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New Square RPG Unveiled - The Last Remnant
1up is reporting on content from Game Informer magazine from this month, talking about Square's next big non-Final Fantasy RPG. Entitled The Last Remnant, it sounds like an interesting blend of the old and the new. While the action will stick with traditional turn-based mechanics, several elements reflect the changing landscape of the games industry. Square/Enix intends to release the game worldwide, localizing the game to an English audience as the game is created. Additionally, the game will have two selectable protagonists: one is to be a traditional heroic Square character, and the other more of an anti-hero for the American market. "The Last Remnant's been designed on Unreal Engine 3, and we should see the first official media come from [Square/Enix's announcement party] on May 12 and 13. Going with Epic's technology isn't too surprising considering the company's emphasizing the focus on Western gamers ... We don't know much about combat, but it's turn-based, more action-oriented and has a cinematic flair."
Blue Dragon was done by Mistwalker Studios. Sakaguchi, who designed Final Fantasy, left Square and formed his own studio.
An RPG with a turn-based system that has a traditional heroic character and an antihero? Been there, played that. Just one similar game that comes to mind is Arc the Lad: Twilight of the Spirits. But these are preliminary details at best. How the characters are presented could be different than this wide brush-stroke of an explination.
The sentiment the anti-hero is "for" the western gamers is an interesting one. From what I've seen fan response-wise on this side of the sea antiheroes are preferred.
Starkle, starkle, little twink.
Probably because the White Engine is designed to work with the cell processor in PS3, while the Unreal engine can be ported to just about anything (including PC).