The Last Story?

I know everyone (including me) is all busy with teh Guild Warz but this apparently had it's North American release this month. Anyone try it? Is it up there with Xenoblade Chronicles or is it just another JRPG?

I own it. Given that I haven't even booted Xenoblade it's a little far down the list, but the video review at GameTrailers left me tentatively optimistic that I'll enjoy it in the imagination future where I get to play it.

From a purely plot-and-character perspective (@Matt Bowyer played, I watched), it was really great right up until the end when a few characters went off the rails for not enough reason. From a gameplay perspective (and Matt can offer more details here), there was a huge difficulty spike for the final boss: enough of a spike for him to stop playing the game, which is quite rare.

I've only played maybe 10-15 hours of Xenoblade and maaaaaybe 3 of Last Story, but from that I think Xenoblade's the better game, though TLS is prettier. I also hear TLS is only 20~ hours, whereas XB is much more expansive and lasts like... 70? That's all I can really say about it. Slightly related: I'm stuck with a great condition used copy of the PAL version of Xenoblade and Pikmin 2 if anyone here's from the UK and willing to buy. I can't get rid of them.

I put over 100 hours into Xenoblade and loved every minute of it. Still amazed at the game, it's systems, it's battles and it's overall story. I'll have to take a look at The Last Story and see how it is. I've heard it's good, more traditional JRPG, but still a highlight on the system.

Also, if you haven't played Xenoblade and you have a Wii, fix this situation!

Xenoblade is the best game I have played in five-plus years. Buy Xenoblade.

RISE FWOM YO GWAVE

Picked this up yesterday afternoon and played about two hours of it. IMPRESSIONS AHOY:

GOOD:

• For a Wii game, this is really pretty. Obviously has nothing on properly HD games.
• Writing mostly feels natural in its phrasing, and is well voice-acted.
• Combat is fun and not a turn-based Final Fantasy clone, albeit very easy (see below).
• Good music.

BAD:

• Some of the one-off scenes (like the city chase) are poorly designed and explained and you have to kind of fumble your way through what you're supposed to do.
• There are cutscenes every ten feet.
• While individual phrases often feel natural, in-field conversations don't always go smoothly, and are often interrupted by... a cutscene.
• Story is rather predictable so far.
• Combat feels a bit sloppily implemented, which is counterbalanced by the hilariously forgiving five lives per person.
• If anyone was wondering, yeah, Syrenne is still wearing a halter top in combat (and everywhere else) for no reason.

Despite having more BAD than GOOD, I'm enjoying it quite a bit.