The Last Story: Returning Glory to the JRPG (by Carl B.)

July 8, 2011, by Carl B. - I've been tired of JRPGs for years now, especially after playing the filth that was Final Fantasy 13. I haven't been able to get into any JRPG for a long time, whether it is Chrono Trigger or Breath of Fire II. The only exception to this has been Atlus' Radiant Historia – a game that broke the traditional JRPG mold with its ambitious time travel mechanic. Sadly, while Radiant Historia may have sold well on Nintendo DS, it never received the large main stream attention that other recent JRPGs have gotten. There's one game, though, that has re-kindled my faith in the JRPG genre: Nintendo and Mistwalker's The Last Story.

I've been playing through some recently imported games the past few weeks, one of which includes Disaster: Day of Crisis. It's a game that I've always wanted to play through, despite low review scores across the board. It's not a great game by any means, but it's not terrible either, making Nintendo of America's decision to not localize the title strange. Honestly, the voice acting – which Reggie Fils-Aime cited as "laughable" – is far from the biggest problem with the game. In any case, Disaster is the type of game the Wii could have used in North America back in 2008.

Fast forward to 2011: Nintendo has a new home console lined up for release just next year, and the upcoming releases for Wii consist of one Zelda game and a bunch of shovelware, for North America, at least – Europe is getting Xenoblade next month, and they might be getting The Last Story if rumors turn out to be true. It makes more sense for Nintendo of America to not localize Xenoblade or The Last Story than it did for them to not localize Disaster: Day of Crisis for this simple fact alone: the two games will be lucky to match half of Mario Party 9's sales. Combined.

Pictured: Combat in The Last Story.
Fearing that Nintendo may never bring The Last Story stateside, I imported the game and have been playing it all of this week. I'm 11 hours into it, and so far, it's been absolutely amazing every minute of the way. It's the best JRPG I have ever played. Western RPGs have dominated the role-playing space in recent years, with titles such as the Elder Scrolls, Fallout, and Mass Effect leading the way. Those types of games may give tons of options to the player, but JRPGs have always had one big advantage over the WRPG, if used correctly: storytelling and character development.

I don't speak Japanese, so I can't pretend to understand the ulterior motives behind each character in the game. What I do understand, thanks to fantastic cut-scenes, are how the characters interact with one another throughout the course of the game's adventure, and how they change as the narrative continues onward. The Last Story is packed with likable, noble characters, along with some that players will surely despise. Storytelling is a focal point in The Last Story, so much that I feel immersed in the game's world even if I don't speak their language. I also feel myself caring for the characters in the game, whereas in a WRPG I wouldn't have; Fallout: New Vegas is one of my favorite games this generation, but I can honestly say that I don't care about any of the characters in that game's world.

Much like Radiant Historia – one of the very few recent JRPGs that I can stand to play – The Last Story does away with many JRPG cornerstones that have grown tiresome, specifically turn based combat and random encounters. The Last Story is an action JRPG that plays almost like a Zelda title. Players have full control over the main character, Elza, during a battle. Holding the B button will have Elza block, and getting close to an enemy will auto-attack. There are no spamming buttons in The Last Story. There are no managing potions to beat a tough boss. The Last Story's combat has real strategy to it, since each one of Elza's party members will act on their own unless he gives them a specific command, once that skill is acquired. The greatest example of this strategy mechanic comes in the form of mages. Elza will have a mage in his party during most quests in the game, and Elza is able to command the mage to cast magic at specific targets, including destructible environments that can land on an entire group of enemies.

Pictured: Taking cover in The Last Story.
The most ingenious part about combat, however, is the dynamic cover system. When Elza is close to a wall or other similar obstacle, players can press the A button to have him hide behind it. Elza can also roll to nearby cover, and by holding the B button and walking up to a lower obstacle, Elza will gracefully bound over it.

The world in The Last Story is as equally compelling as the game's characters, narrative, and combat. Ruli City is incredibly detailed and large, and every location players travel to throughout the game shares that same sense of scope and detail. The Last Story is the best looking game on Wii – whenever I play it, I find myself wishing that The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword looks like it. The final piece that makes The Last Story an incredible game is the soundtrack, composed by none other than Nobuo Uematsu. It's only fitting that the famed Final Fantasy composer should create the soundtrack for The Last Story, considering the creator of Final Fantasy is the director behind The Last Story.

Pictured: Elza exploring Ruli City.
At 11 hours in, I'm roughly halfway done with the title, but I've barely explored the entire game up to this point. There are tons of sidequests that I'm unable to carry out due to the language barrier. I've gotten stuck a few times during the main adventure, but luckily the nice folks at Wikidot have put together a walkthrough for anyone who imports the title.