The Last Story

[HandsomeDead]

I've got started on it, and I'm a couple hours in now.

It's still dripping new mechanics at me. It's... okay... so far. It has that disconnected feel to it when you're playing, like you're just sort of taking part. Attacks are automatic like in Xenoblade, Dragon Age etc but so far I've only got one ability so I just walk around in crowds of enemies. The allied AI is pretty good, but they have magic attacks and stuff and I wish I just had more control over that stuff. I'd like to delegate more to give me more to do.

That might come later, like I said I'm still early in.

It seems pretty basic story wise to start with, though some of the dialogue between characters has made me laugh a little. Like Xenoblade it has those regional English accents with some being better than others. There's a girl called Syrenne or something like that and she has this vague northern accent, like one a general northern person in a kids TV show may have. That one is grating a bit.

Unless the game opens up a bit then I can't see this being anywhere near the game Xenoblade is, and I know I'm comparing them a lot but it's hard not to. That one did seem to impress more from the offset.

[HandsomeDead]

No-one else get this?

Now I am right at the very end but it has done the typical JRPG thing and expects me to do a long arsed fight and when you die it's all the way back to the beginning.

On the podcast I complained about the lack of control but you do eventually get to order your companions around more. But that's another problem, as over the course of the game it's still dropping new mechanics and by the time you've got everything it's near the end of the game and there is no real reason to hold them all back. It just makes the first 10 hours not as good as it could of been.

And while I thought the story was cliché at first it did eventually win me over. It's still cliché, but done with a quiet confidence that stops it from being annoying. Everyone is kinda likeable in their own way.

I think The Last Story is just another one of those JRPGs that have been released this gen which is kinda good and maybe worth playing if you're into the genre but it won't blow your mind.

[DANGERMAN]

it's one of those games that a few years ago I'd have bought it regardless of the fact I was never actually going to get around to playing it. I'd need to get through Xenoblade before getting this though

[radiofloyd]

it's one of those games that a few years ago I'd have bought it regardless of the fact I was never actually going to get around to playing it. I'd need to get through Xenoblade before getting this though

Same, i'll definitely get it later in the summer after i finish Xenoblade (and Skyward Sword).

[Bob]

I have been playing this. It's pretty good. Similar feelings to what DC had although I haven't played Xenoblade Chrinicles yet so I think I am slightly more positive. My main gripe so far is the amount of slow down during the combat. It crawls along sometimes which is pretty unacceptable. In the most recent section I did there were enemies that cast slow on me, which was then combined with the game casting slow on itself. Gave me flash backs to Command and Conquer on the PS1.

[HandsomeDead]

I think the most interesting aspect of The Last Story is that it is a an RPG with level design. An RPG's gameplay is always pretty much just system based. Finding weaknesses, managing commands and stuff. With LS it incorporates the the areas that you're in and tailors them into something to solve as well as the system stuff.

The only problem is it is all but too simple. They didn't push the boat out and make something mind blowing. Maybe with another crack at it they could.

[Bob]

Finished! And, it was alright. I'm not sure what it did to deserve an 80 on metacritic to be honest. Combat was good but the fact you couldn't issue basic commands to your team without expending all your AP was bizarre and made much worse by the fact that one of the two healers didn't want to use her healing magic and the other didn't want to use her offensive magic unless they were told. Both of which I needed near the end of the game on a regular basis.

The combat was interesting but never really moved on beyond what you start with. A few hours into the game and you have pretty much been given every tool you are going to get. Which for a JRPG is fairly revolutionary but the problem is that there isn't really anything interesting to do with those tools.

The story was alright but some of the twists near the end had no real explanation as to the characters motivation and the main guys reactions to them ridiculous. On top of that the Princess spent about 60% of the game kidnapped and about half of that unconscious. The only real standout in the story was Syrenne who was really charming. The game would have been infinitely more interesting had she been the main character instead of the generic androgynous dude.

From a technical point of view the slowdown was awful. Completely unacceptable and at a couple of times throughout the game I was suffering from a slow status effect and actual game slowdown meaning my character was just sort of crawling along at a few frames per second. Hilarious the first time it happened but it got old quickly. I liked that you could play dress up though. I had a red vest.

The biggest problem with the game though and probably the reason I am so down on it. It just didn't know when to end. Not that it was too long. Only coming in at around 26 hours it was paced well throughout up until the final boss. Then you have a about two hours of nonsense. Just walking round, talking to people with very little indication of where you should be going and what you should be doing. It became very very tiresome.

There is a new game plus but after having a quick look at it, it appears all the enemies are just like they were the first time round. So I'm not really sure what the point of going through with level 70s would be. Overall I enjoyed it a lot at the start, quite a bit in the middle and not at all at the end. It was an alright JRPG but I honestly think a lot of the attention and praise it got was because the Americans were told they couldn't have it, so when they could they all show their loads. Or something.

[radiofloyd]

Gonna toss a phoenix down on this thread.

Played the first hour of this tonight. It's one of the worst first hours of any game I've ever played. Reading through previous comments - the disjointed gameplay, the barrage of mechanics and tutorials - the slowdown - I agree with them all. This game just doesn't compare favourably with any good jrpg.

I suppose the main problem is the awful combat. It's some kind of real time, streamlined, westernised mess. With a terrible camera. I mean real-time combat (in a traditional jrpg) doesn't need to be special (e.g. Final Fantasy XII) to be functional, or fun, but The Last Story falls way short. It's nonsense. But at least you can roll to your heart's content eh? Keep rollin', rollin', rollin'...

Can't say anything good for the graphics or art style either, although exploring the city is pleasant enough. A game like this needs PS3 or 360 technology or it's just going to be dog ugly. There does seem to be a nice focus on character interaction and story, but again the voice acting and script are poor. Shite, by western standards. On the borderline of acceptable by jrpg standards.

To me it feels like Mistwalker deliberately attempted to westernise the jrpg but all they've done is conjure up horribly unfavourable comparisons with games like Skyrim and The Witcher. Sakaguchi needs to go back to his original formula, Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey were beautiful games...

I'll still be squeezing every last drop of enjoyement out of it though because I paid more than enough for it.

[Maf]

9 minutes ago, bellow said:

And if you've still got a Wii, the Last Story fits that bill, too.

Don’t encourage people to play The Last Story how awful. What did these people do to you?

[Maryokutai]

1 hour ago, one-armed dwarf said:

Lost Odyssey as some kind of masterpiece (which it wasn't, imo)

 

It has its flaws but it's a fine JRPG and the best Final Fantasy game of last generation.

 

The Last Story is also really good, no idea what maf was smoking when he played it. I've rarely played a JRPG with such a strong sense of place.

 

Makes you wish Mistwalker would do some real games again. It's a shame their output is limited to Japan-only mobile stuff these days.

 

Sorry for off-topic.

[Maf]

I played through all of the Last Story and at a push can recall the briefest of flashbacks of it. There was a bit in a palace and the battle system was all about circles on the floor.

 

I just remember coming away from it thinking it was super trash.

[bellow]

16 minutes ago, Maf said:

Don’t encourage people to play The Last Story how awful. What did these people do to you?

That's just so wrong.

 

Last story is a classic

[Maf]

2 minutes ago, bellow said:

That's just so wrong.

 

Last story is a classic

Well I can’t remember anything about it to debate it with you but I’m 900% sure you’re wrong.

 

As. Per. Usual.