The Last Story (24th February)

[James McGeachie]

One thing about this game: I don't think people should get too hyped for visuals. Xenoblade by Monolith has a very Gamecube level look in the newest vids and I honestly wont expect much more for this game.

 

I'm not going to say that's a bad thing for me, I just don't think people should expect it to be very high end.

[Dante]

Hironobu Sakaguchi: The Last Story Not a Final Fantasy Rehash

 

Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi was involved in a fun little Twat (that's a Twitter-based spat) with Final Fantasy Gaiden director Takashi Tokida earlier today.

 

During the course of the conversation, Sakaguchi said something along the lines of "How about stopping with the Final Fantasy rehashes?"

 

This was probably said in jest, so it's not worth making a big deal over. (Although Sakaguchi did press a bit further in a subsequent Tweet, saying that it's important to not break the balance between business and creativity.)

 

Sakaguchi's next comment, however, is notable for those looking forward to his latest creation, The Last Story. After Sakaguchi and Tokida parted, someone Tweeted to Sakaguchi, "From the title, Last Story gives the feeling of being a big FF rehash."

 

Sakaguchi's reply to this appears to have been deleted, but Hachimaki posted a screen grab: "I think you'll feel this once you've tried it. LS is not a rehash."

 

In other Last Story news that has been scraped from the walls of Twitter, Sakaguchi commented briefly on the game's musical component yesterday. Someone asked for the name of the composer of the song that players in the "Star Viewing Tower" blog post at the official site. Responded Sakaguchi, "I'm sorry, I can't reveal the composer yet." He added, however, "We had one person do all the songs."

 

If you're searching for additional Last Story bits and pieces, I'd suggest a visit to the Mistwalker blog. Sakaguchi mentions The Last Story briefly in a post from yesterday titled Nose Cap: "The weather doesn't clear up, but my heart is clearing up. This is because I shut myself up with the development team every day and am able to feel The Last Story being born. It's finally off from the creator's hands and has begun to move on its own -- like always. It's like a living creature. It breaths on its own, it speaks on its own. It's fascinating, even though its spirit is digital data."

 

If Nintendo maintains its update schedule, we'll hopefully get a new post at The Last Story development blog tonight.

[Dante]

Meet The Last Story's hero and heroine... and their tiger?

 

 

The director (still unidentified) confirms that the characters depicted in the illustration are the main character and heroine.

 

"There is a wall between the two," he writes. Based off the director's comments, it seems that there's something keeping the two apart and unable to live their dreams together.

 

The director also writes that in The Last Story, there will be a number of other stories besides the story of these two characters. He mentions:

The fear of speaking your true feelings

The mystery of the father who went missing on boat

The difficulty a leader has in making decisions

The close accomplice who's turned to evil

The foolish archaeologist's prison break

 

Concludes the director, "It's very important to merge battles and gameplay with story. Neither can stand on its own. Once both are connected together, the characters will rise up as "human" within the container of a game."

 

The game's producer (also unidentified) states, "The characters who appear in The Last Story all walk their own paths and have their own stories." He likens this to the real world, where no one has lived their lives following the same path as you.

 

The main part of The Last Story's story will focus on the main character, says the producer. However, he believes players will also have a chance to be touched by the stories other characters as well. "Once you've been touched by that, it's likely that you'll be able to feel their [the characters outside of the main character] true feelings, which you did not see before."

 

That's fine and all, but what's with the tiger?

[STOOPIDDITTIES]

So if Sakaguchi is not the director nor the producer, how is he attached to this project?

 

[LostOverThere]

So if Sakaguchi is not the director nor the producer, how is he attached to this project?

Wait, who said he wasn't the Director or Producer?

[STOOPIDDITTIES]

The director (still unidentified) confirms that the characters depicted in the illustration are the main character and heroine.

 

The game's producer (also unidentified) states, "The characters who appear in The Last Story all walk their own paths and have their own stories." He likens this to the real world, where no one has lived their lives following the same path as you.

 

Doesn't exactly state that he is neither but it just threw me a bit.

[LostOverThere]

Yeah, I'm not sure why they haven't identified either of them. Seems kind of strange.

 

My guess he's the producer, if not, the director, and if not that, the lead designer.

[Dante]

Updates

 

Mistwalker CEO Hironobu Sakaguchi is willing to give us tiny updates on the game via the Mistwalker blog.

 

In a post titled "Tokyo" today, Sakaguchi wrote, "Recently, I often end up waking up at 5:00. Is it jet lag? Or am I on edge because LS is approaching completion?"

 

Sakaguchi usually makes his posts from his home in Hawaii. It looks like he's in Tokyo at the moment, which would explain the comment about jet lag.

 

Following a couple of images of Tokyo's skyline, he wrote, "Last Story's development is at long last in the final stages. The feeling of tension is pleasant."

 

Blog Update - "Chaos and Order."

 

"Chaos and Order." These are themes Mistwalker CEO Hironobu Sakaguchi addressed months before The Last Story's official announcement at the Mistwalker blog.

 

Writes the director, "Making order from chaos. Or, pulling the enemies who were in order into chaos. Using one of the main character's skills called 'Gathering,' we wanted to make a system that would let you control that type of situation."

 

During battle, the current focus of the enemy is marked with a line, called a "Pointer." "This is probably the most special feature when you see this game," writes the director. The pointer's color can be used for strategy, as it will indicate enemy type, such as soldier, mage, or archer who attempts to disrupt your own mage's magic chants.

 

The gathering skill is used to steal the focus of an enemy. Execute the gathering skill, and you make the enemy turn his focus on to you.

 

One example of this system's use is in a situation where enemies are focusing their sights on your mage. You can use gathering to turn their sights on to you, assisting your mage in chanting his magic.

 

"Controlling chaos and order on the battle field ties in to victory," finishes the director.

 

The producer notes that when playing sports or doing anything where you face off against an enemy, the first thing you do is create a strategy. In order to have all members move in accordance with a prescribed strategy, participants need to cooperate, sending signals to each other and getting into formations.

 

"Combat in games is the same," writes the producer. "Ordered movements of your allies is the key to victory. But what if there were an opponent who could bring confusion to that order?"

 

A story board at the blog shows how the gathering and pointer systems work, beginning with the start of battle (above) and continuing to the main character gathering the enemy focus on himself so that a party member mage can successfully cast a spell that makes the main character's sword more powerful.

 

Blog Update - More Combat Details

 

"We wanted to make a new type of RPG battle," writes the game's director about how the staff approached the game's battle system. "We wanted a system that merged real time battles with command selection, something that had an action feel but would also make you think. After much trial and error, we came to the current form."

 

Joining the "Gathering" and "Pointing" terminology from the last blog post, the director here mentions "Magic Circle." This is apparently something that remains on the battle field after your magic strikes. While not saying exactly what the "Magic Circle" is, the director describes it as an "important element." There are a variety of types of circles, including "recovery" and "flame" types.

 

Regarding the "thought" part of the battle system, the director says that time will freeze while you're inputting commands. You'll also be able to give orders to your AI-controlled party members.

 

The director finishes: "Combat in The Last Story is powered by a system that blends action with command selection.

 

The game's producer gives some background on battle system creation in general. "Before making characters and stages, you have to create the battle structure." With this thinking in mind, The Last Story's development consisted of a lengthy period showing red and blue scribblings as the characters in combat.

 

According to the producer, the staff required a great amount of test time to properly show the battle system's concept of "Order and Chaos."

Edited April 25, 2010 by Dante

[Dante]

Famitsu has screenshots:

 

Only one page is online so far.

Edited April 27, 2010 by Dante

[STOOPIDDITTIES]

I can't see it!

 

[Dante]

I can't see it!

 

 

Can you see it now?

 

Off-topic: Wada starting a label for Square-Enix in Japan called Extreme Edges, which will focus on Western titles. ¬_¬

 

Dragon Quest Monsters - 10/9/9/9

Edited April 27, 2010 by Dante

[STOOPIDDITTIES]

Can you see it now?

 

Yep, thanks.

[pedrocasilva]

Famitsu Scans:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looks really nice actually.

[Nolan]

Looks really nice actually.

 

If those are all in-game, really nice may be an understatement. I won't commit myself to saying that just yet with just being scans.

[Shino]

Holy crap, that looks incredible! And it does seem to be in-game!

[STOOPIDDITTIES]

They said this was a Wii game right...?

 

It looks fantastic.

[Dante]

Scans Details:

 

If you've been wondering when Nintendo was going to give The Last Story its full reveal, it looks like the answer is "some time this week." This week's Famitsu has the first ever full magazine preview of the Mistwalker Wii RPG, and it comes complete with something we've yet to see: screenshots.

 

Unfortunately, the details in the magazine are for the most part the same as what's been doled out over the past couple of months at the official site's development blog. It's worth a recap, though, and there are a couple of new bits.

 

As detailed in the very first blog post, The Last Story takes place on Ruli Island. Strangely, the magazine says the island is a peninsula. Most of the screens show natural landscapes, but there's also a scene from a cave showing a central platform that's being lit from above.

 

In one of its earlier installments, the blog introduced us to Count Arganon, Lord of Ruli Island and an ambitious man who understands the importance of magic. In the Famitsu screens, we see his massive palace.

 

Ruli City, the center of activity for Ruli Island, is also the base of operations for the main characters of The Last Story. This large city has a canal flowing through its center. A plaza, built above the canal, splits the city into north and south sections.

 

 

 

The two characters who seemed to be the game's hero and heroine are shown in the magazine. Yes, the tiger is there too. Unfortunately, the magazine doesn't provide their names or profiles above what was shared at the blog. It does show the scene from the Star Viewing Tower from a different angle, though, allowing us to see the heroine speaking to the hero.

 

 

 

The main character was previously revealed to be a Mercenary, the lower of two classes of soldiers in The Last Story's world. Screenshots show both soldier types. One screen shows a bearded mercenary who appears to be a friend of the main character. Another screen shows people in town clearing the way for a procession of the higher class and greatly respected Knights.

 

 

 

In its final updates, the development blog provided a few intriguing hints about combat. Famitsu confirms that the battles will progress in real time. However, when needed, you'll be able to freeze time in order to input commands.

 

Aside from this, the magazine details the Pointer and Gathering systems that were mentioned at the blog. One screen shows pointer lights coming at the main character from all directions -- even his back, from an enemy who's not visible on screen. It's presumable that the player has just performed a Gathering move, which gets the enemy sights, and thus their pointers, focused on the main character. The pointer lights have different colors, which the blog confirmed to be an indication of different attack methods.

 

Another battle screen shows the main character facing off against a large black creature. Another screen shows what appears to be at least two party members.

 

With all the textual details having been previously shared through the blog, the Famitsu article doesn't really do much unless you're able to see the screens for yourself. Last week's installment appears to have been the last one at the blog, so this week's official site update will hopefully contain the screens and artwork from the Famitsu article. At the very least, Famitsu.com will usually post a few of the screenshots later in the week, so it does look like the long awaited first look at The Last Story is almost at hand.

[marcel]

In its final updates, the development blog provided a few intriguing hints about combat. Famitsu confirms that the battles will progress in real time. However, when needed, you'll be able to freeze time in order to input commands.

 

That sounds kinda like the tales of system (while completely different) where you could freeze the action and heal your team members and look at your stats.

 

BTW really impressed with the scans, cant wait for a trailer (im thinking e3 press conference).

[killer kirby]

This game looks...cel-shaded, maybe it's just me

[Nolan]

Definitely just you. Doesn't look cel-shaded in the least to me.

[LostOverThere]

This game looks...cel-shaded, maybe it's just me

If so, than this is a good thing.

[Nolan]

There are two specific elements of Cel-shading that this is missing though. The hard outline border (which can be added or removed regardless of Cel-shading, Wind Waker doesn't have it), and the lighting of the shadows. In Cel-shading shadows don't appear naturally in a smooth gradient, instead they are clearly defined levels of darkness.

 

Hard Shadows.

http://marctenbosch.com/npr_shading.png

 

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y279/aun_devanum/Cel-ShadingExamples.jpg

 

Amd to really make you guys think I'm crazy, Borderlands isn't cel-shaded either.

 

While I don't dislike Cel-Shading, I think I enjoy the look of the game more as it is.

Edited April 28, 2010 by Nolan

[Dante]

I think they're only looking at the first scan of the opening screen.

 

The game looks like Darkside Chronicles and Monster Hunter Tri engine style

Edited April 28, 2010 by Dante

[Nolan]

It still shows smooth shadows though. Just look at the girls arm, the light is coming from behind and the arm gradually gets darker toward the front.

[LostOverThere]

I think I speak for everyone when I say we need actually screenshots and not magazine scans. Throw in a video while you're at it, Nintendo.