The Last Story (Wii)

Hironobu Sakaguchi, the creator of the wildly popular Final Fantasy series, set out to make a new type of Japanese role-playing game when the work on The Last Story began, but by developing it for the Wii console, he jeopardized the potential reach of his experimental title. The system was then on its way out and widely known as a console for casual play instead of the deep lengthy experiences JRPGs bring to the table, so Nintendo of America initially passed on publishing The Last Story in the United States. It wasn’t the only one to suffer such a fate though, and thus, a fan campaign known as Operation Rainfall was born. North American gamers eager to play The Last Story, Xenoblade Chronicles, and Pandora’s Tower showed their love for the genre and interest in playing these titles all across the internet and by mail, and since existing European translations of the games already included English options, eventually those fans got what they wanted. Xenoblade Chronicles would go on to be rereleased multiple times and become a larger Nintendo brand, and while Pandora’s Tower may have faded from public consciousness it got a release on the Wii U eShop as well. However, The Last Story is still relegated to the Wii, and it’s definitely a shame, as it is certainly an immensely interesting member of the genre.

The Last Story is the story of Zael and his band of mercenaries. Zael and his long time friend Dagran head the group and aspire to be knights one day, and while doing work for a prestigious count, Zael makes contact with a strange voice who grants him the Mark of the Outsider. This special gift grants him many new powers in combat, but it also ties into the many other mysteries surrounding the game’s main setting of Lazulis Island. Before those can be explored though, Zael encounters a young woman walking the streets of the town, only realizing later that this girl he bonded with quite naturally was the noble Lady Calista in disguise. Dreading her life in royal society, Calista longs for the kind of adventurous life Zael leads, and when a race of people known as the Gurak attack, she gets her wish granted as she is forced to flee with the mercenaries to survive. From there, many different plot threads have room to grow and develop, all of them weaving together well into the central narrative and its themes. Zael and Dagran’s work for the count and interaction with Lady Calista begin to show the complexity of higher living and the veneer of luxury gives way to a more nuanced understanding of that high class world. The battle with the Gurak begins as a straightforward conflict with what seem like a monstrous race, but their motivations and way of life are not as generic as simply warmongering for the sake of it. The land seems to be dying during the conflict as well, and the true nature of the Mark of the Outsider’s power continues to reveal itself as you travel to new locations and get to know new characters.

The cast of The Last Story start off deceptively generic as well. Things begin in what looks like a fairly standard medieval fantasy world, magic at play and monstrous creatures existing outside the city walls. The characters that make up your party initially feel like one-note mercenaries as well, Syrenne seeming to be a generic drunk, Lowell leaning on his flirtatious nature hard, and Mirania’s love of food leaned on for the same joke again and again. However, these basic character traits soon give way to individuals with more depth, all while not completely shirking that trait you first came to know them by. Mirania has a wonderfully casual view of even the most dire situations and is invested in the mystery of the dying land, Lowell and Syrenne’s repartee makes their interactions delightful even though they often sit on the sidelines during the main quest, and even Yurrick, a character who starts off grumpy and rude, soon reveals more of his character as the game takes the time to have specific chapters of the plot to explore your party members more thoroughly. At the forefront of the game are the main three heroes though, Calista being charming and easy to love as she brings a playfulness and sense of wonder despite being raised to be prim and proper. Dagran is the rock of the group with his focused nature and cunning, and Zael, the main character of the game, is pretty much just sort of a standard video game protagonist when it comes to his particular selection of generally positive traits. He’s not so generic that he’s completely forgettable, his interactions with Calista and Dagran having weight because he shows more of who he is at heart, but he’s mostly heroic when he needs to be, conflicted when he should be, and contributes the parts of the conversation that allows others to shine. His dynamic with Calista is definitely the highlight of the experience, the two achieving much greater depth during their interactions and developing a romantic relationship that is easy to get invested in and rewarding to see grow.

Other characters outside the party prove to be interesting additions as well. General Asthar is the leader of Lazulis Island’s knights and has a roguish charm to him and surprisingly humility considering some of the company his position demands he keep, and his closest knight Sir Therius is a good counterbalance with his far more rigid demeanor. The foppish Lord Jirall who has arranged to marry Calista is easy to despise but not tossed aside callously or leaned on too deeply, how you are meant to feel about your employer Count Arganan changes as you learn the complexities of the situation you’re in, and even Horace, a seemingly simple merchant who upgrades your equipment, has a fleshed out life that you can learn more about as your paths intertwine in the main plot or in the optional chapters devoted to him. Of the game’s 44 chapters there are some that allow you to better explore more about the world you’re in or the people you’re interacting with, and because the effort went into fleshing out these aspects of the game, it’s easy to justify spending the extra time engaging with the few narrative elements that aren’t part of the main narrative path.

Unfortunately, sometimes there is dialogue outside of cutscenes that can be accidentally skipped if you keep moving and trigger a new scene, but the important details are kept in the main plot so its only a minor annoyance. There is definitely a linear narrative to most of it even though the game throws in some moments to choose a somewhat inconsequential reply or locate a point of interest yourself via first person. The game does open up during town visits to let you engage in optional side quests like the monster fighting Arena or solving the problems of townspeople like a missing girl, so the overall structure doesn’t feel limiting and provides enough moments of freedom to let you engage with the more open portions of the adventure. Special weapons can be earned this way, more money for the stores and upgrades can be acquired, and even dyes that allow you to change the outfits of all your party members crop up, there being surprising freedom in their designs as you can always see what they actually have equipped and can remove pieces or change the color to make them look as you please.

Getting to the actual combat is where we both find Hironobu Sakaguchi’s attempt to innovate and the part of the game that might initially put some players off. The Last Story is an action RPG where, to attack an enemy, you must walk up to them and hold the control stick in their direction to attack. You do not automatically attack when a foe is in range which is an easy mistake in understanding to make, but by holding the stick forward only when you wish to attack you are essentially imitating the simplicity of pressing a button to slash a foe, it’s just not quite as intuitive. This can have a small issue where you might want to move away from an enemy but their movements or the available space can mean you instead keep smacking them rather than retreating and repositioning, and while the game does offer a button press option instead of this control stick combat, it comes with a bothersome damage penalty to try and make you play as the game intends. You will acclimate to it if you stick with the control stick combat though, and while things seem simple at first, the game waits until you’re used to that design choice before rolling out the complexity that makes the combat more interesting than just holding the stick forward to slash.

The Mark of the Outsider allows you to call the attention of all nearby enemies, meaning your ever-shifting party members can act while you dodge or weather the blows. You can always let them be hit if you need the breathing room though, and even if you or your allies die, each character usually has five lives per combat encounter. It’s fairly obvious that a small group of the lizardmen known as Reptids won’t tear through such a large safety net, but rather than relying on revival magic, you instead need to make sure that the tougher foes and enemy groups don’t burn through your stock. Since you’re often the target of multiple enemies thanks to the Mark, many conflicts start with you and your party carefully approaching and then scouting out the enemy formation. There are valid tactics like luring enemies away from the pack stealthily, flanking them, removing magic casters and archer support first, and other little elements to the fights that give them a tactical edge, and some foes like the giant spiders or shades need to be attacked in the proper way to deal decent damage. Essentially, these arrangements integrate strategic combat puzzles, the player gaining a huge edge if they can identify a good counter but also not suffering greatly should they approach things suboptimally.

As the game goes on, you can even routinely give orders to your party in the combat where otherwise they attack however they see fit. You can designate healers, ask mages to cast spells, and encourage your melee attackers to activate special abilities, each of these having special advantages. Magic leaves rings you can enter to add elements to your blade, healing takes the form of circles you can enter, and the melee skills often play into chaining where alternating who hits a foe causing the damage multiplier to increase. Zael’s Gale skill is an incredibly versatile ability as well, not only moving him to a spot to damage foes but dispersing any magic rings for extra effects, be they boons for his allies or dispelling the enemy’s healing and buffs. On top of these are Spirit Attacks that appear surprisingly late but pack the most powerful and useful attacks in the game, the player able to trigger these to gain a significant edge. The strategies of regular enemies means you need to act properly to avoid having characters surrounded and overwhelmed, and bosses like the giant armored turtle, the Gurak commanders, and even fellow human warriors demand different approaches and proper use of your extra skills. The final boss especially tests your ability to manage your options excellently, and the multiplayer mode of course means multiple competing humans have to make their commands work to their favor. It’s not oppressively strategic, but there is enough going on that the odd method of regular attack isn’t a total dealbreaker, the need to master other parts and learn boss quirks keeping combat enjoyable despite its initially strange fighting method.

THE VERDICT: While the combat in The Last Story takes some time to adjust to, once it begins to open up, it makes for an entertaining action supplement to a game that really comes out in full force with likeable characters, a deep plot, and plenty of memorable moments. Beautiful music backs interactions between interesting personalities in a world that invites your curiosity, and while it is a narrative more focused on forward action rather than side content, there are still plenty of ways to get to know the world better and have fun side excursions between the excellent plot points. The Last Story doesn’t leave the best first impression, but when it finds its stride it can provide genuine emotion and entertaining action that reveals how much more there is to this initially unassuming JRPG.

And so, I give The Last Story for Wii…

A FANTASTIC rating. While the unusual stick controls for attacking do seem like cause for concern at first, The Last Story soon overcomes any lingering worries about them as you dig into the depth of its plot and the additional skills used for combat. It does ask for you to trust it at the start when characters seem one-note and the combat seems different for the sake of it, but soon the game is rolling out new encounter types that feel distinct and ask for more thought than just swinging your blade about. Soon the game is revealing the true personality of your traveling companions and can even get you heavily invested in characters who at first glance seemed like a generic lush and a shallow Lothario. The swapping party shape gives you time to get to know different characters better, even people who don’t join you for long like Horace and General Asthar made all the more your ally by having you fight alongside these important side characters. The adventure moves to new locations like the Gurak settlements, the areas underground Lazulis Island, and even to otherworldly locations all in service of a narrative that benefits from its focus but knows when you might want to explore the town to find fun side activities to engage with. Not every part of The Last Story is perfect, but the small stumbling points can’t undermine a well crafted narrative guided by wonderful personalities.

With battlefields fit for a wide variety of unique fights along with a story and characters that make you care for the narrative structure that guides you from fight to fight, The Last Story provides plenty of rewarding emotional moments on top of combat that overcomes its awkward elements. The plot is definitely far more the standout of the two, the fighting system buoyed by a counterbalance of excellence in character development and narrative depth. It would be nice if characters like Zael could be more expressive both character model-wise and in performance, but it’s easy to overlook some of the weaker trappings thanks to the substance on offer during most of the adventure. While the game’s name only ends up being a playful twist on Sakaguchi’s similarly named Final Fantasy, the adventure itself feels fit to stand as a quality title on its own while also comparing favorably with many of the best games in the JRPG genre. North America is truly fortunate that The Last Story eventually found its way to its shores.