History VideoGame / OdinSphere

* AbsurdlyHighLevelCap: The level cap is 99, but you can reasonably complete the game at a level much lower than that. The recommended level for entering a character's endgame is approximately Level 39 and the final boss can be easily handled at Level 50. The [[BossBononza Book of Armageddon]] does feature a difficulty jump, but at that point you can stock up on end-game items and materials for all your characters and reasonably conquer it at Level 60.

* AbsurdlyHighLevelCap: The level cap is 99, but you can reasonably complete the game at a level much lower than that.

** Pookas were once [[spoiler: human citizens of a kingdom befelled by their mad ruler. An incident with the Cauldron cursed them all into rabbits, goblins or ''something worse''. No matter what, though, they are all immortal and cannot truly die. King Valentine wants to trigger TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt because ImmortalityHurts. In the GoldenEnding, Velvet would rather be normal because a Pooka's immortal body wears away sooner or later.]]

** Only a specific character can truly defeat a given disaster during Armageddon. Anyone else will simply die trying.

** Cornelius needs to face [[spoiler:the Demon Beast Darkova, a forcibly transformed Ingway. A prophecy states that "no man" can defeat Darkova. Cornelius, fortunately, is not a man at the time, he's a ''Pooka'', so he can defeat the beast. (Unfortunately the game does not really specify why a ''woman'' cannot defeat the beast, you're supposed to assume that "no man" means you're supposed to use a Pooka.)]]

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler: Failure to follow the phrophecies to the letter (choosing each character in order) during the final battles results in the world completely doomed with no hope of restoring it. The outcomes of each battle from a wrongfully chosen character are either generic or unique.]]

* LifeEnergy: Phozons are the source of life in Erion. Fairies are composed of Phozons and when they die, the Phozons return to the land to be used anew. Psyphers, utilizing their powers by absorbing Phozons are actually destructive because of that.

** And of course, the "Frog" StatusEffect, which can be cured (or caused) by a "Metamorphosis" potion. Which, ironically, comes with CollisionDamage jumping attacks and [[UniversalPoison poisonous]] touch built right in.

** And of course, the [[StandardStatusEffects "Frog" status effect]], which can be cured (or caused) by a "Metamorphosis" potion. Which, ironically, comes with CollisionDamage jumping attacks and [[UniversalPoison poisonous]] touch built right in.

* DamageOverTime: In addition to its set of StandardStatusEffects, there are fire and ice levels which sap 1% of your character's HP at regular intervals unless you drink an appropriate curing potion beforehand (or have elemental protection equipped). The effects of these levels are gone in the remake.

* StandardStatusEffects: Poison, Flame, Freeze, and [[BalefulPolymorph Frog]].

* UnwinnableByMistake: During Chapter 2 of the original, try not to have a full bag when you get to the Forest of Elrit. The Alchemy system is introduced there, and there are things you'll need to pick up in order to move the game along. If your bags are full when the Tutorial begins, you won't be able to drop excess items to make space since it disables all but the Materials you pick up, effectively casting you into limbo unless you reset the game.

** The Prophecies state that [[spoiler: only two humans will survive the Armageddon and rule the new world, indeed only two humans survived, Gwendolyn and Oswald; Cornelius and Velvet were not humans anymore, then again all other races, including Pookas, died as well and a millennia later Velvet and Cornelius became human again, so they are just that good at avoiding fate]]. On the other hand, exactly how "exact" the words are is questionable as [[spoiler:Gwendolyn isn't a human, she's a Valkyrie (an Aesir), but apparently that's human enough]].

* AlwaysChaoticEvil: Goblins, former Pooka who became Goblins ''because'' they were Evil. They make their lives either by stealing or mugging. When King Valentine returns from the Netherworld, they go back to serving him.

* {{Deconstruction}}: Of the tropes related to prophecies (i.e. NoManOfWomanBorn, ProphecyTwist, PropheticFallacy, {{Seer}}). All the prophecies seem to have twists in them, which make the words harder to decipher, or be taken at face value, and some parts of the prophecy are overlooked, but would turn out to be the most crucial factor. But in spite of all these, the prophecies would still turn out to be true, you cannot fight them, and someone attempting to go against them would meet a brutal fate in the end. For example, Onyx even uses a prophecy related to him to justify and remind that only the [[spoiler:World Tree]] can kill him and nobody else can. He's overlooked the factor that [[spoiler:Mercedes' TrueName is Yggdrasil]]. Due to all these twists and unexpected turns, the {{Seer}} dragon Hindel has ''stopped'' giving out prophecies altogether because many misinterpret his words in the end, and that Hindel himself wasn't able to predict such vague twists.

** [[spoiler: In the best ending of Leifthrasir, the World Tree is revealed to have extended its roots into the depths of the Netherworld where Ingway is. Seeing as the World Tree is heavily implied to be a reincarnated Mercedes...]]

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:It's TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt, and only four of the main characters remain alive. That said, it's more Ragnarok in practice, Gwendolyn and Oswald become the Adam and Eve to a new world, and, in the complete ending, after untold millenia, Cornelius and Velvet finally lift the Pooka Curse on all the afflicted living and dead]].

* EarnYourHappyEnding: In the bad ending, [[spoiler: [[KillEmAll everybody dies]] and there is no hope to restore the world]]. In the good ending, [[spoiler: Everybody dies except four of the five protagonists. Oswald and Gwendolyn earn their happy ending together and help usher in a new world, and Cornelius and Velvet survive as Pooka. Mercedes dies, but is reborn as the World Tree]]. In the best ending, [[spoiler: Cornelius and Velvet become human again]]. The good ending requires the player to [[NoManOfWomanBorn interpret a series of prophecies]] so that each of the five heroes fights during the Apocalypse in the correct order. Unfortunately, to get the best ending the player has to [[OneHundredPercentCompletion see every cutscene possible]]... Including the DownerEnding cutscenes that spring from messing up the correct boss fight order. This means you have to fight through the Apocalypse at least four times total in order get the best ending. ''Leifthrasir'' fixes things immensely both by allowing you to skip scenes you've already seen and allowing you to return to the attic after you've viewed what you needed, making it so that you only need to actually see the bad ending once.

* EarnYourHappyEnding: In the bad ending, [[spoiler: [[KillEmAll everybody dies]]]]. In the good ending, [[spoiler: Oswald and Gwendolyn earn their happy ending together, and Cornelius and Velvet survive as Pooka]]. In the best ending, [[spoiler: Cornelius and Velvet become human again]]. The good ending requires the player to [[NoManOfWomanBorn interpret a series of prophecies]] so that each of the five heroes fights during the Apocalypse in the correct order. Unfortunately, to get the best ending the player has to [[OneHundredPercentCompletion see every cutscene possible]]... Including the DownerEnding cutscenes that spring from messing up the correct boss fight order. This means you have to fight through the Apocalypse at least four times total in order get the best ending. ''Leifthrasir'' fixes things immensely both by allowing you to skip scenes you've already seen and allowing you to return to the attic after you've viewed what you needed, making it so that you only need to actually see the bad ending once.

* FateWorseThanDeath: Marriage, to the valkyries. Most of them would sooner die than give up their warrior lifestyle to tend house and bear children. The fact that most of their prospective husbands are sexist assholes may have something to do with it.

* GuideDangIt: Getting the best ending requires that you pick exactly the right playable character to defeat each of the five disasters, and knowing which character needs to face which disaster requires that you know some very obscure information. Here's the list:

** [[spoiler: During the bad ending, Myris exclaims, as the world is dying around her, that it's a terrible ending]].

* ImmuneToFlinching: The "Painkiller" potion protect the player from flinching and knockback, and the "Fire / Ice Spirits" potions protect the player from up to three hits. Most Bosses can technically be made to flinch, but it takes a ''lot'' more work than garden variety {{Mook}}s.

* DifficultySpike: The final book, Armageddon. While you can easily tackle the character's individual story books by level 35 or so, don't expect the same on the last book. The five disasters all have high HP and deal higher amounts of damage. Expect some LevelGrinding after finishing all first five books so that you can comfortably go through the sixth one.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_odin_sphere_conceptart_jxthi_3384.jpg]]

* OurElvesAreBetter: The faeries of Ringford (led by ''Elf''aria, and her nephew M''elvin''), take the role of the "elf" race in this story. The fairies are mostly of the Wood Elf variety, secluded in their country, being expert bowmen and are in-tune with nature and Phozons.

* {{Deconstruction}}: Of the tropes related to prophecies (i.e. NoManOfWomanBorn, ProphecyTwist, PropheticFallacy, {{Seer}}). All the prophecies seem to have twists in them, which make the words harder to decipher, or be taken at face value, and some parts of the prophecy are overlooked, but would turn out to be the most crucial factor. But in spite of all these, the prophecies would turn out to be true, you cannot fight them, and someone attempting to against them would meet a brutal fate in the end. Onyx even uses a prophecy related to him to justify and remind that only the [[spoiler:World Tree]] can kill him and nobody else can. Due to all these twists and unexpected turns, the {{Seer}} dragon Hindel has ''stopped'' giving out prophecies because many misinterpret them.

* InterfaceScrew: In several areas your minimap is unavailable.

*** Mercedes's RousingSpeech originally pointed out [[spoiler:humans also need Fairies to keep the earth bountiful for sustenance. Odin's lust for power was violating the natural order that kept his own people alive. Her anger was less about him violating the Fairies' land and more that he was violating the very world. Emphasising True Names and being a NatureHero in the speech also [[{{Foreshadowing}} foreshadows]] Mercedes's own [[RuleOfSymbolism True Name]].]]

** Odette actually has a very good reason to punish Psypher wielders, explaining, [[spoiler:"You toy with the cycle of souls using that spear."]] It was scrambled into the very arbitrary [[spoiler:"You're risking your very soul by playing with that spear"]], with no further explanation.
** Oswald's MoralDissonance as a political assassin gets lost. [[spoiler:"As you commanded, I have disposed of the Paladins in opposition."]] became [[spoiler:"As you command. The Paladins who were in opposition have [[DirtyCoward hidden themselves in secrecy]]."]] Hence his [[{{Foreshadowing}} ominous exchange]] with a Paladin beforehand.

** Others are very random. A resigned Lilipat's line, [[spoiler:"So the army we cobbled together was not enough after all,"]] became "I suppose random assaults proved to be an effective strategy in this situation." It did not match any context, making it blurted out of nowhere.
** The full scale of Ingway's manipulations near the end of the fifth book. [[spoiler:"If the Halja come this way, I shall easily be able to sneak in," was "With the Halja headed this way, it should be easier for her to sneak in."]] Unknown to everyone, he [[spoiler:had helped Mercedes save Brom from the Underworld]] during her story.

* TheStinger: [[spoiler: If you manage to get the best ending, there's a post-credits scene where a shopkeeper talks to an unseen traveler about how peaceful everything is and the playable cast all make an appearance one more time]].

* AboveTheInfluence: [[spoiler: Gwendolyn's relationship with Oswald is unsettling, until you play through his side of the story and find out that not only is Gwen ''not'' under a love spell, but Oswald, who didn't feel right about having her whammied into loving him, went balls-out questing for a way to avert the spell before discovering that the spell was never cast in the first place.]]

* AchillesHeel: All of the heroes for their respective final boss fights. For example, [[spoiler: King Gallon]] believes himself to be invincible, as only a person with Titanian royal blood ''and'' Odette's power over death can actually kill him. [[spoiler: It happens to be Oswald.]]

* AdamAndEvePlot: One of the ancient prophecies foretells that only ''two'' people survive the Armageddon to revive the world. [[spoiler: Gwendolyn and Oswald. Velvet and Cornelius survive as well, but as Pooka... Only to regain their human shape in the Good Ending]].
* AllThereInTheManual: Inverted. You're better off NOT reading at the very least Velvet's character profile in the manual, because the fact that [[spoiler: she's secretly Odin's illegitimate daughter]] would have otherwise been quite a surprising twist the first time you play the game.

** Many of the game's most annoying enemies (like Titania's wizards and Oozes) were toned down for the remake and there is now an option to [[spoiler: restart the book of Armageddon without finishing it]], a blessing for completionists trying to unlock all of the scenes.

* ArtifactOfDoom: The Cauldron, which not only helpfully [[RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver pulses with evil red light]], but serves as a catalyst for the wars that consume the world, and [[spoiler: drains the very life out of the universe via its creation of psyphers]]. King Valentine also boasts in Armageddon that these wars were AllForNothing, as he has cursed the Cauldron to [[spoiler: turn anyone but him who tries to use it into a pooka]].
* ArtStyleDissonance: The anime art direction is colorful, charming, and full of all sorts of cute-looking characters like the Pooka. The story, on the other hand, is very dark and grim. There's a lot of death and misery, there are some very convoluted politics at work between all the characters, only a little humor to speak of, and [[spoiler: the best ending is only barely [[BittersweetEnding bittersweet]].]]

* BackstabBackfire: Skuldi begs Oswald to let him live after he has revealed Gwendolyn's location. [[spoiler: Oswald turns around and seems to consider it, at which point Skuldi attempts to attack him from behind... Only to get killed by the Shadow Knight. Oswald's thought process reveals he never intended to spare him, as he's too dangerous.]]

** Cornelius is transformed into a rabbit-like "Pooka" even during his opening prologue, later learning that it's (more or less) irreversible, and that the entire Pooka race share the same curse. [[spoiler: Velvet receives the same fate during the Good Ending, and both of them manage to reverse it for the living and the dead by collecting all of the Valentine coins]].
** Mercedes encounters a talking frog early in her story, who was also once human. [[spoiler: It's Ingway, who ticked off the Wise Men and was subsequently cursed by Urzur.]]

* TheBattleDidntCount: The typical result of not fighting the final bosses with the correct characters. Of particular note is [[spoiler: Onyx,]] who either has [[spoiler: his vulcans]] kill the player off-screen, sees [[spoiler: Gwendolyn kill herself trying to fight him]], or {{No Sell}}s [[spoiler: Oswald before goading him into overusing his shadow form to turn himself into a revenant]].

** [[spoiler: As a frog, Ingway does this multiple times in order to save Mercedes from certain threats.]]
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: It's TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt, and only four of the main characters remain alive. That said, it's more Ragnarok in practice, Gwendolyn and Oswald become the Adam and Eve to a new world, and, in the complete ending, after untold millenia, Cornelius and Velvet finally lift the Pooka Curse on all the afflicted living and dead]].

** Odette actually has a very good reason to punish Psypher wielders, explaining, [[spoiler: "You toy with the cycle of souls using that spear."]] It was scrambled into the very arbitrary [[spoiler: "You're risking your very soul by playing with that spear"]], with no further explanation.
** Oswald's MoralDissonance as a political assassin gets lost. [[spoiler: "As you commanded, I have disposed of the Paladins in opposition."]] became [[spoiler: "As you command. The Paladins who were in opposition have [[DirtyCoward hidden themselves in secrecy]]."]] Hence his [[{{Foreshadowing}} ominous exchange]] with a Paladin beforehand.
** The above becomes unintentionally [[HypocriticalHumor funny]] when combined with a later fudge -- Oswald kills a villain with the justification, "[[spoiler: I cannot allow someone as [[{{Hypocrisy}} evil as you]] to continue to live...]]" Especially since he highlights his own lack of morals first. Originally he just said "[[spoiler: [[CombatPragmatist You're too dangerous to let live]]]]".
** Others are very random. A resigned Lilipat's line, [[spoiler: "So the army we cobbled together was not enough after all,"]] became "I suppose random assaults proved to be an effective strategy in this situation." It did not match any context, making it blurted out of nowhere.
** The full scale of Ingway's manipulations near the end of the fifth book. [[spoiler: "If the Halja come this way, I shall easily be able to sneak in," was "With the Halja headed this way, it should be easier for her to sneak in."]] Unknown to everyone, he [[spoiler: had helped Mercedes save Brom from the Underworld]] during her story.

* BossBonanza: Except for [[spoiler: The Beast of Darkova]] (who still gets greatly upgraded with lots of new attacks) and [[spoiler: Onyx]] (who just gets a stat upgrade), the rest of the bosses during the Armageddon book are brand-new.

* BreakTheCutie: Mercedes. Initially by the end of her book, she's overcome her initial hesitance and weakness, fought against and defeated Odin, and is now considered a true queen with every right to be proud of her accomplishments. [[spoiler: During the Armageddon, Ringford is easily burnt down by King Onyx's march and, shortly before their battle that results in her and Onyx [[MutualKill killing each other]], the Inferno King taunts her for the destruction of her country. More so, as Mercedes dies, she doesn't refer to Ringford as ''her'' kingdom — she refers to it as her mother's, apologizes for having failed to save it, and proceeds to call herself ''useless.'' Struggling to live up to her mother's name only to have all of her achievements stripped away in a instant does ''not'' make for an even bittersweet death.]]
* BreakingTheFourthWall: [[spoiler: In ''Leifthrasir'' the "Curtain Call" trophy is earned when the shopkeeper hands you a Valentinian coin. The trophy's description even says as much]].

** Velvet angrily calls Odin out on his [[spoiler: banishing Gwendolyn from his kingdom for saving her from execution, which was all just to please him, saying if he really was relieved Velvet was alive, he wouldn't have punished Gwendolyn so]].
** Ingway [[spoiler: allies with Odette to attack Ragnanival and transforms himself into the Beast of Darkova]] for the express purpose of calling Odin out over the fact that, after Ingway [[spoiler: caused the destruction of the entire country of Valentine in order to save Odin]], Odin callously dismissed him with a "well done, traitor" and claimed the Cauldron without ever showing him an ounce of gratitude, affection, or regret over what happened.

* CatchAFallingStar: Happens in the last book when [[spoiler: Gwendolyn tumbles off Leventhan's back and Oswald catches her just before she hits the ground.]] NotTheFallThatKillsYou is, of course, in full effect.

** Defeating enemies releases "Phozons", which you collect to increase your weapon's attack power... And [[spoiler: the events of Armageddon are specifically triggered by King Valentine ordering the Cauldron to suck all the Phozons out of the entire world.]] During the game's good ending, [[spoiler: after Armageddon has destroyed everything else, Velvet uses the Cauldron to break everyone's weapons down, releasing all the [[LifeEnergy stored Phozon energy]] back into the world.]]
** Fairies have two names, a given name and a True Name. All the true names are (like everything else) based on Norse mythology. [[spoiler: The World Tree in the prophecy is Yggdrasil, Mercedes's true name.]]
** Cornelius's uncle had been removed from the the throne by his grandfather for falling in love with and marrying a commoner girl. [[spoiler: His name was Edgar, Oswald's father. Oswald has royal blood and Odette's power, allowing him to slay King Gallon.]]
** One reason Wagner is so pissed off at humanity is because someone stole one of the dragon eggs. [[spoiler: That was King Valentine and the dragon would hatch to become Leventhan, one of the disasters of the Armageddon.]]
* {{Chickification}}: Valkyries fear this more than death itself. They dread surviving their dangerous lifestyle long enough to be married off, since Ragnanival menfolk apparently tend to be sexist assholes. [[spoiler: Given that Gwendolyn is so dutifully obedient, for all her spirit, she's very fortunate in that her husband absolutely refuses to treat her like an object, and is perfectly okay with her continuing to be a warrior]].
* ColossusClimb: The final battles against [[spoiler: The Cauldron and Leventhan]] to reach their [[AttackItsWeakPoint weak points]].

The nation of Valentine used to be a prosperous kingdom, until its greedy King held control over a magical relic called the "Crystallization Cauldron". He used it to conquer the nearby nations, but eventually lost control of it, and watched as it destroyed his kingdom almost overnight.

* GlowingWeapon: All Psyphers are attached with red or blue crystals that occasionally glow. Though it becomes more evident as the player absorbs Phozons - the crystals visibly shine.

* WhoWantsToLiveForever: It is barely alluded to in the game itself, before the very end, but the Pooka curse confers ageless immortality on its victim, probably as a side effect of being eternally unbreakable. Becoming a humanoid rabbit in exchange for living forever might seem like a good deal, until you realize that it does not confer any sort of HealingFactor. Pooka who suffer fatal injuries still die and rot and become the ghouls hauling candlesticks around the Netherworld. [[spoiler: King Valentine's actions heavily imply that the ghoul Pooka cannot ever be permanently destroyed, except by something that presumably kills people DeaderThanDead, like Leventhan's phozon absorbtion. Cornelius and Velvet end up living for an extremely long time after the events of the game, and during the bonus ending, before they return to normal, Cornelius doubts whether they should abandon eternity in company of each other for a brief human life, but Velvet convinces him that living forever apart from everyone else, in hiding from normal humans and childless, wouldn't be worth it.]]