The Last Remnant second review

After moseying about and giving a short review, I've decided to give a detailed final analysis on the Last Remnant. As a JRPG it breaks ground through several approaches, but at heart it still retains the watery consistency for the masses. It's too easy to pick up and lacks diversity and customization in many ways. However, despite the many flaws you can observe within an hour of starting the Last Remnant, it's still a great game at heart. If you're looking for a game to put on the backburner in between more titanic titles or just something you can play when tired or lazy, this is certainly the game for you. Definitely worthy of time killer status.

Rush fighting the Conqueror, his rival.

Genre: Adventure, JRPG
Release Date: 20th November, 2008
Platforms: PC, Xbox 360
Score: 7/10
Similar Titles: Final Fantasy, Breath of Fire, Grandia

Last Remnant: Battle links and Battle rank

As it took me a while to figure out how it works, I thought I'd write a short article about how Battle links and Battle rank actually work in the Last Remnant. Since these mechanics are essentially the leveling system, it pays to understand how to use it to your advantage.

Battle links pertain to how many enemies you can link using Timeshift. Once you activate Timeshift you can tag as many monsters as you can during the duration and then activate combat with all of them. The more links you get, the better loot you will obtain. Therefore if you're hunting for money, or parts to assemble a new weapon- linking lots of enemies is a reliable way to grab lots of materials and cash. Linking more enemies gets you more loot, but it will also raise your Battle rank very quickly.

Sometimes it's really hard to even link 2 enemies together, plan your attack and save often.

Battle rank is essentially your parties level. Enemies scale with you, so the higher your Battle rank, the more dangerous they become. If you raise your rank too high, the game can become very difficult. Bear in mind, that attribute bonuses you obtain after combat does not raise your rank. Killing opponents is what increases the Battle rank.

Hopefully this clears up any misconceptions you have about how the leveling system in the Last Remnant works. Just remember, if you want to increase your stats, don't link enemies. Find the toughest opponent you can, and fight it alone without linking it to anything else. This is the fastest way to upgrade your stats without gaining battle rank quickly.

You can keep your eye on the Battle rank by looking at the menu.

Many players including myself abuse linking from the start, and constantly link up 3+ times every battle. After getting 20 hours into the game, this can come back to bite you in the ass. Your Battle rank will be higher than the statistic increases your party have obtained. You will have lots of loot, but that's not a good substitution. When this happens some enemies will start instakilling your unions, and you'll have to save every second.

My advice, is to combine a mix of both into your playstyle. Complete an area by killing one enemy at a time. Come back later, and repeat the same area by linking as many as you can. Since you know where all the enemies are, it should be easy to create huge links. Essentially, you can use this approach to moderate your difficulty. If you like it easy, then continue to fight opponents individually for the first disc. It should be a breeze all the way through. Personally, I like a challenge. So I keep linking for most of the game, and double back to increase my stats if I go too far.

I hope this article enlightened you if you were looking into Battle links and Battle ranks. Good luck!

The Last Remnant: Wallpapers

As I've been enjoying the Last Remnant so much, I scrounged some wallpapers up! Some of them look pretty nice too. I've added a few to my desktop rotation, so if you like Square-Enix's under appreciated gem the Last Remnant; grab a few of these and make it official!

This one is my favorite. Anyone got the source?

Rush and the Conqueror, both equally intimidating.

Boy, the remnants are basically glorified Final Fantasy summons.

I haven't fought this boss yet!

The magnificent 7!

The Last Remnant is an underlooked gem.

I've been playing through the Last Remnant on PC again, because during my first playthrough on the Xbox 360 I got a little bored having to wait for the long load times and dealing with the FPS lag. However, playing it on a different port has really opened my eyes to how Square-Enix have created a brilliant diamond in the rough.

Timeshift lets you tag together groups of enemies and fight harder battles.

Rush Sykes is a bit of a douche for a main character, he's pretty dumb but dedicated to finding his sister. The rest of the party isn't much smarter, but they drive the plot well. I just wish JRPGs had a better market for adults, so the story could be more interesting and better written.

For a Square-Enix game, the graphics are nothing exceptional. If it were another company, you could say they were very pretty. Aside from that, it's not a sore sight for the eyes. Watching a huge battle with lots of squads and enemies looks very epic.

A battle looks overwhelming at first, but you get used to it.

Squad based combat is intriguing and adds a fair amount of depth to the game. Instead of selecting an option for a single party member, each choice changes the attacks for up to five people. This means you have to select your moves carefully, and composing squads strategically outside of battle is important. Last Remnant also has plenty of the usual RPG features to keep a gamer active, including side quests and crafting. There are lots of rare monsters to hunt, some of which can be very tricky to kill.

It's a shame they don't break out the high definition more often.

If you want to read my initial review of this title, take a look. I will probably soon write another more accurate analysis because I feel I didn't give the game justice due to the problems porting it to Xbox. The Last Remnant is a wonderful time killer and at a budget price it's something to definitely consider if you have nothing to play. If you're looking for more PC turn-based RPGs, take a look here.

Single player RPG recommendations- PC turn-based

It can be a little difficult to find a PC RPG to satisfy your needs. On the PC it can be a real challenge. With my extensive playtime on many games, I am in a good position to give provide some suggestions. If you're looking for a good slower paced RPG that's turn based, take a look at this list and click on the links for a more in-depth review:

PC turn based RPG recommendations:

1- Dragon Age

Dragon Age games aren't completely turn based, but if you rack it up to a difficulty level that will challenge you it becomes a strategical pause-fest that will have you reaching for the quick save button indefinitely. If you're looking for a good game to play, Dragon Age: Origins and 2 should be one of your first stops.

2- Baldur's Gate

If you haven't heard of this legendary franchise yet, Baldur's Gate is one of the best. It is old, unforgiving, and hopelessly addictive. Once again, it's not entirely turn based- but if you don't consistently pause the game during combat to order your party around you won't make it very far at all. If you can handle the outdated mechanics and graphics, Baldur's Gate is one of the greatest experiences a gamer can partake in. Not to mention, the new Enhanced Edition makes it a little easier to bear the old nature of the engine.

3- The Last Remnant

 

The Last Remnant is a JRPG which is rare to reach the PC. Nevertheless, it has crisp graphics and turn-based action in the fashion you would expect from Square-Enix. It's not a perfect game, but when you're looking for a turn-based RPG on PC your options are limited in comparison to console. Regardless, a lot of the complaints about low framerates and resolution issues only apply to the Xbox edition, so you're dodging a bullet grabbing it for the PC.

4- KotoR

As far as legendary games go, Knights of the Old Republic is one of the greatest Star Wars productions in existence. Many avid RPG players reserve a special place in their hearts for this title. The combat feels like realtime at first, but it becomes very turn-based when you play for a few hours. If you like Star Wars, you will love KotoR. If you don't, you will still enjoy it. I'd advise you to play this game over all of the others on the list.

5- Legend of Grimrock

Striking new graphics on a deceptively oldschool game, Grimrock is a glorious dungeon crawler that brings back the epic feeling from the 90's with new graphics and a modern interface. With a maze of corridors, traps, monsters and puzzles- you'll be playing this for quite some time.

The Last Remnant

Hey everyone, for my first post and review I'd like to talk about a game I've been playing on and off recently, the Last Remnant.

Square-Enix have bought out yet another linear Japanese style RPG, this time using the Quake engine. Yes, I know Quake is an FPS game, tell Square that.

Square made the horrible mistake of throwing the game out onto the shelves before it was finished. The most prominent issue is the frame rates, or lack of them. As you get into the game you'll find it slowing down mid-battle, and sometimes even pausing. Don't let this get you down though, the game isn't absolutely abysmal, and it has a lot of selling points.

The Last Remnant doesn't really derive from the good old Square-Enix RPG formula, but they haven't broken any new ground since early final fantasy anyway.

The battle system develops well as you get further into the game, at first I found it a little dull, until I got a few hours in, and I started dying. There are many difficult fights, and sometimes you'll be forced to move from the main plot into some side-quests to power up your party.

The fighting is very simple, you input a command turn based style, and your party proceeds to attack. Your spells develop as you use them, and fighting more enemies at one time yields greater rewards. You can recruit many members to your party throughout the course of the game. While they share little plot relevance, you have a nice selection to develop your army.

Finally, I thought I'd paste a little information about the plot without spoiling anything:

Rush Sykes is the prototypical RPG hero, innocently sulky but totally devoted to his sweet sister Irina. When Irina is kidnapped, Rush hurries to liberate her, but unsurprisingly, it's not the most straightforward of rescues. Rather, Rush finds himself caught in a political struggle centered around powerful magical artifacts called remnants. These objects are both the center of society as well as a great curiosity, heavily researched at the Academy by hosts of scientists, including Rush's own parents.

Overall, I'd say the game is definitely worth playing if you can grab it cheap. It's certainly not worth full price, and if you aren't a hardcore RPG player then it's probably not for you. Anyone in love with Square-Enix should also get this game.

A more comprehensive review on the Last Remnant can be found here.

Check out the top 5 PC turn-based RPGs here!