The Last Remnant Review for Xbox 360

System: X360, PS3	Review Rating Legend
Dev: Square-Enix	1.0 - 1.9 = Avoid	4.0 - 4.4 = Great
Pub: Square-Enix	2.0 - 2.4 = Poor	4.5 - 4.9 = Must Buy
Release: Nov. 20, 2008	2.5 - 2.9 = Average	5.0 = The Best
Players: 1	3.0 - 3.4 = Fair
ESRB Rating: Mature	3.5 - 3.9 = Good

Persistent load times in this game also add to the frustration.Even though you can install both of the game’s discs to your hard drive, you will still experience 4-6 second load times every time you enter a room or engage an enemy in battle, which greatly hinders discovery quests, where you’ll have to frequently hop between cityscapes as well as enemy-infested locales.

The Last Remnant screenshot

Sound in this title is somewhat of a mixed bag. The music is composed by Tsuyoshi Sekito, who is known for his work on the Final Fantasy series. The music is absolutely beautiful to listen to and has a rich and sweeping orchestral sound. The character voiceovers are hit or miss though and the main character sounds disinterested and ingenuous most of the time. However, several of the supporting characters do have decent voiceovers and manage to sound quite authentic.

Control is fairly standard, as far as RPGs are concerned, and features a fairly simplistic menu-based control scheme. There are a few instances where a timed-button press will be used to increase the effectiveness of a certain attack, but due to the aforementioned framerate issues, these are often easy to miss. But the bottom-line is if you have ever played an RPG before, you will be right at home with the control scheme.

For all intents and purposes, The Last Remnant has the makings of a great RPG: the story is engaging and the battle system is tons of fun to play with. And, with a lot of extra missions and side quests, there certainly is a lot of replay potential to this title. However, it seems that all these great aspects are not enough to pull it past its glaring graphical issues. If this title had been left in development just a little longer, then it might have been one of the best RPGs of the current generation. But as it stands, The Last Remnant is a great RPG that is buried under broken graphics and long load times.

By Amanda L. Kondolojy
CCC Staff Contributor

RATING OUT OF 5

RATING DESCRIPTION

2.1

Graphics
Graphics are highly detailed and overall design is beautiful. However, persistent framerate problems and texturing issues ruin the look of this game.

3.4

Control
Command-based controls work very well, although quick-time prompts don’t work as well as they should because of technical issues.

3.7

Music / Sound FX / Voice Acting
The game’s score is beautifully orchestrated, but some of the voiceover dialogue sounds awkward.

3.9

Play Value
This title is quite lengthy, and the numerous side quests will keep you playing for quite awhile.

3.7

Overall Rating - Good
Not an average. See Rating legend above for a final score breakdown.

Game Features:

Experience groundbreaking graphics, only possible on next-generation platforms, that bring the intensity of gameplay to an entirely new level.

Uncover the mystery of the Remnants, powerful artifacts from an ancient civilization that are scattered around the world and stand as they were a millennia ago.

Navigate a massive battlefield while surrounded by countless foes and friends.

Immerse in exhilarating, large-scale battles through a never-before-seen battle command system.