Difficulty:

Just Right

Time Spent:

20 to 40 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Surprisingly good"

Ragnarok Odyssey has a lot of mixed opinions surrounding it. This is understandable as it has a number of things going against it. I was however happily surprised to find a game that is highly addictive and fun.

If you have been reading through other's reviews on this game you'll hear a lot about how it does not match up to Monster Hunter or how it was not what they were looking for. This game isn't Monster Hunter and its story is not going to make you care about it at all… but is that really why you bought a portable? What this game offers is something that is very much needed on the Vita. Good old fashioned loot grinding fun!

Ragnarok is all about quest hunting. From the very beginning of the game you are given missions. Each mission will have an objective such as killing a number of creatures or gathering specific loot. All this feels very similar to Monster Hunter. What separates it from MH is the way the combat is done. MH is about planning and preparing. Ragnarok is about killing for loot. It's fast paced. Combat reminds me of Anime. You'll be air dashing and fighting mountain sized creatures with a weapon that nobody on earth could possibly hold and most of all, it feels good doing it. There are six classes in the game all of which play well and can be mastered with practice. Learning how each class works is part of the fun. It also provides much needed change of pace as you can change classes at will. Picking your favorite class and getting the gear you need to make that class awesome is what Ragnarok Odyssey is all about.

There are no levels in Ragnarok. Powering up your character is done by completing a number of missions known as Chapters. Doing so will give you more life and overall damage. You also gain power by getting better weapons by doing harder missions and by refining those weapons to cause more damage. Finally you gain skills from "Cards" which you get from buying them or looting off of creatures you have killed. Think of cards as perks of sort. They are passive skills that will increase your damage, give your weapons elemental damage, increase your defense and other noticeable benefits. After a little while your character becomes insanely powerful.

The game features online play which is hit or miss depending on your connection. Playing it online is by far the most rewarding part of this game and makes each class shine when they are behind a master. However I have had several bad connections to the point where it was almost unplayable. I would usually finish the mission and find or make another room. I also have friends that love this sort of game which deepens the experience considerably.

There is a learning curve to the game and how to master each of the class's combos effectively. The game doesn't have as deep of a tutorial as it should. There really isn't much of a story that you'll notice. There is a story there behind the scenes but you won't care enough to read the text. What is here is here is exactly what I wanted on the Vita… fun combat with tons of loot. I love this kind of thing. If the bar were set from how much I enjoy this game I would have given it a 10. However some are going to find the missions too repetitive and without a decent story far too many will give up on Ragnarok Odyssey before they understand and enjoy it's design.