00","modified_gmt":"2020-05-30T10:32:00","slug":"characters","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.grafskaya.club\/mysst\/detailed-reviews-g-z\/lost-odyssey\/characters\/","title":{"rendered":"Characters"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n

\n
\n

Kaim<\/a>
\nSeth<\/a>
\nJansen<\/a>
\nCooke<\/a>
\nMack<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\n

Ming<\/a>
\nSarah<\/a>
\nTolten<\/a>
\nSed<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
 <\/div>\n<\/div>\n

I think the main word to describe this motley crew is \u201cskewed\u201d. The team is formed of two kinds of characters: four immortals and five mortals. Although each character gets her or his own sidequest, it\u2019s the immortals who receive the lion\u2019s share of character development, simply because there\u2019s more there to explore. As they recover their memories, dream sequences serve to fill in the blanks of their very long lives. Even here, though, there\u2019s a huge disparity in Kaim\u2019s favour: he gets 30 sequences, whereas Seth only gets two and Ming just one. Sarah is the exception of the lot, as she never recovers any memories at all. Look, I get that Kaim is the hero and all, but this is also a case of a male character getting more development than three <\/em>female counterparts combined<\/em>. Sure, a thousand-year-old mercenary will have seen a lot of stuff, but don\u2019t tell me a thousand-year-old pirate would\u2019ve seen less. In fact, I was more interested in finding out about Seth\u2019s life than Kaim\u2019s. I really hope this was a case of the developers running out of time.<\/p>\n

On a related note, I have very strong reservations about the female characters\u2019 wardrobes. Sarah is the only one wearing anything remotely reasonable (albeit painfully ugly, IMO), but even there, it seems the designers just couldn\u2019t help themselves from slapping a massive cleavage on her. *disheartened sigh*<\/p>\n

<\/a>Kaim: \"The<\/a><\/strong>The hero of the story, for better or for worse. This black-haired and blue-eyed mercenary has lived for a thousand years, married several times, fathered several children and witnessed countless deaths. All this has made him thoroughly jaded, even without factoring in the amnesia. His latest marriage was to fellow immortal Sarah, even though that too was marred by a tragedy he is very reluctant to remember. He will be forced to face it, however, in what is, for many, the heaviest-hitting emotional sequence in the game. His memories gradually return, whether he likes it or not, and he eventually takes a stand against Gongora\u2019s schemes. Kaim is the physical powerhouse of the game: he has the best strength, HP, vitality and magic defence, meaning that he can both dish out the hurt and take it like a champ. Conversely, he has the second-worst magic and casting time, tied with Sed, and the worst attack speed of all the physical attackers, tied with Tolten. He fights with swords, some of which he shares with Seth. Their best weapons (excluding the use of the Royal Equipment skill) are mutually exclusive too, as they\u2019re crafted from a single piece of ore. The best strategy is probably crafting the sword for Seth and letting Kaim use Tolten\u2019s best sword (which also happens to be the overall best sword in the game) with Royal Equipment. Kaim\u2019s \u201csidequest\u201d \u2013 if you can call it that, as there\u2019s no reward for it \u2013 involves finding all of his dream sequences. He\u2019s also a mandatory party member for Sarah\u2019s sidequest, as befits a married couple, I guess. Personality-wise, Kaim is a grim, taciturn, dismissive fellow, and the amnesia only exacerbates that. However, as already mentioned, he\u2019s privileged by comparison with the other characters, as you get a lot more insight into his past from his dream sequences. Recovering his memories, meeting Cooke and Mack, and reuniting with Sarah all have a positive influence on him, getting him to open up more, but he always remains a stoic to the core, which makes him an idol in Mack\u2019s eyes. Oh, and he shares his voice actor with fellow stoic Basch from Final Fantasy XII<\/em>.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Seth: \"Wild<\/a><\/strong>This former pirate captain has blue eyes, bluish-grey hair that looks like something exploded in her face, and an unquenchable spirit. It\u2019s never explained how she came to join the Uhran army, but before she did, she used to sail the seas with her crew and her best friend, a sapient winged beast named Aneira. Seth also bore a son called Sed, although his father\u2019s identity is never revealed. Just like Kaim, her memories disappeared after a tragic event which led her to believe that Sed was dead. Despite that, she always remains optimistic and is later overjoyed to discover that her son is actually alive. She\u2019s suspicious of Gongora from the start and is probably the most overtly determined to take him down. Seth is weaker than Kaim. She has the second-best strength, tied with Mack; the second-best HP and magic defence; and the second-best vitality, tied with Sed. However, she has the fastest attack speed in the game and the third-best casting time, tied with Mack. So, although her magic is worse than his, she\u2019s better suited for the front row than he is, and better suited to providing emergency magical backup than Kaim. She also fights with swords, some of which she shares with Kaim. You notably have to choose who between them gets their best weapon (barring the use of the Royal Equipment skill), as they are mutually exclusive, and Seth is probably the best candidate for it. Her sidequest involves exploring a cave where you can\u2019t use any items and fighting a giant worm, which rewards her with a sword, ring, accessory and dream sequence. Personality-wise, Seth is best illustrated by one of her own victory quotes: \u201cleap before you look, I always say\u201d. She\u2019s fiery, energetic, sarcastic and impatient, and while she enjoys freedom, she\u2019s also devoted to her friends and her son. She notably used to be close to Ming, before both of their memories disappeared. Just as Kaim is a role-model for Mack, Seth is a heroine for Cooke. She also briefly serves as a mentor to Tolten, when the two of them are separated from the rest of the team for a while. On the other hand, she’s not too fond of Jansen and tends to take it out on his shins, something which Cooke is only too happy to emulate. Seth shares her voice actress with Rikku from Final Fantasy X <\/em>and X-2<\/em>. And, considering the camera angles in combat, I\u2019m very happy she\u2019s wearing shorts under that skimpy little dress of hers. Now if she had only put a bra on as well\u2026because it looks like she\u2019s permanently cold, if you catch my drift.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Jansen: \"Ladies<\/a><\/strong>To me, the most compelling argument in this game\u2019s favour. Jansen has brown eyes, brown hair in a ponytail, and seems to be a bit of a drifter, since we never really learn what he got up to before working for Gongora. He first appears when he\u2019s tasked to spy on Kaim and Seth during their visit to Grand Staff. Then several things happen: the situation takes a turn for the worse, and Kaim\u2019s and Seth\u2019s memories start returning, making them question Gongora\u2019s motives. Most importantly though, they meet Ming, who makes Jansen\u2019s heart go \u2018zing\u2019 *shots fired* Combine all that, and Jansen starts having serious misgivings about his loyalties, finally deciding to throw in his lot with the immortals. Jansen is the first mortal character you obtain and, as such, is a weird combination of a mage and a thief *flashbacks to Baldur\u2019s Gate<\/em>*, just so that Kaim and Seth have some worthwhile beginner skills to learn before other mortals join the group. His speciality is Black Magic, but he also has a smattering of low level White spells, can equip two accessories and use two items per turn, as well as being able to steal. This actually fits his personality and makes him the most viable mortal character to keep on the team throughout the game, until Sed shows up. Jansen has the second-best magic, tied with Ming and Cooke; and the second-best MP and casting time, tied with Cooke. Conversely, he has the third-worst HP, vitality and strength; the second-worst magic defence, tied with Ming and Sarah; and the second-worst attack speed, tied with Cooke. He uses staves, most of which he shares with Cooke, Ming and Sarah. His sidequest involves finding your way through a maze and fighting a dragon for the final Black Magic spell and an accessory. Personality-wise, Jansen is a coward, a womaniser and a blabbermouth, but his dialogue is peppered with comedy gold, such as his imitation of General Kakanas, his exceptionally apt nickname for Gongora or the reason he gives Tolten for why Kaim is so dour. He\u2019s also a good guy at heart and has some genuinely emotional moments, especially where Ming is concerned. No one is more surprised \u2013 or confused \u2013 than he is when he realises that she returns his feelings, and the resulting romance is both adorkable and melancholy, when you pause to think about Ming\u2019s circumstances.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Cooke: \"Pirate-in-training\"<\/a><\/strong>Kaim & co. meet this brown-haired and green-eyed girl alongside her little brother, Mack, in Numara\u2019s Ghost Town: a part of the city that got destroyed during a monster attack several years prior to the game\u2019s beginning. They live there with their ailing mother, but it\u2019s never really explained why they\u2019re the only inhabitants in that part of town, or what happened to their father. The episode that follows this encounter is a gut punch and results in Mack running away into the nearby forest, which prompts the party to go rescue him. The children then join the team. Cooke is a White Mage, and her primary function is to allow the immortals to learn the full arsenal of White spells. She has the second-best magic, tied with Ming and Jansen; and the second-best MP and casting time, also tied with Jansen. Conversely, she\u2019s the most fragile member of the team, as she has the worst HP, strength, vitality and magic defence. She also has the second-worst attack speed, tied with Jansen. Basically, once all the immortals have sponged off her, there\u2019s very little incentive to keep her on the team, as she\u2019s pretty much a one-trick pony. She also can only equip one accessory. She uses staves, most of which she shares with Jansen, Ming and Sarah. Her sidequest is probably the cutest one of the lot, as it involves a magic contest in the Kelolon Village for the best White Magic spell (never mind the fact that the Kelolon King states that he wants to marry her if she loses\u2026*shudder*). Personality-wise, Cooke is clearly the dominant sibling in the pair. Not only is she older than Mack, she\u2019s also far more outspoken, energetic and decisive than he is. She idolises both Seth and Sed, due to them being pirates, and gleefully imitates Seth when she kicks Jansen in the shins for being annoying. Surprisingly enough, Ming was also apparently close to their mother, as the children refer to her as \u201cAunt Ming\u201d. And now, take a pause to consider: Cooke can\u2019t be more than eight or nine years old. Do you really <\/em>think that dressing her in a slit mini-skirt, halter-neck crop top and thigh-high boots with heels was absolutely necessary? I\u2019m so glad she at least has that red coat to prevent any camera angle mishaps from the back. I was also surprised to find out that she shares her voice actress with Aerie from Baldur\u2019s Gate II<\/em>, because they sound nothing like each other.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Mack: \"Urgent<\/a><\/strong>I\u2019m pretty sure that the resemblance between Mack and Cooke, and Palom and Porom from Final Fantasy IV <\/em>was not accidental. Mage siblings? Check. Healer girl, attacker boy? Check. Similar hairstyles? Check. Same colour palettes? Check. It\u2019s just their personalities that are reversed: Cooke is more like Palom, while Mack is more like Porom. Anyway. Mack shares his sister\u2019s green eyes and brown hair (although the pigtails look ridiculous), and the party encounters both of them in Numara\u2019s Ghost Town. The ensuing events affect him deeply, and he runs away into the nearby forest. The party rescues him, but lo and behold, the ordeal allows him to develop an aptitude for Spirit Magic and thus to conveniently become the main source of said magic for the team. Mack can best be described as a hodge-podge, even more so than Jansen. It\u2019s as if he was specifically designed as a source of abilities for the immortals, rather than as a functional character in his own right. Aside from his magic, he has an arsenal of melee skills, which are very useful for actual melee characters, like Kaim or Seth, but far less so for Mack himself. His best stats are his attack speed, where he ranks second-best, and his strength, where he also ranks second-best, tied with Seth. He also uses melee weapons, in the form of frisbee-like discs attached to his arms, with which he slices the enemies. Which would be fine if he didn\u2019t have the worst HP and magic defence, and the second-worst vitality of all the melee characters, meaning that he\u2019s very fragile on the front lines. Making his frisbees into ranged weapons would have helped so<\/em> much in this respect (as well as being more intuititve). Unfortunately, Mack\u2019s magic abilities are nothing to write home about either, as he has the worst MP and magic attack out of all the casters. He can also only equip one accessory. So once the immortals have finished leeching off him, there\u2019s literally nothing he can do that someone else can\u2019t do better. His sidequest, however, is the most involved and difficult one of the lot, as it involves exploring the Temple of Enlightenment, which is huge, annoying to navigate and full of nasty enemies. At the end of it is an equally nasty boss, who yields the final Spirit spell, and, once he\u2019s down, Mack\u2019s best weapon is right nearby. Personality-wise, Mack is a shy, soft-spoken and thoughtful little boy, but he does have an adventurous streak as well, and can be both determined and stubborn when he feels strongly about something. Most of the time, however, he defers to Cooke and to Kaim, whom he sees as the ultimate role-model.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Ming: \"Urgent<\/a><\/strong>I\u2026I just\u2026*sigh* Look, I don\u2019t know what the developers were thinking when they decided that a queen should be dressed like a stripper. Not only does the whole outfit look extremely uncomfortable and impractical (two words: battle thong<\/em>), but her top also defies the laws of physics, because there\u2019s no way it should be able to stay on her with the way Mother Nature has endowed her, barring some ingenious use of body tape. Anyway. Ming has red hair and green eyes (although they appear purple at first\u2026long story), plays a mean harp and is the immortal \u2013 and amnesic \u2013 queen of the kingdom of Numara. The party first meets her when they are imprisoned by the Numaran army while investigating Grand Staff. Jansen twigs that Ming, who is a pacifist, is being manipulated by her General, Kakanas, and turns on the charm, which results in her setting the party free. This is not the end of the story, however, and Ming eventually joins up for good, in a bid to try to restore political stability and also to find out how she\u2019s connected to the other immortals. Ming is the first immortal caster you get, and she\u2019s a magical powerhouse. She has the best MP and casting time, tied with Sarah; and the second-best magic, tied with Jansen and Cooke. She also comes with some Composite Magic already learned, which rounds out your party\u2019s spell arsenal. Conversely, she\u2019s either worst or second-worst in all physical stats, tied with Sarah. She uses staves, most of which she shares with Sarah, Cooke and Jansen. Her sidequest involves battling a sea serpent for a nifty accessory. Personality-wise, Ming is rather low-key and understated. She may appear a bit clueless and na\u00efve at first, but this is only a result of her amnesia. Her real self is poised, sensible, perceptive and gently teasing. The game also clearly presents her as the most magically attuned character in the group, but somehow, Sarah beats her in raw stats. Go figure. She\u2019s the only character who sees Jansen as more than just a nuisance, and her willingness to look past his bumbling fa\u00e7ade results in an endearing romance. She was also good friends with Seth, when both had their memories intact, and seems to have been close to Cooke\u2019s and Mack\u2019s mother as well.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Sarah: \"Vacant<\/a><\/strong>Everything about Sarah is designed to be bookish, meek and motherly. From her glasses to her perpetual half-beatific, half-vacant facial expression; to her demure, goody-two-shoes behaviour; to her childish posture with her feet turned inwards; to the fact that she\u2019s working on a book to chronicle the history of magic; to the generous cleavage the developers saw fit to endow her with; it all fits the ‘nerdy hottie’ trope. The rest of her outfit, however, is surprisingly modest (albeit really ugly, IMO), and for that, at least, I\u2019m thankful. Anyway. Sarah has light brown hair and green eyes and is conspicuously absent at the beginning of the game, considering that she and Kaim are married. After he recovers his memories, he decides to track her down, but persuading her to join the party takes a bit of work and a visit to a creepy abandoned house. Much as it pains me to say it, Sarah is the most powerful mage in the party. Her stats are identical to Ming, except that she trumps her in actual magic power, despite the fact that Ming is invariably presented as the most magic-savvy of the two. The power of research, I guess. She also uses staves, most of which she shares with Ming, Jansen and Cooke. Her sidequest (for which Kaim is also mandatory) involves fighting a tough optional boss for an accessory. Sarah\u2019s magical prowess is especially grating for me, because she\u2019s a waste of character space. She has the personality of a wet dishcloth and spends most of her time fussing and worrying about either Kaim or the children, or both. So she\u2019s essentially stuck with the clich\u00e9 female role, whereas Seth, Ming and even Cooke are allowed to have independent personalities and agency. It\u2019s also very telling \u2013 and painfully ironic \u2013 that, despite being presented as entirely devoted to her family, she\u2019s the only immortal who never recovers her memories. Everything she knows about her past (or about anything, really), she\u2019s read in her journals. She never even properly remembers her own husband or child. To me, this undermines the entire basis for her personality, which leaves you with a hollow shell of a character who can\u2019t even do clich\u00e9 right. She shares her voice actress with Mei Ling of Metal Gear Solid <\/em>fame, but while the tearful, tremulous note she strikes is very fitting, it\u2019s also very irritating.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Tolten: \"Blingin'\"<\/a><\/strong>Well, at least, Sarah isn\u2019t alone in the \u201cwaste of character space\u201d category. Which isn\u2019t really a good thing, but there you go. Tolten \u2013 or, as I like to call him, Dolten, since he\u2019s not too bright \u2013 is the blonde and blue-eyed heir to the Uhran throne and packs more bling than your average rapper. The problem is that the country is actually governed by a Council, and the king only has a ceremonial role, if even that. Nevertheless, Gongora sees potential in all this and proceeds to play Dolten like a fiddle in his bid for power, restoring him to the throne only to usurp it from right under his nose. When the hapless prince finally realises what\u2019s going on (and it takes quite a while), he decides to join Kaim & co. in opposing Gongora Or, well\u2026maybe \u201cdecides\u201d is too strong a word. He kinda just tags along by default, since he has no better ideas for what to do with himself. Dolten\u2019s combat skills\u2026suck. He has the worst strength, vitality, speed (tied with Kaim) and the second-worst magic defence of all the physical attackers. He also has the worst MP (tied with Kaim), magic and casting time of the entire party. Which just leaves HP, and his is only third-best, tied with Sed. And on top of all that, he can only equip one accessory. The only good thing about Dolten are the Skills he can teach the immortals. This includes Royal Equipment, which allows them to use the gear that would otherwise be exclusive to him. This includes the best sword in the game, which is a perfect fit for Kaim. Once the skill leeching is done, ditch him and never look back: he is, by far, the worst of the mortals. His sidequest involves breaking seals on a number of statues, culminating in a one-on-one duel for his best Skill and the aforementioned best sword in the game. Which might sound worrying, considering how terrible Dolten is, but don\u2019t worry: it\u2019s easy enough for him to manage. Personality-wise, Dolten is a clueless, insecure, indecisive wimp who starts out trusting Gongora for some absolutely unfathomable reason. It\u2019s only towards the very end of the game that he develops some semblance of a backbone (or another word that starts with \u2018b\u2019). Seth takes him under her wing when they\u2019re separated from the rest of the team for a while, and then Sed takes over for her once the crew reunites. Everyone else just sort of ignores him. As well they should. With that in mind, I have no idea why he plays the part he does in the ending sequence.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Sed: \"Crusty<\/a><\/strong>Due to the quirks of immortal biology, any child they bear, be it with a mortal or an immortal, is automatically mortal and therefore ages at a normal rate. The end result is that, by the time the party meets him, Sed is a grizzled old man with grey hair and blue eyes. He and his pirate crew are captured by Gongora and about to be executed as part of his coronation ceremony when Seth and Tolten happen upon them. They manage to break them out, and Sed then helps them escape with the help of his airship\/boat\/submarine, the Nautilus, which serves as the party\u2019s main form of transportation from then on. Sed is the only ranged physical attacker on the team, as he uses a rifle. His stats are fairly middle-of-the-road, but he\u2019s still better than Tolten. He has the third-best strength; the third-best attack speed; the second-best vitality, tied with Seth; and the third-best HP, tied with Tolten. Conversely, he has the second-worst MP, tied with Seth; and the second-worst magic and casting time, both tied with Kaim. So he\u2019s ideally suited to being a ranged supporting character, especially considering the skills he brings to the table. In that respect, he\u2019s an upgrade of Jansen: he can equip three accessories and use three items per turn. He also has skills that double the party\u2019s experience, Skill Points, money and loot earned from combat. His sidequest involves rounding up his pirate crew, who all went separate ways after escaping Uhra, and once they\u2019re all back together at their hideout, they give him his best rifle and a ring. Personality-wise, Sed is a grumpy old codger. A lifetime of pirating has made him tough, resourceful and wary. However, he\u2019s also a big ol\u2019 mama\u2019s boy, and the fact that he keeps addressing the much younger-looking Seth as such throughout the game sounds wildly incongruous (and Dr Freud probably would\u2019ve had a lot of things to say about that). He\u2019s also fond of the children, who idolise him, and takes on a mentoring role with Tolten. He shares his voice actor with Haer\u2019Dalis from Baldur\u2019s Gate II <\/em>and The Fear from Metal Gear Solid 3<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\n
\n

<< Back to: Storyline<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\n

Forward to: Combat system >><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kaim Seth Jansen Cooke Mack Ming Sarah Tolten Sed   I think the main word to describe this motley crew is \u201cskewed\u201d. The team is formed of two kinds of characters: four immortals and five mortals. Although each character gets … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":11068,"menu_order":3,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grafskaya.club\/mysst\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11084"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grafskaya.club\/mysst\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grafskaya.club\/mysst\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grafskaya.club\/mysst\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grafskaya.club\/mysst\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11084"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.grafskaya.club\/mysst\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11084\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12225,"href":"https:\/\/www.grafskaya.club\/mysst\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11084\/revisions\/12225"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grafskaya.club\/mysst\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11068"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grafskaya.club\/mysst\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11084"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grafskaya.club\/mysst\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11084"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}