The Last Story
the limited edition packaging
The Last Story is another game that took a few petitions from a dedicated fan base to get over here, much like Xenoblade. The instant allure for fans are the two big names tied to this game: Hironobu Sakaguchi and Nobuo Uematsu. The former being the father of the Final Fantasy series and the other being the musical genius behind many of the Final Fantasy games. Both having departed Square Enix have found each other again, working under this Mistwalker game. Having Hironobu Sakaguchi on board also explains the similarities between 'The Last Story' and 'Final Fantasy' titles.
On a minor note: it's nice to see both their names actually appear on the box art. They deserve recognition for all the work they've put into gaming. Anyone who is familiar with the genre knows having them there is a huge selling point.
I'll start off with what the designers wanted to be the centerpiece for this game: the story. From the packaging of the limited edition version, to the use of a narrator, and breaking the game up into chapters, the creators wanted you to know where your attention should be. And for the most part, the story shines where it needs to. It does well to stay away from fantasy and anime cliches for the most part, but there are a few of the melodramatic moments and events that seem to come out of nowhere and leave no explanation. But overall, it's a tale that endeared me to the characters and their struggles.
The cast of characters is made up of a bunch of rag-tag mercenaries that find their way into Lazulis island where they have various encounters with the guards, the royal family and the citizens. All of which get caught up in a giant power struggle between humans and an outcast race known as the Gurak. It's up to your band of merry people to sort out all the political deception and bring peace to the land by using teamwork and the power of the Outsider.
If it sounds like this is a big epic tale, I assure you it's not. The entire game is primarily focused around one town and it's outlying areas. You never really get a feel for how large the world is or that two entire races are really at war with each other since your point of view is limited to this one island and the Gurak island.
That's not to say this is a bad thing; it's better to concentrate on developing and polishing what you have than spread your story and characters out too thin and have everything fall flat. But at the same time it's hard to not have the words 'Wii limitations' in the back of your mind. But for what's there, it's good. So I can't complain about the scope and size of the story when a lot of care and attention went into writing it.
The best parts of the story are seeing the characters interact with one another. Over the course of the 20-some odd hour game, you'll really get a feel for the band of mercenaries. They feel like they've known each other for years and years, and treat each other like family. You'll see them get into arguments and strife but also see them share tender moments together. I felt myself really growing attached to them the more and more I played.
JRPGs tend to forget to do this: make the player care about the characters. You can't just throw some people into a situation and have the player already be invested in their plight, you have to take the time to introduce us to the characters and show us why we should care. And that's what The Last Story does, it lets the cast grow on you. All those moments where they talk and interact mean something to the story and pay off down the road.
In summation, the story didn't want to be something big and expansive. It was meant as a small story. Each part carefully crafted with each character playing a key role. So while this may not be the epic tale found in Skyrim or Mass Effect, it does leave a lasting impression. This is the story you'll remember years from now.
Graphically, the game does well to max out the potential of the Wii. Everything is rendered with enough detail to make the story come alive. My only criticism is with the color palette. All the colors for most of the game seem very desaturated and blend together. That's not to say there aren't a few vibrant areas or effects, but overall the game looks the same from start to finish. All the characters animate well and the environments look nice, but a little more variety would've been welcome. There are some awkward moments with General Ashtor's conversation model though: his mouth tends to go into spasms when trying to smile.
The difference maker with this game is the battle system. There's nothing quite like it, at least as far as I've played, and that was the whole point behind the design of it. Sakaguchi wanted to get away from the active time battle system that has been apart of the Final Fantasy series since Final Fantasy IV.
Instead of a turn-based or an active-time system, you have real-time. Your character will move around the battle field, dodging enemy fire, blocking, shooting arrows and using the environment to unleash attacks. It takes a while to get used to, but once you do, it is interesting to play with. The way you approach a battle was also changed up. You can sometimes use stealth to pick off enemies one by one, or just take them head on, the choice is up to you.
You attack automatically, or using the A-button if you use the different controller configuration, by moving the analog stick in a certain direction, and that determines where you attack. Since the analog stick pulls double-duty of character movement and attack direction, holding the B-button will put you in a guard stance, and allow you to move around the battlefield without auto-attacking everything along the way. While moving around while holding the B-button, your character can also move over obstacles like chest-high walls and other characters, ensuring you can get where you want to go with little trouble.
Each character gets about 3-4 abilities to use, and they all have value in battle. Much like the story, a limited approach was taken to determining what abilities people had so every ability would see some use eventually. There's also context moves for the main character like a charge attack, or running up a wall and striking downward onto an enemy that see just about as much use. Each character also has an SP meter that, when full, can activate a strong attack, defensive ability or increase your battle speed, but in order to use it again, you'll need to either sustain damage or deal damage to recharge the meter back to full.
Magic in this game has the unique property of leaving area of effect conditions on the battle field when cast. A small, colored ring will appear on the battlefield which can then be targeted with another area of attack ability to create an environment condition like having the enemies slip or take away their ability to guard. There aren't many combinations of conditions, but they are all useful.
Bosses really shine in this game. Rarely are there two alike and they all do a great job of getting away from the run-up-and-bash-them battle strategy. Each one needs a different utilization of the battle system to defeat. For those who still want to just hack away, there is that option too, but it just takes longer.
Since everything does take a while to get used to in battle: you have 5 lives before you game over. Every time your HP drops to 0, you consume one life. When all the main characters lives are gone, it's game over. Each party member has their own stock of lives, and when they're gone, the ally is downed for the remainder of the battle. The game auto-saves at certain points, so getting a game over just means going back to before the battle and trying again.
To revive allies, you can activate the power of the Outsider. While in this mode, all of the enemy fire will be direct towards you, and when you run near a downed ally, they'll revive. Also, each connected attack on an opponent will restore some health to the main character. There's no limit to how many times you can activate the power, but it does wear off eventually, so you'll need to reapply if you want to continuously use it.
After each battle, your lives and HP all getting filled back up. Like Xenoblade, there are no battle items at all. So there's no fumbling around with menus when trying to unleash attacks or heal your party. Leveling is relatively easy to the point where you don't ever have to stay in an area and grind out EXP. This contributes to the nice pacing of the game.
More options for directing your party around would've been nice. Sometimes healers strayed too far away in the larger arenas, or characters would just constantly stand in the line of enemy fire. But since the lives system gives you a lot of leeway, it's not that big of a problem. You can charge your skill gauge which will allow you to give direct commands to your allies as far as what ability they will use next so you can plan a coordinated assault.
As you gather gear, you'll have the option to upgrade them up to a certain tier. Upgrading is simple and easy to do. The most you'll need is money and a few ingredients which can be found going through most of the game's dungeons. Upgrading weapons and armor can lead to some nice bonus attributes like faster movement speed or increase damage reduction while guarding.
Most of the levels are pretty linear, only the hub town really lets you run around and explore. It would've been nice to see some more open-ended areas since you'll be stuck in a corridor while running around the dungeons. But the town is nicely detailed with alleys and townsfolk to pick up extra side quests or shop.
Some of the environmental context functions like ducking behind a wall or opening a chest can get annoying since they all use the same button. I found myself trying to open treasure chests but end up getting stuck to a wall and entering sneaking mode. The frustration level is minimal, but it still happened on occasion.
Nobuo Uematsu puts together one of his best works yet. Listening to the standalone soundtrack, you can hear how his work has evolved. I got a sense of a more theatrical tone and structure from his compositions, as if he was trying to channel Harry Gregson-Williams but still keeping his signature melodic touches that makes his songs stay with you even after you've finished the game. There are a few tracks that have odd choices made in them, but they don't take away from what is overall, a great musical achievement.
Voice acting for The Last Story, much like Xenoblade, was localized in Europe, so get ready for a lot of English mannerisms and accents. It's not distracting from an American perspective, it's just amusing every time someone gets called a 'git'. Unlike Xenoblade, there is no option to change the voices back to their original Japanese recording, but I doubt there was a huge audience for that (or a huge audience for this game for that matter). The English cast does a fine job giving life and personality to the characters. I can't think of a weak point in the entire cast.
This is perhaps the one game I'll ever complain about not having enough Wii-mote support. I know that sounds stupid, but hear me out. When you hold down the Z-button, you go into first person mode. You'd think this would allow you to point the Wii-mote at the screen and move your field of vision around, but no. You use the analog stick to move around. It doesn't take away from the game, but it is odd that they left that out. But then again, there is no motion controls or gimicks at all, so maybe this is just the control design being consistent.
Speaking of odd behaviors, I recommend playing this game with the Wii-mote and not the classic controller. The less amount of buttons works in the Wii-mote's favor. The classic controller really doesn't add too much and the button layout isn't the greatest. You'll definitely want simpler over familiar with this game. The loss of easier camera control doesn't make a difference since it'll auto-position behind the main character most of the time.
I did find that, during battle, the camera can work against you a lot of the time. Since you can't change the vertical positioning of the camera, no matter what controller you use, there will be moments where your view is obstructed by miscellaneous battle set pieces or characters being in the way which can be frustrating.
Once you've beaten the game, you'll be treated with a new game plus option. There's also multi-player battles, but I avoided it. I heard it was enjoyable and functional, but I wanted to enjoy this game for the solo campaign.
Unfortunately, I get the feeling The Last Story will largely remain unnoticed and, because XSeed is the publisher, it will probably go out of print before too long so make sure you pick it up as soon as possible. It's a great game and shouldn't be missed. For me, it was definitely an acquired taste: getting used to the battle system and the setting. But once everything settled in, I couldn't put it down.
All images were taken by me and are open to use by whomever, where ever.
