The Last Story... is this generation's Vagrant Story?!

[Garoth Moulinoski]

So, during some down time, I ended up reading a bit of Kotaku, for sheer amusement (I find the comments to sometimes be laughable). Well, one article came up which talks about The Last Story, an RPG that's for the Wii.

Well, here's a quote I'm certain will interest at least one person:

XSEED's Lipschultz tells me that the story doesn't break new ground, but what it does, it does really well. I ask him if there are any particular games he might compare it to. His answer: Vagrant Story.

Now, I don't know why he's comparing Vagrant Story and The Last Story (besides both having Story in their titles), but I found it interesting considering how much we've been talking about Vagrant Story lately. It's the next game I plan to play when I'm done with Phantasy Star IV on my PSP.

Anyways, so, The Last Story, Vagrant Story... Who's excited? (Also, a poll above)

[KaioShin]

I played it months ago and already reviewed it as far as I had played it It's in the Gaming Progress thread since I didn't beat it, lost interest halfway.

[DankPanties]

The only valid comparisons I can draw from my limited knowledge of The Last Story:

It's an action-RPG
It's got a brownish sepia-esque atmosphere
It's got a serious plot
It came out at the end of a console's life

I don't think The Last Story has anywhere near the battle mechanics / gameplay complexity Vagrant Story has (based on reviews I've read).  Last Story's also not a dungeon crawler, and you don't control a lone protagonist.  So while I don't doubt The Last Story is a decent game (I plan to buy it day one from Xseed's site), I highly doubt it's of the same excellence and caliber that Vagrant Story is.  The comparison is a bit off if you ask me.  I mean, you don't even have NPCs to initiate conversations with in Vagrant Story, nor any kind of shopping, or other conventional JRPG tropes which Last Story incorporates.

[Spooniest]

Last = Final

Story = Fantasy

This title has intrigued me since I heard about it...I might have to pick it up. Go ahead and call me a fanboy, but I'm a sucker for Sakaguchi's work.

[Garoth Moulinoski]

Vagrant Story and The Last Story play in completely different ways, anyway, despite being action RPGs.

In Vagrant Story, from what I remember, you have to actively attack, while in The Last Story, there's this weird, passive attack system going on or something.

I guess a comparison that can be drawn is that both start off in a gloomy cave/dungeon looking place.

Also, I forgot that the game has been out in Europe (and I overlooked that people may have played/bought the Japanese version). Let's see if I can edit the poll. Edit: Done.

Last = Final

Story = Fantasy

This title has intrigued me since I heard about it...I might have to pick it up. Go ahead and call me a fanboy, but I'm a sucker for Sakaguchi's work.

I read that the same mentality as when Final Fantasy was conceived applied. This is meant to be his last game, if it bombs... or the start of a new franchise if it succeeds?

I played it months ago and already reviewed it as far as I had played it It's in the Gaming Progress thread since I didn't beat it, lost interest halfway.

Do you mind providing a link to it if you have it readily available? I tried finding this post using Search, but I don't get your post in any of my searches... I can try going through all 40+ pages in Gaming Progress, but I'm currently at work and that seems like a long, tedious feat. Edit: Just went through all 43 pages, using Find. No pages mention "Last Story". Somehow, I find that... odd.

Someone should make a Gaming Progress/Victoly site. Maybe I should try my hand at it...

[DankPanties]

[Garoth Moulinoski]

I forgot Last Odyssey. But I know I remember reading that the exact motive behind The Last Story's title, was kinda like the whole "Final Fantasy being Squaresoft's last game" thing.

[LostTemplar]

I played it for an hour or so when it came out in Japan, but I got distracted and didn't get any further. Why does this always happen with me and Wii RPGs? But anyway, comparing it to Vagrant Story is pretty far-fetched.

[DankPanties]

Do you mind providing a link to it if you have it readily available?

Using Google I found Kaio's old thoughts in the gaming progress thread:

I think I can say some things about Last Story now. Basically it's what I expected from Mistwalker, more mediocricy from the FF-rejects camp. It has a lot of promise and glimpses of things that could turn out great, but it just doesn't. There is a city you can wander around in, but other than that it's FFXIII level of linear. The fighting system is fast paced and relatively fun, but there is zero depth to it. The only actions you can perform are blocking, auto attacking or activating magic circles your mages place on the map. And that's it, every fight except bosses works like: Rush enemy healer/mage, then just draw all enemies onto you and block while your AI teammates kill everything from behind. Zero customization too. Except for mage/fighter roles the characters in your party also aren't differentiated at all, each fighter brings the same stuff to the table and so do the mages. The character designs are cool, but there are a lot of cringe worthy scenes. Oh and did I mention that there are often 45 minutes of cutscenes for every 15 minutes of gameplay? It's not terrible, but it's just never beyond mediocre.

[Panzer88]

That's interesting, because I've enjoyed everything out of mistwalker much more than anything SE has put out lately.

[Garoth Moulinoski]

That's interesting, because I've enjoyed everything out of mistwalker much more than anything SE has put out lately.

Blue Dragon.

Has SE put out anything worse than Blue Dragon? I mean, I was excited for Blue Dragon. Until I played it. Then, all Blue Dragon does for me is remind me that such a thing as sleep exists.

Using Google I found Kaio's old thoughts in the gaming progress thread:

Thanks. I was going to continue searching for the post, but coworkers started talking about stuff and lo and behold, you come in with the post.

I find it funny that Kaioshin's thoughts contrast heavily with the interviewee from Kotaku. Huh. I mean, sure, you can say all you want about Kotaku, but it was the interviewee who said that, not the interviewer.  Maybe he was just hyping the game.

I'm still getting The Last Story, since I already preordered, but I do hope that Kaioshin's thoughts were premature... Or else I'll feel like a sucker. Not that I already felt that sting before.

[SargeSmash]

Blue Dragon could have been so much better.  It wasn't bad, it was just...  badly paced, and had some annoying features (like searching everything).

As for TLS, I'm not sure what to expect.  It almost sounds like an even more action-y FFXII or Xenoblade.  I'm looking forward to it, at any rate.

[Garoth Moulinoski]

Blue Dragon could have been so much better.  It wasn't bad, it was just...  badly paced, and had some annoying features (like searching everything).

And annoying music/sound, although fortunately, you can turn the "helper" voice off. But the boss fight music... Ugh... I don't remember what it said, I just know it kept getting pounded into my brain. If you're going to put BGM with lyrics, then at least make the song so long that I don't have hear the same friggin' lyrics every five seconds. Or better yet, just use instrumental BGM. That's kinda what BGM is for... >_>;

As for pacing, yeah, I got bored (not stuck- bored) in some marshy place or another. I don't remember where I left off. It was just that boring. Which is a pity, since it begins with an awesome looking village dilemma, and was exceptionally disappointing for me, since this was the Xbox 360 game that I wanted. It was that one game that, when I bought a 360, I wanted right away.

As for TLS, I'm not sure what to expect.  It almost sounds like an even more action-y FFXII or Xenoblade.  I'm looking forward to it, at any rate.

This is what I'm starting to think about it. I still haven't popped Xenoblade in (still finishing up Okami), but from what I read/hear about Xenoblade and, currently, Final Fantasy XII, it seems that way.

I should've made the poll about how different/similar VS and TLS are. From the looks of things, it would've been a landslide in favor of "Highly different"

[Panzer88]

The Last Story is more of an Action RPG than a JRPG like Xenoblade. placement in the battlefield matters, there are long range weapons, etc. It's a different beast. The only reason people are making comparisons is because they came out around the same time for the same platform.

No one is drawing comparisons between them and Infinite Undiscovery, or White Knight Chronicles.

[Garoth Moulinoski]

The Last Story is more of an Action RPG than a JRPG like Xenoblade. placement in the battlefield matters, there are long range weapons, etc. It's a different beast. The only reason people are making comparisons is because they came out around the same time for the same platform.

No one is drawing comparisons between them and Infinite Undiscovery, or White Knight Chronicles.

I (believe I) haven't played those games. Should someone be making references to them?

(Actually, I may have played WKC for PSP...? If that's the game, it bored me instantly)