The Last Story Review: An Epic Adventure

One of the last great releases for the Nintendo Wii is finally upon us. Is The Last Story worth the wait? Is the name, The Last Story, symbolic for the Nintendo Wii? It certainly is, as I bet the developers did not expect this game truly end up being The Last Story for the Wii. Luckily for us, the game has quite the tale to tell us.

You will spend most of the game controlling the main character, Zael. Occasionally you will be given the chance to control the others but most of your time will be Zael. With that, you will be mainly in control of an fighter character. In the game, there are two types of roles when it comes to combat, and this includes for the enemies and any NPC as well. Like Zael, you will have your melee characters and the other type is your mages. The mages, the way they work during combat, is very neat. When a mage wishes to do an attack, they must charge up first, which usually takes a little time based upon the spell. When charging up they are both hovering in the air and are vulnerable during the period. The hovering in the air really helps to bring out the fantasy in this game and allow it to shine in an unique way. When you are Zael, you will have direct control on giving your allies special attacks or commands as well as an ability to have all enemies focus directly on you. It may sound odd to have this as an option, but it works out greatly as while enemies are focusing on you, your allies can directly attack without anyone noticing them. It also leads to more advantages as you play the game as you progress of course.

The game controls pretty well, with using the Pro Classic Controller is best. Similar to Xenoblade, your character will automatically attack enemies when you get close to them. You can manually attack enemies if you enable it, but it is best to leave the option to automatic. Getting around enemies while you are automatically attacking them can be slightly frustrating at times, especially in small sealed off areas. The way to move around and stop attacking at this point is to put up your guard and back away. If there is one major issue with the game, it would be the camera controls. Whenever you are moving and trying to move the camera, it seems to get stuck and will stay in that position until you either stop or try the opposite direction. This occurs very very frequently and is quite annoying. It may not stop the game from being fun, it does however frustrate you to no end.

While playing the game, you will come across weapons and armor that can be upgraded. Some are rather useless and some eventually only progress so much. It turns out they are not so useless and come into play as great weapons during repeat playthroughs. That said, this game has a great New Game Plus setting to it. Not only do you keep all of your gear, stats, but the enemies that aren’t minor will match your level to provide a better challenge. Previous weapons and armor that was originally fully upgraded are now able to upgrade even more to +99.

Other then the rather annoying camera issues, this game is really fantastic. If you enjoy RPGs with a great emphasis on the story, this game is very much for you. The game will last you a good 25 hours, but the fun doesn’t end there. The quality of the New Game Plus also happens to greatly extend and enhance the game. This is one game that shouldn’t be missed out on.

Review: 9/10