The Last Remnant

[Dead to Rights]

The Last Remnant (ラスト レムナント, The Last Remnant?) is an upcoming console role-playing game developed and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The game is being directed by Hiroshi Takai and will be the first Unreal Engine 3 game scheduled to be released by Square Enix. The game is directed at both Japanese and North American audiences and will have a simultaneous release (another first for Square Enix) in both regions in Spring 2008. It is intended by Square Enix president Yōichi Wada to "become a cornerstone for [their] worldwide strategy". Art direction is being overseen by chief artist Kimihiko Miyamae and art producer Yusuke Naora. The game's soundtrack will be composed by Tsuyoshi Sekito.

Gameplay

The Last Remnant will feature a brand new battle system labelled by Hiroshi Takai (director) as a "Turn-burst, command-based system using symbol encounters." There will be no random encounters. It will also contain quick time events, sequences where the player must press a combination of buttons with a correct timing to defeat enemies. This system has appeared in other video games before The Last Remnant, for instance in Shenmue, Kingdom Hearts II and Final Fantasy VIII.

In addition to the main character, the player's team (called a "Union") is composed of a number of soldiers whose skills vary according to different parameters. One parameter is the "morale" bar, which is affected by the events in battle and affects the way characters perform in battle. Battles can involve up to 70 enemies at once and will be at the core of the gameplay. Nobuyuki Ueda has commented on the battle system, claiming that it is "much deeper than the few seconds it received in the movie". Additionally, a high number of quests are expected.

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Plot

The Last Remnant is set in a fictional world featuring a number of distinct humanoid races; the Mitras, most human in appearance, the Yamas, strong fish-like people, the Qsitis, small reptilians, and the Sovannis, feline people with four arms. The story of the game revolves around "remnants", mysterious and coveted artifacts of varying shapes and sizes which possess magic powers and which have been the cause of several wars throughout the game's history.

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Characters

The main protagonist is an 18 years old swordsman named Rush Sykes, who is designed primarily for fans of traditional Japanese role-playing games. He is trying to rescue his sister, Irina who is kidnapped by a mysterious man. The siblings hail from the peaceful Eulam Village, but soon Rush finds himself involved in a global conflict centering around the Remnants. Both characters were designed to appear as part of a "normal" family that is sucked accidentally into an adventure that is far from normal.

Accompanying Rush is a 19 years old David Nassau, the young, authoritative Marquis of Athlum. He aims to gain independence from from a nation called Celapaleis. Despite being of royalty, he joins the battlefield alongside Gae Bolg, a devastating cannon-shaped Remnant. He is described as calm and collected and is known to have a deep relationship with an unrevealed female character.

Another character is an older man with long silver hair and crimson clothes, known simply as The Conqueror, and is designed to appeal to Western gamers. Many screen shots of him show him with blood splattered all over him which is thought, allegedly, to be the "blood of his victims". The Conqueror is a collector of remnants ; he is also linked to Rush, although the nature of this link is unknown.

An English actor who appeared in James Cameron film Titanic, Emmett James, voices the character Wilfred Hermeien, a politician and chairman of the congress. Yusuke Naora has stated that many main characters have yet to be revealed, some of whom will be playable. One of these is a grey haired woman who can be seen in the TGS trailer.

Official website (http://na.square-enix.com/remnant/index.html)

[marceall]

Oh, you got me again DTR :wink:

[RayFoxSith]

Finally, a Square Enix game that isn't Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest.

[Delition]

I am actually really looking forward to this one, but I'm not sure if it'll be one I truly want to buy or not. I may actually have to put some time into watching the gameplay videos and everything like that.

[Futomimi]

There's always room for more Dragon Quest.

[Kakizaki]

^No doubt. This looks blahhhhh.

[JMAN]

I think this game looks great. The grahics are no doubt beautiful. I definitely want it. :D

[SlaughterX]

Just noticed the site was up, but DTR was already on it, like always. :)

Anyway the more next-gen RPGs the better, I'm looking forward to it, and I'm sure all you PStriple only owners out there are too.

[DamnedToBeFree]

This game is definitely near the top of my list. I've been waiting for it for a while.

[Gillian Seed]

/\ I thought that was Kid

[Logan]

Necro bump.

New screens have been floating around...and they look awful familar to me...

http://rpgland.com/content/?p=5584

Hmmm...FFXII maybe? My interest in this game just went up a little bit.

[Sei]

I didn't like the trailer from the JP marketplace that much, but I'll prolly pick it up after its price drops.

Blue Dragon is down to 20 dollars new at my local EB.

[Vincent Alexander]

And I see the Xbox 360 is now going to get it before PS3 . Surprise, Surprise!

[Chronis]

Judging by those screens, it looks like there is in fact no such thing as a Square Enix game that isn't FF or DQ.

[Vincent Alexander]

As long as the story is good, the music rocks and it isn't choppy as ####, I'm ready. I'll definetely be grabbing this for PS3 as well.

And is it sad my friend said he is getting this for the 360 because of achievements? What kind of world do we live in when people are more interested in getting those ####in' achievements than enjoying the game? Not that you can't do both, but some people seem to have lost focus.

[Foryth]

Judging by those screens, it looks like there is in fact no such thing as a Square Enix game that isn't FF or DQ.

My thoughts exactly. This looks very FF-ish. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing, but not necessarily a good one either. It just makes it midly interesting rather than very interesting.

[SlaughterX]

As long as the story is good, the music rocks and it isn't choppy as ####, I'm ready. I'll definetely be grabbing this for PS3 as well.

And is it sad my friend said he is getting this for the 360 because of achievements? What kind of world do we live in when people are more interested in getting those ####in' achievements than enjoying the game? Not that you can't do both, but some people seem to have lost focus.

It's a small advantage for some people (major for others). The fact that it's coming out for the 360 first is reason enough for me to get that version, even though if they came out at the same time I would still get it on the 360 just to support games like this coming out on the system. I see no reason why someone with both systems would wait for the PS3 version...

[Sei]

^ Because the one released later will probably have extra stuff?

KH 2 PS2 + Chain of Memories, FFX International FFX-2 Last mission, and FF12 Zodiac System come to mind. I have both systems, I'd rather wait for the superior version. Square always puts neat stuff on them.

And it will probably come out of the box with a lot of pay content that is released for 360.

I have both systems, and really don't see why anyone with both would pick it up for 360, unless they are really starved for games. Same reason I haven't picked up Eternal Sonata. Plenty extra stuff coming on the PS3 version.

[DamnedToBeFree]

You don't know that for certain.

[SlaughterX]

^ Because the one released later will probably have extra stuff?

KH 2 PS2 + Chain of Memories, FFX International FFX-2 Last mission, and FF12 Zodiac System come to mind. I have both systems, I'd rather wait for the superior version. Square always puts neat stuff on them.

And it will probably come out of the box with a lot of pay content that is released for 360.

I have both systems, and really don't see why anyone with both would pick it up for 360, unless they are really starved for games. Same reason I haven't picked up Eternal Sonata. Plenty extra stuff coming on the PS3 version.

So you would rather wait months/years because a game may have extra content? :roll:

[Sei]

Well, with square, you pretty much do. All later versions of everything have extra content. They could make an exception I suppose, but that would be crappy of them, and by then I could snatch the game in a bargain bin somewhere. So win-win really. With Sonata, ever since it was announced, it was also announced that the PS3 one would have extra stuff, just not what extra stuff.

Hm. I wonder if the star ocean remakes for psp are making english. I had sort of forgotten about them. (edit: September 30 for the first one. Day one'ing that)

[SlaughterX]

You know the odds are the ES port probably won't make it out of Japan, so you wasted all you time waiting for nothing...

[Sei]

Where would you get those odds from? Having the translation in hand, they would pass on the non portable system that gives them most of their sales?

I fail to see the logic on that statement. And even if for some reason it didn't make US domestic release, PS3 isn't region locked, and if I recall correctly, most of the international versions have been mostly in english at a time when importing games required either a chip or an imported system.

So why would they stop putting english in there now, specially having most of the work done already?. I guess MS could try to pull a Shenmue 2 and give square a crapload of money not to release the game in the states, or with english, but that would not only be quite low, but it would make me not buy the game at all. Some people are cool with underhanded practices like that, but I am not.

Also seems unlikely since last I heard Sony owned part of Square.

[SlaughterX]

Why don't you try digging up the ES thread, posted the reasons why there, I believe Namco said so themselves... Also you'd pay twice as much for a couple of extra characters and costumes for a game that most likely won't even be in English?

[jj984jj]

I'm not looking forward to this much, but I still hope it turns out good.

I see this topic isn't really about TLR anymore though. :lol:

[Sei]

Twice as much? I just said why I believe it would be in english. And the game has been announced already so again, I really don't see why it wouldn't be localized. And I am sure Sonata Ps3 is getting localized as well, as Us sales of it on 360 were terrible.

But again, I dunno. Lately Namco seems to make more money from Ms than from actually making games. That is a sad state of affairs if you ask me, and regardless of system preference, can't really be seen as GOOD. Unless you like the idea of someone just plain buying the industry. And if someone was to do that I'd rather it wasn't the company that charges you for breathing.

Do you get money from Ms for marketing purposes or something? Sometimes you just make no sense in your passion for them. There are better endeavours that such fire might be directed towards.

Don't get me wrong, I am not a Sony fanboy, nothing further from the truth. In reality, my 360 has been the system that I got closest to it's launch. A great deal of excitement was in it. Why, I used to defend MS all the time, give them a chance, I said, surely, this can't go like the OS thing went.

And Lo and behold. Micropayments for everything. A system that won't forget your credit card number, money for peer to peer multiplayer. Delayed Demos as means of punishment to those that won't pay for peer to peer multiplayer, monetized wallpapers and what amounts to messenger icons. Tech support that barely speaks english and systems that die at the drop of a hat (Trivia, what accent do Sony, and Nintendo Customer Service reps have? Answer: I wouldn't know, in however many years of owning every system, I have never had to speak with them. I can however say that MS's is staffed with indians {from India, or similar, accent wise.}) and a manager that said "Things break".

Let's just say that my opinion of them has changed greatly since. To an extent that I have trouble understanding why there are people that pin for them. But I digress.

A quick googling, and look what I found, release dates for last remnant Ps3, in there, is the one for the states.

The Last Remnant
Publisher: Square Enix
Platform: PlayStation 3
Release Date: December 31, 2009
Release Region: United States

PEGIThe Last Remnant
Publisher: Square Enix
Platform: PlayStation 3
Release Region: United Kingdom

CEROThe Last Remnant
Publisher: Square Enix
Platform: PlayStation 3
Release Region: Japan

So much for probably not coming out in english, huh?

[SlaughterX]

I was talking about ES...

[Sei]

Ah. Sorry, misunderstanding then. If it doesn't make it out of Japan, and Ps3 doesn't have english, I can just bargain bin it for I think 20 new at my current eb. So the wait saved me 40 for something I didn't plan to play right away, anyway, not too bad.

I'd still prefer the version with extra content over that tho. I am OC over things like that.

I think Rpg's on the 360 have to deal with the ghost of them being released later on the PS3 in possibly updated versions, which causes the traditional RPG audience (Like myself) to pass on them, and with the widespread notion that they'll sell terribly and make bargain bin fast. By way of example I offer Blue Dragon, 20, new, Eternal Sonata, 20, new, Enchanted arms 10? (got mine for 15 with Superman returns thrown in at Best Buy). Compared with most other genres, they are proving terrible at retaining their value, or at being scarce. Part of the reason I haven't picked up OD despite it looking like a game I'd have fun with is that I am betting that EB will be flooded with discount copies in a month, for instance.

Which is different from games like say, Radiata Stories for PS2, which I wasn't too excited about, but I picked up because it would be hard to find later I figured. There is nothing really in next gen that has any urgency, not even Atlus stuff.

[Flußkönig]

You know the odds are the ES port probably won't make it out of Japan, so you wasted all you time waiting for nothing...

Not to mention that ES is a ####ty game that isn't worth waiting for in the first place. The additions for the ps3 version are fairly substantial, but I seriously doubt they will address ES's fundamental flaws. I agree with Slaughter that ES probably won't make it out of Jp due in a large part to all of the additional content. If it does I guess it will be a nice reward for those patient enough to wait (if they don't end up hating the game).

Last Remnant is being made by the second division guys (Team Kawazu), so I am willing to give it a shot, but I am way more interested in Infinite Undiscovery and a bit more interested in ToV.

[Sei]

^ I found reviews pretty split about ES, what is your personal review of it if you don't mind sharing?

[Flußkönig]

Video interview from E3. http://www.gametrailers.com/player/37106.html

There probably won't be a demo but DLC is confirmed. The release date for the 360 version is Nov. 20th.

[Constraint]

For some reason, this game doesn't interest me at all.

[Sayckeone]

I'm seriously loving the FFXII influence on these current gen RPGs, although it's not as strong in this one as it is in IU. This one seems like part FFXII, part LO.

Anyway, has anything been said concerning the differences between the 360 and Triple versions? I have to start thinking about which version to get with multi-plats now.

[DamnedToBeFree]

I think DLC is the only difference.

[Sei]

I don't overly care about DLC, is only the 360 one getting it?

It's usually the case that if the PS3 one is released later it'll include the DLC anyway so I might just get whichever comes out later.

[Haderach]

here comes Final Fantasy XII-2 :D

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[Crabman]

Mr. Diggs looks like he's gonna be a total b***h.

I've been looking forward to this game for a while, but IU kinda let me down, so I'm a little more wary now.

[Sei]

A lot of those pics look quite a bit more than vaguely familiar.

[Rikuo]

What interest me the most in last Remnant is how you control entire armies eventually. It's like a RTS style RPG. And after seeing more screens i can see the Final Fantasy 12 influence^^

[RayFoxSith]

This game looks so gorgeous.

[Azriel Crusnik]

I'm actually glad the "The Last Remnant" is coming later next year for the PS3, (there is a lot of games out this and next month for the PS3 that I wont have the money to purchase it) also work gets in the way of my gaming time. I cant wait for its release though. (hoping for a limited/special edition also.)

[Yan Can Cook]

I don't know what to think about this game. In some screens it looks great and in others it looks weak. Not too sure how well the gameplay will turn out either. Gonna have to wait for reviews.Hopefully it ends up being good.

[Flußkönig]

I have heard a few details about the combat system from people who played the demo at TGS. There aren't any levels and the characters gain stats based on their actions in battle (Not really surprising since the guy in charge is Kawazu).

Each group only has one hp bar made up of the total hp of the individual members. An attack on any member of the group depletes the bar and once it is gone they are taken out of battle. In battle you can either select a command for the whole unit or select commands for each individual member of the unit. At certain times during combat real time action commands pop up and if you press the button at the right time you can successfully defend against attacks.

It seems like there were a lot of areas to explore in the demo and it gave the impression that the game might be open ended.

[Olethros]

^ Sounds pretty good to me so far.

[Flußkönig]

While I can't be 100% sure it looks like the game system section on the official site finally has info, or was updated. One interesting thing I noted was that the commands you can issue to each unit vary depending on the situation. So stuff like your current battle situation, the morale gauge, or the distance and position of units all have an effect on the commands that can be issued.

That definitely sounds interesting. I am starting to get hyped with only two weeks to go till the release date.

[Olethros]

^I'm pretty psyched about this one. I've got a feeling it's going to be good.

[Flußkönig]

Battle Montage video. http://xbox360.ign.com/dor/objects/904861/the-last-remnant/videos/lastremnantmontageV3.html

[SlaughterX]

You can preorder it @ Amazon for $40!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001CMJAP6?ie=UTF8&tag=1upcom0f-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B001CMJAP6

[Olethros]

^ done.

[Gen Eric Gui]

I think the $40 price tag just sold me on this. I've been watching a few videos now that I've finally FOUND some and while I'm not too thrilled about it yet it certainly looks worth $40.

[SlaughterX]

It got a Platinum award from Famitsu...

http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3171265

[StrikeRaider]

Almost everything from SE does. Those guys would perform sexual favors for SE if asked I bet.

[Flußkönig]

Almost everything from SE does. Those guys would perform sexual favors for SE if asked I bet.

:bs: What are you basing this on? Not every game from SE gets a 10/10/9/9.

I think you need a new source.

[Olethros]

^ Less time researching robots, imo.

[Flußkönig]

Here (http://gamevideos.1up.com/video/id/22566) is a new battle video.

[StrikeRaider]

Nah I'm just sick of them saying 'oh famitsu said its good I wanna get it now.'

Yeah easy, Dirge of Cerberus. That game was crap. I do hope Last Remnant is actually good though.

[Flußkönig]

Nah I'm just sick of them saying 'oh famitsu said its good I wanna get it now.'

Yeah easy, Dirge of Cerberus. That game was crap. I do hope Last Remnant is actually good though.

I can sympathize with that sentiment, but Dirge of Cerberus scored a 28/40. That is barely considered a decent review score.

[Crabman]

Nah I'm just sick of them saying 'oh famitsu said its good I wanna get it now.'

Yeah easy, Dirge of Cerberus. That game was crap. I do hope Last Remnant is actually good though.

I can sympathize with that sentiment, but Dirge of Cerberus scored a 28/40. That is barely considered a decent review score.

One of the things that was a little sketchy about that review, however was that it came out a couple weeks after the game did and just borderline qualified for the silver award they give out. Alot of people thought it might be SE trying to influence them, but there is no real proof; just some somewhat sketchy actions.

The new trailers on GameTrailers look great :) Much better than the stuff Kotaku posted up a couple days ago. The slowdown in battle is kinda worrisome, though. They probably won't be able to fix it, but it won't break the game for me.

[ViolenceJack]

Only parts of a review that I pay any attn to are the gameplay mechanics. Most of the other stuff you can usually find by looking at screen shots and gameplay clips/trailers on youtube.

[slayn]

http://weblet.square-enix-europe.com/IGN/

That will give you a code to get the pre-order bonus. There aren't many left, so hurry.

[Flußkönig]

http://weblet.square-enix-europe.com/IGN/

That will give you a code to get the pre-order bonus. There aren't many left, so hurry.

Sweet, very nice find Slayn!

[Sei]

http://weblet.square-enix-europe.com/IGN/

That will give you a code to get the pre-order bonus. There aren't many left, so hurry.

Just in time, hats off awesome, thanks!

[slayn]

Just as a heads up to anyone that did not get a code, it's my understanding that the three formations it gives you are available through normal gameplay, albeit later in the game, so you're not really missing out on anything.

[Constraint]

God Damnit.

[Flußkönig]

^ You having a bad day or something?

Here (http://www.gametrailers.com/player/42727.html) is a longer game trailer with some new scenes (at least I think they are new).

Also, here is some kind of online magazine that has a really nice spread on TLR and an interview with the games director. Definitely check it out if you are interested in the game.

http://mediaus.gamerzines.com/direct/The-Last-Remnant-Magazine.pdf

[Flußkönig]

Jeremy Parish wrote up a preview (http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?pager.offset=0&cId=3171361&p=) over at 1up.com. It is an interesting read, even if you aren't 100% sold on the TLR.

[Yazarc]

Jeremy Parish wrote up a preview (http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?pager.offset=0&cId=3171361&p=) over at 1up.com. It is an interesting read, even if you aren't 100% sold on the TLR.

The Romancing SaGa team has a hand in this? Final Fantasy 12? I didn't know that. Maybe I'll be getting this game sooner than I thought. Those are (IMO) the two best games on the PS2. Even though 1UP didn't do the best job in describing exactly what the similarities are, I appreciated that article. Thanks for posting it!

[Gen Eric Gui]

Remnant's large-scale battle system runs on what art director Yusuke Naora calls "Gambit 1.5," an evolution of FFXII's Gambit system, which allowed for intelligent, automated A.I. control of nonplayer party members.


FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF

WHY DO YOU KEEP DOING THIS SQUARE. WHY.


That said, I am not yet completely disillusioned. The RSaGa team worked on it, and when they decide to get "different", good things usually happen. Usually. Maybe the dynamic of controlling large groups of characters will make the system work better. Hopefully.

[Sei]

I really loved the Gambit system. I think the only problem I ever heard of someone having with it involved setting really good gambits, falling asleep and finding complete dungeons solved and bosses gone. They found it a bit too efficient :(.

I guess you could in theory go the whole game just pressing the up arrow, but this may be stopped by cleverly placed flat obstacles such as walls. Sneaky Square Enix :(

[StrikeRaider]

If you played MMOs then the gambit system wasn't that hard to deal with. Honestly the only battle you HAVE to pay attention to are that status dragon guy and the hidden boss with like 50 billion hp. Now Last Remnant sounds like getting.

[Gen Eric Gui]

What can I say, I like my games to involve some kind of constant input from me.

[Flußkönig]

I think what the article means by the gambits here is that you control the whole union (team of 5) with one command, but the actions that each individual member takes is controlled by pre-determined gambits within the game.

I don't think you set them up in the same way you could in FFXII.

[Sei]

I wish you could :(. It would probably result in the best AI ever.

[Gen Eric Gui]

Yeah, I understand that it's not like Gambits at all. I was just raging for rage's sake.

It sounds a lot more like Ogre Battle or Soul Noamd to me, really. Which could be good or bad. I liked Ogre Battle but wasn't too enthused about Soul Nomad.

[Yan Can Cook]

A lot of the various media had me on the fence with this game but I think I'm just gonna take the gamble and pick this up when it hits this week. For some reason I still feel doubtful about the game. *Hopes for the best*

[Kakizaki]

Jeremy Parish wrote up a preview (http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?pager.offset=0&cId=3171361&p=) over at 1up.com. It is an interesting read, even if you aren't 100% sold on the TLR.

The Romancing SaGa team has a hand in this? Final Fantasy 12? I didn't know that. Maybe I'll be getting this game sooner than I thought. Those are (IMO) the two best games on the PS2. Even though 1UP didn't do the best job in describing exactly what the similarities are, I appreciated that article. Thanks for posting it!


I just had the same reaction this afternoon. I really want to look into this now.

[Yazarc]

Speaking of SaGa...I wonder when Akitoshi Kawazu is going to give us another installment. He really hit the nail on the head with the Romancing SaGa remake. I'd love to see him continue the series.

[SlaughterX]

GameSpot review...

http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/rpg/thelastremnant/review.html?tag=topslot;thumb;2

[Kakizaki]

Speaking of SaGa...I wonder when Akitoshi Kawazu is going to give us another installment. He really hit the nail on the head with the Romancing SaGa remake. I'd love to see him continue the series.

Ditto.

[SlaughterX]

The game is back on sale for $40 @ Amazon, and if you don't already own a 360 you can get it for free along with 4,000 MP points when you buy an Elite (today only, check the deals thread).

[Yan Can Cook]

I only played the game for maybe 3 hours but I enjoyed it.

The biggest flaw is the technical problems. It doesn't seem like it was finished being optimized for the 360. The slowdown in the very first battle you encounter is atrocious. It's just a giant mash of slow motion and jerking around. I never had slowdown that bad since but there is still much slowdown to be found during combat sequences. I didn't do a game install so perhaps that would help. The graphics do look good though, especially during the cutscenes(Not so much during battles though).

Gameplay seemed fine. Battles seem convoluted because of all the terms and whatnot but they're actually really simple. Exploration is really streamlined and simple which can be good or bad depending on your preference.

Can't say much about the story. First couple hours has been a series of glorified training/introduction quests. Right now it's just "find your sister". Technical flaws aside the game has potential to be pretty good. Can't say for certain yet.

[Flußkönig]

The slowdown in the very first battle you encounter is atrocious. It's just a giant mash of slow motion and jerking around. I never had slowdown that bad since but there is still much slowdown to be found during combat sequences. I didn't do a game install so perhaps that would help. The graphics do look good though, especially during the cutscenes(Not so much during battles though).



Most of that isn't slowdown, the action just slows down considerably when the characters attack. The only time I noticed any really bad lag was when I was fighting a bunch of large enemies. Installing really cuts down the load times, so you should give it a shot.

[Yan Can Cook]

Most of that isn't slowdown, the action just slows down considerably when the characters attack. The only time I noticed any really bad lag was when I was fighting a bunch of large enemies. Installing really cuts down the load times, so you should give it a shot.

The only intentional slowdown I've seen are when you do those quicktime-like attacks. The rest of the time it was indeed slowdown(At times it would drop to single digit frames and chug as it attempts to pan the camera around) or the game struggling to stream the data off the disc.

Based on what people are saying it seems the install is going to be a must. It wouldn't surprise me if they just assumed everyone would install the game and gave an "Oh well" to those that don't.

[Flußkönig]

^Maybe your disc drive sucks or something? I played off the disc for a few hours before I installed it just to see what it was like and didn't really experience much of any "single digit frames" or chugging.

[Yan Can Cook]

^Maybe your disc drive sucks or something? I played off the disc for a few hours before I installed it just to see what it was like and didn't really experience much of any "single digit frames" or chugging.

It only happened to that extent during the very first opening battle. I still get occasional slowdown in other battles but that very first battle was frightening. Can't be my disc drive as the texture pop-in is very quick(Quicker than say, Gears of War 2 or Mass Effect) and my other games, such as Fallout, run fine. This is the first time I've experienced anything like this from a 360 game.

[Flußkönig]

^Weird, well the install doesn't really help with the slowdown, just loading times and pop in (although on rare occasions the pop is still pretty bad). I have yet to encounter anything other than occasional split second slowdowns (although they happen often enough to be noticeable), except in a particular battle with a bunch of large monsters all bunched together.

I guess you should just cross your fingers and hope that nothing like that happens again.

[Yan Can Cook]

^Weird, well the install doesn't really help with the slowdown, just loading times and pop in (although on rare occasions the pop is still pretty bad). I have yet to encounter anything other than occasional split second slowdowns (although they happen often enough to be noticeable), except in a particular battle with a bunch of large monsters all bunched together.

I guess you should just cross your fingers and hope that nothing like that happens again.

Indeed. *crosses fingers*

[Yazarc]

I picked this up yesterday and played through the first 1 1/2 dungeons.

This might be a weird comparison, but the way you need to treat the battles really reminds me of Soul Nomad so far. Slowdown isn't too awful. I think it might be the first game I actually install to the HD. I do see some SaGa similarities. However, some are probably pretty weak. Much like the comparisons of FF12 to Vagrant Story I saw pop up from time to time. I don't know if it'll last the whole game, but my stats seem to just sky rocket after a few battles. I still find myself wondering when I'm gonna hit the wall and not get any stronger for long periods of time.

There are still a number of gameplay aspects I'd like to understand a little better, but I know that always comes with time.

[Yan Can Cook]

Installing the game seemed to help a bit. I noticed during battles I was still getting some strange stuttering from the 360 trying to read the disc, so I placed my 360 on it's side and it eliminated almost all of that. While I'm happy about that I'm also annoyed as I haven't had this problem with any 360 game before. Perhaps it's my copy of the game. Ah well, at least it's solved.

On another note, the difficulty of this game can be rather deceiving. It'll be easy for a long stretch and then you'll run into a boss that'll be really difficult, especially if you attack the wrong backup enemies and get yourself flanked. Thankfully you can save anywhere which keeps you from re-doing long stretches of gameplay.

Still need more time with this though. Trying to juggle this, Fallout 3 and Gears 2 is hard. ;)

[Flußkönig]

I picked this up yesterday and played through the first 1 1/2 dungeons.

This might be a weird comparison, but the way you need to treat the battles really reminds me of Soul Nomad so far. Slowdown isn't too awful. I think it might be the first game I actually install to the HD. I do see some SaGa similarities. However, some are probably pretty weak. Much like the comparisons of FF12 to Vagrant Story I saw pop up from time to time. I don't know if it'll last the whole game, but my stats seem to just sky rocket after a few battles. I still find myself wondering when I'm gonna hit the wall and not get any stronger for long periods of time.

There are still a number of gameplay aspects I'd like to understand a little better, but I know that always comes with time.


I think there are a lot of similarities between the game systems employed in TLR and Romancing SaGa specifically rather than similarities between TLR and the SaGa series. Although it might not be apparent at such an early point in the game.

As far as stat growth goes, stats generally only increase when you fight stronger enemies or your chain count is really high. It also seems like certain character classes are more likely to have stat growth in specific stats than other classes.


On another note, the difficulty of this game can be rather deceiving. It'll be easy for a long stretch and then you'll run into a boss that'll be really difficult, especially if you attack the wrong backup enemies and get yourself flanked.

Once your battle rank gets higher even really weak enemies can pull off strong techniques that will really kick your ass if your not paying attention.

[Kakizaki]

Much like the comparisons of FF12 to Vagrant Story I saw pop up from time to time.

You just won't let that go will you? Like I have said before, I had a much more comprehensive list on the old EZboard that you didn't really bother to refute -- maybe out of sheer boredom....

I think the connections between LR and RS may be more game play based while many of the VS and FF XII references I mentioned were story and background info related -- some of which were way too strong to be simply coincidence. I guess I don't see how the connections seemed so far fetched given Matsuno's penchant for making references to other Ivalice and even non Ivalice based titles in his previous games. VS had a ton of references regarding FFT.

[SlaughterX]

GameTrailer's review...

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/43106.html

IGN Review...

http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/933/933121p1.html

Video Review...

http://xbox360.ign.com/dor/objects/904861/the-last-remnant/videos/LastRemnantReview_112408.html

[Flußkönig]

8.5 at http://www.craveonline.com/articles/gaming/04652361/the_last_remnant.html

3.7 out of 5 at http://www.cheatcc.com/xbox360/rev/thelastremnantreview.html

[Crabman]

Gametrailers seems to have been more forgiving on the technical problems than other sites.

Still getting this game. The rest of it sounds too awesome to pass up!

[Pixel]

After having played most of IU and skimmed reviews of LR, I get the impression that quality RPGs are few and far between this generation, even though it's a couple years into the development cycle. Does this seem normal to everyone else? Or is there something else holding these games back, such as rushed development with underfunded budgets in the midst of a bad global economy? I hope SO4 won't suffer the same fate.

Gametrailers seems too have been more forgiving on the technical problems than other sites.
Maybe Squenix treated GT out to dinner a la Parish & Nutt at 1up? (j/k btw)

[Kakizaki]

^If I would have gone by the majority of reviews, I would have passed on Wizardry TotFL, BoF DQ, and Romancing Saga Minstrel's Song. I would have also missed out on some of my favorite rpgs from the last few years.

[Olethros]

^ Here, Here and then some. I was thinking the exact same thing.

My copy of TLR is sitting on the top of my backlog stack, just waiting for Thanksgiving morning to get fired up. Technical flaws and all, I'm genuinely looking forward to it.

[SlaughterX]

After having played most of IU and skimmed reviews of LR, I get the impression that quality RPGs are few and far between this generation, even though it's a couple years into the development cycle. Does this seem normal to everyone else? Or is there something else holding these games back, such as rushed development with underfunded budgets in the midst of a bad global economy? I hope SO4 won't suffer the same fate.

Gametrailers seems too have been more forgiving on the technical problems than other sites.
Maybe Squenix treated GT out to dinner a la Parish & Nutt at 1up? (j/k btw)

I think it's jsut the developers learning from their experience with the new hardware. RPGs aren't the type of game you can just rush through when developing, and when that is done it's pretty easy to spot, as is the case with the past two S-E games. Just like Eternal Sonata laid the groundwork for the superior Tales of Vesperia, I think Tri-Ace's work with IU will make SO4 a much better game, and S-E's work with TLR will make FFXIII that much better (even though they run on completely different engines). I guess time will tell, but I'm still looking forward to giving this game a shot, it just better not be worse than IU.

[Flußkönig]

it just better not be worse than IU.

Well fortunately I don't think that is possible. I think you also have a good point about Japanese developers getting the hang of developing for the newer generation Slaughter. It seems people must be having brain farts and totally forgetting about how (technically speaking) crappy many of the first psx and ps2 rpgs were.

Kakizaki brought up a good point about reviews. Generally, but not always, they are written with certain audiences in mind. I know I am not part of that audience so I usually just do my own research rather than relying on reviews (especially when it is apparent that they are only based on the first few hours of the game as is the case with many rpgs).

Also, the technical issues really aren't that bad and they don't effect gameplay at all.

[Pixel]

It seems people must be having brain farts and totally forgetting about how (technically speaking) crappy many of the first psx and ps2 rpgs were.
The growing pains should be over 2009? 2010?

[frequency]

Hmm... I've actually enjoyed a majority of the JRPGs so far this generation. They're not A+ titles, but I've had a lot of fun nonetheless. I picked up my copy of The Last Remnant today. But I won't be able to get around to it until after the holidays...

[Yazarc]

Much like the comparisons of FF12 to Vagrant Story I saw pop up from time to time.

You just won't let that go will you? Like I have said before, I had a much more comprehensive list on the old EZboard that you didn't really bother to refute -- maybe out of sheer boredom....

I think the connections between LR and RS may be more game play based while many of the VS and FF XII references I mentioned were story and background info related -- some of which were way too strong to be simply coincidence. I guess I don't see how the connections seemed so far fetched given Matsuno's penchant for making references to other Ivalice and even non Ivalice based titles in his previous games. VS had a ton of references regarding FFT.

I notice plenty more from FFT in FF12 myself. Then again, I don't care for VS.

However, you gotta remember, the original topic all of this started in was based on the demo that was included with DQ8, and yes, a lot of those were pretty far-fetched to the point where I regarded most everything said as being ridiculous after that. Sort of how I see a particular menu and think "that's from RS". It's only natural I'd remember this two year old discussion now.

I notice the towns are very much like FF12, but I don't feel it in the gameplay. Other than the stat raising, I don't feel the SaGa series' influence either in the gameplay. Maybe once it opens up a little more.....I'm just having trouble deciding whether this game is complex or simplistic. There's a lot going on, but as you start to learn this game, the concepts are much more basic than they first appear.

[Kakizaki]

^That's true regarding the demo, but I did make a pretty large list a week or two into the full release -- dealing with background info in particular. I see where you are coming from though.

[Yazarc]

^Was your list directly responding to something I brought up? If not, there's a decent chance I didn't read it.

Then again, knowing me, there's an equally good chance I missed it if you did directly respond to me.

[Kakizaki]

^Hard to recall, but I don't think it was in direct response to anything in particular that you had brought forth. IIRC it was just in a general FF XII thread.

[Azriel Crusnik]

I hope Enix fixes many of the problems before the PS3 release.

[Yazarc]

^Hard to recall, but I don't think it was in direct response to anything in particular that you had brought forth. IIRC it was just in a general FF XII thread.

Well, you're one of the few I wouldn't doubt. I know that you weren't responsible for the few specific posts I remember from that thread.

By the way, do you own a 360 or PS3 yet?

[SlaughterX]

Here's the 1up review...

http://www.1up.com/do/reviewPage?cId=3171517

Just got the game in the mail today, installing the 2nd disc now, I will check out the game later today...

Also new DLC announced...

http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3171529

[Kakizaki]

^Hard to recall, but I don't think it was in direct response to anything in particular that you had brought forth. IIRC it was just in a general FF XII thread.

Well, you're one of the few I wouldn't doubt. I know that you weren't responsible for the few specific posts I remember from that thread.

By the way, do you own a 360 or PS3 yet?

No, not yet. I have been close to getting a 360 several times, but a few things have thrown me off -- issues dealing with SDTV resolution and such lately.

[SlaughterX]

Just a heads up, the price dropped again to $30. If it's been less than a week since you got the game you can probably call Amazon and get them to refund the difference (they just did it for me). :)

[massaker]

I havnt enjoyed an rpg this much since nocturne. Its awesome, the music is totally awesome. Its dark, reminds me of Vagrant Story, FFXI and Advent Children. Just ask if anyone wants to know anything about it, Ive played about 30 hours.

[Kaibigan]

I don't mind answering questions either, as I've clocked an estimated 110 hours, most of it from doing sidequests, grinding, and testing out formations and other things.

[Olethros]

I don't mind answering questions either, as I've clocked an estimated 110 hours, most of it from doing sidequests, grinding, and testing out formations and other things.

I'm getting damned close to that, Kai. I've enjoyed every single minute of it.

[Yan Can Cook]

The repetition of the battles is starting to get to me and yet it's all my own fault. I just can't run past enemies, I feel compelled to fight them all and doing that really drags the games pace to a crawl, especially when a lot of these side quests are extremely long. Like I said though, it's all self induced pain. :D I'm still enjoying this game quite a bit and I feel like reviewers have been unnecessarily harsh on the game.
I don't mind answering questions either, as I've clocked an estimated 110 hours, most of it from doing sidequests, grinding, and testing out formations and other things.

Whats the best way of dealing with curse? In some situations getting hit by that ailment drops the battle down to a matter of luck. Sometimes my leaders will get KO'ed on their first turn and then they're stuck in "botch" which is pretty much death for that Union.

Though actually I haven't had much trouble with curse beyond the earlier parts of the game but it still annoys the hell out of me when it pops up. Especially when you revive a union who was Ko'ed by curse and they revive still in cursed status.

[Kaibigan]

I don't mind answering questions either, as I've clocked an estimated 110 hours, most of it from doing sidequests, grinding, and testing out formations and other things.

I'm getting damned close to that, Kai. I've enjoyed every single minute of it.

Yeah man I'm giving it a rest. Havent played since last wednesday. I'm thinking about starting up a new file in a couple of weeks or a month. Because then I know what I'll be doing from the start.

[Olethros]

^ I'm thinking of doing something similar as well. Probably play it again after I return from my holiday vacation in early Jan.

[Flußkönig]

Whats the best way of dealing with curse? In some situations getting hit by that ailment drops the battle down to a matter of luck. Sometimes my leaders will get KO'ed on their first turn and then they're stuck in "botch" which is pretty much death for that Union.

Though actually I haven't had much trouble with curse beyond the earlier parts of the game but it still annoys the hell out of me when it pops up. Especially when you revive a union who was Ko'ed by curse and they revive still in cursed status.

The way this game works, if one of the unit suffers from a condition (like curse) then the whole union suffers from that condition. So even if you revive someone they will have the condition until it is cured or goes away.

The best way to avoid curse is to have the least amount of people effected by it. The big eagle enemies only use curse on there first turn. If you send someone to attack and have the rest of the units standby then at most (if everything works out) only one unit will get hit.

[Constraint]

^If I would have gone by the majority of reviews, I would have passed on Wizardry TotFL, BoF DQ, and Romancing Saga Minstrel's Song. I would have also missed out on some of my favorite rpgs from the last few years.

Quoted for truth. Romancing saga is an excellent RPG, and it has recieved some lame reviews.(Which are possibly played for only 4 hours, and they didn't know what the hell to do.)

[SlaughterX]

$30 shipped @ Amazon for the next 50 mins...

http://www.amazon.com/gp/goldbox?ie=UTF8&%2AVersion%2A=1&%2Aentries%2A=0

[SlaughterX]

Coming to PC... in Japan.

http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3172518

Official site

http://www.square-enix.co.jp/remnant/pc/index.html

[Himuro]

So this game turned out to be good, eh? How similar to SaGa is it?

[Flußkönig]

^ You can definitely feel the SaGa influences laced throughout the game, but it is different enough (especially as far as the battle system is concerned) that you won't feel like you are playing some kind of HD SaGa rehash.

[Himuro]

What SaGa influences are there?

[Flußkönig]

^Gaining stats from actions taken in battle rather than levels, sparking different artes in battle/ gaining exp in a certain category of artes in order to unlock artes after battle, although there is a significant main story the main meat of the game is the sidequests and there is a ranking system that effects enemy strength and the attacks that enemies can use as well as your characters stat growth.

I could see someone who doesn't like SaGa games still enjoying the game though. The battle system is fairly unique and can be a lot of fun and fairly intense at times.

[EvilHero]

Not to mention TLR is alot more newb friendly than the Saga games.

[SlaughterX]

So the PC version is out now...

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51pb68w77LL._SL500_AA280_.jpg (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001QA2TYS?ie=UTF8&tag=1upcom0f-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B001QA2TYS)

Looks to fix most of the technical problems with the 360 version (if your computer can handle it). Reviews (http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/pc/lastremnant).