[Multiplatform] The Last Remnant: Life at 12 frames a second is a beautiful thing.

Wow. I started this tonight and I really like it. I like the characters, music is superb, art and atmosphere. Battles seem good, but we'll see. I played about an hour tonight.

How ya doing, buddy?

Originally Posted by Miles

I'm hesitant to buy this game. Of course famitsu gave it a good score since the game apparently had a 10 page flip-out ad in that issue. On the other hand, there's only a 7/10 rating so far on game rankings. I want to get more opinions on the game before I buy it. After the garbage that was Blue Dragon and LO I'm scared to buy another random next gen RPG.

Well I'm picking it up later today and will be playing it most of the day tomorrow so I'll put some thoughts up over the weekend.

Bear in mind though that according to Skills I have incredibly shitty taste in games.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by Miles

After the garbage that was Blue Dragon and LO I'm scared to buy another random next gen RPG.

Even if you rate Blue Dragon that badly, there have been enough decent quality RPGs by now. Tales of Vesperia, Lost Odyssey and to a somewhat lesser extent, Infinite Undiscovery and Eternal Sonata. I personally don't find Blue Dragon that bad, but then I didn't complete it so... maybe it gets worse.

If ya ask me, Square-Enix RPGs have been pretty good as long as they aren't Final Fantasy, just recently. I'm willing to try this one. Mind you, considering how many other games I'm playing right now, I'll wait for the price to drop just a little. I won't get to play it for at least a month, regardless.

I'm thinking it has been amply demonstrated by now that there can be decent RPGs on the 360, so I wouldn't be so hesitant. Even if you've been left with a lingering distrust of Mistwalker, this game need not fall under any such suspicion.

FELIPE NO

Played the game for a bit last night.

The game actually starts off well in presentation. I like the soundtrack and situational changes, where if you had max morale, the music turned into a high tempo rock which is similar to how DW would work if you were winning

But aside from that, the battle system is a nice change in the way how rpgs work. You have each individual person(unit) to customize, but then they're put into squads(unions), in which they act as one entity.

As far as how strategy is involved in formations...haven't gotten to that point yet. However, it has given the basis of the flow of combat, where you have deadlocks(where one union is in combat with another), flank attacks (attacking a union from the side that is not engaged in combat with the one attacking) & rear attacks (same thing but from behind). It also throws things in there like interceptions(where if one union is trying to attack their intended target, but is attacked/blocked by another union, they get a free shot in), and breaking the line of combat after a deadlock(union has a possibility of attacking the union trying to break away), and much other stuff not done, and that was just a bit of the tutorial.

Also I was laughing a bit at the facial expressions and motion capture of the main character at one scene in the game, because of the situation in which it happened. The production & presentation value is honestly higher than that of what Infinite Undiscovery did.

Now the only drawbacks I have at this point in the game, is the slowdown that happens when there is more than 35+ units on screen at the same time(which even then, the slowdown happens randomly), and the main character's running animation(the walking animation is fine). I did install the game to the HDD since the NXE update, and it definitely cuts down on loading time. The amount of space used was 6.1GB.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Originally Posted by Kagosin

Also I was laughing a bit at the facial expressions and motion capture of the main character at one scene in the game, because of the situation in which it happened. The production & presentation value is honestly higher than that of what Infinite Undiscovery did.

Now the only drawbacks I have at this point in the game, is the slowdown that happens when there is more than 35+ units on screen at the same time(which even then, the slowdown happens randomly), and the main character's running animation(the walking animation is fine). I did install the game to the HDD since the NXE update, and it definitely cuts down on loading time. The amount of space used was 6.1GB.

100% agreed. The facial expressions during the david/dave scene is great. I was busting up.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I just started playing it, and I do like Emma quite a bit in her first appearance. Abrasive, but not in an obnoxious way (ie, she rightfully gives Rush shit for stupid things). Haven't seen enough of the battles to pass judgment, but it appears the game has some texturing issues-- not unlike Mass Effect's.

Playing it off the harddrive, but I'm not sure if that's helping the loading times. As it stands, said loading times are frequent but brief (usually no more than three seconds).

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by GB

it appears the game has some texturing issues-- not unlike Mass Effect's.

You might not be surprised to learn that the game runs off of the Unreal Engine 3, not unlike Mass Effect.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Gamespot gave the game a 6.5/10, but review text doesn't match the score at all:

The Last Remnant for Xbox 360 Review - Xbox 360 The Last Remnant Review

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Well, some places are trying to make 6 the new 7 in order to balance out the horrendous reviewing system used for video games, so that may be why the reviewer says any RPG fan looking at Last Remnant should at least give the game a try.

Originally Posted by OmagnusPrime

You might not be surprised to learn that the game runs off of the Unreal Engine 3, not unlike Mass Effect.

I figured it did, but I was never completely sure about Mass Effect. Either way though, Lost Odyssey ran off it as well, but didn't nearly have this many issues. Maybe because it dedicated more time to loading.

Most amazing jew boots

Yeah more UE3 trash. The game is good but not good enough to distract from the massive amount of technical shortcomings. A real disappointment too because if Square-Enix did one thing right it was polishing their games to the point of technical flawlessness. I would like to say wait for the PS3 version to see if they improve on the technical aspect but since its UE3 it is going to perform even worse than this version.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Makes me wonder how the PC version is going to fare. Either way, I got it for 40 dollars on Amazon, so I'm actually pretty happy with the impressions so far. If I paid 60 dollars for this thing? Yeah, probably not so much.

FELIPE NO

Originally Posted by Cetra

I would like to say wait for the PS3 version to see if they improve on the technical aspect but since its UE3 it is going to perform even worse than this version.

You say that, but didn't they spend a lot of time tweaking and optimising the UE3 engine on the PS3 for the Unreal Tournament game that came out on it?

How ya doing, buddy?

I'm not sure if the did or not but even if they did that is Epic, and Epic is practically the only developer that has been able to get sold results from their own engine.

But in general UE3 showings for the PS3 have been much worse than on the Xbox 360 mostly due to a much more mature toolset being available for the Xbox 360. Who knows, maybe S-E will surprise the world with the PS3 version, but I'm not really holding my breath on the prospect.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I've played about six hours so far. The slowdown in battles is horrific although that does make the QTE easier to hit. There's a lot of texture pop up but no more than GTA or Mass Effect. I've not installed it and spend about 10 seconds waiting for each fight to start. The main character's running animation is as bad as Suikoden IV's and he's got buck teeth. The music is bog standard Jrpg fare and pretty uninspired and most of the text is unreadable on an SDTV.

And yet despite all that I love this game so far. The battle system is really intuitive and although I've not got far enough to unlock too much depth yet, I can see how it'll get interesting later. Also this is a grinder's dream. You have to collect new weapons, can build new weapons from ingredients and upgrade the ones you already have. You can kill monsters for ingredients and dig for them, so there's hours of finding shit to be had. The story is probably pretty standard but develops slowly. I can see me playing this for a while. I got killed four times earlier trying to beat a boss too so it's harder than most jrpgs. If you like technically poor but interesting rpgs then get it. If you're one of the people who hate Square on principle then don't bother.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by Shin

I've played about six hours so far. The slowdown in battles is horrific although that does make the QTE easier to hit. There's a lot of texture pop up but no more than GTA or Mass Effect. I've not installed it and spend about 10 seconds waiting for each fight to start. The main character's running animation is as bad as Suikoden IV's and he's got buck teeth. The music is bog standard Jrpg fare and pretty uninspired and most of the text is unreadable on an SDTV.

And yet despite all that I love this game so far. The battle system is really intuitive and although I've not got far enough to unlock too much depth yet, I can see how it'll get interesting later. Also this is a grinder's dream. You have to collect new weapons, can build new weapons from ingredients and upgrade the ones you already have. You can kill monsters for ingredients and dig for them, so there's hours of finding shit to be had. The story is probably pretty standard but develops slowly. I can see me playing this for a while. I got killed four times earlier trying to beat a boss too so it's harder than most jrpgs. If you like technically poor but interesting rpgs then get it. If you're one of the people who hate Square on principle then don't bother.

Shin, installing the game onto the drive does help a whole lot with texture pop-up and loading.

Other than that I basically agree with what was stated. (Only thing I don't get is the buck teeth statement ) Formations will play a role later on within the game, and the stat/leveling system is that of Romancing Saga (where you battle to get stat increases).

How ya doing, buddy?

I actually like this game so far. The only thing that bugs me is how bland all the areas look. They're incredibly boring and uninteresting.

Also, can you only change Rush's equipment throughout the whole game or do you get access to do other characters later?

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

After battles, generic characters can sometimes seize some of the raw materials you gather in order to strengthen their weapons (maybe armor too?). Not sure about the big important characters like David or Emma, since no one else has joined me as a full-fledged party member yet.

How ya doing, buddy?

Game Trailers has just put up it's review which by far the best I've seen and read for TLR. It's pretty fair to game.

Gametrailers.com - The Last Remnant - Review HD

Story: 8.2
Design: 8.7
Gameplay: 8.5
Presentation: 7.0

Total: 8.0

Quote:

The Last Remnant is a hard game to judge. A person's enjoyment of it will be directly related to how much they can tolerate the persistent graphical issues. If you can get past it, there's a lot to enjoy. The smart design decisions and its unique battle system.

Two more days till my copy gets here.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

It looks like they opted out of the "6.0 just to be safe, guys" and just stated they liked it. Not bad, Gametrailers. Now stop being gay on Gametrailers TV. "WHAT IS THE WII DOING NEXT, WHO KNOWS NINTENDO SO GROUNDBREAKING FADTIME"

FELIPE NO

Okay, one of the loading screens finally pointed out the difference in wield-types, which I was a little confused about.

Single-handed wielding has the best evasion rates, but lowest attack power.
Two-handed wield have high attack power, but make you slow to attack.
Dual-wielding has the highest attack power by far, but makes it "nigh impossible" to evade.

How ya doing, buddy?

Originally Posted by Miles

Also, can you only change Rush's equipment throughout the whole game or do you get access to do other characters later?

I'm sure I read a preview somewhere that said you can only change Rush's stuff but that was a while ago and I've not got to the point of recruiting anyone besides guild mercs yet (Assuming you ever do recruit the main characters at some point).

Has anyone worked out what the little symbols besides some characters stats mean yet? Also, how come every character has a different last stat? For example Emma has a love stat, whereas Rush has bravery or something. I assume it has something to do with binding Remnants later in the game but that's only guesswork so far.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Yeah, Rush is the only character who's equipment can be changed directly. How it works for the other Characters is that in the end of some battles, they will request to take some of the spoils and overtime they will upgrade themselves with equips. They will even ask to borrow Weapons, Armor, or, other things if it's better than what they currently have.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Didn't this game just come out last week, how is it $40 already?

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Amazon Preorder, Jimmy. Thing is, my copy JUST shipped, so the price advantage came at a delay in shipping. Still, I feel better owning this game and all its bonuses for 40 dollars than having it immediately for a full 60 dollars.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Yes, but it is still just $40, uh postorder.

I was speaking idiomatically.