The Wii has slowly become the console that hosts some of the best Japanese role playing games this generation. First, we’ve had the astonishing Xenoblade Chronicles and now we’ve been gifted with the excellent The Last Story. If you’re at all interested in role playing games then The Last Story is something you’ll undoubtedly cherish and look back on fondly in later years.
The Last Story is an extremely accessible Japanese RPG that’s tailored to newcomers, but also holds its own with experienced players of the genre. From customisation, to the battle system, everything feels simple and easy to manage. The game fits in with the Wii ethos of providing gameplay that will appeal to a wide audience, which is something JRPG’s in general seem to fail to do.
Story
During The Last Story you take control of Zael and from time to time his partners, a band of mercenaries in search of their fortune. You undertake a series of missions and explore Lazulis Island and its sprawling medieval capital Lazulis City, while trying to help Zael achieve his ultimate goal of leaving his life as a mercenary behind and becoming a true knight. You will embark on an epic adventure that’s relentless in pace and is driven through a clear and concise narrative.
Visuals
As the Wii draws to the end of its life we’ve seen many games that push the system beyond that which we originally thought it was capable of, with games such as The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Donkey Kong Country Returns. You can now add The Last Story to that list. Mistwalker has tried valiantly to create the most realistic visuals it could possible muster from the aged Wii hardware, and has done so admirably.
Combat
Combat initially feels strange. As you run at your opponent you automatically attack them, which is a far cry from the turn based battle systems many JRPG fans will be familiar with. Thankfully there’s a bit of a twist as your main character Zael can use something called Gathering that is activated when you press C. Gathering allows you attract the enemy’s attention and allows mages and other members of your party ample time to get some critical hits in, heal party members, and dish out battle commands.
Verdict
While The Last Story isn’t quite as gripping as the vast and expansive world of Xenoblade Chronicles, it has a deeply unique charm about it that I rarely see replicated in other games. The game will only take around twenty hours to complete, but don’t let that put you off, as The Last Story along with Xenoblade Chronicles show that despite its aging hardware, the Wii is still a force to be reckoned with.
9/10
Buy IT!!!
Sounds like it’s one good game! I’m definitely going to get it when it releases in N.A.!
This shit garbage if u want a real rpg play oblivion duh
Obviously you’ve played the game and completed it 100% to offer such a strong opinion.
This and Oblivion are two completely different things, don’t try comparing them.
Oblivion= Exploration and tons of little sidequests
Last Story= Story, gameplay, and characters.
Besides, Oblivion gets boring after a while.
This guys just a child troll, stop replying to them.
Oblivion sucks skyrim is way better….
I have officially lost all hope for the future of video games with this comment…
yeah i rather play the better game: skyrim
(between skyrim and oblivion that is)
No japanese voices for europe.
Not buying, even if it does seem quite good. Not interested much. Pandora’s Tower all the way :D
just a curious question. If it seems quite good why are you not interested in buying it?
This’ll seem stupid, but I sort of don’t know.
It just seems Xenoblade is better, and this seems VEERRRY similar to Xenoblade, except with people screaming at you “FIND IT’S WEAK SPOT” when you’re against bosses.
Pandora’s Tower is different, and seems more worth my money. (Another reason, I’m saving up money for 3DS games and Wii U. May as well not waste it on a game I’ll never play.
Look at any gameplay video. It is very different.
NO, VERY DIFFERENT than Xenoblade.
In simple way, Xenoblade is MMORPG like. Last Story is chapter based story telling. Both got their own battle system & side quests.
Pandora’s Tower is more like a gal game with battle elements.
I had played them all.
That is the greatest name I’ve seen in a while
Can someone tell me is it true the UK version/european version has british accent voice actors? I’m going to buy this game as soon as I’ve got the cash.
Yes, they have British voice actors.
Sounds like the Wiin(Last Story, Xenoblade Chronicles) and DS, (Pokemon B&W2) are still hot.
Goodbye 3DS. I’ll be playing Pokemon, leaving your 3DS functions buried and useless. My 3DS will now become old hardware once again. Sometimes, given all the DSi software, DSi cartridges (TWEWY, PKMB&W1&2), I wonder if the 3DS was worth buying at $250… Should have waited. Shoulda coulda woulda.
good thing the 3ds is retro compatible with ds games :)
they’ll be making a pokemon game for 3ds on time dont worry it’ll come
Dude, playing B&W on the 3DS allows you to access the C-Gear to its fullest extent, and the online connectivity is far better.
Plus, the 3DS is backwards compatible and has better titles coming out for it.
your proving his point, hes thinking maybe he shouldve just waited for actual good game to be on the 3DS. he forked over his 250, like some of us did before the price dropped, and i dont blame him, we couldve just waited and got a good deal but instead we got 20 old games, most of wich i have/beat .
yes im still piss of, my parent dont buy my consoles, i do!
What about uprising, paper mario, luigies mansion 2, animal crossing and Mario tennis also probably all coming out this year?
There is plenty of other Nintendo 3ds exclusives coming out this year stop whining about ur precious Pokemon being made for the ds it’s kinda like god of war 2 came out on ps2 after 3 was already released sure it was kinda of a let down but it was still an awesome game.
You do know that Black and White 2 are just about the last DS games that are going to be released? Getting rid of your 3DS just because of one game is pretty stupid.
Uprising, Luigi’s Mainson 2, MGS3D, as well as a bunch of awesome eShop games are on the verge of coming out (plus Smash Bros eventually). Even if you are not going to play your 3DS for a while, it is just going to be more expensive for you in the long run if you decide to get it again. Don’t trade it in, just put it a closet or something for a while if you have to…
And wait for Fire Emblem! :D
Mine is Japanese 3DS :P
Can’t wait for Pandora’s Tower This one looks the best out of all three, though. Xenoblade comes second, though.
Can not wait to play this game! Don’t forget to join http://www.facebook.com/OperationRainfall to keep up with all new information on this and all OpRa games.
I got xeno and last story and they both are different games. xeno is open world and last story is kindly like zelda., But the story on last story is great. I can’t stop playing.
Get N or get OUT!!!!
Agreed here. Some of the boss fight in last Story even like Zelda. Rumor said the battle system mostly made by Nintendo.
That would be greatly incorrect. Nintendo wasn’t that involved in the production of the game itself. They were basically responsible for the publishing of the game and for giving Mistwalker 1 or 2 criteria to work from. Sakaguchi and his team at Mistwalker experimented with the battle system for a year and finally came up with what was put into TLS. Mistwalker designed the game and supervised as AQ Interactive worked on programming.
A good review. the game sounds fun and innovative in its’ battle system.
Leave luck to heaven.
Nice review, I’m totally buying it as soon as it gets to america!
Awesome, can’t wait to play it tomorrow! (Thank you Amazon for your crappy delivery speed…)
The Wii is a force to be reckoned with.
The Wii U will be a force to be feared.
Imagine what Wii U RPGs will be able to do!
Can’t wait to buy this game!!! The Wii and DS are still awesome systems with great games that are coming out. Can’t wait to play them all.
Sidequests, man. There’s no reason to rush through this game. I’m at the 22h mark and there’s no sign of the Story ending so soon. o/
Can’t wait!
1) Last Story
2) Pandora’s Tower
3) Xenoblade
That’s the order I plan on getting them!
Did the review mentioned about customize controller?
Can change through option though.
Playtime can be more than 20, around 30+ hours with all side quests.
Bashing last story won’t made other Wii games sell better.
As long as is a good game, support it then more RPG will come out at Wii U.
Bear in mind:
No games perfect, only preference.
In realistic, no sales no games.
With the limited time I have to game these days, 20 hours of gameplay is a lifetime to me. I’ll check it out, but it may just be a collectors item since my game backlog is so immense.
Xenoblade Chronicles looks awesome, but I haven’t heard much about The Last Story albeit some Nintendo Power info. Definitely gonna do some research.
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