The Last Remnant: Difference between revisions

{{Infobox video game

| title = The Last Remnant

| writer = Masato Yagi<ref name="SEblog" /><br />Miwa Shoda<ref name="Shodapersonal" /><br />[[Akitoshi Kawazu]]<ref name="Gparacomingsoon" />

| composer = [[Tsuyoshi Sekito]]<br />Yasuhiro Yamanaka

| genre = [[Adventure game|Adventure]], [[Role-playing video game|role-playing]]

| modes = [[Single-player video game|Single-player]]

}}

 

 

''The Last Remnant'' is the first Square Enix game to use the [[Unreal Engine]]. It was intended by Square Enix president [[Yoichi Wada]] to "become a cornerstone for [their] worldwide strategy".<ref name="1UPpreview"/> The game's soundtrack was released as a three-disc album, composed by [[Tsuyoshi Sekito]] and Yasuhiro Yamanaka. The design and dialogue of the game were created to appeal to players worldwide, and motion capture for every character with the English-speaking dialogue. The game received a weak reception, though it was received more positively by Japanese reviewers than other ones. A common complaint, especially for Xbox 360, was of graphical problems including low framerates and "texture pop-in" where higher resolution textures would suddenly replace lower ones several seconds after a scene had started. Other issues included complaints about the game's storyline and battle system, though these were not as universal. The game received praise for art direction and music.

==Gameplay==

[[File:TheLastRemnant.jpg|250px|left|thumb|The battle screen, showing the morale bar at the top, a compass showing the relative positions for each group, the status of the current fighting union, and the order in which each unit in the two fighting unions will take their turn|alt=A group of people and monsters in light armor fight, with Rush facing away closest to the viewer. Gauges and boxes filled with text and numbers ring the perimeter of the image.]]

 

 

 

==Plot==

 

===Setting and characters===

 

 

===Story===

 

 

The game was created by developers who had previously worked on the ''[[SaGa (series)|SaGa]]'' and ''[[Final Fantasy]]'' game series. It was directed by Hiroshi Takai and produced by Nobuyuki Ueda.<ref name="IGNupdate" /> The game was written by Masato Yagi and Miwa Shoda, whose work was based on a scenario concept by [[Akitoshi Kawazu]].<ref name="SEblog" /><ref name="Shodapersonal" /><ref name="Gparacomingsoon" /> Kimihiko Miyamae served as the chief artist, and [[Yusuke Naora]] served as both art producer and character designer.<ref name="IGNupdate" /> ''The Last Remnant'' marked the first Square Enix game to use [[Unreal Engine 3]].<ref name="PSM-TLR"/> Because they used a licensed engine rather than making their own, the production time needed to display graphical resources onscreen was cut significantly, allowing the team to begin illustrating and experimenting at an early stage.<ref name="GI-TLR2"/> The decision to use a licensed engine, rather than develop their own as was traditional at Square Enix at the time, was made due to concerns in the company of the rising production costs of making a game, and the direct development time savings possible from using an existing engine.<ref name="famitsu"/> On February 17, 2010, Square-Enix's chief technology officer, Julien Merceron, claimed in an interview that most of the completed game's perceived technical shortcomings were caused by a decision to use the Unreal Engine to not only cut development time but also to reduce the number of skilled programmers that would otherwise be on the project.<ref name="GStechint"/>

 

The development team planned to distinguish the game from ''Final Fantasy'' and other role-playing games, through its focus on the battle system. The art direction of the game was focused on making all of the characters stand out on the battlefield, and in making the Remnants stand out in the world screens. The cities were designed to not look very fantastical, so as to make the Remnants more prominent, and were designed early on in the development process to give the impression that the people of the city were living both literally and figuratively under the power of giant Remnants.<ref name="G4int"/> The game marked several firsts for Square Enix, as it was their first game to be released on the same day in both Japan and internationally, as well as the first to use motion capture of Western voice actors. This resulted in the characters' lips speaking English synced to the spoken dialogue, rather than Japanese.<ref name="VGSEKITOint"/> The game was planned from the beginning of development to be released simultaneously worldwide and to be targeted to players worldwide, which impacted the character design and art direction.<ref name="RPGinter"/> The design and dialogue were created to appeal to international and Japanese players, rather than being focused on the norms of the Japanese video game market alone.<ref name="GSinter"/>

 

 

===Music===

| NS = true

| iOS = true

<!-- Reviewers -->

| 1UP_X360 = D<ref name="1UP360review" />

| Fam_X360 = 38/40<ref name="famitsu" />

}}

 

 

A common complaint from reviewers was about graphical issues. [[IGN]] stated in its review of the Xbox 360 version that the game suffered from extreme technical problems, while [[GameTrailers]] named the "persistent graphical issues" as one of the Xbox 360 version's weakest points.<ref name="GTreview"/><ref name="IGN360review"/> [[GameSpot]], IGN, and [[1UP.com]] cited in their Xbox 360 version reviews severe frame-rate problems and "texture pop-in", where the textures were displayed as low resolution for several seconds before being replaced with higher-resolution ones, as some of its main failings.<ref name="IGN360review"/><ref name="1UP360review"/><ref name="GS360review"/> However, all three review sites gave a higher score for the PC version, citing drastically improved graphical performance,<ref name="IGNPCreview"/><ref name="1UPPCreview"/><ref name="GSPCreview"/> but still with texture pop-in and slow loading times when moving between areas and when entering or exiting a battle as well as unskippable cut scenes. Other issues raised by reviewers included "cluttered screens and annoying 'quests'" noted by ''GamePro'', "over the top" and stereotypical characters opined by ''[[Game Informer]]'', a poor and generic story according to IGN and 1UP, and long loading screens and [[cutscene]]s which were criticisms brought by [[G4 (U.S. TV channel)|G4]], 1UP, and the Australian ''Official Xbox Magazine''.<ref name="IGN360review"/><ref name=1UP360review/><ref name="GIreview"/><ref name="G4review"/>

 

==Remaster==

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{{reflist|refs=

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

<ref name="TLRQUOTE1">'''Emma:''' You have to 'bind' a Remnant to use it. [...] So long as someone else hasn't bound it first. {{cite video game | title =The Last Remnant | developer =Square Enix | publisher =Square Enix | date=November 20, 2008 | platform =PC}}</ref>

<ref name="TLRQUOTE2">'''Pagus:''' But when a Remnant is not bound to a soul, it calls forth disastrous misfortune. This calamity is known as The Collapse. {{cite video game | title =The Last Remnant | developer =Square Enix | publisher =Square Enix | date=November 20, 2008 | platform =PC}}</ref>

 

 

 

 

<ref name="TLRQUOTE3">'''David:''' Rush, the Congress will holding be a session in Elysion several days from now. [...] Once every few years, the Lords meet and discuss pressing matters. We'll be heading to Elysion as well. {{cite video game | title =The Last Remnant | developer =Square Enix | publisher =Square Enix | date=November 20, 2008 | platform =PC}}</ref>

<ref name="TLRQUOTE14">'''Conqueror:''' What will you do now? / '''Rush:''' What do you think? I'm going back. They're waiting for me. {{cite video game | title =The Last Remnant | developer =Square Enix | publisher =Square Enix | date=November 20, 2008 | platform =PC}}</ref>

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Last Remnant, The}}

[[Category:2008 video games]]

[[Category:Cancelled PlayStation 3 games]]

[[Category:Mystery adventure games]]

[[Category:PlayStation 4 games]]

[[Category:Role-playing video games]]

[[Category:Square Enix games]]

[[Category:Fantasy video games]]

[[Category:Video games developed in Japan]]

[[Category:Video games scored by Tsuyoshi Sekito]]

[[Category:Windows games]]

[[Category:Xbox 360 games]]