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[Midou]

Man this game has some of the lamest boss fights.

Spoiler

Like the doppelganger "go close to allies to see if they have red eyes" nope, cause then you'll attack them, you could block to avoid attacking, but it still felt lame. Necromancer you chase around in the mansion with horace, every time I was able to chase it into another group of my allies who were blocking a doorway, they'd move out of the way last second. In the underground of lazulis, where you fight the giant skeleton then after you hurt it a bunch, you can attack its master, dagran always runs for it first, tries to hit the master, misses because only main character can hurt it, and forces the enemy to teleport across the map making me have even less time to attack it, he can't hurt it, but he can sure make it a pain in the ass for you to get to it. Then you do that fight like 4 times, it's easy but time consuming and getting constantly knocked down and dagran's stupidity made it so tedious.

I like most of the game, but bosses are either really easy or really tedious. I'm on chapter 23.

 

[2San]

I'm kind of puzzled why the buzz here was so negative before release. I guess people really were wanting just more Xenoblade instead?

I think it makes sense. Last story is a good game and was definitely worth my money. It's just average on many fronts. Xenoblade is the best JRPG of the gen and it restored my faith in console JRPG's. If you play Last Story after Xenoblade it just feels lack luster. It's not even the battle system and linearity that bothered me. Since I prefer linear games and the battle system of LS is better, it's just lacking in difficulty in most of the game.

What struck me the most after completing it. Is that Xenoblade after a few hours in delivers a way more emotional experience than LS as a whole.

 

[JimboJones]

After a couple of hours in I really didn't know what to think of it, was kind of dissapointed, the framerate didn't help with the first impressions
But now that I am starting to get used to the combat and discovered manual mode I am starting to warm to it.
Played a few rounds of coop online and it was actually fun, everyone worked togeather suprisingly well despite no communication.

 

[Neon_Icarus]

I think it makes sense. Last story is a good game and was definitely worth my money. It's just average on many fronts. Xenoblade is the best JRPG of the gen and it restored my faith in console JRPG's. If you play Last Story after Xenoblade it just feels lack luster. It's not even the battle system and linearity that bothered me. Since I prefer linear games and the battle system of LS is better, it's just lacking in difficulty in most of the game.

What struck me the most after completing it. Is that Xenoblade after a few hours in delivers a way more emotional experience than LS as a whole.

Hmm...I really can't see Last Story as being average, apart from some of its technical aspects (framerate and some poor textures mostly. At times it looks far better than Xenoblade.).

What I liked about LS was how attached you get to the characters. Because they are talking to each other all the time, you could really get a feeling of how they exist as a group.

Of course, It helps that the character desings are far better than Xenoblade's.

Also, the battle system feels much more dynamic, while battles in Xenoblade are much more "rinse and repeat." Things like having to protect the spellcasters, using gathering, making use of the environment and stealth make LS one of the most fun JRPGs I've played.

Oh well...I guess I'm in the minority...Don't get me wrong, I loved Xenoblade too, but I don't think Last Story should be seen as its "poor brother."

 

[Dynedom]

The game is pretty average. The game has a lot of good points but I guess I can point out my problems with it:

The story is rather shallow, the characters felt underdeveloped or again shallow (Xenoblade didn't have a stellar cast either but their struggle seemed more genuine).
Some of them were memorable (Syrenne and Lowell) and the voice acting for the most part I thought was better than Xenoblade's but that's about it.

The battle system in TLS isn't really deep at all. I guess it didn't matter considering the battles themselves were largely one-dimensional and not challenging (as someone mentioned, at most, they could be tedious). Even if I did die (which didn't happen often), I would beat a situation/boss on the second try. Someone mentioned how you have to eventually use every ability in the game. Fine. The fact that you can use almost the same strategy for every major battle (simply taking into account enemy elemental affinities) made the battles incredible monotonous though.

Even on my NG+ playthrough, I haven't come across anything challenging yet. The bosses, ogres, etc are powered up but they still go down (often by my teammates overpowering them, not me). I've found a summon circle and levelled Zaled up to 80 without a hitch (summon circles are supposed to be harder on NG+). I just stopped using it because I felt it was pointless.

The environments just aren't varied enough either and this has arguably the worst bestiary of any jRPG I've played. How many times am I going to face a damn spider or Terracor? Even the

Spoiler

haunted mansion boss ends up getting repeated later, something I found absolutely baffling because it made that entire quest feel much less unique

. Do other jRPGs have limited environments and small bestiaries? Sure. It's just that they do so many other things better. With how at (or below) par a lot of things in TLS are, these problems stick out a lot more.

Xenoblade is without a doubt better, imho. It's bigger, more polished, better art direction, more stable, deeper and honestly more rewarding. Xenoblade's OST also blows away The Last Story's OST. I really don't think it's a contest. =\

 

[Midou]

Xenoblade is without a doubt better, imho. It's bigger, more polished, better art direction, more stable, deeper and honestly more rewarding. Xenoblade's OST also blows away The Last Story's OST. I really don't think it's a contest. =\

Yep. Pretty disappointed with a lot of uematsu stuff lately, outside of like lost odyssey, and that had more quality than quantity+quality for me.

 

[2San]

Hmm...I really can't see Last Story as being average, apart from some of its technical aspects (framerate and some poor textures mostly. At times it looks far better than Xenoblade.).

Oh well...I guess I'm in the minority...Don't get me wrong, I loved Xenoblade too, but I don't think Last Story should be seen as its "poor brother."

Well Story, exploration, presentation wise it really is average. The Battle system is good, but the lack of difficulty and jankyness stop it from being great(Still better then Xenoblades imo, but at least Xenoblade has a challenge).

The battle system in TLS isn't really deep at all. I guess it didn't matter considering the battles themselves were largely one-dimensional and not challenging (as someone mentioned, at most, they could be tedious). Even if I did die (which didn't happen often), I would beat a situation/boss on the second try. Someone mentioned how you have to eventually use every ability in the game. Fine. The fact that you can use almost the same strategy for every major battle (simply taking into account enemy elemental affinities) made the battles incredible monotonous though.

I don't know TLS really has varied and even multiple approaches to handle various situations. It's just that the game is too easy that makes the strategy pointless.

Xenoblade is pretty much the triple (stun, knock back, w/e) combo all the time.

 

[Tribes of Trusty]

Finished today. The feeling of closure if the ending is incredible.

 

[Spieler Eins]

Since I could load up my quicksave after the credits, I could finish the new tasks in the epilogue. My quick thoughts on the game now:

+Fun combat system that builds up quite well
+Good graphics
+Good visual design for the most part (environments, most weapons, enemies, etc...)
+Good music
+Story is generic but has its fun moments
+One of the better hub worlds... ever
+Lots of (good) optional content, sidequests, etc.


-Some annoying boss fight mechanics
-Most awful framerate drops and slowdowns I've seen on Wii
-Some goofy looking characters
-Too little music, half the game is silent
-Some of the storytelling can be unbearable in places
-No maps in dungeons
-Completely redundant searching sequences interrupting gameplay too often

Overall a fun game, but also pretty disappointing for reasons that I didn't see coming.

 

[Tribes of Trusty]

About the music, The Last Story's Dance of Death reminded me so much of Final Fantasy VII's Still More Fighting, it's funny.
Same thing with Infiltration that reminded me of MGS2's Opening Infiltration.

 

[Oxx]

The game could have done with more music. I guess I should have seen it coming when the 'Premium' soundtrack was only 28 minutes long.

 

[thefro]

The game could have done with more music. I guess I should have seen it coming when the 'Premium' soundtrack was only 28 minutes long.

The full soundtrack is 3 discs long. I agree that it would have been nice to have some Uematsu dungeon themes and more obvious character motifs (although those are already in the game to some extent, they just don't repeat more than 2-3 times in the game).

 

[arit]

Finished it tonight and well... it is noXenoblade.

The framerate and camera are just awful. Sometimes I was not able to move the camera during battles(without lock-on and guard) or Zael would not turn where I wanted him to turn. Most deaths were caused by either that or corner gang-bang accompanied by one-digit framerate and magical effects which made me not see Zeal or the enemies(most prominent during later bossfights).

I liked the conversations during the levels, they reminded me of Nier and should be in more games. The music was overall was good, even though it took some time until it hit me

Spoiler

Zeal is teasing me

.

It is not a bad game(besides the technical aspects) but after Xenoblade last year a little bit disappointing. Pandora's Tower can come.

Mean tease in library:

Spoiler

Mirania with glasses >_<

.

Sidequest question:

Spoiler

City, Waterway___ when would have been the time to kill the cougars? Last time I was able to go there I was ~lvl 42. and had been killed after 3-4 attacks, while not dealing any significant damage at all(even with star attribute). Now in the epilouge I am not able to swim anymore due to Calista.

-No maps in dungeons

It does not need any kind of map. Even if there may be an intersection, taking the hallway the party is not leaning against is the "hidden treasure" room.

Spoiler

Even though I ran a few circles in the sewers, just the wrong ones, until I triggered the cutscene.

EDIT:

Spoiler

Did I miss something or was the glowing tiger never really explained?

 

[Oxx]

Welsh knight gets the award for best supporting actor.

 

[Tribes of Trusty]

EDIT:

Spoiler

Did I miss something or was the glowing tiger never really explained?

It's very briefly referred to :

Spoiler

It's the guardian spirit of Lazulis Island

 

[Oxx]

Chapter 22 got weird...

Spoiler

I'm talking about Mirania's bowel movements and not the ghostly shit.

 

[Firemind]

Mirania has a big appetite.

I still don't know where the big fluffy muffin quote originates from.

 

[Shiggy]

I really love this game until chapter 11. I thought I'd lost it with the so-called hardcore titles after I was completely bored by Skyward Sword, but this game is just real fun. You can actually talk to NPCs, there's not a huge and empty world, there's no backtracking involved until now, and the fighting system - if set to manual - does also work great.

I'm actually surprised how good this looks, the framerate drops were only noticeable to me during some cutscenes. All in all, it really doesn't feel like a Nintendo title.

Ah, and I don't want to forget about the voice acting. I think it does fit quite well.

 

[Cypher]

Amazon and GameStop has this up for preorder.

Release date: June 19
Price: $49.99

Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007CSF3GO/?tag=neogaf0e-20

GameStop - http://www.gamestop.com/wii/games/the-last-story/99301

 

[PixyJunket]

Ah, it's releasing on the same day (or week) as Lollipop Chainsaw. Hmm.

 

[Dynedom]

Sidequest question:

Spoiler

City, Waterway___ when would have been the time to kill the cougars? Last time I was able to go there I was ~lvl 42. and had been killed after 3-4 attacks, while not dealing any significant damage at all(even with star attribute). Now in the epilouge I am not able to swim anymore due to Calista.

Was just about to post about this. You can only do this quest up until before

Spoiler

the city gets raided

. I don't think it's possible to do it after or if anyone is accompanying you around town.

In terms of fighting

Spoiler

them, I only did it on my NG+ playthrough and they are incredibly tough.

The jump in difficulty of that battle from the rest of the game is staggering. I am AT level 80 and still more or less in the same situation as you.

If you're looking for a strat, this it mine (you'll be able to do this on New Game +) if you choose to do it:

Spoiler

Ultimately, you want to kill them one at a time, starting with the lowest level one (one will be 35, the other 2 40 on first playthrough. On NG+, mine were level 75 and 2 level 80's).

1) Always stay in Aggro mode. You need to build up burst. You should also heal slightly whenever you damage each of the cougars.
2) Circle around them in a guard, keeping all 3 in your sight (the moment you lose sight of one, it gets tough because the camera does you no favors and he can back attack you, leading into you being combo'd by the other 2 for an insta-kill)
3) Whenever one pounces past you, ATTACK IT ONCE and never do this if there is another cougar RIGHT NEXT TO IT (because it can sometimes one-shot you immediately after your attack lands). Attack only once and get back into guard because the cougar usually pounces automatically after being knocked back
4) Whenever you get burst, USE IT to inflict Gravity. It will slow them down and make it easier to collect them in one group and circle them. It's also possible to combo them to 2-3 hits when they're like this.
5) As soon as you unleash burst, go back into aggro again to rebuild it and regain health as you strike them
6) USE YOUR FAST CROSSBOW. Hopefully you have it at level +5. Smash away at individual cougars. This is also a good way to piss them off and make one come at you, which is what you want. Target one cougar at a time in bursts. Don't piss off all 3, haha.
7) Go through this over and over till all 3 are dead. If you can't always target the same cougar, target the one closest to you. When one is near death, you might want to start gunning for it while following the above. AVOID the rocks because if you back into one while guarding, you'll backflip over it and leave yourself wide open to be attacked or combo'd. I lost a life once doing this and it was infuriating.

In terms of my weapons armor, I had the Stranger +5 and Brave Armor + 9. Max out your defense. I didn't have my Heavy Armor and Greaves +9 because Callista was wearing them and she's out of the picture in my game. I believe the Heavy Greaves reduce damage further in Guard so that's a good idea. Keep in mind, this is my current strategy and not necessarily the best. It takes some time and requires huge patience. Ultimately, it worked though.

The battle may be significantly easier if you're 5-10 levels higher but the bad camera can work against you and it still might be a question of timing and patience.

 

[Bladenic]

Definitely looking forward to this. I think I look forward to Xenoblade Chronicles a bit more, due to having a strange itch to play FFXII right now with it's expansive world and whatnot but wanting to play a new game instead, so it should fill that void. But this game looks great too, this is shaping up to be a great year for RPGs.

 

[iavi]

No LE, or pre-order bonuses I wanted some of that kit the EU got. Oh well, pre-ordered. Really looking forward to this. I've actually enjoyed a good portion of Mistwalker's output thus far.

 

[kunonabi]

I freaking love this game so far. I'm at ch 13 and I'm really digging everything about it. The game is a little rough around the edges but the gameplay, pacing, characters, and variety really make up for it. The scene at the entrance to the arena was priceless.

 

[iSurvivedTheOutage]

The art is beautiful.

 

[Oxx]

I actually think a lot of the in-game models look better than the concept art.

 

[CAVE343]

At chapter 16 or 17 right now and truly enjoying all of it. I like the linear feel of this game, the music whenever it's playing and especially the chatter between the party members.

All in all I hope it gets even better from here on. How many chapters are there anyway?

 

[fabricated backlash]

At chapter 16 or 17 right now and truly enjoying all of it. I like the linear feel of this game, the music whenever it's playing and especially the chatter between the party members.

All in all I hope it gets even better from here on. How many chapters are there anyway?

About 40 and the story and characters really come together after the halftime point of the game.

The finale is extremely well done.

Spoiler

MY BALLS

 

[CAVE343]

About 40 and the story and characters really come together after the halftime point of the game.

The finale is extremely well done.

Spoiler

MY BALLS

Thanks, that means I really have something to look forward to. Stuck at work though *sigh*

 

[Alrus]

Got the game and finally found time to play it and my Wii suddenly decided it wouldn't read dual layered discs anymore Outside of sending it back to Nintendo (which I probably would have to pay for since it's a launch unit), is there any other solution?

 

[JimboJones]

Got the game and finally found time to play it and my Wii suddenly decided it wouldn't read dual layered discs anymore Outside of sending it back to Nintendo (which I probably would have to pay for since it's a launch unit), is there any other solution?

You can buy a replacment disk drive, there is no soldering and it's pretty easy following step by step instructions. I just followed a youtube video showing you how to do it and I have never modded a console before.

 

[Oxx]

'I didn't take you for a cradle snatcher'!'

 

[LPC]

Just finished it! Great game but Xenoblade is a lot better imo...

Didn't like it in the beginning but after a few hours in it I got to love it gameplay mechanics have to been learned well to play this game correctly and after the battle system could be a blast. I feel sorry for the framerate... wow man, sometimes it was like what? 5? 10 f/s?

Artstyle was beautiful but no comparison with the great landscapes in Xenoblade. Didn't really say wow once here. English voices were really great, congrats to Syrenne, Dagran and Yurick. Game could have been better, but you have to play this for sure.

And for the record, the cougars quest was still unbeated in my game too, didn't manage to damage them.

 

[Oxx]

Chapter 23 was pretty effective as a mid-game skill refresher. And the ending was pretty cool.

 

[kunonabi]

I am already excited about doing a second run through. There were some skirmishes that I'd love to get second crack at and some decisions I'd like to have back to see if they have any effect on how some of the events play out.

 

[thefro]

My European copy finally came today, so I'm looking forward to playing through this in English finally (and if the slowdown is worse than the JPN version for who knows what reason).

 

[Reveirg]

I'm kind of puzzled why the buzz here was so negative before release. I guess people really were wanting just more Xenoblade instead?

That's exactly what I was thinking!

I've always thought the Xenoblade comparisons were unfair before playing it, but I still left all the negative buzz bring my hype down. I was pleasantly surprised by the game. It's a whole different beast from Xenoblade, but such an enjoyable ride nonetheless.

 

[hutna]

I'm only 11 chapters in and I noticed what I like to call "that mistwalker jank." In all of mistwalker's games there is this sense of lack of polish on the graphics and game systems. Blue Dragon had horrible pop-in and Lost Odyssey had some weird texture and animation issues; TLS has frame rate issues and low rez textures. Blue Dragon's combat system was very generic, and Lost Odyssey's ring thing wasn't really interesting; this game needs to be set on manual for the battles to be good.

That said it also has what I like to call "that mistwalker charm." While a lot of folks diss the gooch's storytelling abilities (and I would mostly agree) the man can make some damn like-able characters. You can see this easily with the characters in FF pre and post gooch. Lost Odyssey had great characters as did Blue Dragon. The Last Story's might have my favorite. Funny and great voice acting really shines and I think the group really has the feel of a bunch of friends playing D&D in the 80s; just great party dynamics. The game is also really fun to play (once you turn on manual mode); as was Lost Odyssey, especially the dream sequences, and Blue Dragon's job system was very fun.

I think comparing this game to Xenoblade is unfair in some ways. To me Xenoblade was a nearly perfect game and maybe my favorite game of the generation; certainly my favorite RPG, one of the few (Breath of Fire Dragon Quarter, SMT:Nocturne and FF12 are included in this) modern RPGs that innovate while stil giving me those warm and fuzzy feelings the old school RPGs of the SNES era gave me. I like The Last Story for what it is, not what it is compared to Xenoblade.

 

[Neon_Icarus]

That's exactly what I was thinking!

I've always thought the Xenoblade comparisons were unfair before playing it, but I still left all the negative buzz bring my hype down. I was pleasantly surprised by the game. It's a whole different beast from Xenoblade, but such an enjoyable ride nonetheless.

Somehow I think the reaction has been so negative just because It happens to have been published after Xenoblade, and on the same platform. If people could just look at LS on its own, I think their reaction would be a lot more favourable.

I just think it's a shame if people decide to ignore it just because of Xenoblade.

 

[Zornica]

I recieved my package today from sendit. I got the limited edition for only 38€ shipping included, so probably I should just ignore the little dent in the box :/.
I wonder if I will like it more this time...

 

[kunonabi]

What exactly is every one so down on auto attack? I haven't had any problems with it.

 

[Spieler Eins]

Somehow I think the reaction has been so negative just because It happens to have been published after Xenoblade, and on the same platform. If people could just look at LS on its own, I think their reaction would be a lot more favourable.

Issues like the ridiculous framerate have nothing to do with Xenoblade. It's just bad in general.

It does not need any kind of map. Even if there may be an intersection, taking the hallway the party is not leaning against is the "hidden treasure" room.

It's not like it would have been a great effort to put one in there. It's still possible to lose track of where the other party members are going, especially immediately after a fight, and then run in circles from time to time. Even more so when many rooms look alike.

 

[B.K.]

Preordered today. I'm looking forward to it. There's no way it'll be as bad as Monado, I hope.

 

[Oxx]

What exactly is every one so down on auto attack? I haven't had any problems with it.

It's a tad annoying if you're attempting to run past a bunch of enemies in order to target a more dangerous foe and you just end up hitting the closest ones.

But I'm ~13 hours in and I'm still happy with auto attack.

 

[Dynedom]

Issues like the ridiculous framerate have nothing to do with Xenoblade. It's just bad in general.

The game has a lot of charm but it is average. It's especially average compared to Xenoblade but it would have been average even without Xenoblade's existence. Just nothing terribly rewarding about the game except for

Spoiler

the story's closure

. For me, that's not enough, especially not from a jRPG.

It's a tad annoying if you're attempting to run past a bunch of enemies in order to target a more dangerous foe and you just end up hitting the closest ones

This combined with jumping over barricades while defending is really annoying. I realize you have to be aware of your surroundings but not taking this into account with the dodgy camera screams laziness to me from the developers. The game also seems very reluctant to shift focus on enemies, despite you moving away from one and towards another. It almost takes an eternity. Having to manually shift aim doesn't help because it seems to not target the one you want first. Everything has to be done with split second timing and it doesn't boil down to skill. It's just a bad design choice, imho. This is especially true of the

Spoiler

3 cougar battle side quest

. The strategy I developed had as much to do with getting around the game's bad mechanics as it did with the difficulty of the battle itself.

 

[Reveirg]

Somehow I think the reaction has been so negative just because It happens to have been published after Xenoblade, and on the same platform. If people could just look at LS on its own, I think their reaction would be a lot more favourable.

I just think it's a shame if people decide to ignore it just because of Xenoblade.

Yeah. Truth is, this is a hugely impressive 1-2 punch from Nintendo, making the Wii potentially the strongest JRPG console this gen, as far as quality goes.

 

[Neon_Icarus]

The game has a lot of charm but it is average. It's especially average compared to Xenoblade but it would have been average even without Xenoblade's existence. Just nothing terribly rewarding about the game except for

Spoiler

the story's closure

. For me, that's not enough, especially not from a jRPG.

Well, Xenoblade is a very good game, but I just found the core gameplay more fun in Last Story. And Xenoblade was just too long. I was considering dropping it by the time I reached Mechonis. LS is unquestionably better in some areas as well (character designs and models, localization, the existence of multiplayer). Framerate is bad, but not a deal-breaker for me.

Well, I guess I'm just in the minority here, though judging from the reviews (quite a few 9s), there are a few people who agree with me.

 

[Dynedom]

Well, Xenoblade is a very good game, but I just found the core gameplay more fun in Last Story. And Xenoblade was just too long. I was considering dropping it by the time I reached Mechonis. LS is unquestionably better in some areas as well (character designs and models, localization, the existence of multiplayer). Framerate is bad, but not a deal-breaker for me.

If the Last Story had been any longer, with no challenge, little depth and an incredibly generic storyline with rather one-dimensional characters, it would have been leaning towards awful game territory, imho. The fact that it is a short length is almost like a requirement, not a benefit of design. Even going through my NG+ playthrough, the game really doesn't offer anything great in terms of challenge. I've faced a

Spoiler

level 160 boss with level 65-80

characters and absolutely annihilated it. It's borderline embarrassing. I wasn't even doing anything special either. Aggro + hack away + dodge. The

Spoiler

level 100+ superbosses in Xenoblade are borderline brutal and require completely new strategies, abilities and I think even equipment to work.

The only hard thing I fought was the

Spoiler

cougar battle

and that is artificially heightened in difficulty by bad design choices. TLS's gameplay is fun for a while but then it just got monotonous and charmless for me. I also don't think the character designs are leaps and bounds better than Xenoblade. There are some embarrassing costume choices in TLS (dem short shorts) which put it on par with some of the awful stuff in Xenoblade. Overall, I may tend to agree but it's not much of a victory and shallow given the rest of the game's flaws.

I hope there are some surprises in NG+. If this wasn't a Mistwalker game and one of the few decent jRPGs around, I would have forgotten about it already. Ok that might be a bit harsh. Maybe it's just one of those games that gets one playthrough and that's it.

edit: This game gets a huge plus for character interactions though.

Spoiler

Lowell and Syrenne are the best duo in recent games, let alone jRPGs

. Also:

Spoiler

"My balls!

 

[PetrCobra]

Just did the

Spoiler

stealth part after my second imprisonment

and I've gotta say that was pretty rubbish. Also, I cannot uderstand why

Spoiler

the three beasts behind the bars at the north end of the river were so damn tough

when every other fight was a piece of cake so far, including

Spoiler

the fights within the tower of trials where the enemies were many levels above the beasts in question

.

 

[Dynedom]

Also, I cannot uderstand why

Spoiler

the three beasts behind the bars at the north end of the river were so damn tough

when every other fight was a piece of cake so far, including

Spoiler

the fights within the tower of trials where the enemies were many levels above the beasts in question

.

I think a lot of it has to do with

Spoiler

Zael being alone and without any heal bombs around. The jump in difficulty is pretty staggering though. The camera and tendency to bounce over the fallen debris doesn't help either. Depending on how early in the game you are, you might not even have a Star element weapon, which makes the battle even more annoying.