Customer Reviews

The Last Remnant

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

Overall I enjoyed this game greatly, especially after tweaking it...

PROS:
- The Last Remnant looks GREAT on a high end PC (circa 2008) and plays very smoothly.
- Awesome movie sequences.
- The gameplay can be addictive. If you enjoy leveling in an RPG, you'll find tons of that here (every stat levels as you fight).
- HUGE party size, you've probably never played an RPG with this many NPCs that can join you (there are over 40 of them that are 'unique leaders' and countless others)
- A massive number of quests (especially optional sidequests).
- Battles require some strategy (trying to win every battle with the same formation and attacks will not succeed).
- It's just FUN - between the slick animations and the strategy, these large scale battles are a lot of fun to watch and to play.

CONS (reasons it's not 5 stars):
- The addictive gameplay becomes repetitive gameplay at times.
- Certain game design decisions require you to repeatedly visit an area, just to spawn a special monster (with a random appearance chance), this can be very tedious for those that try to complete 100% of the games sidequests.

CONS YOU CAN REMOVE:
- You cannot equip your NPCs, only your main character (Rush) has editable inventory, but with a change of a line of code in a config file, all characters can be equipped as you see fit.
- With the right trainer (look for a "C# Last Remnant Trainer" on the web) you can change your BR level (which you should read about on the wiki [see below] before you go leveling your party excessively) along with MANY other factors - so the game will not become too difficult nor easy. That's why this game on the PC, when tweaked, can be a LOT of fun.
- Instead of spending hours looking for arcane components to upgrade a weapon, you can use the same trainer mentioned earlier to spawn the weapon automatically in your inventory. If you think this is cheating then don't do it, but if you have better things to do with your time, the PC version of this game is sufficiently editable that you can do JUST the things you want to do with this game.
- Party cap size! Your total party size is capped well below the 40 unique leaders that can join you - and that's just the leader characters! So, again, use the trainer to open up the party size. I use 7 unions of 5 characters each - giving me 35 characters to play with and equip...it is GREAT.

OTHER INFO:
- If you try to beat the entire game (and do all the sidequests, get all NPC bonus parameters, etc..it will be WELL over 100 hours of gameplay). For some people this is just too long a game - especially when aspects are repetitive, but others will love the lengthy campaign (which people claim you can beat in 10 hours if you just burn through the main story - I would never do that though as gaining power in the sidequests is half the fun).

I had fun playing with a gamepad (I used the Logitech Rumblepad 2), and using the original Japanese voices (with subtitles turned on) rather than the English audio - I suggest you try it this way too.

NOTE:

Search the web for "Last Remnant Wiki" and you'll find a comprehensive site that will remove all the questions about what is unlocked where, when to visit certain areas, and - most importantly - when some quests become inaccessible (you need to complete them before certain plot points happen, or you'll never be able to do them again). This game is not that logical, items and events can become accessible or inaccessible without a lot of warning - if you constantly revisited old areas then this probably wouldn't be an issue, but when the map becomes massive you're less likely to do this. Generally speaking you're better off heading to this wiki whenever you are stuck OR you sense a major plot transition is about to happen. The game does give you a heads up when something major is about to happen.

I would recommend this game strongly if you're into PC RPG's, you like having lots of party members to chose from, and you have a (in 2008 or later terms) high end PC. If you have the patience to learn about it and edit the game as you see fit, you're in for a real treat.

Do yourself a favor and get this on PC. The visuals are absolutely enchanting. Works well with a gamepad or even a 360 controller with PC adapter, if you have one. I play it on my tv whilst sitting on the couch-just as I would, if playing it on the 360. The only difference is the graphics are much much inproved. The textures are very detailed technically and artisticly.
Story-wise the game seems pretty generic. The main kid, is the exact same kid from phantasy star universe and a dozen other JRPGs. The races the game has are very well done asthetically, but bland on personality. Gameplay wise its well done the combat is fast, entertaining as well as challenging.

All in all a respectable JRPG with very pretty graphics.

The Last Remnant is meant to be the new forerunner franchise for Square-Enix(most likelly taken FF's crown once the XIII series of games is concluded, but only in theory...) and it gets off to one hell of a start. A lot of people neglected giving this game a chance on the 360 because it had rampent lag issues and texture pop-in throughout the entire game. This does take away from the game somewhat, but with that out the way now, there is nothign preventing this version from making it a strong 9.5 rpg title.

It is heavy on story(even if it gets off to a somewhat slow start) and indeed establishes an interesting universe and premise that SE can easily expand upon in future titles. The whole jist of the game itself is to start to reintroduce the tried-and-true turn-based combat style while also making it appear to be as close to real-time as humanly possible. They do a steller job of creating the most deep and interesting battle system seen in an rpg in a long while. It can involve as many as a couple hundred enemies at points and some battle easily span 30 minutes to an hour of gameplay and, yet, you never get bored. The music plays a large part as it is a huge part of the appeal for me. It is very much like a cross between Final Fantasy symphonics and Castlevania-esque japanese, guitar-laiden, metal riffage that is done with such a perfect flair for the overall feel of the combat. Once you understand the system well enough, you can easily get absorbed in the battles more than almost any rpg I've ever played.

The characters are all interesting enough and well developed as well, including the main hero. Of late, SE seems to have pretty-boyed the protaginists in most of their next-gen rpgs and it has not gone over very well.

The graphics are nothign short of incredible on the pc. They were great on 360, but you still can't compare console power to an upgraded pc capable of playing the best games on ultra high. Check out the demo for the game first and I'm sure you will be as blown away as I was. Watching the various races move during even simple dailogue exchanges looks like a movie. The movement is beyond fluid and, when you couple that with the amazing art of the FF veteren artists, it just jumps off the monitor. The world itself is very imaginative and vast and definatelly geared towards the scope of the universe itself. It's one of the few games where I've really felt enthralled by the world and as much a part of it as any of the people within it.

The lag issues are gone, simple as that. They no longer exist and what might have taken 2 hours on the 360 now can be done in half the time thanks to that. The texture pop-in is simply a result of the engine and still comes in here or there, but it doesn't detract from the overall experience of the game itself. If you're one to define value of a game by something like that, then I don't think you're playing for the right reasons anyways.

I was hoping they would release this next for the PS3 with additional content, as well as the bug fixes, but it's looking less and less likelly so I picked this up rather than wait. I'm going to say this once and only once: IF you are any kind of rpg lover and are looking for a console style rpg that has a great story, severe polish in the graphics, a massive world full of depth, and a combat system you have never played before, then you need look no further than this game. I strongly urge the past, present, and any future fans of Squaresoft rpgs to buy this version of Last Remnant and enjoy one of the 3 best rpgs I've played in the past 2 years.

I need to say right away the story is as cliched as all of the other Square Enix games. Once again we have a 15 years old boy, who doesnt know his parents, who will lead armies to battle, and who will save the world. Happily, the cut-scenes are completely skippable. I'll be really blunt -- None of the characters in the story are even a little memorable.

The great news is that Square came up with something a little different in this game with the combat engine. You lead armies rather than individual characters into battle. It will be 10 hours before you can create armies with lots of different combat abilities, but once you do, there is some genuine strategic and tactical thought needed to succeed at the battles. It can be fun and challenging to create different types of armies (strong magic or strong melee or a combo of the 2) to fight against a particular type of enemy.

Its important to note that you cannot directly control or directly upgrade your characters, except for the main character. This could be frustrating to same gamers but here I see why Square did it. There are so many characters that handling each one would be tedious and boring.

The graphics are a mixed bag. On the one hand there are genuinely excellent enemy models. And then there are large but bland outdoor areas. The textures repeat a lot in the outdoor areas and there is a notable lack of detail like trees or grass, just lots of cliff walls of differing colors. Over all, the game is stable and runs at a fact clip on my 9xxx Geforce card and nothing special Core Duo 2 PC.

This is turn-based combat and the game is easily 40 hours long, so I urge folks to try the PC demo if you arent sure about the gameplay.

I bought The Last Remnant off of Steam last week when it was on sale for $10. I had heard some pretty bad things about this game when it was on the consoles but I gave in and bought it on Steam because 1) it was so cheap and 2) I've heard that they worked out all the technical difficulties in the game and, if not for those, it would have been a great game.

Well, I haven't gotten very far into the game yet but, as far as I can tell, it's a pretty great game in the 'school of FF style turn-based RPGs' and really quite an amazing deal at $10. I'm really quite pleased and impressed. The pc version of this game (at least from Steam) is really worth more like $30 or $35 in the current market.

Like I said, I'm still very early on so we'll see.

It would have been perfect if they had enabled 'Steam Cloud' with it but maybe -maybe- that will come down the road. I've decided I'm not going to buy any more games from Steam unless they're enabled for Steam Cloud.

A great game with some flaws. The Last Remnant reminds me a great deal of the Grandia series. That of a weak story surrounded by an innovative battle system. The story is largely standard RPG fare, a girl is taken by an evil sorcerer to harness her powers. There are enough differences with the plot to make it seem less typical, such as political backstabbing and switching loyalties. The battle system is where this game excels, and falters.

Unlike most JRPG's, you do not control the characters during the battle individually. Instead, you combine them into small groups (called unions) and issue general orders to them. The hit points in each union are the sum total of all the members. You are also limited in the number of unions and active members you can field at one time. Any other order besides items and a generic attack will use up AP (action points) for a given union. The orders you issue are based on the skills various union members possess. Once all the orders are given, the battle turn begins. The unions proceed to their given targets and attack them, assuming they aren't intercepted first. Once there, an action queue appears listing who attacks and when. The mechanics of the battle are not explained very well and the order and attacks seem random. During an attack, there is a chance a special critical screen will come up. During that brief second, you have to hit a corresponding button to do extra damage or reduce damage taken. If you time it right, you can chain together several criticals to advance all union members towards the front of the action queue and finish the turn with a powerful final attack. During the more difficult battles, this can save your union from being wiped out. Characters improve their skills through use. So, if you choose mystic attacks constantly for one union, they will be more powerful there instead of physical combat arts. All characters have individual stats that are boosted through battles. In order to increase stats, the player has to choose dungeons where the enemies are powerful enough to present a challenge, otherwise stat increases will be few and far between. Given the amount of control the player gives up, the game uses AI to choose the specific attacks and whether or not to reassess their planned attack in favor of something, hopefully, more effective. For me, this only seems to happen if I give vague orders such as provide defensive support. During that order, they will use spells and items to, obviously, reinforce defenses, but they will attack or heal if the active union member does not have the appropriate skill.

Union members reassessing orders can pose a problem in some areas of The Last Remnant. For instance, if the enemy is 1/4 damaged and the attacking union is flashing red (critical HP) the members of the union may reassess their orders. They may heal themselves or other unions if they too are attacking the same enemy. The union flashing red will try to heal, but they will sometimes choose ineffective healing techniques such as ignoring a high-level healing spell, even though they have enough action points, aren't silenced, and the active union member has a spell, in favor of a weak healing item. If the enemy has an attack in the action queue, it will wipe out the union. During some of the side missions, you will encounter characters that you can later recruit and use in your unions. During those missions, you will often have to face a powerful enemy in battle. Under these conditions, the guest union is uncontrollable and very weak. If they and one of your regular unions are wiped out, another union must be sent to revive them. However, the reviving party will often go to the guest union first without giving you the option to select the target union, leaving your regular, and more powerful, union alone. This means the party is taking damage while one union is occupied reviving a guest union that will, most likely, be KO'd in the next turn, essentially reducing one union to constant healing or reviving duty. Depending on who is the leader of a union, you will also sometimes have option of using a very powerful special attack that can do extreme damage to an enemy or group of enemies. There is a very high random element to the game, you can easily lose a battle due to poor choices on behalf of the AI's selections. Since the AI randomly selects the orders you can give and what individual actions a union may take, issues such as this can be maddening.

This is the PC version of The Last Remnant and there are a few differences between it and the XBOX version. The full list of changes are available online, but a few of the changes include: requiring AP for special character-specific attacks, enemies are a little more difficult since you can have a party made up entirely of leaders and not weak generic soldiers, sidequests and guild challenges have different goals occasionally, new classes are introduced, arts a character may have can be disabled individually, all downloadable content (DLC) from the XBOX version is included and will be accessed differently, New Game+ can be used after beating the game, and Hard Mode has been introduced. From what I can tell, players who have played both the PC and XBOX versions agree that this edition is superior. On the PC side, it is strongly suggested that the player uses a controller. I've played the game for almost 40 hours and it is far easier to control the characters with a controller. The critical screen retains the controller layout and the game is easier to play with one. I recommend using the XBOX Controller for Windows since the game is already mapped for that. This is a Games for Windows title, but not a Games for Windows - Live title. This means that, even though the XBOX version had achievements and DLC, this one does not. Nor does it have Steam achievements either. My PC is above the recommended system requirements for the game. The game runs well on my PC but there can be slowdowns at times and V-Sync doesn't work. Yes, I've tried limiting the frame rate but that too did not work. This game also requires the use of Steam to function. During the install, you have to create an account, if you don't already have a Steam account, and input the CD key. Steam will launch every time you play the game will often "phone home" to validate you haven't pirated the game.

Overall, The Last Remnant is new perspective on an old genre. The story might be average, but the battle system is where the game is at its best. If you like JRPG's, or RPG's in general, this game is highly recommended. Having a decent PC is a must, go by the recommended requirements and get a slightly better graphics card for the best experience. Know that this game REQUIRES Steam to activate and run the game.

This game for PC is a vast improvement. Assuming your computer can handle this game, it will definitely take a few grey hairs off your head.

The battles are harder, yes. But in turn, you also get to recruit unions full of leaders, instead of your faceless wonders for filler.

The graphics are cleaner, and also, the game runs faster. No more waiting a good 10 seconds for Mr. Diggs to grab up some loot. No more waiting a year for the first turn of your battle to finish up. It even enhances your experience by giving you an option to speed up the battle, using Turbo Speed. While a battle may take you anywhere from 40 seconds to 5 minutes, this game allows it all to be done in under 2 minutes or less.

It is my experience that, if you do not have a computer that can support graphics like this (The minimum requirement is on the box), I would suggest you install this on your HD on your XBox. Otherwise, if you had the choice, I would definitely pick up -this- version.


-About Steam-
While some people (strangely) have this unnecessary and unreasonable hatred towards steam, really it makes no difference. I can still use trainers, I can still tweak the game and I have absolutely no problems with servers or online issues.
Also, there -is- a statement on the box that tells you steam is on this disk. It's under the fine print none of the past posters seemed to have read, on the back of the box, within the paragraph granting rights and copyrights. However, Amazon doesn't appear to mention this fact.

I don't really understand all the hate for this game. It's your typical JRPG. There are lots of accommodating control options so that you can play with a gamepad or mouse/keyboard. The graphics are very nice. The cut scenes are well done. The dialog is well-written. The combat is as simple or complex as you want it to be. There's a lot of room for customization. There's not a lot that's truly spectacular, but there isn't really anything broken either.

Overall, I had enough fun to recommend a purchase.

I found myself very much enjoying this game soon after I started playing. The cut scenes are well made and cinematic, and combined with the background music there is nothing in this aspect to dislike. There are SO MANY weapons you can choose from to suit your combat and aesthetic preference, and with many many possible character classes and combat skills/arts to use and train on, and each of which provides unique effects, I always felt there's always something new in the game waiting to be explored. Adding the combat system to the picture, which you do need to spend some time learning, you can come up with various strategies when fighting different enemies. There are some enemies that are 'quite difficult' to beat, but once you've figured out the right strategy it gives you a very rewarding feeling.

The gameplay contains many random elements, such as items received after a fight, what enemies to fight in the fields, etc. You may find yourself spending a lot of time trying to obtain particular items due to their randomness, but not having them should not prevent you from beating the game. So, it's entirely up to you.

The PC version does require some "fast" hardware in order to get all the eye candies, but there are various performance tuning parameters you can adjust to make the game playable in slower computers. I had C2D 3.8GHz and HD 4870, and had no issue at 1680x1050 with the parameters set to mid-high range.

Hope you'll enjoy it like I did too.

*The Last Remnant* for PC does several things very, very well. The art direction and graphics are beautiful. The characters have very distinct and well developed personalities, and the English voice acting is supurb. I've heard that the script was originally written in English, and it shows. The side quests motivate and fill out the main story, so simply plowing through the main quest is likely to be much less satisfying than taking one's time with the game. One problem is that quests will disappear after completing parts of the main story, so one almost needs a quest-checklist to avoid missing sizable chunks of the game. Keep a good library of your save-files.

Do not try to play this game with a keyboard! You need a gamepad.

The battle system is fun once you learn how to use it, which can take quite a while. It is deeper than it looks. Grinding is not really helpful or necessary (simply completing the quests will give you all the fights you could want).

I found that I liked the world of *The Last Remnant* better than the worlds of Final Fantasy. The game has a unique atmosphere, and the architecture, history, landscape, and customs of the fictional universe were amazingly well developed for a single game.