1UP Previews The Last Story

It would seem XSEED has been sharing its upcoming game lineup with the press, with The Last Story seeing some new previews popping up over the web. 1UP’s Bob Mackey delivers a rather nice report on the game; here’s some choice quotes:

From its very beginning, The Last Story doesn’t stall with any downtime; while many console RPGs start off with an extremely slow burn, this one drops you into the action in medias res a la Final Fantasy VII — and the few tutorials present are brief, and shockingly optional. If you’ve played Final Fantasy XII, The Last Story’s battle system should seem familiar, if a bit less fussy. The game places an emphasis on your main character, who’s typically tasked with drawing the attention of enemies looking to dig into your squishier partners — which don’t require much babysitting. Since you don’t really have to concern yourself with fine-tuning party AI, The Last Story plays very much like an action game that happens to feature numbers flying off of your damaged foes — and unlike Final Fantasy XII, you can turn off auto-battle and use the A button to strike, giving the game a degree of player interaction that feels much more satisfying than its default mode.

After a handful of minutes in the starting area, though, Mistwalker adds a twist to this extremely straightforward system: Gathering Mode. With a single tap of the C button, your main character attracts the attention of every enemy, gains HP for every successful attack, boosts the speed of surrounding mages, and gives a temporary stat boost to any party member he revives via touch. Since there’s no limit to how long you can stay in this state, the tougher battles require a careful use of Gathering, and demand a healthy balance between taking hits for the team, and making sure you dish out enough damage to make up for the amount of enemy attacks coming your way. One particularly interesting set piece involved attracting the attention of enemy snipers long enough for your spellcasters to destroy their distant perches. Though I didn’t have a chance to play far beyond this point, The Last Story’s battle system could continue to shine if the game continues to stress this strategic use of Gathering mode.

IGN Interviews Director of Publishing Ken Berry of XSEED about The Last Story’s American Acquisition

I’m running out of fresh material to highlight TLS posts with. XD

*cough* Anyway, IGN sat down with Ken Berry, the Director of Publishing at XSEED Games, about their picking up The Last Story for North America.  It’s pretty insightful on how XSEED netted the game, as well as discussing other key questions about the release, like a special edition (working on doing something, but can’t confirm it yet), Nintendo’s involvement in marketing, the print run size and other details.  Worth a look.  Here’s a couple samples from the interview:

IGN: Can you give us a little insight into how XSEED became the publisher for The Last Story? Was this an opportunity Nintendo presented you with? Was this something you sought out?

Berry: This was something that we sought out from our side. The Last Story had all the qualities we look for when determining a title to pursue based on the quality of the game and its marketability in the North American market, so we asked Nintendo about the possibility and they were receptive to our initial inquiry.

IGN: The Last Story has been complete for well over a year, and it has just arrived in Europe. Will the North American version of the title be exactly the same as the European version? Are you making any localization adjustments or changes?

Berry: The plan is to offer the same consistent product across all territories, so the North American version will essentially be identical to English versions released in other areas.

IGN: Do you plan to release the game to all major retailers, or will you be pursuing very specific partnerships for distribution?

Berry: We are offering the title to any retailer that wishes to stock it. The distribution will not be restricted from our side.

IGN: Is there anything else you’d like to add about bringing The Last Story to North America?

Berry: Just that our whole team here is very excited to be working on this title together with the fantastic people at Mistwalker and Nintendo, and we’ve been overwhelmed and moved by the great fan support so far since first announcing the title.

And again, thanks to you XSEED for making this happen.

Imagery Updates – Too many to list here. XD

There’s been a plethora of “stealth” update to the Imagery over the last couple of weeks.  I’ve been too busy to detail them all until now, but here’s an attempt to remember:

Kid Icarus Uprising – Two pics, one of a boss (Thanatos, I think) and the Reaper enemy.

Persona 4 – Two more promotional pieces from the Golden Vita update.

The Last Story – A great sketch of Zael and Calista (Elza and Kanan).

Misc. Imagery Page 1 – New stuff added to Gravity Rush.

Misc. Imagery Page 2 - Bravely Default has some additional art.

Misc. Imagery Page 3 - Lots to add here.  Tales of Graces and Code of Princess have some new stuff…

Plus there’s five new games spotlighted: Mystic Ark, Ogre Battle: March of the Black Queen, Psychonauts, A Boy and his Blob and Okami!

Enjoy all of the new additions to the LVLs. Imagery!

CVG interviews Hironobu Sakaguchi

CVG sat down with The Last Story director Hironobu Sakaguchi to discuss the creation of the game, working with Nintendo in comparison to Square-Enix, and how it feels to be back in the director’s chair.  I haven’t fully read it myself, but hey, insights on this game and Sakaguchi’s thoughts are worth sharing, methinks.

Nester’s RPG Reflections, Part V: …Dear Friends, Once More

Here is the fifth and final part of my RPG Reflections series, taking us right up to the present. Maybe I never really left RPGs entirely, but perhaps I just needed some time away from them.

And yet, I still maintained a peripheral interest in them. I enjoyed reading about them and hearing other people talk about them. Perhaps I was simply looking for some evidence that the genre was moving forward. I also occasionally dabbled in sub-genres, especially action-RPGs. I became a fan of the Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles series, and I took sporadic interest in strategy RPGs, such as Fire Emblem. Clearly, I had not entirely turned my back on RPGs if I was looking for excuses to stay interested.

Check out the full article at my blog: RPG Reflections, Part V: …Dear Friends, Once More

Iwata Asks continues its The Last Story Interview translations for Europe!

Nintendo of Europe has translated another segment of the interview session with Mistwalker staff, this time with Hironobu Sakaguchi and Takuya Matsumoto, to discuss the gameplay of The Last Story.  I don’t know if XSEED is going to be able to reproduce these for the American localization effort, so this may be the best way of discovering the origins of this game in English!

Wildcat’s Art Sunday – The Last Story Fanart

Click to see the full size:

I think this is pretty self-explanatory – I had a lot of fun drawing this.  With all this school stuff entering my life, my art has definitely taken a back seat, so it’s great to find some time to do some art.   Thanks again, XSEED and Nintendo!

Hironobu Sakaguchi’s The Last Story Trailer for Today’s Launch!

While in Paris promoting The Last Story, director Hironobu Sakaguchi wanted to make his own trailer for the game’s launch (which is today!) in Europe, which is a lovely piece of film work that shows off a lot of the new dialogue, the battle engine and some key plot points.  I am so psyched for you Europeans who get to experience it today.  I hope you enjoy it!

I’ll keep you up to date with XSEED’s American release plans as soon as they’re known.

The Last Story is coming to America! WOOOOOOOOOOO! Update – This Summer!

Nintendo Direct happened last night, and I was secretly hoping that somehow, someway, The Last Story would at least be teased to be coming to North America.  Well, I got more than I anticipated – XSEED is localizing The Last Story for North America, according to Siliconera, and we’ll be seeing it later this year.

XSEED, you are freaking awesome, and I love you.  I will be pre-ordering this as soon as I can.  Thank you so much.

Update – XSEED has confirmed the game will arrive in America sometime this summer.  Director Hironobu Sakaguchi has this to say:

“I am very happy to be able to confirm that The Last Story will be released in North America. XSEED Games has a reputation for bringing high-quality JRPGs to America, and I’m sure they will do a great job with this release too.”

That makes it sound that XSEED will not be utilizing Nintendo of Europe’s dub work and will be doing their own, but I’ll let you know once I find out.

Update 2 – XSEED has stated that they will be using Nintendo of Europe’s localization after all.

“There will be no translation specific to the North American version as it will be comparable to the in-game English text of other territories.”

Source.

Update 3 – XSEED’s press release:

XSEED Games Announces The Last Story Exclusively for Wii

Highly Anticipated Wii-exclusive Action RPG to be Released for the North American Market

Torrance, Calif., (February 22, 2012) – XSEED Games, an independent-minded publisher, today announced a partnership with Nintendo that will bring The Last Story™ to North America, exclusively for Wii™. Developed by legendary creator Hironobu Sakaguchi, and his studio, MISTWALKER, in conjunction with Nintendo, The Last Story has players taking charge of a band of mercenaries and journeying with them into a sprawling cinematic adventure. The agreement with Nintendo grants XSEED Games exclusive publishing rights to The Last Story in North America when the game ships this summer.

“I am very happy to be able to confirm that The Last Story will be released in North America,” stated Hironobu Sakaguchi, CEO of MISTWALKER. “XSEED Games has a reputation for bringing high-quality JRPGs to America, and I’m sure they will do a great job with this release too.”

Jun Iwasaki, President of XSEED Games, shared Mr. Sakaguchi’s sentiments. “I am excited to have the opportunity to work on such a unique and ground-breaking RPG. I’m sure that North American gamers will love this title.”

The Last Story follows Zael and his band of fellow adventurers as they go to Lazulis Island, the only region prospering as the mainland of the Empire slowly rots away, in search of work and a better future. After securing employment with the ruler of the island, Count Arganan, Zael dreams of finally achieving a secure life as a knight and putting his unstable mercenary past behind him, but things don’t exactly go to plan when events during their first mission change his life forever…

The Last Story was developed by Nintendo and MISTWALKER, exclusively for Wii. The game will be published by XSEED Games in North America in Summer 2012. XSEED Games will release more product updates in the coming months.

©2011-2012 Nintendo / MISTWALKER. Published by XSEED Games.

Wii and The Last Story are trademarks of Nintendo.

Source.

Trailer Tuesdays – Fantasy Edition

The Last Story (Mistwalker, Nintendo)

With The Last Story launching in PAL territories this week, it’s a good time to check out a trailer for Hinonobu Sakaguchi’s latest epic. This trailer shows off some of the game’s unique mechanics, particularly the combat.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (MGM/WingNut Films, New Line Cinema)

The precursor to The Lord of the Rings trilogy is also on its way to the big screen, and itself will be split into two parts. Based on the novel by J.R.R. Tolkien and directed by Peter Jackson, The Hobbit will hit theaters this December.