Topic: Mistwalker's "The Last Story" out in NA via XSEED!

[Kytim89]

I read some where that Sakaguchi(spelling) said that Final Fantasy 9 was his ideal version of what the Final Fantasy series is all about and when I see videos of this game I get a Final Fantasy 9 vibe and possibly even a Final Fantasy 6 vibe as well. This game might actually turn out to be what he wanted the Final Fantasy series to eventually evolve into but Square wanted to do other wise and that is the reason why he left the compony to for hiw own.

[Mop it up]

This was confirmed for release in January 2011 in Japan, can we get a topic title change to reflect the new year?

[broodwars]

This was confirmed for release in January 2011 in Japan, can we get a topic title change to reflect the new year?

On it.

[Stratos]

So a summer release in the West? /wishfulthinking

[BlackNMild2k1]

http://www.andriasang.com/e/blog/2010/10/18/last_story_magic_circle/

http://www.andriasang.com/e/blog/2010/10/22/last_story_battle_system/

and a nice summary of whats known about the gameplay so far from NeoGAF

Anoop has translated a detailed article in Famitsu on how the Battle System for the game works.

I've thrown in a couple other things that were previously known for those who haven't followed the game closely, but most of this is new info.  I think we can finally get an idea of how this game is going to play and I'm pretty excited.

http://www.andriasang.com/e/blog/2010/10/22/last_story_battle_system/

- You control the main character Elza
- Combat is mostly real-time
- Two control options for attacking: Auto-attack (automatically attacks enemies when you title the control stick towards them and they are in range) or manual mode (uses button presses for attacks)
- In both options, you use buttons to block and evade
- Automatically switch to combat when approaching an enemy, no transition screen, etc.

Pointer System:
- Enemies have lines drawn from them showing enemy focus (i.e. which ally the enemy is targeting).  This seems to be based off line of sight, so for instance, an enemy hiding behind a wall can't target you.
- Color indicates enemy type (archer, solider, mage)

Gathering:
- A skill of Elza which draws enemy focus to Elza. This allows your allies time to cast spells (a spell will fail if your ally is hit while casting it which takes several seconds).
- Gathering Burst: Elza will get a "burst up" if he blocks an enemy attack while in gathering mode.  If he gets enough burst ups he will do a "Gathering Burst" when going out of gathering mode.  This damages enemies & may slow them down.
- Cure: Elza can revive your fallen allies if he touches them while in Gathering mode.  They will revive with temp. enhanced abilities.

Command Mode
- Freezes time and allows you to give specific commands to allies (where to move on the battlefield, what magic to cast, etc).
- Example given is Kanan (main heroine) has Holy (light-based attack spell), Cure (heals allies) and Return (warp to heal circle)
- You can also command Elza, he has Power Hit (temp. raises attack strength, Wind (attack magic, also used for "Spread detailed below), and Return
- Game switches to an overhead view when commanding a character where to cast a spell and you can target exactly where it will land on the battlefield.
- You don't have unlimited use of Command mode.  After you use it you can't use it again for a little while.

Magic Circle:
- When a party member casts a spell, a "Magic Circle" is left afterwards at the point of impact
- If an ally stands in the magic circle, his or her weapon will temporarily gain the elemental attribute of the spell that created the circle.  Ex: Stand in a circle left by a fire magic and your sword becomes fire sword.

Spread
- Elza can use his wind magic to spread the effects of the magic circle
- Spread an ice circle and the enemies will slip and fall
- Other examples Holy = defense up for allies when spread, and spreading Cure = Allies recover HP & Status abnormalities

Focus
- Elza can use Focus to see enemy weak points and special abilities
- He draws a bowgun when he uses the ability, so you can use it to sneak up behind cover and snipe enemies.
- This is useful for taking out enemy healers that are hiding

Other
- One party member, Yuris can use fire magic to target and destroy bridges, columns, etc.
- If the debris falls on enemies it will kill them (ex: you could draw enemies under a bridge and then have Yuris destroy it, killing the enemies who were trapped underneath the collapsing bridge)

10/23 Edit: Sakaguchi tweets about the article:

http://twitter.com/mistwalker

NOA better get off it's ass and get this game in the translation process 6 months ago.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Looks like Mistwalker is having a Conference for The Last Story on Dec. 27th 2010

http://www.nintendo.co.jp/wii/slsj/character/index.html
character page updated with VC voice samples

http://www.nintendo.co.jp/wii/slsj/event/index.html
Presentation Conference at 2:00pm Dec 27, 2010 (Japan time)
Hironobu Sakaguchi will response the presentation himself
Live broadcasting will be available at UStream that day

Full blow out of the game and maybe a US release date?


edit: http://www.andriasang.com/e/blog/2010/12/13/last_story_presentation/

[Kytim89]

Looks like Mistwalker is having a Conference for The Last Story on Dec. 27th 2010

http://www.nintendo.co.jp/wii/slsj/character/index.html
character page updated with VC voice samples

http://www.nintendo.co.jp/wii/slsj/event/index.html
Presentation Conference at 2:00pm Dec 27, 2010 (Japan time)
Hironobu Sakaguchi will response the presentation himself
Live broadcasting will be available at UStream that day

Full blow out of the game and maybe a US release date?


edit: http://www.andriasang.com/e/blog/2010/12/13/last_story_presentation/

I heared this game is on-line compatible? I really wish this game would get to America as soon as possible.

[BeautifulShy]

Yeah it has online play. Just confirmed in an Iwata asks.Here it is.
http://andriasang.com/e/blog/2010/12/16/last_story_iwata_asks/

[Kytim89]

Yeah it has online play. Just confirmed in an Iwata asks.Here it is.
http://andriasang.com/e/blog/2010/12/16/last_story_iwata_asks/

I need something to help with my Monster Hunter addiction.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Sakaguchi tweets details about The Last Story
http://www.twitter.com/mistwalker

Summary:
- 30 hrs for a normal playthrough
- 12,000 lines of voice-acting
- Can play online after reaching first save point
- New online mode which is Team PvP ("team battle royal") confirmed
- Levels/weapons reflected in online group boss mode, but not battle royal modes. Looks of equipment are reflected in all modes.
- Random matches let you play against/with random people, friends matches against people you've exchanged friend codes with
- New Game+ confirmed. Game rebalanced for 2nd play-through and there are drop items that only appear after your initial playthrough.
- More info to come on the 27th, Sakaguchi asking people on twitter if they want to see cutscenes or mainly a focus on battles so as not to have the story spoiled.

[NeoStar9X]

- 12,000 lines of voice-acting

 
Maybe I'm jumping to the negative to quickly. I think unless they are going to be willing to release the game with only a Japanese track and include English text I think this just kills any chance of this being released outside of Japan.

[Mop it up]

I was about to say the same thing when I read that. I wouldn't be surprised if the voice acting was just axed all together, and the game turns out entirely text-based for the North American and UK release, should they happen.

[noname2200]

I was about to say the same thing when I read that. I wouldn't be surprised if the voice acting was just axed all together, and the game turns out entirely text-based for the North American and UK release, should they happen.

Nah, I think they're going to treat this as a much more high-profile game than the majority of their stuff, and if the price for that is a bit more localization, so be it. 

Plus, it's not like 12,000 lines of spoken dialogue is particularly outlandish nowadays.  Bethesda and Bioware both routinely hover around or even exceed that amount, and Deus Ex is about twenty times larger, so it's not like this is an insurmountable amount (...) of stuff to localize.

[Mop it up]

This is Nintendo we are talking about, whose games rarely have more than 12 lines of dialogue, much less 12,000. I'm sure this is a big deal to them. If I remember rightly, one reason that Zangeki no Reginleiv hasn't been localized is because of the large amount of voice acting in it. Of course, they did localize Metroid Other M, which had a lot of dialogue... but it also sold under expectations, which means they might consider it not worth the effort to release another voice-heavy game that probably wouldn't sell well either.

[Dirk Temporo]

Plus, it's not like 12,000 lines of spoken dialogue is particularly outlandish nowadays.  Bethesda and Bioware both routinely hover around or even exceed that amount, and Deus Ex is about twenty times larger, so it's not like this is an insurmountable amount (...) of stuff to localize.

Buh?

Mass Effect had 20k lines. The original Deus Ex had around 9k. New one probably has around 18k.

[Luigi Dude]

This is Nintendo we are talking about, whose games rarely have more than 12 lines of dialogue, much less 12,000. I'm sure this is a big deal to them. If I remember rightly, one reason that Zangeki no Reginleiv hasn't been localized is because of the large amount of voice acting in it. Of course, they did localize Metroid Other M, which had a lot of dialogue... but it also sold under expectations, which means they might consider it not worth the effort to release another voice-heavy game that probably wouldn't sell well either.

Reginleiv was also an extremely bloody game that revolved around dismembering your enemies combined with the fact it required Motion+.  Not to mention the type of game Reginleiv was is pretty niche, and so even if it wasn't as violent and required Motion+, it would still have only been appealing to a small audience.  That's why that games large amount of voice work hurt it because it was already a game that was going to be a very hard sell for NOA to market and so it wasn't a game they were willing to take a chance and risk money on a long localization.  The combination of small appeal and longer localization that sank that games chances.

The Last Story on the other hand is something that will get a T rating, can be played by all Wii owners and part of a genre that when marketed right can be very successful.  After NOA and NOE's marketing managed to make Dragon Quest IX a success, even though the previous two Dragon Quests published by Square-Enix bombed, they must be feeling pretty good about releasing RPG's at the moment since they announced they'll be publishing Dragon Quest VI now as well.

So I do think NOA will be willing to be more risky on going all the way with The Last Story since they do know the game does have a chance of being successful.

[noname2200]

Plus, it's not like 12,000 lines of spoken dialogue is particularly outlandish nowadays.  Bethesda and Bioware both routinely hover around or even exceed that amount, and Deus Ex is about twenty times larger, so it's not like this is an insurmountable amount (...) of stuff to localize.

Buh?

Mass Effect had 20k lines. The original Deus Ex had around 9k. New one probably has around 18k.

Nope, the new Deus Ex has 200k lines:  http://www.thatvideogameblog.com/2010/06/23/new-deus-ex-boasts-200000-lines-of-dialogue/

[BlackNMild2k1]

The Last Story Press COnference was today

Here is a brief summary from Adriasang from the live blog he hid earlier:

Some points of note so you won't have to read the incomprehensible text below:

-Wii is probably going to have the most amazing JRPG of the generation
-Elza's wind magic can be used not just to spread the effects of your Magic Circles, but to disperse the Magic Circles of enemies.
-The free-for-all battle mode does allow for characters other than Elza to be used.
-You can swim (that is, when you encounter water in a dungeon, you'll begin to swim -- it's unclear if there's any gameplay use for this)
-You can make all your characters strip down to their undies, a feature that Sakaguchi wanted to implement from the beginning
-Kanan's theme song is sung by a singer named Kanon
-People are scared of Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata even though he's so adorable.

http://www.andriasang.com/e/blog/2010/12/27/last_story_presentation_live_blog/


edit: more links from Andriasang:

The Last Story: The Gurugu Race and Special Attacks
http://www.andriasang.com/e/blog/2010/12/27/last_story_preview/

Strip Down to Your Undies in The Last Story (pics inside)
http://www.andriasang.com/e/blog/2010/12/27/last_story_underwear/


Edit 2: The Last Story Presentation Live (this broadcast has been pre-recorded : : : )
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/11665869


Edit: 3 Battle System Explanation (It's in Japanese)
http://www.nintendo.co.jp/wii/slsj/movie/index.html or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TE3OufOLer0

[Dirk Temporo]

Nope, the new Deus Ex has 200k lines:  http://www.thatvideogameblog.com/2010/06/23/new-deus-ex-boasts-200000-lines-of-dialogue/

You're a pretty silly person if you really believe that.

http://translate.google.pl/translate?js=n&prev=_t&hl=pl&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&sl=de&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gamesworldonline.de%2Findex.php%3Foption%3Dcom_content%26view%3Darticle%26id%3D1643%3Adeus-ex-human-revolution-deutsche-hoerprobe-veroeffentlicht%26catid%3D36%3Apc-games%26Itemid%3D5

[Stratos]

LOL, 200,000 words not lines.

[Dirk Temporo]

Yeah, it really seemed like Anfossi just messed up some english words (being a French canadian) in that first article. 200,000 is pretty much completely unbelievable, given that Mass Effect had 20,000 lines, and Mass Effect 2 had 31,000 lines. I don't think any game has really come close to 200,000 lines, and to be honest, the closest would probably be Planescape: Torment, which had 800k words but not sure how many lines.

Still twice as many words and lines as the original Deus Ex is plenty for me. There was a lot of stuff in that game.

BUT ABOUT THAT LAST STORY!

Looks pretty awesome. I'm genuinely interested in it, which is odd for me since I really don't care for JRPGs at all, but this game really looks to be breaking the mold as far as battle systems go, and honestly I'm left wondering why A. It's taken this long for something to come along and fix the problems that only exist in JRPGs because at the time they were created, the consoles they were being designed for weren't powerful enough to keep up with the RPGs that existed on PCs at the time, and computers and general weren't powerful enough to keep up with the rules for the tabletop games on which they were based, and B. Why is it on the Wii? Low development costs?

Either way, I'm incredibly interested. The game LOOKS gorgeous also. I get the feeling the graphics are going to put most of the stuff on the Wii to shame. I showed some videos to my friend who is a hardcore PS3 fanboy (he is 100% convinced that every multiplatform game looks better on PS3), and he was genuinely surprised when I told him the game was on the Wii.

[broodwars]

Last Story's looking promising, but as with the various Tales games and Xenoblade I'm not letting myself get excited over this one till someone announces that they're bringing it to North America.  If I can't actually play it, it's just wasted energy caring about it.  Hopefully, Nintendo and Mistwalker will get a clue and announce it for NA soon, especially with Zelda looking to be delayed and the Wii only having Conduit 2 and Mario Sports Mix for Q1 and Q2 of next year.

[Luigi Dude]

Looks pretty awesome. I'm genuinely interested in it, which is odd for me since I really don't care for JRPGs at all, but this game really looks to be breaking the mold as far as battle systems go, and honestly I'm left wondering why A. It's taken this long for something to come along and fix the problems that only exist in JRPGs because at the time they were created, the consoles they were being designed for weren't powerful enough to keep up with the RPGs that existed on PCs at the time, and computers and general weren't powerful enough to keep up with the rules for the tabletop games on which they were based, and B. Why is it on the Wii? Low development costs?

Because Nintendo is the publisher who has funded the entire game.  Not to mention they've also helped with the development by giving feedback and advice as well as the playtesting testing and debugging for the game as well.

[Dirk Temporo]

Well yeah, but obviously that means that Sakaguchi approached Nintendo about the project. I'm just wondering why Nintendo.

[Luigi Dude]

Well yeah, but obviously that means that Sakaguchi approached Nintendo about the project. I'm just wondering why Nintendo.

Maybe he had a bad experience working with Microsoft on Blue Dragon/Lost Odyssey and Kaz Hirai ran over his dog?