The Last Story has been available in Europe for a while now, and received warm critical praise. It was the first game directed by Hironobu Sakaguchi — the creator of the Final Fantasy series — in quite some time, and it was a title with impressive scope and attractive visuals that made the most of Wii. The good news is that North American gamers don't have long to wait until it arrives on 10th July.
In an interview with IGN, Sakaguchi spoke about the game and developing for Wii. Intriguingly, when asked about features left out he said that a battle rewind mechanic was originally considered, but taken out to maintain the tempo of the action.
That would be the “Rewind Function.” This was a feature that when a mage’s magic was successful, an icon would appear for the player to shake the remote. By shaking the controller at that moment it would rewind the battle to just before the mage unleashed their magic. From there it would show the sequence again from an overhead view.
Using this feature, players would have been able to see who used what magic, check the battle situation and then strategize on what to do next. However, the feature slowed the battle tempo too much, so unfortunately we decided to take it out. You can still see remnants of this feature in the overheard view while in command mode, or while watching the Lazulis Knights cheating in the match at the arena.
Creating a large-scale RPG with impressive visuals on Wii is challenging on a technical level, something the Sakaguchi addressed.
It’s unfortunate, but the final issue that always seemed to deny certain ideas was the SD resolution limitation. However, within those parameters we aimed to create a title with beautiful graphics that can compete with modern day specs. I would be pleased if people would view our efforts to their best by switching their cables to advanced connection cables or by playing it in the best environment possible. And though the resolution may be SD, I think players will really enjoy the sophisticated world.
SD or not, it's a beautiful game; are any of you North American gamers planning to pick it up when it arrives this summer? We rather liked it when it was released in Europe, and you can read why in our The Last Story review.
[source uk.ign.com]
Comments 27
Must have been difficult coming from HF systemfor your first two games and then going to the wii.
In that case, they should consider a WiiU ReRelease. Take the game, change the textures and add the features that required more processing power. Or simply, make a sequel. Such a game would perfectly fit on that system. More processing power for instant rewinds and stuff, use the touchscreen on the controller as an interactive overhead map of the battleand everything would look even nicer in HD
Dont mind the title "LAST Story" FINAL fantasy was also FAR from final
@Einherjar I'd much rather have a sequel. We don't need a rerelease of a game that came out this year.
@FonistofCruxis Sadly, I can see Nintendo rereleasing games with "New WiiU Control" or something.
I thought the trailers last year at E3 showed wii ga es are already compatable with the wii u controller as long as its in the wii u and well not on the wii, they showed wii sports and wii fit with the wii u controller, unless thats wii u sports and wii u fit with wii graphics
@LordOtaku Those are brand new games. Wii games will not work with the Wii U controller.
Still playing twilight princess havent gotten around to skyward sword an hoping i can play wind waker on the new wiiu controller. yeah.
Would love a sequel to this to. I mean, he already have some ideas that can be used in the next game. ^^
The only game of the OR trio I liked, and now we have a date. Yay! But just a question for you europeans, is The Last Story Dual
Layered? That was what prevented me from
Buying Xenoblade, so I just want to know. (I
Can play Dual layer games, It's just not a preference.)
@TheDreamingHawk No, its not dual layered and it doesn't sound like you've played any of the three so shouldn't that be "The only game of the OR trio that interests me"?
@FonistofCruxis By my comment I meant from trailers and impressions, which means the same thing.
But thanks for calming my worries about this game! Hope to pre order a limited edition if it gets confirmed for NA. Make it happen Xseed!
Already have it preordered so definitely
@James Do we know for sure Wii games won't be playable on WiiU tablet? Not utilisizing the screen, of course, but just in lieu of using a Classic Controller? I could see them implementing some kind of backwards compatibility, like how Gamecube pads could be used to play downloaded N64 games
All I can say is if we didn't get XC and LS until the WiiU with updated graphics, I would NOT have complained, but eh...
Anyway, there's no doubt I'm picking this game up... in words, the battle system still doesn't make sense to me, and that's half of my intrigue
yes i already have this game reserved, cant wait!
Sorry, but I won't be picking up Xenoblade Chronicles or Last Story for a while. I have two 3DS games and a Wii game to pick up along with saving for the upcoming Wii U.
I was going to pre-order a copy, but I decided to start saving up for a 3DS or WiiU instead. I did pre-order Xenoblade Chronicles, though. So I still supported the localization of future JRPGs in the United States. I think I'd become a little burnt out if I decided to play through another RPG, after I finish Xenoblade Chronicles. Oh well, I definitely received my money's worth from Xenoblade Chronicles. I've been playing for 92 hours already, and I don't believe I've even reached the halfway point.
Im in America and I already beat the European version.
And it got to a point where the game was so beautiful, I'd accidentally pick up my PS3 controller when playing.
The efforts they put in to make this game look great, with the higher resolution textures. shows off extremely well.
Unlike most RPG's, I love this one, I got closure in the end.
@Ryon, did you experience Xenoblade Chronicles yet?
@title yeah no wonder, wii was a disappointment. But we all know that do we?
Although impressive visually, the biggest failing of The Last Story was the lack of an engaging story - funnily enough the opposite of Pandora's Tower which had an interesting story, but boring, repetitive gameplay. If you haven't bought any of these games yet, Xenoblade Chronicles is the one to get hands-down.
I still don't regret buying all three at launch and supporting Nintendo's efforts. Helps that I got more trade-in credit for The Last Story (well 5p) than I spent on it!
@TheDreamingHawk
I am in the same boat as you, except that I did buy Xenoblade but I never expected my Wii would not read it, as it reads Brawl and Prime Trilogy without a hitch. So that is technically my first Wii U game, I do know the disc works as it runs on other Wii.
I was under the impression that this one was also dual layered, so thanks to Fonist for clarifying. Of the OR games, this one was the one I was dying for since the first day, it was later on that I caught interest in XC
already got it reserved. Can't wait, this was the game I joined operation rainfall for.
Best game on Wii.Period.
I also have mine pre-ordered. It was a choice between this and Lord Of The Rings Extended Trilogy on Blu Ray and I chose Last Story!
I figure I could get the LOTR Trilogy later when it goes on sale again but if I miss out on Last Story I don't only miss out on an EPIC game but I miss out on the art book as well.
My component a/v cables are ready! Bring it on!!!
@Sean_Aaron You supported Nintendo's efforts by buying The Last Story and then trading it in. So it's kind of like you erased the benefits of your purchase.
@Wesker
He bought the game, and that´s what counts. The first months of sales are generally used to measure if the game´s sold good or not.
Besides, secondhand market has existed as long as trade itself, so it doesn´t damage the industry one bit. The gaming industry just needs to accept that once we´ve payed for their product, we own that copy and are free to give it away, sell it or throw it in the trash.
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