The Last Story (AKA my rant)

What do you guys think of this game? This was a part of the Operation Rainfall trio - people really wanted this game in English and tge finally got what they wanted - this, Xenoblade and Pandora's Tower. The Internet seems to have a huge boner for it, which I can't really understand. I mean, yes, it's a good game, I can't deny that, but I was personally disappointed by it and an furious that it overshadows Xenoblade in the fan community (the critics seem to like the latter more, though). Yeah, everyone seems to remember about this game, while no one talks about Xenoblade anymore.

I loved the characters in the party aside from the romantic duo, as well as some of the themes the story tried to convey. The battle system was pretty fresh and cool, if a bit annoying at times. However, the main love story is so cringe-inducing it's hard to watch. I really wish they'd delved deeper into the political intrigue and shoved the love story into the sidelines, but no, Sakaguchi clearly wanted to make this game revolve the budding romance between these two emotionless husks. All I want to say, Mr. Sakaguchi, is "don't". Just don't.

I absolutely loved the Last Story. I picked it up at the same time as Xenoblade on someone's recommendation and, after starting both, I was significantly more hooked by the Last Story and finished it before revisiting Xenoblade. To be honest, I still haven't finished Xenoblade, so I can't really compare the two other than what I've already said about first impressions. I really do need to get back to Xenoblade but it has been shunted down my list a little by Tales, among other things.

I agree with what you've said about the main love story in the Last Story - totally cringe-worthy. I liked a lot of the other characters though, the customisation was awesome and I spent a lot of time running around like a loser doing every sidequest I could get my hands on, which was a lot of fun. Some of the quests that involved stealth glitched out on me, making it a bit hit and miss as to whether I could complete them, but even with that I found the variety of the types of quests I faced to be pretty excellent. The battle system was also pretty neat, with pausing midfight to use abilities was a cool addition; I'm a big fan of combat that involves less button pressing and more strategy.

But all 'round I loved this game and obviously something about it appealed to me more than Xenoblade did. Once I get far enough through Xenoblade to determine what that 'something' is, I will let you know.

I have to disagree about The Last Story overshadowing Xenoblade, in most news sources I check people are still talking about Xenoblade whereas The Last Story has sort of just slipped into the background, hell even discussions about Mistwalker in general, most people will go on and on about Lost Odyssey more than The Last Story.

I really enjoyed The Last Story, the combat system was an incredible idea and left plenty of room to be expanded into something truly amazing. While it only had the one town, it was huge and well crafted and I like how the side-quests always felt like little diversions as opposed to other RPGs where it feels less optional by pushed down my throat. The weapon development system was a bit deeper than I expected and actually turned out to be closer to what I was hoping FFXIII's system would have been. I absolutely adore the ability to customize my characters appearance and this is one of the elements I do hold over Xenoblade, because I often didn't care too much for some of the outfit choices in that game but I enjoyed how I could customize the outfits in this game. I also appreciate that it was a short for an RPG, the pacing for the game felt just right and it clocked in a good 30 hours for me which was surprising but I appreciate the game wasn't trying to extend it's play time through unnecessary side quests or sub-plots that don't resolve like they should.

Yes, Zael and Calista have as much depth as an early 16-bit RPG but in hindsight, I'm thinking that was the point, because the real drama of The Last Story is watching two characters who represent Heroic Lawful Good dealing with a world that would have felt right at home in the Suikoden universe. Zael get's the special power the bad guys want but all that does for him is keep him alive. It's the behind the scenes political manifestations of his much more worldly companion Dagran that allows Zael to get as far as he had hoped. Everywhere Zael turns, we watch as the upright noble good people either turn out to be facades and they are actually jerks, or the ones that are true to their beliefs, usually get killed off pretty quickly. Calista whines about being a prisoner in the castle like most princess and while she does escape, every time she does something for herself it always backfires on the party and eventually she realizes that her connections to the palace can actually help the party more than her being a party member off adventuring. I'm not saying this thought process redeems the fact that both characters are easily the weak link in the game, but it does soften the blow a little bit for me.

Overall, I would love to see a sequel to this game because it had a lot of potential. It was a fun game that just had some annoying elements that bar it from true greatness but I also feel that Sakaguchi was onto something when he said he designed this game as a possible new direction for the genre. The real difference between Xenoblade and the Last Story is that I felt The Last Story took more risks whereas Xenoblade refined and polished old ideas back into greatness. I felt Xenoblade is the better overall experience but I would be lying if I said that an announced sequel to The Last Story would make me a bit more excited than Project X.

The combat was really quite enjoyable. Not perfect, but it was a nice change from the usual. I really loved this game, and while I'm sure I will love Xenoblade once I try it, there is something to be said for that kind of traditional JRPG feel tucked into something a little more progressive and innovative.

I have yet to play The Last Story, but I do think part of why it might be talked about more is just because it was more available. At least in America, Xenoblade was a Gamestop exclusive, and it had a pretty limited run. I haven't really noticed it being talked about more, but I don't really look for discussions on either game really.

Xenoblade is better...so much more to do and both games can easily lead you to becoming over-leveled for boss fights.

I agree that the combat was really fun. The story was ok, the supporting cast was great, but the main two characters we just so bland. Especially Calista. She was one of the least interesting RPG characters I've ever played.

The game was a little too narrow in scope for me and I would have liked to see more of that world. A sequel would be fun to play as long as Calista is just a side character.

>>> I have not played it yet, Not want to pay 50 dollars plus the shipping is probably the main reason..:luca:

Sharky just bought this. Not sure if I'll like it. The visuals seem a bit... dark for my taste. I could be thinking of another game though.

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Originally Posted by black orb

>>> I have not played it yet, Not want to pay 50 dollars plus the shipping is probably the main reason..:luca:

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It was down to $30 here I think.


I do like the online multiplayer except that spellcasting crap.