23 years ago Square released a game entitled Final Fantasy. It was titled as such due to the companies financial difficulties - if the game wasn't a success the company would almost certainly go bankrupt. Of course we all know the story - the game has now become a hit franchise with over 15 games. There is almost a reference to this event as Square-Enix released their latest original IP - The Last Remnant.
Released in late 2008 over 2 disks the game boasts a unique and innovative battle system alongisde a great soundtrack coupled with an interesting art design. Originally a timed Xbox 360 exclusive, the game has also been released on PC and PS3 too. The game itself was being touted as an IP ?for the world?, but does anyone in the world want to play it ? is this literally The Last Remnant?
The game wastes no time in pushing the player right into the heart of the action. You control Rush Sykes, the teenage son off two world famous Remnant researchers. The games opening cut-scenes introduces the player to him by almost immediately jumping them into a fight. Don't be fooled however, the game ? whilst offering a large amount of combat, has enough depth to satisfy hardcore fans of the genre with its storytelling and large variety of back story. Rush himself is looking for his sister, Irina ? who was carried away by a flying Remnant. The story revolves around his search for her, political espionage and a mysterious character by the rather hilarious name of The Conqueror. Support characters such as David, the ruler of a small city and his army leaders are all interesting, but are never really fleshed out and appear to serve as guardians of Rush, rather than allies throughout his search. The diversity of the race of NPC's (Non-player character) is limited, with only three main types of character appearing throughout the game. Despite this; the diversity in their colour and voice acting helps soften the blow.
Character design is relatively well done; the main characters are detailed and appear unique ? however the majority of townsfolk and enemies are repeated throughout the game - not something that is unusual but they themselves are bland. Voice acting is average; with some lines being read extremely well, whilst others make the characters seem bland and uninterested. Rush's lines, and even the menu options, seem crudely done as his characterization is little more than ?surfer dude?. He consistently sprouts catchphrases and lines that, if this game were to be played in ten years, would surly be laughed at. His sister Irina's voice acting is the stereotypical helpless female; she sounds incredibly young despite the appearance of a teenager ? a stereotype that is starting to irritate me.
Something The Last Remnant does very well are often are the CG cut-scenes. They are often visually impressive with smooth animation and diverse battle sequences. There are a few animations that seemed rather cartoonish and immature ? they particularly stand out when the game attempts to set a serious tone. However, these are few and far between.
The battle-system is where the heart of the gameplay is to be found. It works in a turn-based system. With various unions (groups of up to 5 characters with a shared health bar) initiating battles with various opposing unions. From there the two unions battles it out as others attack around them. Other unions can flank those in battle but the battling unions cannot directly terminate the battle state unless they retreat away and from there must attack the enemy again or risk being flanked. The player simply chooses rather basic commands such as ?charge? and selects the enemy to attack. There are two types of special attack ? Mystic arts; or magic, and Combat arts; or physical attacks. Both have their strengths and weaknesses against different enemy types. Once the unions life bar is depleted the enemy are terminated and cannot be revived. Certain characters have special attacks such as Lord David's ?Gai Borg? attack; an spectacular move in which a giant gun copies a replica in the hands of David.
The cast level up through a ?battle rank? system ? one that is extremely difficult to work out and seemed almost random. You gain ranks by defeating groups of enemies. These monsters are selected in-real time by running up to them and selecting a certain button. This move activates a large circle that starts the fight sequence between the player and all monsters within the circle. Its a system that I've seen before, but it works particularly well in this game. Especially as the enemies are merciless when it comes to attacking you. If you do not engage them they will hunt you down and take the initiative.
Loading times before and after battles are often irritating and can take up to 5 seconds - not to much of a problem, but the sheer amount of combat the player must face soon make you wish for a wider variety in the menu tip text. I personally enjoyed the battle-system. It can be unfair at times and I advise you to turn-off a quick-time event that occurs during combat because having to focus on the screen non-stop during 20 minute boss fights can soon become tedious! Yet despite its flaws, its something different, and its great to see a developer; especially the grandfather of the trade, pushing out of the traditions of the genre.
During the field sequences (as Rush runs around the various areas) he has the ability to slow down time foe a brief period. This ability can be used to link multiple enemies as you can select enemies by running near them and then fire your battle circle - initiating a fight with all enemies, in this state. Its effective and adds a layer of strategy beyond the normal fight or flight mechanisms.
Your overall enjoyment of this game will all together depend on the version you buy. At present the PC version is superior as the Xbox 360 game has a large amount of texture pop-ups and frame-rate issues, especially without the optional install to the hard-drive- with this game its near mandatory to gain an enjoyable experience. Its disappointing, and shows that developers are still trying to get to grips with the Unreal engine. What's worse is that Lost Odyssey showed it is possible to create this kind of game well on said engine, yet the biggest name out there failed.
The music, created by Tsuyoshi Sekito is perhaps the strongest factor in the game. It involves a superb mix of orchestral wails, loud heavy guitars and fast tempo drum beats. In all, the soundtrack is excellent and a vocalized song that is played at the end of the game could well compete with a number of pop songs currently released.
To increase their squad players can recruit different soldiers and complete guild quests - doing so dramatically adds to the games life-span, which is great because there is no new game + option. However, the real depth comes from the optional side-missions. These quests open up new area and even offer the chance of plot spoilers; before they occur in-game.
However, hiring members to join your union is needlessly difficult. The menu system is extremely unintuitive and difficult to get to grips with ? what's worse is the fact the game may take only 20 hours if you rush (pun not intended) through the main storyline, if the player does not explore the world. It'd be a shame to do so because the various areas throughout the world are diverse and interesting; one moment the player could be in an extremely large desert ? the next in an claustrophobic's-nightmare style cave. Towns also give the impression of being large and bustling ? so it is disheartening to learn you can only explore certain areas. The cities look great and are exquisitely detailed ? I would have enjoyed running around a large city instead of just being confined to certain roads and shops as is the usual standard.
The Last Remnant is an average Japanese Role playing game with a unique battle system. For those of you with a powerful PC I advise you to check out the demo on Steam. For all ?hardcore? JRPG fans I'd recommend you buy it ? regardless of system. As for those looking for a fun, casual experience ? stay away. The game is rather unintuitive, and despite offering something different it just doesn't feel polished enough to recommend unless your a big fan of this type of game.
Released in late 2008 over 2 disks the game boasts a unique and innovative battle system alongisde a great soundtrack coupled with an interesting art design. Originally a timed Xbox 360 exclusive, the game has also been released on PC and PS3 too. The game itself was being touted as an IP ?for the world?, but does anyone in the world want to play it ? is this literally The Last Remnant?
The game wastes no time in pushing the player right into the heart of the action. You control Rush Sykes, the teenage son off two world famous Remnant researchers. The games opening cut-scenes introduces the player to him by almost immediately jumping them into a fight. Don't be fooled however, the game ? whilst offering a large amount of combat, has enough depth to satisfy hardcore fans of the genre with its storytelling and large variety of back story. Rush himself is looking for his sister, Irina ? who was carried away by a flying Remnant. The story revolves around his search for her, political espionage and a mysterious character by the rather hilarious name of The Conqueror. Support characters such as David, the ruler of a small city and his army leaders are all interesting, but are never really fleshed out and appear to serve as guardians of Rush, rather than allies throughout his search. The diversity of the race of NPC's (Non-player character) is limited, with only three main types of character appearing throughout the game. Despite this; the diversity in their colour and voice acting helps soften the blow.
Character design is relatively well done; the main characters are detailed and appear unique ? however the majority of townsfolk and enemies are repeated throughout the game - not something that is unusual but they themselves are bland. Voice acting is average; with some lines being read extremely well, whilst others make the characters seem bland and uninterested. Rush's lines, and even the menu options, seem crudely done as his characterization is little more than ?surfer dude?. He consistently sprouts catchphrases and lines that, if this game were to be played in ten years, would surly be laughed at. His sister Irina's voice acting is the stereotypical helpless female; she sounds incredibly young despite the appearance of a teenager ? a stereotype that is starting to irritate me.
Something The Last Remnant does very well are often are the CG cut-scenes. They are often visually impressive with smooth animation and diverse battle sequences. There are a few animations that seemed rather cartoonish and immature ? they particularly stand out when the game attempts to set a serious tone. However, these are few and far between.
The battle-system is where the heart of the gameplay is to be found. It works in a turn-based system. With various unions (groups of up to 5 characters with a shared health bar) initiating battles with various opposing unions. From there the two unions battles it out as others attack around them. Other unions can flank those in battle but the battling unions cannot directly terminate the battle state unless they retreat away and from there must attack the enemy again or risk being flanked. The player simply chooses rather basic commands such as ?charge? and selects the enemy to attack. There are two types of special attack ? Mystic arts; or magic, and Combat arts; or physical attacks. Both have their strengths and weaknesses against different enemy types. Once the unions life bar is depleted the enemy are terminated and cannot be revived. Certain characters have special attacks such as Lord David's ?Gai Borg? attack; an spectacular move in which a giant gun copies a replica in the hands of David.
The cast level up through a ?battle rank? system ? one that is extremely difficult to work out and seemed almost random. You gain ranks by defeating groups of enemies. These monsters are selected in-real time by running up to them and selecting a certain button. This move activates a large circle that starts the fight sequence between the player and all monsters within the circle. Its a system that I've seen before, but it works particularly well in this game. Especially as the enemies are merciless when it comes to attacking you. If you do not engage them they will hunt you down and take the initiative.
Loading times before and after battles are often irritating and can take up to 5 seconds - not to much of a problem, but the sheer amount of combat the player must face soon make you wish for a wider variety in the menu tip text. I personally enjoyed the battle-system. It can be unfair at times and I advise you to turn-off a quick-time event that occurs during combat because having to focus on the screen non-stop during 20 minute boss fights can soon become tedious! Yet despite its flaws, its something different, and its great to see a developer; especially the grandfather of the trade, pushing out of the traditions of the genre.
During the field sequences (as Rush runs around the various areas) he has the ability to slow down time foe a brief period. This ability can be used to link multiple enemies as you can select enemies by running near them and then fire your battle circle - initiating a fight with all enemies, in this state. Its effective and adds a layer of strategy beyond the normal fight or flight mechanisms.
Your overall enjoyment of this game will all together depend on the version you buy. At present the PC version is superior as the Xbox 360 game has a large amount of texture pop-ups and frame-rate issues, especially without the optional install to the hard-drive- with this game its near mandatory to gain an enjoyable experience. Its disappointing, and shows that developers are still trying to get to grips with the Unreal engine. What's worse is that Lost Odyssey showed it is possible to create this kind of game well on said engine, yet the biggest name out there failed.
The music, created by Tsuyoshi Sekito is perhaps the strongest factor in the game. It involves a superb mix of orchestral wails, loud heavy guitars and fast tempo drum beats. In all, the soundtrack is excellent and a vocalized song that is played at the end of the game could well compete with a number of pop songs currently released.
To increase their squad players can recruit different soldiers and complete guild quests - doing so dramatically adds to the games life-span, which is great because there is no new game + option. However, the real depth comes from the optional side-missions. These quests open up new area and even offer the chance of plot spoilers; before they occur in-game.
However, hiring members to join your union is needlessly difficult. The menu system is extremely unintuitive and difficult to get to grips with ? what's worse is the fact the game may take only 20 hours if you rush (pun not intended) through the main storyline, if the player does not explore the world. It'd be a shame to do so because the various areas throughout the world are diverse and interesting; one moment the player could be in an extremely large desert ? the next in an claustrophobic's-nightmare style cave. Towns also give the impression of being large and bustling ? so it is disheartening to learn you can only explore certain areas. The cities look great and are exquisitely detailed ? I would have enjoyed running around a large city instead of just being confined to certain roads and shops as is the usual standard.
The Last Remnant is an average Japanese Role playing game with a unique battle system. For those of you with a powerful PC I advise you to check out the demo on Steam. For all ?hardcore? JRPG fans I'd recommend you buy it ? regardless of system. As for those looking for a fun, casual experience ? stay away. The game is rather unintuitive, and despite offering something different it just doesn't feel polished enough to recommend unless your a big fan of this type of game.
