THE BORE

General => Video Game Bored => Topic started by: TVC15 on November 21, 2008, 06:35:41 AM

Title: Brief The Last Remnant impressions
Post by: TVC15 on November 21, 2008, 06:35:41 AM
I only squeezed in a bit past the opening sequence, but so far, what I see is promising.

The battle system seems pretty neat, and although I have only had a limited number of encounters, it seems pretty strategic.

Graphics are pretty good.  A bit better than LO and overall (I think) a bit worse than IU.  There is bad slowdown in the special intro battle, but there are a lot of units on screen, and the slowdown seemed to persist for only a bit, as if it was loading all of its assets or something.  Either way, don't let the perf in the opening battle taint your first impression of the graphics.  Generally speaking they are pretty good.  This is a UE3 game, so there is ME- and GoW-style texture fade in and some lod issues.

Voice acting so far is pretty great.  So's the music.

If it maintains this quality level, it will be a good, different JRPG.
Title: Re: Brief The Last Remnant impressions
Post by: maxy on November 21, 2008, 06:42:21 AM
Will post my impressions later,been playing it couple of days now. :)
Title: Re: Brief The Last Remnant impressions
Post by: TVC15 on November 21, 2008, 06:49:57 AM
Quote from: Jinfash on November 21, 2008, 06:45:42 AM
Sounds good.

Do you think people will be hard on it as much as they were on IU?

No, so far this actually appears to be a good game.
Title: Re: Brief The Last Remnant impressions
Post by: demi on November 21, 2008, 06:54:43 AM
A well-known secret among the community...

spoiler (click to show/hide)
All next-gen JRPGs have been good
[close]

spoiler (click to show/hide)
* Except Eternal Sonata
[close]
Title: Re: Brief The Last Remnant impressions
Post by: dark1x on November 21, 2008, 07:51:59 AM
Quote from: Jinfash on November 21, 2008, 07:22:07 AM
Quote from: demi on November 21, 2008, 06:54:43 AM
A well-known secret among the community...

spoiler (click to show/hide)
All next-gen JRPGs have been good
[close]

spoiler (click to show/hide)
* Except Eternal Sonata
[close]

:lol poor PS3 owners.
At least PS3 owners got one of the very best (Valkyria Chronicles).  It's one of the more original JRPGs available today and of great quality.
Title: Re: Brief The Last Remnant impressions
Post by: demi on November 21, 2008, 08:04:09 AM
That makes a world of difference, for sure
Title: Re: Brief The Last Remnant impressions
Post by: WrikaWrek on November 21, 2008, 08:51:32 AM
When you are 20 hours in, please share your impressions on the story  :P
Title: Re: Brief The Last Remnant impressions
Post by: tiesto on November 21, 2008, 09:02:50 AM
Quote from: demi on November 21, 2008, 06:54:43 AM
A well-known secret among the community...

spoiler (click to show/hide)
All next-gen JRPGs have been good
[close]

spoiler (click to show/hide)
* Except Eternal Sonata
[close]

Agreed, but with the caveat that IU is definitely not for everybody, and that I have yet to play Enchanted Arms...
Title: Re: Brief The Last Remnant impressions
Post by: The Sceneman on November 21, 2008, 09:06:35 AM
Quote from: Borys on November 21, 2008, 06:48:55 AM
When is the PC release GOD DAMN IT.

I want to play my first next-gen jRPG :punch :punch

its not too hard to buy a 360
Title: Re: Brief The Last Remnant impressions
Post by: demi on November 21, 2008, 09:16:08 AM
Your wife dont want you to waste money? lol

P-Dubbed
Title: Re: Brief The Last Remnant impressions
Post by: MCD on November 21, 2008, 09:32:56 AM
I think i read over at gaf that you can save anywhere like Enchanted Arms.

:rock
Title: Re: Brief The Last Remnant impressions
Post by: Don Flamenco on November 21, 2008, 09:34:50 AM
cool, good to finally hear something about this game.

is there any exploration or is it just huge battles?
Title: Re: Brief The Last Remnant impressions
Post by: cool breeze on November 21, 2008, 09:37:21 AM
It's good to hear that it's actually good.  I still think it looks pretty shitty, but then again I thought IU looked pretty good.  Just basing it on videos isn't the best idea.
Title: Re: Brief The Last Remnant impressions
Post by: Don Flamenco on November 21, 2008, 09:40:19 AM
gonna wait for some fuller impressions before I decide if it sounds good...then again, I barely know the first thing about the game.  I've only seen in-battle shots :lol
Title: Re: Brief The Last Remnant impressions
Post by: maxy on November 21, 2008, 11:39:17 AM
My humble impressions,game is installed

Graphics:good,iq is great it seems that they have some sort of selective aa going on,very little "jaggies".Shadowing,self-shadowing is great.
Pop-up is present,slowdown during combat also,but i got used to that very quickly,minor problems for me.

Slowdown during combat is especially useful for getting QTEs right,QTEs are very similar to Lost Odyssey ring system,buttons used are x,y,b,a and rt.But if you want you can "disable" them,auto or manual setting.
If you put on auto the only thing that you will see is "perfect" or "miss".

Cities are divided into very small areas like "merchant street","city square",..etc.When you reach end of an area,you go back to the city map,so there is not to much to explore in the cities.

Fields on the other hand are huge for you to explore.
Framerate in cities and fields is great,no slowdown at all.

The best thing about this game is definitely the combat,people that like turn based systems are going to be pleased.You have unions,each union is basically like one "character" in combat.Each union consists of multiple characters,hp of the union is the combined hp of its characters,etc...

Battles can be very big and long,depending on the enemy count and strength.If you engage more enemies,the bigger the reward will be if you win.You can also capture monsters in battle,to sell them later or split them for parts,you can make your own equipment or upgrade things that you have,..etc

Story,my verdict is decent so far(15 hour in).

And yes you can save anywhere.

Title: Re: Brief The Last Remnant impressions
Post by: demi on November 21, 2008, 11:41:45 AM
Nice, if I werent involved with finishing Banjo I would get this today. I might set it to Auto if it just randomizes whether you hit or miss the QTEs.
Title: Re: Brief The Last Remnant impressions
Post by: CHOW CHOW on November 21, 2008, 11:53:11 AM
its only 39.99 retail,  probably worth a gamble
Title: Re: Brief The Last Remnant impressions
Post by: Don Flamenco on November 21, 2008, 11:57:30 AM
Sounds pretty good Maxy.  got so much to play that'll hold out for the PC version...
Title: Re: Brief The Last Remnant impressions
Post by: G The Resurrected on November 21, 2008, 11:59:23 AM
Game shipped from Amazon yesterday, hopefully I'll get some time with it next week during vacation. Other than that these impressions make me hopeful. Now if only I can get rid of UI from my memory, girlfriend bought the regular edition last month and she just got the special edition from amazon today.  :'(

Ui is shit.
Title: Re: Brief The Last Remnant impressions
Post by: Jansen on November 21, 2008, 12:32:17 PM
Quote from: CHOW CHOW on November 21, 2008, 11:53:11 AM
its only 39.99 retail,  probably worth a gamble

that was just a deal amazon briefly had for the game (which i jumped on).

speaking of amazon those bastards still haven't shipped my copy of the game. not a big tho as i'm balls deep into fallout 3 right now.
Title: Re: Brief The Last Remnant impressions
Post by: Van Cruncheon on November 21, 2008, 03:03:07 PM
picked this up. so far, looks good!
Title: Re: Brief The Last Remnant impressions
Post by: Van Cruncheon on November 22, 2008, 12:13:49 AM
this game is surprisingly awesome. is kawazu beind it? battles feel like a streamlined mix of romancing saga ps2 and a turn-based take on vp2. heck, it feels like romancing saga all around. va work is great. only real downside is the frame rate. thumbs up!
Title: Re: Brief The Last Remnant impressions
Post by: cool breeze on November 22, 2008, 12:18:00 AM
I might buy this, maybe

is this another 80 hour RPG?
Title: Re: Brief The Last Remnant impressions
Post by: Van Cruncheon on November 22, 2008, 12:37:38 AM
40-60, i am told
Title: Re: Brief The Last Remnant impressions
Post by: tiesto on November 22, 2008, 12:56:35 AM
Quote from: Professor Prole on November 22, 2008, 12:13:49 AM
this game is surprisingly awesome. is kawazu beind it? battles feel like a streamlined mix of romancing saga ps2 and a turn-based take on vp2. heck, it feels like romancing saga all around. va work is great. only real downside is the frame rate. thumbs up!

Yup, Kawazu's the executive producer, and I think many of the people who worked on Minstrel Song worked on this one too... Where's recursively, he'll be able to tell you every person on the dev team and what other projects they've worked on?
Title: Re: Brief The Last Remnant impressions
Post by: MrAngryFace on November 22, 2008, 01:13:35 AM
VP2 is actually turn-based, when you stop moving you stop consuming 'turns' ;) haw de haw haw I made a VP2 joke. Seriously tho, thats how it wurks. If you split the party up then you really do have turns!
Title: Re: Brief The Last Remnant impressions
Post by: TVC15 on November 22, 2008, 01:43:37 AM
This seems to be getting low reviews (like 6s and 7s).  I'm wondering if it takes a nosedive at some point or if nerbos can't handle slowdown in their RPGs (where slowdown isn't really that important).  I just got to the point where I can make my own unions and I am digging this so far.  Can anyone think of another game like this?

I just wish there was a bit more (optional) granular control over what abilities characters use in battles.  It so far hasn't really been an issue, but there's been a few instances where I've been pissed that the computer has a character do a regular attack instead of a combat art.
Title: Re: Brief The Last Remnant impressions
Post by: y2kev on November 22, 2008, 01:45:13 AM
TVC: Any SaGa game. This is basically next-gen Romancing Saga.

...which is why it's getting 6s and 7s. The media does not like SaGa really. Add in some glitches and technical issues and you're good to go.
Title: Re: Brief The Last Remnant impressions
Post by: TVC15 on November 22, 2008, 01:50:39 AM
Yeah, but this has a tactical component that changes things up significantly.  Really, I wouldn't have even thought this was done by SaGa people if I hadn't been told so.
Title: Re: Brief The Last Remnant impressions
Post by: demi on November 22, 2008, 11:13:01 AM
Who cares, game rox
Title: Re: Brief The Last Remnant impressions
Post by: Van Cruncheon on November 22, 2008, 11:22:55 AM
it's a flawed game, no doubt. but it's flaws aren't the incompetent sins of infinite undiscovery, thank god -- they're the "flaws" of one of the good saga games (or one of gotanda's better games) in that mechanics and challenge take precedence over story and characters, and that the world is just a playground for these mechanics. it's a legitimately good game. if you need to compare it to something, think of a large-scale saga game with more intuitive design and more story -- and with some real frame-rate issues, which is my only major complaint.
Title: Re: Brief The Last Remnant impressions
Post by: WrikaWrek on November 22, 2008, 11:29:55 AM
Any more info on the story? Is it interesting latter in? Does it have epic moments, cool characters, etc
Title: Re: Brief The Last Remnant impressions
Post by: demi on November 22, 2008, 11:32:53 AM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpR86ef3sxY

Best music ever? This game just screams epic. Epic. My Amazon copy shipped today.

QTEs omg
Title: Re: Brief The Last Remnant impressions
Post by: tiesto on November 22, 2008, 12:08:09 PM
Based on the impressions, aside from the slowdown and framerate drops, this game sounds excellent...
Title: Re: Brief The Last Remnant impressions
Post by: Beezy on November 22, 2008, 01:12:53 PM
Now that the game is out, can someone please explain how the battle system works?
Title: Re: Brief The Last Remnant impressions
Post by: Van Cruncheon on November 22, 2008, 01:23:10 PM
quickly: instead of characters, you have units. a "unit" can have up to five characters, and the "hp" of the unit is the total hp of the characters in the unit. you usually have a combo of story characters and generic soldier types (there's a pretty healthy variety) to combine into a unit. you can also have up to five units as the story progresses, so you'll be playing with around 25 characters. battles are turn based.

when a turn starts (in the traditional style), you pick an attack type for the each unit -- charge attack, combat art attack, mystic art attack, heal, support, backup attack, defense, etc -- and a target enemy unit. typically, this causes a "deadlock" which pins the enemy unit (and your select unit unit) into fighting each other across turns until one prevails. other units that attack the enemy can flank or back attack, depending on their position, so it's good to use the camera before the turn starts to get an idea of where everyone is positioned. the enemy, of course, will do the same to you. flank and rear attacks get bonuses and have less chance of successful retailiation.

even better (or worse, if you're on the receiving end) are intercepts/interference, which occur when a unit set to attack an enemy moves faster than the incoming enemy (based on the aggregate speed stat of the unit) and intercepts them as the enemy move towards another target -- it's a round of free attacks. also awesome are "raidlocks", which are "ranged" attacks that come from a backline, meaning that based on position the attackers have a deadlocked friendly unit between them and the enemy, and which also means free attacks on the enemy.

obviously, knowing a) the position of your units (it's not obvious if you don't pan around/out a bit), and b) the SPD of your units relative to each other and guessing against the enemy units' SPD, is the critical part of fighting. after that, it's the usual simply combat vs. mystic and elemental matchups. it's not terribly complex, but it is pretty deep in execution, and really accessible. there's some button timing qte shiz that's pretty easy and isn't terribly punishing if you miss. i really think it's kawazu and crew's most accessible formula deviation yet, especially since they've wrapped it up in a pretty familiar final fantasy-esque package.
Title: Re: Brief The Last Remnant impressions
Post by: Van Cruncheon on November 22, 2008, 01:25:16 PM
i should also add that formations play a big role in how battles start -- forcing the enemy to charge the back ranks in a formation means they will get intercepted/raidlocked to death if you decide not to charge yourself. there's a LOT of different formations, and boss fights typically require you to choose your formation wisely versus theirs.
Title: Re: Brief The Last Remnant impressions
Post by: Van Cruncheon on November 22, 2008, 01:27:16 PM
oh, and lastly, you can save anywhere, except in battle, which makes those OH GOD WHY DID I PICK AN ARROW OF ATHRUM FORMATION I AM A DUMB or WHY DID I PUT ALL MY MAGES IN ONE UNIT LOL LOL LOL CRY moments less painful, because while the battles are often long, a bad formation pick usually ends it quickly. :(
Title: Re: Brief The Last Remnant impressions
Post by: recursivelyenumerable on November 22, 2008, 07:08:11 PM
Quote
Yup, Kawazu's the executive producer, and I think many of the people who worked on Minstrel Song worked on this one too... Where's recursively, he'll be able to tell you every person on the dev team and what other projects they've worked on?

not everyone, but ...

Director: Hiroshi Takai (Romancing SaGa PS2 battle director, Legend of Mana battle effects)
Producers: Akitoshi Kawazu, Nobuyuki Ueda (RS PS2, Unlimited SaGa)
Character design: Yusuke Naora (RS PS2, US)
Art director: Kimihiko Miyamae (RS PS2, US)
Event design: Koji Kobayashi (RS PS2), Masato Yagi (Legend of Mana, FF7)
Battle design: Kazutoyo Maehiro (FF12, Vagrant Story)
Map design: Kazuhiro Kataoka (FF12, Ogre Battle 64)
Music composer: Tsuyoshi Sekito (Brave Fencer Musashi, arranger for FF1-3 remakes and Advent Children)

I think Kawazu himself was mostly hands-off this time, though.
Title: Re: Brief The Last Remnant impressions
Post by: demi on November 22, 2008, 07:10:56 PM
TVC has been playing it for the past two days. You know you have a winner when he plays a game more than one day hour.
Title: Re: Brief The Last Remnant impressions
Post by: Jansen on November 23, 2008, 05:01:08 PM
the reviews are painting an ugly picture so far...
Title: Re: Brief The Last Remnant impressions
Post by: Don Flamenco on November 23, 2008, 05:20:49 PM
Quote from: Wicked Laharl on November 23, 2008, 05:01:08 PM
the reviews are painting an ugly picture so far...

but everyone else seems to like it
Title: Re: Brief The Last Remnant impressions
Post by: y2kev on November 23, 2008, 05:21:40 PM
This is actually really good and nothing like abortive saga
Title: Re: Brief The Last Remnant impressions
Post by: Jansen on November 23, 2008, 05:35:39 PM
i guess i'll find out soon enough
Title: Re: Brief The Last Remnant impressions
Post by: y2kev on November 23, 2008, 05:46:14 PM
install it or don't try. even installed it's a bit messy.
Title: Re: Brief The Last Remnant impressions
Post by: Jansen on November 23, 2008, 05:59:31 PM
that only helps with loading times, doesn't it?
Title: Re: Brief The Last Remnant impressions
Post by: y2kev on November 23, 2008, 06:03:56 PM
I think textures stream in faster too.
Title: Re: Brief The Last Remnant impressions
Post by: y2kev on November 23, 2008, 09:12:28 PM
the framerate is really not good
Title: Re: Brief The Last Remnant impressions
Post by: demi on November 24, 2008, 04:25:44 AM
Some achievements

spoiler (click to show/hide)
The Dragonslayer
You have defeated the Ancient Dragon. You are now the Dragonslayer!
(Qsiti quest with Pagus in Melphina)
40 point

Death and Destruction
You have defeated over 2000 monsters. You must have quite the entourage!
30

The Guildmaster's Faith
You have finished over 30 guild tasks. You're quite the brave one!
10

The Rules of Consecution
You have exceeded a battle chain of over 200. You are a fighter extraordinaire!
30

Unleashing Secret Powers
You have activated Timeshift over 100 times. Perhaps you hold some hidden power?
10

The Battlemaster
You have participated in over 100 battles. Keep up the good work!
20

Timing is Everything
You have successfully executed over 100 Critical Triggers. Quite the gamer, are we?
10

Secret achievements:

The Bloodhunter
You have defeated over 30 monsters in one battle. You must have lots of rare items!
30

Living Rich
You have obtained over 200,000G. Are you taking your friends out for nice meals?
10

Lost Words of the Gods
You have spent over 100,000G. Would you like some investment advice?
10

The Ravenous Hunter
You have harvested Necrotic Metal. You are now the Ravenous Hunter!
30G

The hero of the Dawn - 50g :
Kill the rare monster "Dawn Ruler" in Ivory peaks. It will rarely replace the rare monster Royalguard which is a bee monster. If the demon/wyverns doesn't spawn, one of the three rare monsters in the area has spawned. If you follow the path the Royalguard/Dawn ruler spawns at the place the second demon enemy would have spawned.
[close]
Title: Re: Brief The Last Remnant impressions
Post by: Jansen on November 24, 2008, 04:33:33 AM
the framerate in the opening battle is atrocious and character animation is fucking LOL

and damn is the story fucked up. it seems like shit is missing. when you meet the king you don't even explain your situation to him before he's all "ima help you find your sister, K?"
Title: Re: Brief The Last Remnant impressions
Post by: demi on November 24, 2008, 07:41:05 AM
TLR is $40

http://www.amazon.com/Last-Remnant-Xbox-360/dp/B001CMJAP6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1227530437&sr=1-1
Title: Re: Brief The Last Remnant impressions
Post by: Kestastrophe on November 24, 2008, 08:40:01 AM
I just watched the GT review, but it mentioned that you don't gain levels like a normal RPG. How does the levelling system work? Also, is this like a typical turn-based RPG in that you basically perform the same moves, cast the same spells, in the same order and repeat ad nauseum or is there actually a bit of strategery involved?

The combat system has me very interested in this game
Title: Re: Brief The Last Remnant impressions
Post by: Bebpo on November 24, 2008, 10:02:40 PM
How is the voice acting?  The reviews say at best it's acceptable.  But then they say the story is pretty good, hmmm...

$40 is cheap.  Cheap is good.
Title: Re: Brief The Last Remnant impressions
Post by: Van Cruncheon on November 24, 2008, 10:03:57 PM
it's good. i haven't had a complaint with the va work yet.
Title: Re: Brief The Last Remnant impressions
Post by: Bebpo on November 24, 2008, 10:05:37 PM
Quote from: Professor Prole on November 24, 2008, 10:03:57 PM
it's good. i haven't had a complaint with the va work yet.

What other dubs would you consider good?

I've never heard a dub I can enjoy :\  But $40 is cheap.....
Battles aren't like "hot stuff coming your way" repeated 20 times, right?
Title: Re: Brief The Last Remnant impressions
Post by: Van Cruncheon on November 24, 2008, 10:12:48 PM
i consider vesperia to be the best dub on the market

shining force neo's dub is an abomination
Title: Re: Brief The Last Remnant impressions
Post by: Sho Nuff on November 24, 2008, 10:17:50 PM
LET'S DO THIS!
Title: Re: Brief The Last Remnant impressions
Post by: y2kev on November 24, 2008, 10:22:21 PM
Battles ARE like that! How many times does Rush say "let's kick some A"

in fact it even rhymes with "hot stuff coming your way"

Luckily he only says it twice a battle instead of 20x
Title: Re: Brief The Last Remnant impressions
Post by: Sho Nuff on November 25, 2008, 05:12:56 AM
LET'S DO THIS!
Title: Re: Brief The Last Remnant impressions
Post by: archie4208 on November 29, 2008, 01:24:19 PM
It's $30 at Amazon.  Worth it?
Title: Re: Brief The Last Remnant impressions
Post by: Van Cruncheon on November 29, 2008, 01:26:56 PM
very yes
Title: Re: Brief The Last Remnant impressions
Post by: archie4208 on November 29, 2008, 01:33:05 PM
Bought.
Title: Re: Brief The Last Remnant impressions
Post by: Kestastrophe on November 29, 2008, 01:50:52 PM
Just purchased. Awesome
Title: Re: Brief The Last Remnant impressions
Post by: Jansen on November 29, 2008, 02:13:08 PM
i bought IU at launch. a month later it was 20 bucks cheaper.

i bought fallout 3 two weeks ago. yesterday it was 20 bucks cheaper.

and i preordered TLR when it was $39.99 and now it's $10 cheaper.

screw you amazon for not having a 30 day price guarantee anymore!
Title: Re: Brief The Last Remnant impressions
Post by: archie4208 on November 29, 2008, 02:53:33 PM
Us dirty poors win again.
Title: Re: Brief The Last Remnant impressions
Post by: demi on November 29, 2008, 04:03:59 PM
Can anyone tell me why I cant seem to give Rush any more teammates in his Union? Pretty gay it's just Rush by himself + 2 guest unions who kick major ass. Am I missing something? I'm at Blackdale or whatever.

The lack of save points will be my downfall. I played without saving up until you fight the plant monsters and I was like "oh shit, I havent even saved yet."
Title: Re: Brief The Last Remnant impressions
Post by: AdmiralViscen on November 29, 2008, 10:40:33 PM
Quote from: Wicked Laharl on November 29, 2008, 02:13:08 PM
i bought IU at launch. a month later it was 20 bucks cheaper.

i bought fallout 3 two weeks ago. yesterday it was 20 bucks cheaper.

and i preordered TLR when it was $39.99 and now it's $10 cheaper.

screw you amazon for not having a 30 day price guarantee anymore!

wtf, they don't? I just did that a few months ago.
Title: Re: Brief The Last Remnant impressions
Post by: Hitler Stole My Potato on November 29, 2008, 10:42:47 PM
30 bucks at Amazon is a no brainer.  Sold.   

I don't know when I'll have the time to play it but I can't pass that up.
Title: Re: Brief The Last Remnant impressions
Post by: demi on November 30, 2008, 01:04:04 PM
Apparently the two 200 point achievements are for "Not letting Rush die" and "Not reviving any other parties in battle"

Unconfirmed, so I'm gonna let this one shelve until they are discovered.
Title: Re: Brief The Last Remnant impressions
Post by: siamesedreamer on November 30, 2008, 07:58:07 PM
I think that's right. Appearently they're extremely difficult achievements because of a ton of one hit kill attacks. 
Title: Re: Brief The Last Remnant impressions
Post by: MrAngryFace on November 30, 2008, 08:01:16 PM
I like this game a lot so far. Definitely the Grandia Xtreme of this gen