The Last Story Hands-On

"Many working qualities to call its own."

 

Developer: Mistwalker/Artoon
Publisher: Nintendo
Release Date: February 24, 2012 (EU)
Platform(s): Wii
Genre: RPG

 

The Last Story on Wii has been out in Japan for a while now, but it might be a little hard to understand for some, which is why Nintendo is localizing it to Europe this month, February 24, 2012 to be exact. We got some spin time with the game and first impressions were fairly positive. It has that high Final Fantasy vibe, but more action oriented in combat and yet some individual twists here and there. The RPG also boasts a strong, personal presentation with slightly muted, yet defined color schemes and fantastic environments that embellish the Wii’s restrictions with bloom effects or slight blurring. This dark atmospheric tone is somewhat resembling of another Square title, Vagrant Story, but let’s keep name dropping to a minimum.

 

The Last Story in action. Not too bad, right?

 

The last story follows a bunch of mercenaries, with hero Zael at the helm, in the fit-name-here land of Lazulis Island. It’s as simple as that really, but before long, stuff will hit the fan mercenary and the team will start wondering what’s going on in their surroundings. Especially after Zael uncovers a strange new power in a flashback, the team will start broadening their perspective and start looking into more than just getting paid. Bringing this to life is a capable voice cast of broad English accents, rather than a stereotype dialect used in most games. It gives charm and individuality to each character and gets strengthened by relatable dialogue, rather than ham-fisted fantasy squabble.

The first few chapters guide the player through some linear corridors to explain some basic concepts and that works just fine. Though the game needs to open up more later on and make use of the sense of grandeur it reveals in aspects like its pristine cutscenes. Some of its unique elements might suggest as much.

 

 

As an RPG, The Last Story will have tons of combat and the game excels in being unique in this element, more than anything else. Using both Nunchuk and Wiimote (also Classic controller availability), combat has several entry points after which it develops in real time. One way is straight forward bashing, where players can simply move towards enemies to attack automatically when in range. The great part, besides ease of use, is how fluent characters also make use of most of the environments. By using commands to dodge, guard or lock onto enemies, players can effortlessly weave through hordes of enemies, even if the camera is not always as efficient in following all the action. In particular, prompting a character to stay close to an enemy while surmounting obstacles creates a nice acrobatic vault over debris and cover, rather than impeding movement. The cover system in itself isn’t all too ideal however, but at least it shows off a few unique elements, such as springing from cover and surprising enemies for extra damage.

More importantly, Zael can make use of some pretty nifty parlor tricks, such as Seeker mode, which acts as a shooter element for arrows or magic. In addition, he can use this mode to sniff out enemy weak spots or land headshots for bonus damage. It’s also the prime way to take care of ranged situations or create an advantage by taking out key opponents in battles.

 

There's a lot going on in The Last Story. Just roll with it.

 

And yet another way of entering battle is through a prompt which gives an overhead view of the danger area. It can also give indicators to special characteristics in that battle that need to be taken into account. This creates a logical overview of the upcoming struggle, which can help plan the battle. The cream of the strategic crop is Commander mode, which can be prompted by filling up the appropriate gauge. Here, Zael can issue commands to the party and bring up special buff areas and destroy enemy buffs at the same time. Being fluent in this endeavor creates not only boons, but can also prompt chains and more positive modifiers for the party. Making good use of the battle terrain with casters, melee characters and Zael give a strong tactical feel to the otherwise fairly automated combat. It’s a mix of ease and strategy that benefits The Last Story when combined. There are many ways to fight and all work, so finding what works in the situation at hand is gratifying and open-ended.

 

 

There are some pitfalls to be mindful though, beyond the camera quirks mentioned above. As stated, the combat can get pretty automated at times and it’s hard to oversee who is doing what at all times on the field. Especially as characters fall to their death and get obstructed by scenery, it’s hard trying to balance it all. In addition, reviving uses a similar automation and that can be an issue; certainly given a character can only be revived 5 times. This might sound plentiful, but in the heat of battle it can happen pretty quickly.

Luckily, Zael has one more trick up his sleeve to overcome it all: Gathering mode. When the protagonist releases Gathering, a myriad of modifiers get applied throughout battle. Enemies become slower and target Zael, characters cast faster, Zael can regain health by attacking and most importantly, he can revive characters by touch. It sounds like a lot, but it happens instinctively and simply moving over the playing field will be most of the action required. This mode will not only be handy during grand boss fights, but can also be applied when other party members are struggling or get cornered, amongst other things.

 

 

The Last Story looks like it could well be running amongst the big boys this year, with a good presentation, intuitive and deeply layered combat and many working qualities to call its own. It bears resemblance to some other titles, but that resemblance is only skin deep. Once buried into the mechanics of The Last Story, we might uncover something extraordinary. We haven’t had the chance to experience the multiplayer yet, but with all the additional modes and story elements promised, like extensive customization and multiple online modes, this could be a top contender at award season.

Screenshots

Daav Valentaten, NoobFeed. (@Daavpuke)