First Impressions of "The Last Story"

One of my friends, Bearserker, had been enthusing to me about this game for a long time, so I finally asked her to lend it to me. I have not finished the game, so this will not be like my previous reviews. I am approximately one-fifth through the story, going by word count on the wiki page for it

This game is called "The Last Story," and was released in 2012.  I have spent about six hours playing it, and about twenty minutes on the Japanese website (My knowledge of Katakana has helped me. Taking Japanese has now been justified for me.)

I started playing it this last Friday, and so far really enjoy it. There are several reasons for this.

One basic reason is the music. The main theme is excellent. It has a nice sad, floating, feel to it, and is very pleasing to listen to. The other songs are almost as well made.

The characters are also well done. The main character, Zael, became very real to me very fast. This is in great part due to the other characters, who act as old friends to each other. For a minute, I was very confused upon starting the game, and believed there to be a prequel due to all the history between the characters.

The hub is very large, and there are many things to find on the streets of the home city. This is the first game since Persona 4 that I've ran around worrying about some stupid thing, like where to find a banana. I needed that banana. Honestly, I did. I love it when games make me think like that (in Persona, it was studying for finals, just so you know).

The main story is interesting. There is a lot to it, and I won't go into it all. The base idea is that of a group of mercenaries who want to become knights. An ancient enemy is invading, and you ally with the princess and several other characters to try to stop them. There seems to be a budding love story, and there are several small fetch quests, but not enough to anger most people.

Finally, the combat system is amazing. There are stealth elements, as well as some cover abilities. Zael has an ability that allows him to draw the attention of all enemies (Allowing your mages to cast spells undisturbed), and bestows some other small benefits. Outside of combat, you can use your crossbow to shoot banana skins at random people, causing them to fall down.

There are some problems. The voice acting is nice, but some of the emotions seem off. The combat is almost too easy, as each character can faint five times. The graphics also aren't the greatest, but they are above average for a Wii game. However, this does not in any way make this any less of a great game.

In conclusion, I love this game so far. I would honestly like to have my own copy, because the idea of having to give it back makes me kind of sad. This game has re-opened my mind to the Wii, and I feel encouraged to try some more games I never did. Primarily among them, another JRPG, Xenoblade Chronicles. I am glad my friend convinced me to try it.