Last night, Mistwalker and Nintendo were showing The Last Story, giving us our first in-depth look at the battle system and showing off a bunch of new assets. We've got the screens and a video demonstration of the battles, and all I can say is ... this looks absolutely terrific.
As you might have already seen, battles are performed in real time, and it seems that they'll be very action packed. While you control main character Yuris, performing melee and "magic circle" attacks to exploit weaknesses, you can have companions shout at opponents to distract them, as well as give them direct battle orders.
The magic looks to be an integral part of the game, and have rather cool effects. Wind, for example, can blow away an enemy's heal spell. A lot of it conforms to action game standards -- real-time weapon changes, minor QTE attacks, etc. It appears the game will be a lot less of an RPG and far more interactive than most RPGs, even ones that lack turn-based combat.
As well as the new assets, The Last Story updated its site with some new music from Nobuo Uematsu and yes, it's quite good.
Now all that remains is for that all-important North American date. I literally will not stand for being unable to play this!
Jim Sterling serves as reviews editor for Destructoid.com, head of the Podtoid podcast, and produces a number of news stories, original features, one-of-a-kind videos. With his passionate argumentative style, controversial opinions, harsh delivery, and dedication to brutal honesty Sterling is a name that you can't help but recognize.
Likes
PS2, iPod Touch, Silent Hill 2, Metal Gear Solid, Dynasty Warriors 3
Meet the rest of the team
Obviously I'm not seeing what the author of this post is in the video, because I just watched it and am not notably impressed by what I saw. In fact, this looks to be about 10 years behind current action games in terms of both graphics and gameplay.
Why couldn't have this been done with Kinect or Move if it "must" have motion control? The Wii is honestly struggling in that video when there are lots of enemies on screen, it wasn't built for anything like this and it shows.
I'm all for pushing the boundaries but I'm sick of decent titles languishing on this console because it has a (terrible) motion control system. I'm probably going to be attacked by Nintendo fanboys for this, but these games need decent hardware to run properly, and with graphics that don't look like they belong on a gamecube.
Totally agree with the article. This is the first time I've ever been excited about a Wii game. I started watching the live feed for the hell of it. I figured I'd just close it out after a few minutes, but I ended up watching the whole thing. It looks like a very well done and polished game.
"these games need decent hardware to run properly, and with graphics that don't look like they belong on a gamecube."
Um..what? First and foremost the graphics look fine, if you demand HD graphics go play something else, Wii owners likely don't care about the graphical quality of the system provided it looks alright and there's nothing wrong with this games graphics. I actually think it has a sort of charm not found in the majority of big name RPG's this gen. As for "these games need decent hardware to run"...again, what?
What does that even mean? The game will run on the Wii, use it's qualities to its advantage, so why does it need to use more advanced hardware?
Note to FF devs, give more control to the player, don't take it away. And anyone that thinks FF13 had a strategic bone in its body need to look at this, this is mile ahead any jRPG out there. Ok, off of my FF soapbox.
My real question is whether or not this will be able to hit the target demograph being only on the Wii (yes, I know it is published by N, so no chance of it going anywhere else). FF13 was able to move over 6 mil units, but I think the fate of this one is going to be more obscure.
That's one of the most interesting battle systems I've seen in a while. However, I'm worried that it will be a great battle system wrapped in a boiler plate JRPG story and ancient mechanics. I played Tales of Vesperia earlier this year and swore off JRPGs afterward. It's a perfect example of a game with a great battle system, but everything else is straight from 1994.
Not necessarily. This is made by someone who was around in the 8 bit age, and while I haven't played his 360 RPGs, I have heard the story with both was solid.
FF13 was shit because it had no player control, simple combat, terrible paced story, shitty characters, a tutorial that wore out its welcome at the 2 hour mark, a bland world, and terrible ending. What can you expect from a team that has been developing a game for 4 and half years and haven't released any gameplay?
Did you ever stop and think that maybe it's expensive to develop a game in high-definition and the Wii is a great alternative for smaller developers who can't afford to take a gamble. Lost Odyssey was great and I even liked Blue Dragon, but I don't think Mistwalker made a huge profit from those two games. I think it was a good decision on their part.
I wonder if the title is sort of a jab at the final fantasy series(at present,anyway) LAST story and Final fantasy do sound a tad similar...maybe just the 1st word,anyway..I really need to finish lost odyssey...I was pretty far in..I had just beat a hard boss and the next part(with no ability to save before) was fighting NUMEROUS identical bosses before they made it to land..was hard as hell...surely someone here remembers that part...thry had to be chased down on water with your ship,then defeated one by one
As much as I want to like this game and be excited for it, after Lost Odyssey, I can't trust Sakiguchi-san. LO is the only RPG that I couldn't even FORCE myself to finish, it was that bad IMO.
I like the idea of the 'called shot' tactic in the battles. I'm wondering if they're only contextual though. I'd love to just destroy bridges and caves at every turn. I'm hoping it makes it here.
Assuming that games with less graphic fidelity are inherently deeper is outrageous. If that were even remotely true, the Wii's library would be jam packed with video game equivalents of War & Peace. That's not the case.
in any case, i think nintendo america should translate and release all these games. it would prolong the wii for at least another year or 2 before the next console.
i don't think jim is making that kind of generalization, but rather he is speaking specifically about this game. there's no doubt this game is special, with a lot more production values put into the game than most. xenoblade could definitely fit this bill too. here's hoping we get release dates for the states.
Lost Odyssey is a masterpiece. It shits all over FFXIII. Bleh. What a boring corridor crawl for the majority of the game, with awful, just awful characters.
I don't say it as a rule. I mean it as a simple case if resources. FXIII had quite a bit of content cut because of the sheer time and cost involved in making such a graphics-heavy game.
Last Story is planning huge cities and a big world and it can do it because of the lower demands of the Wii. I thibk it is a very acceptable trade.
Here's the official ustream recorded presentation.
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/the-last-story-presentation
I don't see any stutters or hicups in this vid. it seems to run perfectly fine, oh right and here's a liveblog in english about the presentation so you can actually understand what's goin on.
http://www.andriasang.com/e/blog/2010/12/27/last_story_presentation_live_blog/
@Jim Imma just copy and past what you said and say something behind it :) "If this "wasn't on the Wii", chances are it would have less depth and be smaller, because the devs would sink half their budget into the graphics."
I'll take less impressive visuals if it means the studio spends more time on crafting story, size and gameplay.
Final Fantasy XIII wasn't on the Wii and it was total shit. <---Amen To you Sir Amen...DO A JIMQUISITION ABOUT THIS PLEASE :)
Destructoid is an open discussion community. You don't need to "audition" to post a comment - just speak your mind. We respect differing opinions on the site, so have at it. Be smart, funny, insightful, clueless, or cute -- but back it up with substance. Keep your cool, keep it fun. We only ask that you act respectfully and above all: don't be a troll and ruin it for everyone else. Don't bring down gamers or we'll, you know, gently shoot you in the face and stuff you into a flaming mailbox. Each comment is your opportuntity to make this community awesomer. Is that even a word?
Avoiding the banhammer only requires common sense: spamming, trolling, racism, NSFW stuff, and other forms of sucking will not be tolerated. If anyone is griefing please report abuse. Be good. Don't suck!
Contest:
9:00 AM on 12.27.2010 | 
I'm all for pushing the boundaries but I'm sick of decent titles languishing on this console because it has a (terrible) motion control system. I'm probably going to be attacked by Nintendo fanboys for this, but these games need decent hardware to run properly, and with graphics that don't look like they belong on a gamecube.
With a roll and cover system... -_-
Um..what? First and foremost the graphics look fine, if you demand HD graphics go play something else, Wii owners likely don't care about the graphical quality of the system provided it looks alright and there's nothing wrong with this games graphics. I actually think it has a sort of charm not found in the majority of big name RPG's this gen. As for "these games need decent hardware to run"...again, what?
What does that even mean? The game will run on the Wii, use it's qualities to its advantage, so why does it need to use more advanced hardware?
QFT x 1000000000!!
Did you notice the part when I said it looked like it was chugging when there were a lot of units on screen? Same with the visual effects.
But hey, if they can make the limited hardware run the game at a constant 60fps, good on Mistwalker.
My real question is whether or not this will be able to hit the target demograph being only on the Wii (yes, I know it is published by N, so no chance of it going anywhere else). FF13 was able to move over 6 mil units, but I think the fate of this one is going to be more obscure.
this will be forgotten; my Wii does Need to be played though!
Looks like a bunch of cry babies are going to have to pick up a wii now. :)
I'll take less impressive visuals if it means the studio spends more time on crafting story, size and gameplay.
Final Fantasy XIII wasn't on the Wii and it was total shit.
As a reminder, here is where you mentioned it:
http://www.destructoid.com/the-last-story-gets-a-motherf-cking-tiger--170582.phtml
Final Fantasy XIV wasn't on the Wii and it was total shit*
Fixed :D
also, I want this game to have my babies.
Not necessarily. This is made by someone who was around in the 8 bit age, and while I haven't played his 360 RPGs, I have heard the story with both was solid.
FF13 was shit because it had no player control, simple combat, terrible paced story, shitty characters, a tutorial that wore out its welcome at the 2 hour mark, a bland world, and terrible ending. What can you expect from a team that has been developing a game for 4 and half years and haven't released any gameplay?
Did you ever stop and think that maybe it's expensive to develop a game in high-definition and the Wii is a great alternative for smaller developers who can't afford to take a gamble. Lost Odyssey was great and I even liked Blue Dragon, but I don't think Mistwalker made a huge profit from those two games. I think it was a good decision on their part.
Assuming that games with less graphic fidelity are inherently deeper is outrageous. If that were even remotely true, the Wii's library would be jam packed with video game equivalents of War & Peace. That's not the case.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBGEtUc-k6o&feature=related
in any case, i think nintendo america should translate and release all these games. it would prolong the wii for at least another year or 2 before the next console.
http://wii.ign.com/articles/114/1141357p1.html
i don't think jim is making that kind of generalization, but rather he is speaking specifically about this game. there's no doubt this game is special, with a lot more production values put into the game than most. xenoblade could definitely fit this bill too. here's hoping we get release dates for the states.
2011: Ewww, just look at those Wii games! Those look like GameCube games!.
Is it time to get over it already?
I don't say it as a rule. I mean it as a simple case if resources. FXIII had quite a bit of content cut because of the sheer time and cost involved in making such a graphics-heavy game.
Last Story is planning huge cities and a big world and it can do it because of the lower demands of the Wii. I thibk it is a very acceptable trade.
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/the-last-story-presentation
I don't see any stutters or hicups in this vid. it seems to run perfectly fine, oh right and here's a liveblog in english about the presentation so you can actually understand what's goin on.
http://www.andriasang.com/e/blog/2010/12/27/last_story_presentation_live_blog/
I'll take less impressive visuals if it means the studio spends more time on crafting story, size and gameplay.
Final Fantasy XIII wasn't on the Wii and it was total shit. <---Amen To you Sir Amen...DO A JIMQUISITION ABOUT THIS PLEASE :)