The Last Remnant Review

Heroism is by and large a relative thing; it is defined in contrast to the actions of those we call normal. RPGs in particular trade in heroism as a stock feature of the genre. The stories and actions of the characters are over the top and ply heavily on stereotypes to elicit specific feelings from the player. When done properly, I have no problem sinking 40 to 60 hours grinding levels, gaining loot, and hanging on every word of every townsperson. When done wrong, however, you're left with an uninspiring protagonist and a long, slow journey ahead. The Last Remnant is a title whose failure to elevate itself above the normal makes it decidedly less than heroic.

At least The Last Remnant's unremarkable nature is not for a lack of trying. There is an item creation system that uses found materials, plenty of side quests to partake in, and the obligatory unlikely hero. However, the item creation isn't integral to your combat arsenal (and takes forever to accumulate enough materials/dough for), the side quests are boring dungeon crawls, and hero Rush Sykes – well, the name truly says it all.

Perhaps the single most illustrative example of how this game fails to inspire is exemplified by the combat system. Filled with good intentions, The Last Remnant's battles leave you wanting more. In an effort to give you large-scale battles, the game groups up to five characters in a single union, and you can control up to five separate unions. This puts a lot of units on the map, but the game doesn't deliver the payoff you'd expect from these brawls.

Part of this is because The Last Remnant – as a turn-based strategy title – neither rewards players with real-time action (although there is a timed-button component), nor with tactical prowess. The game's simultaneous resolution of everyone's combat orders (friend and foe alike) creates a shifting battlefield. This prevents much in the way of tactical choices – despite the developer's obvious laboring over a strategic system that includes flanking situations, the battles transpire in static turns anyway, thus blunting its own possible ­effectiveness.

The fact that you don't choose which specific actions your units will perform in combat will cheese off some RPG fans. Most of the time I didn't have a problem with this, as the game gives you a range of generic battle choices, such as being able to heal and attack in the same turn. However, The Last Remnant's handcuffing can bite you in the butt since you can't count on being offered the same combat commands every turn. One time I wasn't able to cast a poison-cure spell when I was poisoned simply because the game never gave me the option.

There are important decisions to make in how you group your unions, but switching your party members' formations around and seeing if your attack rating goes up or down is too little too late when it comes to delivering real gameplay depth. Likewise, the city environments are basic, the overworld locations (like dungeons, mines, etc.) are no fun to adventure through, and the story manages to make the concept of mysterious, epic Remnants altogether dull. In short, The Last Remnant that has all the trappings of a game in the RPG genre, but fails to stand out from the crowd.