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."

Comments

The strategy makes sense.

[RyanFenton]

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

The Trend

[Applekid]

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.