I guess people are not that interested if they have import copies of this game that they can't even bother to talk about the game even after they got it. Hint hint ejamer I like to hear your thoughts on the game!
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Oops, should've come in and posted something.
Let me start by talking about the bonus goodies with the limited edition package. Three special items are combined with the game in a nice special edition box: a soundtrack CD, an art book, and of course the steel case.
1) The CD was most appealing to me going in as I rather enjoy epic soundtracks. It's not very long - 7 tracks from the game, lasting 25 minutes - and the quality of the music isn't (in my opinion) as good as we got with Xenoblade. I've still listened to it a bunch of times and enjoy the music though.
2) Art books aren't really my thing, as I usually poke through them and kind of forget about them. The book included with this package is fairly small (about the size of a CD case) but has a nice hard cover and includes quite a few pages. There are drawings of major characters and of locations. Quality and overall content is better than the Xenoblade art book distributed here. I was impressed!
3) The steel case is very nice and immediately replaced the standard Wii case on my shelf. One odd complaint though: the game title is printed upside down on the case spine. Weird oversight...
It's worth noting that the CD soundtrack and art book come packaged together in a slipcase titles "Elements of The Last Story", with some nice cover artwork. Overall it's a sweet deal, even if none of the individual parts stand out as being extremely appealing for me. Hopefully XSeed manages to pull together some special edition content for the North American release too.
Now for general impressions. Well, it's going to be short. This game is fun. It throws you right into the action with a short battle to start off the story. Graphics so far are nicer than Xenoblade but lack the scope from that game. Gameplay is interesting, although I'm still coming to grips with the combat and find it a bit... well, it's not what I expected. The battles so far have been quite involved and definitely enjoyable. They feel more action heavy than what I'm used to though.
"Still coming to grips"..? Yep. Mostly because The Last Story hasn't gotten as much play time as I would've liked. There are several reasons for this including a busy work schedule and having a newborn in the house, but also because I simply haven't felt drawn in the same way here as I was with Xenoblade. When The Last Story was announced, it sounded great. Unfortunately the game doesn't have the same appeal to my sense of exploration and wonder that was found in Xenoblade - apparently trading a huge open world for a tighter setting and story.
I'm not saying that The Last Story is a bad game in any way. In fact it might be better than Xenoblade for some people. However, it's missing something (at least in the early going) to make me come back and explore more. It doesn't offer the same sense of excitement to just see what is over the next hill or beyond the half-hidden cave over yonder.
Anyway, take that for what it's worth. I'm still early on with The Last Story and things might improve dramatically. Even if they don't it seems like a great game worth playing and better than many of the games I've already enjoyed this generation. It's almost a shame that this release is standing in the shadow of a monolithic game like Xenoblade.
Topic: Mistwalker's "The Last Story" out in NA via XSEED! (Read 215247 times)
