.:: The Last Remnant ::.

This is the game that I most played now,
Quite interesting, since the publisher is Square-Enix.

well here is some info for it.

Published by: Square Enix
Developed by: Square Enix
Genre: RPG
Number of Players: 1
Release Date:
US: March 24, 2009
Japan: June 30, 2008
Europe: TBA
Australia: March 19, 2009
MSRP: $59.99

ESRB Content Descriptors: Blood, Language, Suggestive Themes, Violence
Also Available On: Xbox 360 and PS3




just some review from gamefaqs user.
Story, Setting - 7/10

The story of The Last Remnant is both it's merit and downfall. The storyline of the game isn't too bad, infact it's quite engrossing and keeps you interested for the most part. But it was so poorly executed at times, leaving you confused and sometimes even bewildered. Lack of information is one of TLR's biggest flaws; most of the time you are expected to figure things out for yourself. Note that The Last Remnant is actually a tactical RPG, so it's a bit different to the likes of mainstream RPGs like the Final Fantasy series, it's more like Final Fantasy Tactics, which was one of my favorite games of all time. But here's one of the main differences: in Tactics, you are constantly fed a bundle of information including but not limited to the game's background, the history, the legends, the latest gossips, etc. You are constantly kept well informed, but this is extremely lacking in TLR. As in most tactical RPGs there is little exploring in towns, basically there are a small number (usually 3-4) areas in the towns that you can select on a minimap layout of the town, and in each area there are some vendors and random townsfolk that say very little. It feels kind of gloomy, especially since character development is virtually non-existent.

The story itself however is pretty interesting, and something is constantly happening to keep you interested rather than putting the game back on the shelf. So it's difficult to rate the story, it has its ups and downs but is far from perfect. The good part is that the two main characters are fairly well written, and there are some truly memorable cutscenes that will get you pumped.

Originality - 8/10

Remnants are the main theme of the game, and the closest I can think of to explain them is that they are sort of like Espers, or Materia in some of the old Final Fantasy games. In the game, the impression they gave me is that they are like nuclear weapons, that supposedly has a mind of their own, but can be 'controlled' by certain characters with special powers, and can be called upon in combat. The theme of the game is about whether or not they are good for mankind, as there are some people who oppose their usage. The storyline that revolves around them is quite interesting.

Gameplay - 8/10

TLR is a tactical RPG where you set up "unions", which are basically mini groups, can set their battle formations, and during combat there is no need to micromanage each individual character which is definitely a good thing as later on there are as much as 30+ characters on the screen in battles. Instead, for each union in combat you are given some options of what they can do depending on the situation, whether or not they are deadlocked (engaged) with an enemy union, the amount of AP (action points) they have left, and their morale. Personally I really enjoyed this system and haven't found too much wrong with it. I also particularly love the combat AI, not just for the enemy but for your units as well. For example, when you command a union to go all out attack and finish off a weakened enemy union, sometimes if they kill the enemy quickly and have some characters that haven't performed actions yet (overkill), but have the ability to heal for example, they could automatically change their original command and perform something else that makes more sense. This might sound like you have little control over them, but generally they are spot on and their decision making is top notch.

Sound - 6/10, Music - 10/10

In terms of sound there isn't anything too out of the ordinary, a sword slash gives a typical "whoosh", spells sort of sound the same, nothing too good or too bad. Since TLR is an RPG and not a first person shooter where environmental sounds are crucial, the sound effects are generally acceptable.

The soundtrack is nothing short of amazing. I missed the part in the credits to see who the composer was, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was someone experienced and with a detailed CV. The music is definitely the strongest part of the game, hands down. The battle music can really lift you at times, it makes you actually feel that you are commanding units in a battle field, and doesn't really get too repetitive. The music can sometimes change during prolonged battles, usually into a hard rock track that reflects the tough grueling battle being dragged on. There aren't that many unique tracks, for example I would have liked each individual town/city to have its own song, but alas this is limited mostly by the fact that there aren't that many towns anyways. Still, I've preordered the OST, it's truly great.

Replayability - 6.5/10

On the PC version of The Last Remnant, there is a New Game+ mode that appears after you beat the game for the first time. Basically you get to retain some of the gold you had saved up, along with some special items. I'm not sure if anything changes in the storyline (probably not), or you get some unique dialogue, because I haven't tried it just yet. Because honestly, the first playthrough is so exhausting I can't imagine myself going through the same process all over again. Which brings us to one of the bigger flaws of the game, grinding.

One of my biggest gripes with TLR is that you HAVE to grind, otherwise you simply aren't strong enough to advance in the game. After each battle, sometimes you gain some stats like HP, AP, strength, speed, etc. There are no levels in the game, but you get a Battle Rank (BR) that sort of determines your overall strength. Enemy difficulty scales with BR, so the higher your BR, the more HP the enemies have, and sometimes they use stronger skills in combat. This is all well and fine, but there is NO REASON that you the gamer should have to stop in your tracks, resist the temptation of advancing the storyline (going where you're supposed to go), backtrack to an area you've previously visited, and fight the same monsters to get stronger. Now I understand every single RPG has some form of grinding, I'm not saying it should be like a FPS where you keep continuing the game, but in TLR it really IS grinding. The battles can sometimes be long as it is,and you are expected to go back and clear the same areas over and over, and this is just combat, if you want to strengthen your equipment you have to dig/harvest at certain points in those areas, over and over! And your digger has a limited use, you have to leave the area and go into the world map to reset that counter!! So that's 2 for the price of 1, 2 types of grinding that you must do in order to play the game normally! You shouldn't have to do this for single player games, it's not like a persistent world where you get to keep your achievements like in MMORPGs. I actually like the idea that you have to harvest components to upgrade your gear, but I don't like running around in a near infinite loop, it's extremely time consuming, it doesn't exactly add to the replayability, it's extremely tedious. Fortunately, some wonderful people in the message boards have made some trainers for the game that can edit all sorts of stuff such as giving you the components that you desire, or replace a piece of equipment with something else. I guess some people shun the idea of cheating, but I don't like the idea of excessive grinding in a single player game.

Besides the linear main storyline, there are lots of subquests that you can do, they do help you get stronger and reward you with money or items. You can find subquests to do in the taverns, and upon accepting them, you are automatically transported to the dungeon. This saves traveling time which is pretty good.

Recap

Pros:

- Flawed, but engrossing storyline that keeps you interested
- Intuitive battle system
- Stylish visuals in combat
- Amazing soundtrack
- New Game+ is good for true fans of the game

Cons:

- Very confusing storyline, could leave you with many questions unanswered
- Lack of character development
- Excessive, repetitive grinding
- Grinding aside, the game itself is actually fairly short, and there's a big chunk (about 1/3) of the continent in the game left unexplored. Room for a sequel?
- The towns, the overall setting feels gloomy, you can't talk with most of the people wandering the towns, you can't enter buildings, basically no exploring
- You can't alter ANYONE'S equipment other than your own main character, without editing a config file. Obviously the option is in the game, but for some reason they disabled it. This can be extremely frustrating when you HAVE that powerful axe in your inventory but can't give it to a party member, instead you have to continue grinding for components so that he/she can upgrade his/her default weapon


Conclusion

Don't let the cons discourage you too much, because although I feel they are genuine flaws, they don't take away the fact that TLR is still a very fun and enjoyable game. I just think that it could have been so much better, or even become a great classic if improvements were made. My biggest gripe is probably the lack of character development, because I truly wanted to care for the characters, but besides the 2 or 3 of the main characters, everyone else has very little screentime. Like when you hire a unique character you don't even get to talk to them, their "background" is about 20 words in a small box on their status screen. You are basically thrown into the world of TLR and there is little explaining if any at all. I wanted to give TLR a 7, however, decent RPGs for the PC are very rare nowadays, and Square Enix did a really good job on this port, as long as you meet the requirements it runs very smoothly. So if you think you might enjoy the combat system, give TLR a try.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 05/18/09

Game Release: The Last Remnant (US, 03/24/09)

Because this is a very high valuable games, it will need "some" minimum specs:

Minimum System Requirements
OS: Windows XP SP2/Vista SP1
Processor: Intel Core 2 DUO E4400/AMD Athlon64 X2 3800+ (2 GHz)
Memory: 1.5 GB
Hard Drive: 15 GB Free
Video Memory: 256 MB (nVidia GeForce 8600GT)
Sound Card: DirectX Compatible
DirectX: 9.0c
Keyboard & Mouse
DVD Rom Drive

Recommended System Requirements
OS: Windows XP SP2/Vista SP1
Processor: Intel Core 2 DUO E4600/AMD Athlon64 X2 4600+ (2.4 GHz)
Memory: 2 GB
Hard Drive: 15 GB Free
Video Memory: 512 MB (nVidia GeForce 8800GT)
Sound Card: DirectX Compatible
DirectX: 10
Keyboard & Mouse
Xbox360 Joystick unit for PC
DVD Rom Drive

well, because xbox360 can overheat and ps3 blue ray disc still very expensive,
I recommend you to play this game on PC, ( I'm playing it too on PC, XD)