The last story is probably the best game on the Wii, and easily the best JRPG of the 7th Generation (at least as far as the ones I've played). Also, pick my next game! The next theme will be "movie and TV adaptations"!

The Last Story is an amazing game, and if you disagree, your presence offends me and you smell. :3 It's not PERFECT though. I'll explain a little here. However, despite its minor blemishes, I had a great time with this game, and despite my experience with a lot of shitty, awful, horrible JRPGs in recent years (Infinite Undiscovery, Final Fantasy 13: Everyone Fucking Whines Edition, Enchanted Arms, The Last Remnant and others), this game has re-sparked my love for the genre that I clung to like an addict during my teens.


The Last Story is a love story. Not just between the two main characters, but between gamers and the JRPG genre.

TLS is, in my opinion, the true successor to Final Fantasy 12. FF12 was not a great game (seriously, it drags on forever with little plot progression), but it started to introduce some elements of action RPG into the Final Fantasy formula. TLS takes this a step further by making the gameplay much more action-based, but without eliminating turn-based elements completely. The default "attack" command is pretty much on auto-pilot, but any advanced techs take additional input. As well, while your party member will be casting spells and hitting things with swords in the background, you will not be successful if you're not issuing commands and forcing your AI companions to get their limit breaks off.

Anyway, I'm not really in the business of full reviews, but here's some pros and cons:

- The gameplay. I love it. I don't love it for the same reasons I love turn-based JRPG stuff, but as far as action RPGs go, this is easily the best I've played. The only other good example I can think of is the Tales series, and TLS definitely does it better. No question about it.
- The localization. They did an excellent job here. The voice cast is excellent, and the dialogue and acting are only cringe-worthy when they're supposed to be. The English cast adds a different flavour to the characters than your standard American adaptation would.
- The music. There are only a few outstanding tracks here, but unlike some other RPGs out there, I didn't find myself hating anything.
- The characters. Everyone here is likeable, and you never end up saddled with someone you can't stand. Except Horace. Fuck Horace. He's an NPC that accompanies you, and he's annoying as thistles in your socks.
- The story. While it loses focus at times during the middle, it's very strong, with a few particularly gripping moments that a lesser game would not be able to pull off with the same success.
- The bosses. My love of good boss fights cannot be understated, and there is a lot to love here. Tons of variety, gorgeous designs, and all requiring a strategy beyond "just use your strongest attack over and over again" like FF6 and FF7 are very guilty of.


- As I mentioned, there are a lot of moments during the middle where the momentum of the story just... Dies. You're wandering around a lot, feeling in the dark, trying to find out where triggers the next cutscene. It gets really boring, but it's not nearly as offensive as some other games (like Final Fucking Fantasy 12).
- Sometimes the exposition is rushed through too fast. I'm not sure if this is a localization thing, but I found during bouts of exposition, important information was being rushed through, without letting it sink in emotionally. A great comparison is the first few episodes of FMA: Brotherhood. This issue doesn't exist in most of the last third of the game, however.
- The final boss is too long. Seriously, it took me over and hour to beat it. This shit's like, Lavos territory.

Overall though, phenomenal game. Between this and DmC, I've now cleared two phenomenal games in a row.


Now pick my next game! My theme this time around is movie and TV adaptations. I don't have too many of them, so it'll be an easy list to work through. You guys picked me a good game last time, so I'll trust you again. I think I'll actually live-stream this next one!

- The Adventures of Batman & Robin (Genesis)
- Gargoyles (Genesis)
- Mazin Saga: Mutant Fighter (Genesis)
- Robocop vs. The Terminator (Genesis)
- Universal Soldier (Genesis)
- X-Men 2: The Clone Wars (Genesis)
- X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse (SNES)
- Astro Boy: Omega Factor (GBA)
- The Sky Crawlers: Innocent Aces (Wii)


Vote, you lovely ladies and lovely gents!