Odin Sphere is one of my favorite games of all time.
My favorite things about it are easily the story and atmosphere. It's the quintessential video game adventure story to me, like the Star Wars of video games. Likable characters, enchanting world, great pace, lots of twists and turns, fantastical yet tense atmosphere, fantastic conclusion, etc. etc.
Also the way they break up the story into 5 non-chronological stories is brilliant. Forces you to piece things together bit by bit and gives the whole story a sense of scale that you rarely see in games twice as long.
Most people I know hated the gameplay. I actually liked it, but only because I accidentally skipped the part of the tutorial that explained how to level up your damage lol. As a result, every boss fight was an intense gauntlet from hell. Otherwise I have to agree with people who played it normally, too repetitive and too much grinding.
A little polish could have made the gameplay fantastic though, here's hoping that this remake gives the game the care it deserves.