Really am looking forward to this.
The Wii is really lacking some good Japanese RPGs (but then again so are all consoles atmo)
Could this become Nintendos very own Final Fantasy?
Similarities are undeniable and given it's done by the same creator I have high hopes.
It comes out in Japan in the next 2 weeks and hopefully in the near future here as well.
Japanese Trailer

Ironic you should ask if it will be Nintendos own Final Fantasy considering the series was born on Nintendo systems

True.
Nintendo also has lot's of FF on the DS and also the FF Crystal Chronicles series.
Didn't think that one through.

It looks nice, I like the customisable costume section, where the fuck did Ganon come from though.

Also, so sick and tired of RPG's having protagonists who look like they've stepped out of their emo band rehearsal in their garage.

RPGs are an odd, and dying genre. They never seem to really innovate. The most modern, and best, RPG I played, in the past few years was The World Ends With You. It's amazing.

It's how shooters seem to be heading.. a saturated and clichéd genre with developers having little interest in making a decent game and more interested in making dolllar.... That said, there are some decent ones within genres that seem to gather cult status but not mass media hysteric appeal...

I think it's the opposite though.
Final Fantasy for example turned shit because they changed everything.
Japanes RPGs these days are designed to satisfy the "new generation" of gamers and have to be short and actionfilled and easy to pick up.
Everything a RPG should not be.
Besides the current Genration doesn't seem to be too bothered with the Genre anyway.
So all developers do is drive away the once loyal RPG fans.
Look at the FF Remakes on the DS, those old school RPGs are very popular.
I think if they go back to basic and focus on what once made RPGs so special it could very well work again.

Westernisation of the games industry and markets ain't it!

See, RPGs seem to do well on the DS because it's somewhat expected to feature this genre, as the console is inherently Japanese. Even though Sony is a Japanese company, they seem to have shifted to a more westernised model to compete with the, American, Xbox 360.

It's interesting to look at as RPG elements can be found in a lot of games - levelling up, getting new abilities, rich storytelling and character interaction.

Oh don't get me started.
I mean there are a lot of great games outta the west but it's a shame they dominate the market and overshadow Japanes Games.
I prefered it the other way around.
Nintendo is actually a good example of how with minimum changes you can stay successful, they always managed to give their games the same special feel while playing.
And with a lot of their current games they even go way back to basics, 2D mixed with 3D elements, I love that and apparently it works those Games (New SMB, Kirby, DKC) sell well.

Sad news, but appearantly there are no immediate plans of bringing this over.

http://gaygamer.net/2011/01/nintendo_not_p...#comment-185464

And I had only just been getting excited by this game too.

Oh please what nonsense.
They don't think it will sell well, that's why.
Just say it as it it!
They make it sound like there are two people in a tiny little room with stacks of games to translate on their desks.
Ridiculous.
Translation has never stopped them to bring out tons and tons of shitty DS games.
I hope another publisher picks it up and it becomes a massive hit!
In your face Nintendo Europe/America!!

The World Ends With You was awesome, and no one bought it. /sigh

The Last Story *needs* to come out here, it looks astonishing. Although officially its been canned for a US/EU release, am hoping someone like Rising Star picks it up and publishes it here. Doesn't even need English voice-acting (which is usually terrible in RPGs anyway) - I'd be happy with subtitles.

Yes it's very late and yes it will probably go unnoticed as one of the last Wii games before the WiiU comes out but I am still glad. Will be buying it straight away.


Wiki Article

European Trailer.

Woop, woop, it's official! Last Story will be released 24.2.2012.
Long Live Wii

Aaaaaaand now I'm wet!

http://www.nintendo.co.uk/NOE/en_GB/news/2...ival_47341.html

Pre-ordered it yesterday.

I'll definitely be getting this fo'schure!!

Pre-ordered it as well (the pretty collector's edition).
But I ordered it together with the Tera MMORPG, so I won't be getting it till around May.
Suits me fine though, since me and Astron are still working our way through Xenoblade.
I'm thinking it'd be great fun if a large group of us (like 5-10) would all start a game like this at the same time.

Uhh if we could manage that, that would be fun.
Though I would settle for a smaller number too, or just the both of us again

Hi pb, let us know how you get on when you get it.

Uhh Keza McDonlad might wanna watch out for bombs in her mail for the next couple of weeks.

IGN review:
http://uk.wii.ign.com/articles/121/1219299p1.html

Bloody liers.
Gamestation doesn't stock the game after all, despite telling me just yesterday they would.
they were very apologetic and returned my money without fuzz but still amupset.
I had to go to HMV. HMV!!!! I never buy games there.
Adding insult to injury they were playing One Direction ( ) and I had to listen to the whole damn song cause they queue wasn't moving due to some retard in front of me who didn't get it in his head that they don't have the 10th season of Smallville other than in the boxset with the whole series. After trying to make the guy buy it the girl eventually gave up and told him that they might have it upstairs cause downstairs would only display a small variety of dvd's which are on offer and the proper dvd section was upstairs.
What the actual fuck, how disgusting of them to try making a guy buy a 80£ box pretending they don't stock what he originally wanted when all they had to sent him upstairs.
No need to mention the same girl had a massive trouble fitting all the parts of the Limited edition back into the box (which they emptied for display) I eventually told her to just chuck it all in the bag as it is.
So the moral of this story is NEVER EVER buy your games at HMV, just not worth it.

Oh yeah btw. I have it now and the Limited Edition is so fancy!
It's a bit weird that it comes with a separate empty steel case instead of just putting the game in there in the first place. I mean either way I end up with one spare case.
Looks flashy though. The art book and soundtrack are also ace and come in a cute little blue box.
Get it now!

I knew you would get shafted by Game/station after reading the stuff on the web. Happy that you got your LE from somewhere though, at least.

...I wanted to believe...

There you go again with the totally unnecesairy bashing.


I share your annoyance with cancelled pre-orders though. I got a message two days back that the place I ordered it from won't be getting the Diablo 3 collector's after all.
So I'll have to keep my eye on Amazon.co.uk, because if I have to get it from the Amazon.com it'll cost me an arm and a leg.

I had to re-read all my posts to see what you mean.
You really need to stop being so sensitive about it. How would you feel when you have a shit morning and then you're stuck in an already annoying situation an on top have to listen to a song you hate with a passion.
Give us a hug

Let's make a deal. I'll stop being sensitive and you stop bashing them at every opportunity (I noticed your post in the X-factor thread).
Speaking of sensitive, I seem to remember you getting annoyed pretty easily when people write your name wrong. Just saying. No need to act like you're beyond all that.
Besides, if you want to avoid hearing things you don't like, invest in headphones and mp3 player (I use my PSP for music).

I have an iPod but I turn it off when I'm queuing somewhere.
I already stopped posting in OD threads just for you and you don't even appreciate it.
As far as I'm concerned everywhere else if fair game.
Besides I'm a Matt Cardle fan, I have to hear so much worse things said about him, you at least have the satisfaction of them being...somewhat successful...there I said it out loud in public.

Anywho I played the first chapter of this yesterday and quite enjoyed it. Production values are high and it shows. The battle system is very interesting. The main character has an ability called gathering which draws all enemy attention on him so his mates can go to work uninterrupted, which is especially important for the mage cause you have to wait till a counter goes to zero till the magic attack occurs, is the mage attacked during that you have to start again. On the other hand though if you use gathering constantly your character will eventually die (cause all the monsters keep bashing on him).
Another interesting ability is to use the surrounding to your advantage, if you scan the area you can find weak points and order the mage (you only control the main character the others are ai's) to e.g. destroy pillars which than bury your enemies. this is optional though, you don't have to do that but it makes fighting easier and more tactical imo.
As I said I only played the first chapter so this was probably the tip of the actual battle system. I didn't wanna play too much to not get hooked when I'm still playing Xenoblade.
Voice acting is also great, I love the British accents.

Thanks for that.

Gameplay sounds interesting.
Question: Are you playing Xenoblade with the english voices?

Yes.
I tried with the Japanese at first but it was too distracting.
Also as I said I really enjoy the British accents it gives the characters so much charm. They are really suitable for rpg's where characters come from all over the place which is reflected in them using all sorts of different accents from different areas.

So I felt I should add that despite what I said earlier in the thread, I have gotten my copy of the Col. Ed.
Appearantly Amazon was smart enough to see that the delivery diference between Last Story and TERA was so big (relatively) that they sent it ahead, despite the two having been part of the same order and me choosing the option to send me as few packages as possible.
Of course I have another order that was already ready to be sent over and they merged Last Story with that one.
Nice surprise. Not something I remember Amazon ever doing for me before.

I just got an order earlier than they would say they sent. They are always
very generous with the estimated arriving time, probably to avoid complains.
I love it when things come earlier than expected.

So back to this.

Am on chapter 16 now, which is just when the story gets into full swing and things are starting to heat up.
I'm so in love with it. It has so much old school JRPG charm to it.
I mean imagine this:

Awwwwww....doesn't this just make any JRPG-fans heart swell.


I mean it even uses pre-rendered cutscenes...remember those?

I'm on Chapter 29 myself.
A bit stuck currently, because there's a particularly dificult sidequest that will disappear in a chaper or two. I need to get it done, but it's really hard.
I like the game a lot. The characters are fun and the voices really fit them. It is very old school like you mentioned which is nice.
That said, I think the story is rather simple and predictable. There's a twist coming which I see coming a mile away.
I definitely think Xenoblade is far superior. But Last Story is still a great game in its own right.
It'll be interesting to see how Pandora's Tower stands up to the both of them.

I agree that LS and Xenoblade are very different and the later, being packed to burst with content, has more substance.
However I do think Last Story does a great job to push the genre forward without betraying its roots.
I said earlier in this thread how RPGs have to be short and actionfilled and easy to pick up these days and that's not how they should be, well LS manages all that while still being a proper RPG.
Despite all the old school elements, the way it plays is imo very much like e.g. Uncharted.
It comes in chapters, the levels are streamlined, fights are deliberately placed along the way, battles are real time - allowing tactical manoeuvres and to include the environment. It's very easy to play in short spurts too.
I think Mistwalker managed a good compromise here to appeal to newbies/ a new generation of gamers without alienating long term fans.
SquareEnix should take note here.
If this would have been a PS3/XBox game I'm pretty sure it would have been a smash hit.
Xenoblade obviously offers many welcomed improvements to the genre as well but it still has the problem of being a huge game with very deep mechanics and story.
Well problem as in what developers think is a problem and unappealing to gamers.

Anyway I'm glad you're only at chapter 29 since you've been on 22 a couple of weeks ago already. Looks like I caught up nicely, am at chapter 21 right now.
I love that the game doesn't throw item over item at you. So far I have 7 complete armours so exactly for every character one (obviously no 2 wear the same).
Though I am already working on getting the dragon armour and I have 2 bonus dresses for Callista though I haven't had a chance to use them yet as Callista is not in my group right now.
I'm so addicted to the costume customization options. I can't stop changing the colours to look for the perfect combination.
Zael looks cool in black and silver and Dagran ( ) look super dashing wearing a feather armour in orange brown and black tones, like some dessert hunter or something.
Just yesterday I managed to get the last set of dye I was missing so can truly go nuts with it.
I love that the armour actually changes when you upgrade it, I was well happy when my main character was suddenly wearing a fancy coat instead of just a shirt.
I could go on and on...

Okay, I managed to do the sidequest today and now I can move on. Progress should pick up from here on out.
Are you using a guide Astron? Because there's quite a few missable stuff in this game.
I do agree that it's good that there aren't too many armours. The ones that there are are distinct enough to give enough options on the equipment front. Especially with the option of removing certain accesories and with the dyes. I generally keep set colour palettes for my characters though. Zael is purple, Dagran black, Syrenne is orange,...

I made my own guide for the side quests as I found the ones online were all a bit incomplete. So I took a bit from here and there and I think I have a complete list now.
Not sure I like the fact you can miss whole chapters but then the game doesn't really hide those so even without excessive exploration everyone should find those.

My armour is for most characters on Level 4 now but I was disappointed that while Yurick in his leather armour looks well fancy now the others just have fat pieces of armour attached to their outfits.
I removed all of those from Dagran in his feather armour and only kept the waste coat, he looks like sponsored by Top Man now but still fit. I should upload a pic maybe.
Do you have the invincible dye set yet?
What was the tough side quest? Was it the east rivergate one?

Am on Chapter 25 now btw.

P.S. My colour code is:
Zael/Cloth Armour - Black & Silver
Dagran/Feather Armour - Black & Orange
Yurick/Leather Armour - Blue
Mirania/Heavy Armour - Green
Lowell/Stealth Armour - Purple
Syrenne/Hunters Armour - summer dye I think? Basically yellow and red and black
Callista/Brave Armour - blue & white

I keep all my equipment and weapons in top grade.
I've got all the weapons so far at +5 (need rare materials to go further) and all armour and greaves at +6 or +7 (need gnome gold which should start appearing).

I do have both invisible dyes, but I don't use them. You can get pretty much the same effect just taking off parts of the equipment anyway. The only reason would be if you wanted them in their underwear and I prefer seeing the great looking armour.

The tough mission was Cougars ni Lazulis City, which is the rivergate one, yes. It's only available up till about chapter 30 or 32 and it rewards to materials that are used to upgrade Calista's unique clothing and can only be gotten this way within the main game.
I'm now on chapter 35.

As for my equip choice/colour choice.
*Zael - Purple/Black - Leather
I like the little shoulder cape that it gives. I did have him in Dragon for a while, but it didn't look very good even with the weird parts removed.
*Dagran - Black - Knight's Attire (non colourable)
I think he looks great in the armour and it fits with how much he wants to be a knight.
I did have him in Hunter before. He looked pretty good in it. A bit slutty, especially since I removed the shirt. But it really worked for him.
*Calista - Pink/White - Calista's Ballgown (non colourable)
I had dificulty chosing between her two uniques, but in the end I prefered classy Calista over roughing it Calista.
I did have her in Feather before, which was an interesting look for her. I liked it, but I don't know if it really fit her that well.
*Syrenne - Orange/Black - Heavy
I really like this on Syrenne. With the scarf and the waist cape. The orange really suits her too.
*Yurick - Blue - Brave
A little peek at Yurick's abs with this one. XD Kept the waist cape on this one too. I think this look really suits Yurick.
*Mirania - Green - Stealth
Probably one of my favorite looks for a characters. It gives Mirania a whole gypsy sorceress vibe IMO. And green is just fitting with her whole nature connection.
*Lowell - White (or grey) - Cloth
Big long coat, no shirt underneath. I think this look suits his flirty nature perfectly.

I enjoyed the chapters where the castle gets attacked a second time and the little detective bits afterwards.
Calista finally came a bit more into her own, which is great as I found her damsel in distress role becoming boring. Her sleep arrows are ace.
She also learned the barrier spell which made her a fixed party member in battles.
I loved the little cut scene with Mirania in the library, I dunno there was something so atmospheric about it.
Poor Ashtar though.
I didn't wanna say it when you mentioned the obvious twist but I had an inkling and now it's pretty much confirmed that my baby boy is a traitor (or at least madly ambitious). I hope I don't have to kill him in the end.
I'm stuck now too.
Working the arena to level up, shame you don't get EXP when repeating dungeons, that would make it less monotone.

Oh here's my crew (I changed around a bit again):


Zael:Cloth Armour/black & silver
I left one piece of armour on the arm, sorta looks cool. I think silver goes with his hair.


Calista: Brave Armour/red
I kept half the armour on as I think it toughens her up.
Red makes her appear less innocent.


Dagran: Feather Armour/orang
Judging by his hair he is the most stylish of the gang, so he gets the most stylish and modern armour.
Orange goes with his slightly oriental appearance.
Dagran is too hardcore for any armour so it had to go.


Mirania: Heavy Armour/green
As the least girlie of the bunch and an outdoor type an armour that covers her fully suits her.
As you said I agree green suits her nature-spirit and mystical aura.
Again I left a little bit of armour on her arm and shoes to make her look a bit more cool/tough (also the silver sets a nice contrast)


Yurick: Leather Armour/blue
As with Mirania, an armour that covers him fully suits him as he is not as hunky as the others. I also think it makes him look smart and classy. Blue fits his distant persona. I left all the armour on as it doesn't stand out as much anyway.


Syrenne: Hunters Armour/purple
The slutiest outfit for the slutiest girl. Too gay for the male cast and not suiting the other 2 more innocent girls this sorta makes her the default wearer for the outfit. I counterbalanced it by giving her a calm purple.
Some armour left to make her appear at least somewhat as a fighter and not just a pole whore.


Lowell: Stealth Armour/yellow
Every heartthrob looks dashing in a turtle neck.
I left the armour completely on as I think it gives him a prince charming touch (probably the shoulders). I just tried yellow for fun but I think it suits him rather well.

Yeah, I definitely liked the little scenes with Mirania. She's probably my favorite character out of the lot. With Dagran a close second.
And it was sad about Asthar, but that really gave Therius several chances to shine. There's a great scene with him, Zael and Calista. Great and at the end of it hilarious.
As for the twist, I think there'll be redemption at the end. I hope so anyway.

Stuck on the Cougar sidequest as well? If you still are, I can give some advice.
Firstly, did you get the Healal sword during the castle assualt? It heals you for each hit you do. Blocking is very important with the cougars. Block untill you get Max Burst and then release to slow the cougars down a lot. At this point start attacking, still being carefull to avoid their attacks and best focussing on one cougar at a time. Keep your gathering on at all times though and when your Max Burst wears off, release another one as soon as possible. Keep this up for the entirety of the fight.
Another option is to switch to a more damaging sword after releasing Max Burst and either attacking that way or doing vertical strikes (the ones where you run up the wall). Only do this when you have enough health though as it can leave you open to attack when landing.
Additionally, do the second season of the Arena 10 times to get a Salamander Bone which will let you upgrade certain weapons to do a lot more damage. Nothingess for instance upgrades to Nameless Nothingness which has an 880 attack stat. And go back to the repeatable mission on the island (the one with the spider boss at the end) and follow the road behind you when you start. At the end are more cougars (and two healers), but you fight these with your whole party and I found them rather easy. Going on after defeating them leads you to a chest with a first Gnome Gold. This lets you upgrade a piece of equipment. Use it on boots to get their +7 added ability/stat boost. I suggest putting some health increasing gear on Zael.

As for your equipment.
...
You certainly prove not all gay men have great taste.
I'll have to see about taking some pics myself. Don't know if I can get a good look at them all though.
I hate that if the characters aren't with you, you only see their portrait.

Hey what's wrong with my taste?
Thanks for the elaborate advice but I already managed it.
I've done the arena till Zael was on Level 42 and equipped Nameless.
I made sure the spirit bar was full and then just bashed the shit outta them. One of the cougars was only Level 35 so I eliminated that on first.
Took me 3 attempts but got there in the end.
Am on chapter 33 (?) now? Just came back from Castle Gurak (my, my what a Grimm turn the story took here) and am now finishing off the last side quests before my "big day".
I'v also repeated some dungeons including the island and defeated the cougars here as well. My first Gnome Gold!
Also have the complete dragon armour now, though I agree, it looks a bit shit.
Looking forward to your pics.

I've been spending a couple of days on a part where there's a particularly rare sword drop, but I'm just not getting it so I'm going to move past it. Way too much hassle for one sword (which supposedly isn't all that great anyway).

Anyway, here are my costumes.
Taken with a camera at night so the quality isn't too good.




This is what I had on her untill I got her unique outfits.

No Dagran at this point in the story I'm afraid.

Your Lowell is fit, I give you that.
What Sword are you on about? I defeated the Monster from the Dungeon and got the Chaos blade, that's the best sword I have in my inventory right now.
Just fighting some winged weird boss, it's doing my head in, too powerful and my party is about level 47.

I'm talking about the Divine Poet, but that's on the chapter after where you're at now.
But like I said, it's not actually that great a sword.

For the Winged boss, have Mirania use forest magic and diffuse her circles whenever you can. That'll ground the boss at which point it's much easier to damage.

Now that you're past it, did you catch the little banter between Zael and Therius with Calista's little comment afterwards? I thought that was pretty funny.

Yeah the one were Calista felt obsolete.

Am on chapter 39 now. Just before the chamber of the Outsider.
There's a summoning circle, where the enemies drop gnome gold and noble rings and also give loads of exp. .
Been spending an hour here to top up my weapons and level up.
My party is now on Level 60 and Zael has the (current) most powerful sword, the stranger +1.
I also topped up to the fullest the general sword (Lowell), guardian sword/fang (Dagran) and nameless nothingness & wooden grand (Syrenne).
Mirania uses the Sorcerer +5 and Calista a wisdom dagger +5.
Yurick obviously uses his fathers weapon which is now finally levelled up to the max and turned into the affection dagger.

I love having my whole party fighting together for once.
They look so cute standing next to each other, all with their individual colours in the cut scenes.
Sorta like the rainbow kids.


Where the hell is Dagran and will we ever find out who killed general Ashtar?

The last bit would have made a perfect ending.


Alright off to play the last two chapters.

...I finished it...I feel lonely and empty....I need a hug...

I finished it as well.
Really loved the whole final part of the game.
Again, natural progression for that obvious twist I mentioned (it was evident by the character's absence that late in the game). But I think it was very well done.
And the scenes at the end of the last few chapters were so moving and beautiful.

I hope we'll play Pandora's Tower together as well, but not right now.
As I said, I now want to start up with Ni no Kuni. A Studio Ghibli/Level 5 videogame. I'm so excited.

I was hoping he would show up at the end in my moment of need and save the day. I was shocked to see he is the final end boss.
It was beautifully done though and you sorta understood where hew as coming from. All very tragic.
A great game, glad I finally got round to playing it.
I had a good time, thx.

I really wanna play Ni No Kuni too, I got my big collectors box here but I want the Guide for it and Amazon tells me it's not avaible (well collectors edition isn't), so I'll wait til it comes.

Ima go back to Xenoblade, off on Sunday and then throw myself back onto the Bionis.

Hah!
It seems we think alike.
I have the collector's edition too. Don't you just love the little book?
And I ordered the guide from Amazon too since you get a familiar from it, but it hasn't arrived for me either.

Well if we get the guide at the same time, we can play together again.

The familiar in the book doesn't work in Europe, you can download it for free on the PS Network though. (according to an Amazon review at least)
And yes the book is amazing.