It seems oddly fitting that a dying format such as the Wii should have become the venue of choice for a genre that also seems to be on its last legs. But while the Wii U console is waiting in the wings the future of Japanese style role-playing games doesn’t have so obvious a saviour. Or perhaps it does. After this game, the excellent Xenoblade Chronicles, and the forthcoming Pandora’s Tower the far eastern approach to role-playing has never seemed so boldly experimental.
Although its genre roots will be obvious to long term fans The Last Story defies comparison and categorisation. There’s a strong action focus and yet using the default control system you merely need to run towards an enemy for your mercenary character to attack them automatically.
You can also take cover behind scenery to use ranged weapons and magic, in fact this soon becomes essential in order to attack enemies from behind for extra damage or, ideally, ambush them by surprise. It’s a cover system that even many Western shooters would struggle to match, as you also use take the time to direct your allies, telling magic users to destroy bridges or archers to attack specific enemies.
The game goes further still with its tactical element, by offering you an overhead view of the battlefield. This pauses the action and, eventually, allows you to issue commands almost like a real-time strategy. The clear intent is to provide plenty of action but ensure none of it is mindless.
One of the more abstract abilities is lead character Zael’s Gathering power. This attracts enemies towards him, allowing weaker allies to get their shots in. But it also gives him the ability to revive anyone that has already fallen. It’s an interesting risk vs. reward element that can either save a losing battle or snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
This being a thoroughly modern Japanese role-player there are of course no random battles, and the game’s even good enough to autosave your progress every few minutes. But it goes further and tries to ensure that every major encounter is a properly planned out set piece. Not in the Call Of Duty sense it’s true, but there’s a surprising variety here, from one-on-one encounters, to massed battles, and mounted combat.
It’s not all good news though and we were disappointed that, quite unlike the combat, the plot is composed of everyday cliché that could’ve come from any Japanese role-player from the last couple of decades. The bad guy’s a cackling world conqueror, the hero’s an orphan with a mysterious past, and the wimpy heroine has secret powers.
The secondary characters are generally more interesting though, particularly spunky ladette Syrenne. We still can’t exactly place her accent, but it’s definitely somewhere between London and Manchester… In other words the game has similar amateur hour voiceovers as Xenoblade Chronicles, but what the actors lack in technical skill they make up for in enthusiasm.
And that’s not to mention the novelty that everyone talks in some kind of British regional accent – which even extends into the repeated use of very British colloquialisms. Or at least we’ve never heard anyone in Japan referring to each other as ‘mate’ or accusing each other of being a ‘perv’. It certainly makes a difference from every other Japanese made game being voiced by the same small group of American actors, even if the visuals often don’t seem to match the voices.
In the details of the storytelling then the game falters, but the pacing is excellent: building up from an exciting opening, before slowing down for a series of relatively trivial quests and then gradually ratcheting up the stakes for the finale. The game lasts around 20 hours, which is short for a role-player but we’d much have 20 well constructed hours than 80 slothful ones mindlessly level-grinding.
As you might now be imagining the game isn’t as obsessed with stats and level progression as many role-players, but there’s still plenty of depth and complexity with the inventory screens if you want it – or a very handy auto-equip if you don’t. The customisation options for characters’ clothing is particularly involved and your choices are reflected in cut scenes, something like Dragon Quest IX.
Visually the game pushes the Wii fairly hard, but the colour palette is so subdued it almost feels like a first person shooter with all the bloom lighting and no colours but brown and grey. Together with quite a bit of slowdown in more intricately detailed areas (principally the city hub and sequences with a lot of enemies) this never comes close to looking as good as Xenoblade Chronicles. Although the soundtrack by Nobuo Uematsu is superior.
On top of the main story campaign there’s a final surprise in the form of a number of competitive and co-operative online modes. They’re really only sideshows, but being able to rerun boss battles with friends or take part in a deathmatch battle is very welcome. The game adds a bunch of power-ups to the competitive fights, to avoid too much skulking around under cover, and the results are very much worthwhile.
But most important of all is the game’s ability to appeal to ordinary games fans, and to ensure that it’s not just Western developers that are helping to make role-playing games relevant again.
In Short: Easily Mistwalker’s best game so far and another sure sign that, with a bold enough creator, Japanese role-players can be just as exciting and innovative as their Western counterparts.
Pros: An excellent, and completely unique, combat system, with highly varied set pieces. Fun voiceovers and Syrene is great. Surprisingly good online modes.
Cons: Plot and some of the main characters rely too much on predictable cliché. Some fairly serious problems with slowdown at times. Visuals lack colour.
Score: 8/10
Formats: Wii
Price: £39.99
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Mistwalker/AQ Interactive
Release Date: 24th February 2012
Age Rating: 16
Video: Check out
The Last Story trailer
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Article source: http://www.metro.co.uk/tech/games/891131-the-last-story-review-new-legend
February 23rd, 2012 by admin in Uncategorized | No Comments
