My Impressions of The Last Remnant

A bit of an intro for this post is in order, I do believe. I had originally intended to simply gush about this game in the latest Polygon Daily thread, but instead found myself gushing too much... One could say I have a habit of frothing at the mouth somewhat when it comes to games I enjoy, and this game is no exception. So, without further ado, a copy/paste of the original post (which never saw the light of day) for your approval.

I've been playing a lot of Last Remnant lately (Steam, got it "on the cheaps" a while back), and I'm really liking the game so far. I spent my meager bit of free time yesterday picking up something like 5 quests in one bar and just splattering monsters across various locales.

I'm only up to about level 35 (or whatever that number actually represents), but I'm really digging the combat in the game. I've currently got 4 parties of 3 in my group, and they're (save one group which still needs tweaking) wrecking house on a constant basis.

I mentioned somewhere else that it reminded me of Suikoden, in that you've got a crap ton of people to choose from, and you're set up in an army of sorts. I'm assuming it gets a bit grander as time goes by, but for now I'm content with my 12 members and their aptitude in asskickery.

I have found myself doing a bunch of Google searches when one of my party members asks me what they should focus on, because God knows I don't want to completely screw myself down the road with a hasty decision now.

As for the story: I'm not annoyed by anything so far, so we're doing good on that front.

Character wise, Prinny mentioned not liking the main character, likening him to Tidus from FFX, but I wouldn't go that far... He is a bit obnoxious, and he's done some rather stupid things so far, but for some reason I don't find him as grating as that character type usually is. I will say that Emma (an older female warrior) is my favorite character, as she reminds me a bit of Motoko from GitS in terms of attitude and how she treats people.

And the game doesn't look like crap, so there's my official thumbs up in terms of graphics. Monster variety is pretty good, and environments have enough doodads to keep them interesting and not looking bland or too repetitive.

So there you have it. A new game for me to fall in love with, and the perfect distraction to keep my attention away from Dark Arisen's looming release date.