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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."
It makes sense that when making an Unreal engine game (which implies an "anything-but-Nintendo systems" release), they'd start the design with a highly western-friendly set of themes, based on the fact that non-Nintendo consoles just don't seem competitive right now in Japan. I doubt we'll be seeing Planescape: Torment or anything, but it'll be interesting to see if they can make an interesting title when learning such new sets of technology (likely training a lot of developers for the future with this project), and attempting to cater to a somewhat alien audience.
I don't know what it is, but a lot of their non-Final Fantasy games have seemed sort of, well, disingenuous or empty in similar circumstances, even if still good in some ways. Here's hoping it's not a Brave Fencer Musashi.
Looking back, I think you can probably guess what the game is going to be like by looking at the title - Final Fantasy is not going to end. Musashi is going to be an unfocused, unhistorical romp. Last Remnant, therefore, is going to involve drowning in remnants.
Ryan Fenton
Judging from the success of the Final Fantasy series...
The title "The Last Remnant" implies the game will not have a sequel, therefore it will do great and there will be a continuing string of sequels made for next 20 years.
I kind of wish they'd pay more love to the Chrono series and the Final Fantasy Tactics line instead of coming up with new franchises that they'll only half-heartedly support.
More Twoson than Cupertino
I just see this as Square-Enix pandering to their two largest markets in a crass attempt to maximize sales. Creating main characters to appeal to a specific market is nothing more than folding to the focus-group mentality that the most widely acceptable option is the best one. This is not an artistic choice, it is a financial one. Ultimately I think that it will leave the game feeling like an empty attempt to seem "cool" or "badass" but without the underlying je-ne-sais-quoi that can make games truly great.
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You know, sarcastically simplifying the plot like that doesn't make a point at all. You can do that to so many amazing films and then say "wow how cliche" but the point is you can't judge a plot on a 2-line synopsis. The character development and interaction is what keeps things interesting. I can also go ahead and say something like "man crash-lands on the shores of an unfamiliar land. At first they see each other as enemies but eventually he adopts their way of life and and fights on their side. Woooo how cliche!" But that hardly does SHOGUN by James Clavell and justice, now does it? By the way, I personally hated Xenosaga's character design and the way they told the story. The plot was fine, but the way it unfolded was convoluted and drawn-out to the point that I was very angry at the game designers. The game's story wasn't its biggest weakness by a long shot, but I really don't see how you can bring it up as an example of something "better" than FFXII's. Of course, that's subjective too, but at least my issues are with the storyTELLING and not the basic premise (there's almost NEVER an original premise in video games anyway).
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