Import Review: The Last Story (Wii)

'The Last Story' is the latest RPG from MistWalker Studios, which also brought us 'Lost Odyssey' for the 360. Its founder is the 'father of Final Fantasy', Hironobu Sakaguchi, so it's hardly lacking in pedigree. It's exclusively for the Wii console, and as of writing this, exclusive to Japan. Operation Rainfall, a massive online campaign to bring 'The Last Story', 'Pandora's Tower' and 'Xenoblade' to the States, is trying to change that, but whether or not they will have any success remains to be seen.

The game immediately throws you into the thick of things, starting you off with a stage that serves as both the basic introduction of the story and a tutorial. You play as Elza, a young man who is part of a mercenary squad, battling through an island infested with lizard-men and re-animated skeletons in hopes of finding artifacts and riches in the crypts there. During the course of this tutorial level, you and your group fall into a skeleton ambush attack. Your female companion is killed in the battle that follows, and in his rage and grief, with images of his brutally slaughtered mother filling his head, Elza raises his head and screams. What he didn't count on, however, was an answer. A presence, a spirit of some kind, residing in the crystal walls of the cave they find themselves trapped in, tells Elza that she's been waiting for a heart like his, filled with loneliness and grief, and that she will give him the power to protect what's important to him. Elza then receives that power, represented by some sort of glowing arm tattoo, and immediately uses it to resurrect his friend and kill the remaining skeletons single-handedly. Thus ends your tutorial, and your adventure begins.

The world is interesting, as mercenaries are looked down upon as some sort of second-class citizens, which provides an interesting dynamic. Random villagers you meet later on will openly heckle you, or recoil in disgust, when they find out what you are. As the world seems to be prejudiced against you, that makes the relationship between Elza and the other members in your mercenary group that much more important. When you are at inns or other bases, you can have various conversations with the other mercenaries, with even the occasional opportunity to choose between two different answers, which effect how they respond to you later on. Not that deeply, however, as the conversations are still rather linear and straight-forward, and are no where near the level of 'Dragon Age: Origins' or even the 'Mass Effect' conversation wheel in terms of depth and consequences.

The character design is quite nice, but it is a little typical Japanese RPG looking, and definitely shows the 'Final Fantasy' influence from Sakaguchi being at the helm. What's neat about the characters, though, is that you can change the colors of each individual piece of clothing on whoever is currently in your party, making it that much more personal to your individual tastes. The monster design is good as well, but the bosses are what really stand out.  There wasn't a single boss that didn't make me say 'whoa....that's pretty cool....' as soon as it revealed itself.

The most interesting aspect of this game to me, though, is the combat system. It's not your traditional RPG turn-based combat battle game at all. You only control Elza, while the other three members of your party are computer controlled, at least during the single-player campaign. Their AI is surprisingly well-behaved, and actually (gasp!) helpful at times, which is a nice change from what one usually sees. It's especially impressive since 'The Last Story' is not a turn-based RPG, but an action one. You, as Elza, and the rest of your party are free to roam around the area, attacking swarms of enemies that are also quite active in their movements. Slabs of rock laying around the map can be jumped over, and even used as cover from enemy attacks. Little arrows of light (think Final Fantasy XII's combat system for the closest example) point out from your party members to show which enemy they are currently focused on, and vice versa; the arrows also show which enemies are focused on attacking your characters, especially useful when they decide to all gang up on your mage. The arrows are very helpful in the chaos that can sometimes ensue during battle, but they somehow manage to remain unobtrusive, so don't concern yourself about that.

You control Elza's movement with the Nunchuck's control stick, and his basic sword attacks are carried out automatically when you are close enough to an enemy. Special and ranged attacks are not automatic, but have to be brought up by pressing their corresponding buttons, with ranged being controllable either with the Wiimote's motion control, or with the Nunchuck's control stick. You can also choose to play the game with a classic controller, if the Wiimote isn't your thing. Special attacks and movements are unlocked as you level up, such as the slash ability, where you can crouch behind a fallen slab of rock or other cover, and run out and slash your sword across the mid-section of any unfortunate enemy that happens to wander by.

You also have the ability to occasionally order your other party members to perform special actions to help you out during combat. My personal favorite was when I ordered the mage in my party to blow up a near-by stone bridge covered with archers, after which I laid down suppressing arrow fire to keep him protected while he charged up his spell. The bridge blew up quite well, and showered the enemies I was fighting with broken rock, killing them too. Elza also has his weird little magic tattoo ability, which when activated makes him do more attack damage, and allows him to revive dead players, like some sort of walking Phoenix Down. Sound cool? You have no idea. The game is incredibly fun, and what's even better is that it can be played co-op over the internet (it can not be played co-op offline on a single console, which is a shame). Even though the AI is wonderful, from how the characters interact and work together in battle, I imagine playing online with friends would be even better.

It will be a downright shame if this game doesn't make its way to the States at some point. While I admit I initially picked the game up just to try it out and write about it, I found myself continuing to play it, even with my busy schedule, just because I enjoyed it so much.The story, while perhaps a little cookie-cutter Japanese RPG, is interesting, the characters are funny and engaging, and the combat is unique and just plain fun. There is a shortage of good third party games on the Wii as it is, and an even larger shortage of good RPGs on the system. As the Wii U is also supposed to support original Wii games, Nintendo still has time to make a lot of fans happy with this amazing game. Just last week, it was announced that 'The Last Story' will be released in Europe sometime in 2012, but there is still no word on any love for North America. I wish Operation Rainfall every success with their efforts, and hope that they are eventually rewarded with an English version of 'The Last Story' that everyone in the US can enjoy.

Submitted by: Sherrie Blackwell

Retro Review: Mischief Makers (N64)

Way back before Enix and Square merged, they were individual companies that produced much more than just RPGs. In 1997, Enix created a game for the Nintendo 64 called Mischief Makers, a quirky little platformer that can easily contend with the likes of Mario and Donkey Kong in terms of fun and playability.

It's a fun little story that tells of the adventures of a robotic maid named Marina, and her quest to save her creator Professor Theo from the evil clutches of his twin brother. She travels to the planet Clancer to rescue him, and on her way battles and hijinks ensue. The story itself is a little cliche by today's standards, since it's just a basic save the damsel in distress game (except in this case it's a man, so that's new!). However, the story isnt why people play these types of games; it's all about the gameplay, and that's where Mischief Makers really shines.

The game mostly plays like a standard platformer, with a few key differences. First, you have a boost that you can use to propel yourself over large gaps, or to just simply move faster (there is even a race you can compete in!). Secondly, you have no offensive abilities: the only thing you can do is grab and throw. This plays a key role in what makes this game great. Using your grab and throw techniques is the only way to beat bosses and solve puzzles. It's very similar to the way that Super Mario 2 worked, where you can throw enemies into each other. It's not just little enemies you can grab though, you can grab the local people, energy blasts coming at you, and even larger enemies' fists and throw them back in their face! The way this mechanic is implemented is fun and intuitive, and very unique in its design. It's not all just fighting though; in between all the action are puzzles. The levels aren't just a direct path from point A to point B, you have to figure out how to get there through the platforming. It's an absolute blast.

This game is very unique and fun to play, as well as challenging. In order to get 100% completion you must find a gold crystal in every level; if you do so you are treated to a special ending that shows what Marina would look like if she were human, and the style varies depending on what age you put in at the beginning of the game. It's a nice little treat for the completionists out there. So what are you waiting for?! If you aren't one of the lucky few who have already discovered Mischief Makers, then hurry up and get back to the roots of gaming with this hidden gem!!

Submitted by: Tom Ferko (Employee)

Retro Review: Earthbound (SNES)

Earthbound (known as Mother 2 in Japan) is the second game in the Mother series, and the only one of the three to get released in North America. Released on the SNES, Earthbound is not like any RPG released at the time. Straying away from the classic fantasy-story type world, the player is instead immersed into a world closely resembling our own. Using many pop culture references, Earthbound's world is really more of a satire of our own pop culture, bringing a great comical element to the game. You will be running into a mock Blue's Brothers group called the Runaway Five and a man who I believe makes fun of Donald Trump. You'll end up fighting a video arcade gang called the Sharks, disgruntled moles, angry cars, smelly hippies, blue cult members, a steamy pile of sewage waste called Barf, and various other cooky enemies.

Earthbound places you in the role of Ness, a 13 year old boy whose extraordinary psychic abilities have yet to be unlocked. After a large meteorite crashes in his hometown, Ness is bugged by his not so nice neighbor, Porky, to go and check out the site. There, Ness meets an alien named Buzz Buzz, who tells him about an all powerful alien named Giygas who takes control of the universe in the far future. Ness is then tasked with finding the eight sanctuary points located throughout the world so as to unite his powers with the Earth, in order to beat Giygas within our own time. He is also told that he will not be alone on this quest, and that there are three other chosen ones, Paula, Jeff and Poo, that he must seek out to assist him. Thus begins Ness' adventure through one of the most comical and engaging story lines the SNES has to offer.

The battle system is a lot like the old Dragon Quests, where only the monsters show up on the screen and your status and commands are at the bottom. Each character has their own specific types of moves; Ness has PK abilities, Paula healing, Jeff has gadgets and Poo uses martial arts. The weapons you will use in these battles range from baseball bats and Yo-Yo's to bottle rockets and frying pans. The battle system is in old school JRPG style, with characters and monsters each taking turns based upon whose speed is the highest. It's a simple yet fun battle system, and believe me you'll remember the trippy psychedelic backgrounds that each battle has. The enemy designs are also very creative and funny; you'll laugh pretty hard at some of the enemies you will battle.

The storyline isn't as epic as a Final Fantasy, but it has its own charms that make it appealing throughout your time with it. You may find some slight translation errors throughout the game, and there's even a joke within the game that makes fun of that problem. There are also times throughout the game where you may get completely lost; old school RPGs tend not to be too keen on explicitly telling you where to go next. Honestly though, it's hard for me to find many flaws with this game because I enjoyed playing every second of it, and there really aren't that many anyways.

All in all, there is a reason why Earthbound is considered one of the great RPG's right up there with Chrono Trigger, and why so many collectors want to get a hold of this game. If you are a fan of old school RPG's and you have never played Earthbound, I urge that you play it if you have the chance. I can guarantee it will become one of your favorites, just like it is for me.

Submitted By: Jason Hald (Employee)