The Last Remnant was first released ten years ago as an Xbox 360 exclusive, but was also previously (though no longer) available on Steam. I remember hearing about it, but not being a big JRPG fan I never played it. Having heard it was remastered on the Unreal4 engine and available for the PS4, I decided to give it a go. I believe this version is based off of the Steam version, but I’m not entirely sure. Anyhow, other than the graphical overhaul, which is significant, and the ability to speed up turns during battles (a smart, considerate feature), The Last Remnant (TLR) remains unchanged. Priced at just $20, it presents a pretty interesting to fans of Square Enix JRPGs.
The Last Remnant’s story is unfortunately a loosely put together, difficult-to-follow tale with a pretty strong sense of familiarity. Players take the role of Rush Sykes, a young man who is trying to find his sister and seems very innocent and so forth, but right from the opening cutscene and mission we see he’s being pulled into a growing war. Many centuries before, entities known as Remnants created the land, but good and evil, prosperity and corruption, were born out of these Remnants and there is now a power struggle between those that can control Remnants and those that can’t. It remains a tough story to get invested in, between the characters and the details being only of lukewarm interest at best and there being a lot of details, terminology, and lore that aren’t explained very well.
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With a so-so story, the gameplay of TLR would hopefully compensate. The majority of gameplay is made up of battles, and you’re probably going to really like the battle system or you won’t. It’s turn-based, but different than most JRPGs I have played (and I’m not an expert by any means). Typically you have a party of characters, two to six members deep, and you execute actions for each character on your turn, be it using an inventory item, attacking, moving, defending, what have you. Similar ideas remain in TLR, though unions are controlled with single commands instead of individual units. Unions are basically their own parties, or squads, and actions are pretty generic, such as defending or using physical attacks. A really helpful video was just released by Square that intros the terms and mechanics of the basics of the battle system. Each union is made-up of different characters that you have encountered in the story, maybe picked up on a side quest, etc.
Unions can be placed in different formations and managing this with the mini-map is key so that your unions don’t get flanked. When a union engages the enemy, they enter a Deadlock state where one side must fall (be Terminated) before the Deadlock ends. If you take your union’s focus away from a Deadlock, by switching your target to another enemy union, you’re dealt a massive blow. Being Flanked by the enemy can happen during a Deadlock with another enemy union approaching you from an exposed angle. Interceptions and Interference are also mechanics of battle, and these happen when the enemy sends another union at you while you’re intending to attack a different union, and vice versa. The blue and red bar at the top of the screen gives you not only an indication of how you’re doing in the overall battle between all unions, but the more blue it is the more damage you deal and the less you take, and vice versa.
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Battles can be pretty tedious, but if you’re into turn-based tactics, squad-building and formation-managing, there is a lot to sink into here. It’s familiar enough to typical JRPGs to not be totally foreign, but different enough to offer a fresh way of doing battles. Overall, I found the battle system somewhat enjoyable and engaging, but often I was put off by it and frustrated with encounters that felt too much up to chance. Repeating battles, even if checkpoints were right nearby, became tedious and increasingly undesirable. As with the story, there seemed to be a lot of loose or unexplained ideas to the battle system, nuances, that the player was just left to figure out themselves. This can be a plus when done right, but in the process, expect some headaches. That said, as battles get bigger and the turns get well into the double digits, it’s nice that Square implemented a time-saving feature that lets you speed through turns in order to make more efficient use of your personal time.
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Regarding the presentation, TLR runs smoothly and looks very good, for its age and having been remastered. It’s clear that it’s not a new game, but that it’s a remaster of a ten year old title, but nevertheless, it looks, sounds, and plays well. The more important question, as always, remains if the the story and gameplay are to your liking or not. To that end, I’m more on the reserved side of the equation, finding some value in both elements, but not enough to give this remaster a strong recommendation.
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