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[Neon_Icarus]

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!

Yes, LS is easy. I actually tend to prefer challenging games myself (a big fan of Dark Souls). However, games can sometimes be easy and still really fun. I think I died only two times when I played through Yoshi's Island back in 1995, but damn if that wasn't one of the best games I've ever played.

What makes a game fun is very subjective, so it's not like I'm going to change anyone's mind whatever I say. For me, the combat system in LS felt like the realization of something I dreamed of when I was playing Final Fantasies back in the PSX era. Taking cover, planning your attacks, protecting your spellcasters, making use of your environments...It's all very cinematic and thrilling. At its best you could feel like you were taking part in one of the smaller battles from the LotR movies.

And sure, if you look at story purely as a sequence of events, it is really generic. But there is more to story than that, characters being just one element. And it's the characters that made the story for me just a little bit more interesting than the story in Xenoblade. Because there is not much banter between the characters in Xenoblade, I never really grew that attached to them. Also, despite featuring such a "classic" JRPG story, LS does avoid some of the genre's pitfalls (small children in your party, furries, overuse of jargon (look at FFXIII)).

Anyway, this will be my last post defending LS. It's not like I made the game or anything. I just wanted people, who are still on the fence about the game, to know that some of us think that it's way better than just "mediocre."

EDIT:

We really need to try and leave Xenoblade out of this. Two different games, developers, etc. I know it's easy to sit them side by side as peers but I'd rather just make the most out of both experiences and enjoy them separately.

This. It sucks that I feel like I need to bash Xenoblade in order to say something good about LS. Both games are very good.

 

[Peagles]

My LE hasn't turned up yet from OzGameshop...

It's the longest anything has ever taken to turn up from there, and I've ordered a ton of stuff from there before. Trust this to happen to the actual limited thing I order...

 

[Dynedom]

For all those starting up the game or still early: do yourself a favor in the Control Settings and set Attack Type to manual. It'll make maneuvering around enemies less annoying and give a more action-rpg feel to the game. It will also ensure you never simply dive out of/over cover instead of slashing (the button config changes so Y becomes the dive/roll button in and out of cover).

 

[Aostia]

For all those starting up the game or still early: do yourself a favor in the Control Settings and set Attack Type to manual. It'll make maneuvering around enemies less annoying and give a more action-rpg feel to the game. It will also ensure you never simply dive out of/over cover instead of slashing (the button config changes so Y becomes the dive/roll button in and out of cover).

Yeah, good advise, I turned it into Manual at the very beginning.
Really enjoying the game so far. I'm at 7 hours of play and the latest one was the best, due to improvement in the cut-scene/gameplay rhythm and due to the battle system enrichment

 

[Oxx]

Boooooo... stealth.

 

[PetrCobra]

For all those starting up the game or still early: do yourself a favor in the Control Settings and set Attack Type to manual. It'll make maneuvering around enemies less annoying and give a more action-rpg feel to the game. It will also ensure you never simply dive out of/over cover instead of slashing (the button config changes so Y becomes the dive/roll button in and out of cover).

I'm not exactly early in the game myself but I'll do that, forgot to try it out...

 

[thefro]

Went through to Chapter 11 last night. Really impressed with the localization and voice acting. Probably one of the funnier games I've played in a while as well.

I am noticing more slowdown/framerate drops than I remember from the Japanese version. I'll have to play that again a bit to see if I just forgot those or if it really is worse in the European version.

 

[SuomiDude]

Beat the game in just under 40 hours. I think I did pretty much all the side quests so the game is definately not the longest RPG, but I thought it was still an amazing experience. And the game also felt much longer than what it actually was, for some reason...

The combat system is great when you''ll get it, and it's a joy beating the enemies down, though I admit I was totally lost for the first 20 battles or so. The story is, while at some point pretty predictable, still very nice (nothing new really but yeah). The ending is also great IMO, not your typical way to end a game. The graphics are for the most part great, though the slowdown is a bit annoying at times. The music is nice and fits the game, town music is clearly town music, boss battle music is clearly boss battle music. There's happy music, sad music, slow and fast depending on the situation. I really enjoyed it, although there's only couple of really memorable tunes. The voice acting is good in general, at first it felt like some of the actors weren't really into it (especially Zael), but eventually they all sounded and acted great.

Although some people don't like comparing this and Xenoblade, because honestly they're almost nothing alike, I will compare them a bit. People in general seems to think Xenoblade is definately the better of these two, but I think I really can't decide which is better. They both have ups and downs, but The Last Story is overall slightly more fun to play IMO. But buy both if you like good RPGs!

 

[Oxx]

The chapter numbers are confusing me. I guess it's possible to do them out of order? Or I might just have not been paying attention.

 

[Spieler Eins]

There's a couple of optional chapters in the city. You can miss them and sometimes they might be higher numbered than your current story chapter.

 

[dermannmitdemcolt]

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

XB was awesome. Xenosaga is dead, deal with it.

 

[Shiggy]

Please help me! (Chapter 15)

Spoiler

How are you supposed to beat the enemies right at the beginning? There are two soldier-like monsters and a dozens of lions - one of their attacks is already killing me.

 

[thefro]

Please help me! (Chapter 15)

Spoiler

How are you supposed to beat the enemies right at the beginning? There are two soldier-like monsters and a dozens of lions - one of their attacks is already killing me.

You have to revisit that area later in the game to beat them. They are optional.

 

[Dynedom]

Please help me! (Chapter 15)

Spoiler

How are you supposed to beat the enemies right at the beginning? There are two soldier-like monsters and a dozens of lions - one of their attacks is already killing me.

You are probably severely underleveled for that battle. Leave it and come back when you're near the levels of

Spoiler

at least the higher level cougars

. That battle is not necessary to complete Chapter 15 anyway. I recommend the same thing for

Spoiler

the 3 cougars through the east river gate although that battle is significantly harder.

 

[Dynedom]

So just tried the

Spoiler

3 cougars again in the warehouse/east river gate. Looks like the battle is repeatable but you only get the chest rewards once, obviously

. Significantly easier when you're about 5-10 levels higher than the highest level one. Still easy to get annihilated though. Managed to beat all 3 without losing a life this time.

Weapons and Equipment (leveled up as high as you can obviously):
-Heavy Armor (at least to +6 to get the Guard bonus)
-Hunter Greaves (leveled up to where you have an HP boost). Honestly, the choice of Greaves probably doesn't matter
-Your best Star-element sword
-Fast Crossbow (optional)

Level: At or higher than the highest

Spoiler

cougar

. Entirely possible at matched levels. Difficulty reduces as you level higher. I had no problems at 15 levels higher (like I said though, battle is still easily losable)

Anyway:
1) Go into aggro and circle enemy continuously while guarding

Spoiler

keeping all 3 cougars

in front of you and ensuring they don't surround you. Make sure you're in the open are and NOT near the debris
2) Strike the one closest to you 1-2 times then immediately go back into guard. Do not attack when they're huddled together (one of them will, rather cheaply, attack you out of nowhere)
3) When you get a Burst up (or Max), release it to inflict Gravity, back into aggro and continue the cycle. Keep building and releasing ONLY WHEN their movements speed up again (

Spoiler

Check the pounce speed

)

It's really that simple. It takes some time and maybe someone will come up with something better (and faster). Important thing is to keep up the guard, keep them in front of you or in your view and don't overattack.

Spoiler

If one gets isolated from the others, hack away at it and guard it's counterattack until the other 1-2 return

. Oh, if you have a quick trigger finger, you can inflict damage with the fast crossbow

Spoiler

in the phases between their pounce and your counterattack and them moving away from you

.

On New Game +, a highly leveled

Spoiler

Stranger

will probably hit harder and make the battle much easier. Mine was at +5 and I was level 95 when I took them down a second time. No real problems. No EXP from this battle though so it's not worth repeating once you get the chest rewards.

 

[Shiggy]

I think this game is getting a bit harder now. I already had some trouble with the boss in the

Spoiler

shipwreck and now I'm in the fortress and there are hordes of enemies

:/

 

[wakajawaka]

So, is Jirall's voice actor the same that Alvis from Xenoblade?

 

[TheFLYINGManga_Ka]

Read on IGN's review that the game isn't that long but the content is paced-well without any of the filler that fills most JRPGs.

Looking forward to it.

 

[Ledsen]

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

At least you didn't say xenoblade, one of the best jrpgs ever.

 

[Shiggy]

Hmm, I really don't know why all of you guys are saying it's terribly easy

I seem to have some trouble with the bosses.

Spoiler

Nebirous

took quite some time, even though I didn't die once. Now I'm in Chapter 21 and

Spoiler

Lesser Shade

is killing me [don't know whether these bosses are called like that, I don't remember their names tbh, just googled these from the Japanese version].

There are too many bosses for my taste.
Perhaps I should've just watched a movie as I enjoy the non-fighting chapters the most...and I absolutely enjoy the normal fights.

 

[thefro]

Kinda strange, the European players are awful at co-op yet much better at Deathmatch than the Japanese players.

Saw lots of Yuricks trying to hack at the monsters with their dagger instead of spamming magic, people not using healing circles, etc.

 

[Big Papa Husker]

Did anyone in the US buy the Limited Edition from 365Games? I was about to order Pandora's Tower from them, but was wondering how it was packaged.

 

[Disguises]

Kinda strange, the European players are awful at co-op yet much better at Deathmatch than the Japanese players.

Saw lots of Yuricks trying to hack at the monsters with their dagger instead of spamming magic, people not using healing circles, etc.

Finished the story today and jumped online myself. First match there was a Lowell spamming blizzard at the

Spoiler

Kraken and it's tentacles

, thus healing it. :/

Other than that, I found online is pretty fun actually. It would have benefited from some sort of 'load-out' menu or something to change weapons and equipment depending on the boss. Going into story mode to change things is a tad annoying.

Regarding impressions of the story mode - I loved it. From start to finish I was hooked. I think I played it in 4 or so sessions, and I haven't done that in a game for a very long time.

 

[Adam Prime]

Beat the game in just under 40 hours. I think I did pretty much all the side quests so the game is definately not the longest RPG, but I thought it was still an amazing experience. And the game also felt much longer than what it actually was, for some reason...

The combat system is great when you''ll get it, and it's a joy beating the enemies down, though I admit I was totally lost for the first 20 battles or so. The story is, while at some point pretty predictable, still very nice (nothing new really but yeah). The ending is also great IMO, not your typical way to end a game. The graphics are for the most part great, though the slowdown is a bit annoying at times. The music is nice and fits the game, town music is clearly town music, boss battle music is clearly boss battle music. There's happy music, sad music, slow and fast depending on the situation. I really enjoyed it, although there's only couple of really memorable tunes. The voice acting is good in general, at first it felt like some of the actors weren't really into it (especially Zael), but eventually they all sounded and acted great.

Although some people don't like comparing this and Xenoblade, because honestly they're almost nothing alike, I will compare them a bit. People in general seems to think Xenoblade is definately the better of these two, but I think I really can't decide which is better. They both have ups and downs, but The Last Story is overall slightly more fun to play IMO. But buy both if you like good RPGs!

Good impressions! I'm about 10 hours into XB and Last Story PAL should be arriving for me this week. Can't wait to try them both out!

 

[XPE]

Completed the game any one else think the final boss music very 16bit type music =D

 

[Vrakanox]

Any body else still waiting on their import? I ordered mine from 365games.

 

[Aostia]

Hi guys, someone can help me with the boss in the salamander tavern at chapter 21?

 

[Plexirvones]

So, is Jirall's voice actor the same that Alvis from Xenoblade?

yep

 

[Acquiescence]

I've just got to say, this game really gelled with me at about chapter 20 or so. Got accustomed to the combat and the strange English voiceovers, grew to love the characters, put up with the omnipresent frame-rate troubles... it's good stuff. I don't like myself for putting it on hold while I play through Mass Effect 3, but yeah, I'm glad I bought it.

 

[Oxx]

I think it has been three days since I last played TLS

Spoiler

Too much Golden Sun DD...eek

The game is guided enough that I think that it's unlikely that I'll get too lost, but there are a lot of occasions when I just start to drift away from games if I don't keep the fires burning.

 

[ReConstructDead]

Hi guys, someone can help me with the boss in the salamander tavern at chapter 21?

What do you need help with, excactly?
As far as I recall, it was pretty straight forward...
Just cast fire magic on it or tip over those torch things on the ground to make it possible to hit it
And dispell the heal circles to cure unconsciousness!

 

[wakajawaka]

yep

Great thanks. I really liked both British dubs.

 

[Peagles]

Any body else still waiting on their import? I ordered mine from 365games.

Yep, mine still hasn't arrived from them :'(

 

[Vrakanox]

Yep, mine still hasn't arrived from them :'(

well at least we aren't alone. hopefully it arrives this week.

 

[ajim]

yep

Great, thought so. I loved Alvis, but despised Jirall (whole point I guess), and thought the voice actor did well overall with both. The VA in general was really good imo, better than Xenoblades.

Just beat the game, so awesome. Loved it, especially the characters, and really enjoyed the battles.

 

[Gambit]

Had not played for a couple days until yesterday. At least I managed three chapters right away. It was a lot of fun. It's been said many times that the characters are great, but now I am finding that even minor folk like Sir Therius and General Asthar are quite good. Mirania also has jumped up on my personal ranking.
ATM, and I would not have thought that, Syrenne is the furthest down (of the original members).

Also, I like that I have party members depending on the situation, so even the Count can fight etc.

Hmm, I really don't know why all of you guys are saying it's terribly easy

I seem to have some trouble with the bosses.

Spoiler

Nebirous

took quite some time, even though I didn't die once. Now I'm in Chapter 21 and

Spoiler

Lesser Shade

is killing me [don't know whether these bosses are called like that, I don't remember their names tbh, just googled these from the Japanese version].

There are too many bosses for my taste.
Perhaps I should've just watched a movie as I enjoy the non-fighting chapters the most...and I absolutely enjoy the normal fights.

Somehow I also prefer the normal battles to the bosses atm. The difficulty has definitely gone up (I am in chapter 27 now). Not that I experience a game over, but I now often need all my lives. Especially

Spoiler

that tower with Zael alone. I think I was underleveled.

Kinda strange, the European players are awful at co-op yet much better at Deathmatch than the Japanese players.

Doesn't that fit the stereotype? Asians cooperate, Europeans prefer fighting against one another.

 

[ajim]

Sir Therius is awesome, total bad ass. Same with Asthar, awesome characters. Lowell is a character too, pretty funny.

On the topic of difficulty, I died probably once the entire game - it was very easy, beating most bosses on my first go. Was always fun tho. I only struggled on maybe 2 bosses, but beat them after taking a break.

 

[Peagles]

well at least we aren't alone. hopefully it arrives this week.

Yeh, I feel better knowing I'm not the only one. I'm just worried because my games usually come pretty fast from there. I've just hit 12 working days, so might get in touch with them tomorrow if it doesn't arrive.

 

[Aostia]

What do you need help with, excactly?
As far as I recall, it was pretty straight forward...
Just cast fire magic on it or tip over those torch things on the ground to make it possible to hit it
And dispell the heal circles to cure unconsciousness!

Yay! Done, thanks for the tips!

(I hated its healing power...)

 

[Oxx]

I think I'll do some arena stuff to ease my way back into the game.

Season 2, let's go.

Edit: Boooooooo! Amazing.

 

[Gambit]

I think I'll do some arena stuff to ease my way back into the game.

Season 2, let's go.

Edit: Boooooooo! Amazing.

It was amazing indeed. Very unexpected!

In my previous post, I described how Syrenne was getting less interesting. Appearantly the game knew of my feeling and sent her along with me on the next mission. Now she is back close to the top of my ranking. "Who laughs like that?"

Am in Chapter 31 now.

 

[Oxx]

Syrenne is a great character, but she seems to be dead weight on the battlefield.

She should just stay in the pub and drink. She would be happier. I would be happier.

 

[Firemind]

Her special attack is super useful against bosses though. Try giving her dual Chaos Blades +5 and armour that boosts her HP by 20%. That should keep her from being suicidal. At least a little bit.

 

[Gambit]

Syrenne is a great character, but she seems to be dead weight on the battlefield.

She should just stay in the pub and drink. She would be happier. I would be happier.

That's true. No-one in my squad dies as frequently as she does. She's semi-useful in the arena, but in the field all the mages are superior and Dagran is a better melee-character.

Still, I like having her along for the laughs.

 

[Jucksalbe]

RPGFan put out their review of the game. Overall the only review I read so far that I can somewhat agree with.

http://www.rpgfan.com/reviews/The_Last_Story/index.html

 

[thefro]

Her special attack is super useful against bosses though. Try giving her dual Chaos Blades +5 and armour that boosts her HP by 20%. That should keep her from being suicidal. At least a little bit.

Agreed, her special attack is fantastic compared to Dagran's. Kinda evens out their usefulness as your melee character.

I didn't have much trouble with Syrenne dying a bunch since I usually did the tanking myself with gathering.

 

[Oxx]

RPGFan put out their review of the game. Overall the only review I read so far that I can somewhat agree with.

http://www.rpgfan.com/reviews/The_Last_Story/index.html

A dull story and uninteresting characters mar a unique combat system and solid gameplay.

Hmmm... Not sure if I agree with the criticism of the characters.

Zael is a likeable enough hero, but the rest of the motley mercenary crew could be horribly slaughtered and you wouldn't bat an eyelid. They're all about as interesting as planks of wood and have nearly zero development across the game.

Da fuck?

...

I haven't really used Syrenne a great deal. It's just the fact that she got KO'd so quickly in the second part of arena season 2 that's prejudicing me against her.

 

[thefro]

That RPGFan review is awful... the guy doesn't even mention online. He acts like you're forced to use auto-attack when it says you have the option in one of the first tutorials (as well as in the manual). I can understand people not being thrilled with the leads, but even people who think this game is merely average have praised Lowell, Syrenne, Jirall's characterization, etc.

Almost like someone didn't even play the game before he wrote the review.

Edit:

What, he didn't mention the framerate issues at all? Now I know he didn't play it!

 

[Firemind]

Target the mages and archers first. Always. In that order. They can oneshot or paralyze you given the chance.

The European localisation is filled with strong English and Irish accents that either will or will not be to your taste.

lol There are no Irish accents in the game. That about invalidates the credentials of this particular reviewer.

 

[Oxx]

I think I have heard an Irish accent among the guard NPCs.

He wasn't as awesome as Welsh or Brummie knight, though.

...

What, he didn't mention the framerate issues at all? Now I know he didn't play it!

The Last Story may not quite have the grand visual scale of Xenoblade, but you're unlikely to find much to complain about.

lol