Review

The Last Story Review

  • First Released Aug 14, 2012
    released
  • WII

The Last Story is a brilliant role-playing game that's as rich and emotionally affecting as the best in the genre.

'

UK REVIEW--As you begin your journey in The Last Story, you get the feeling you've seen this all before; the maniacal dictator seeking ungodly powers, the crisis that threatens the survival of the world, and the band of shockingly youthful renegades, with even shockingly bigger swords, whose job it is to put it all right again. It's a familiar tale, but The Last Story is far from a familiar game. It's a deep, fast-paced JRPG, that evolves the genre in ways that enhance its existing tropes, without stripping away at its soul.

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The best of the West is blended with the best of the East, resulting in a fantastically unique, exciting battle-system, beautifully rich visuals, and a story that--while familiar--has you feeling the deepest of care for the characters that live it. It's not just a fantastic JRPG, but a fantastic game in its own right, delivering moments of touching romance, disparaging betrayal, and eruptive action, all with a poignancy that makes those moments feel like they've come straight from the heart.

A lot of that comes down to the cast of characters; a ragtag group of mercenaries for hire who never know where their next paycheck is coming from and live from one job to the next. It is their various drives and wants that propel you through the story. Lead character Zael has fairytale dreams of knights and princesses; the group's leader Dagran craves the respect of the people, which is something he can never hope to achieve as a mercenary; and others, like Syrenne, simply enjoy a stiff drink and regular fisticuffs. Sometimes those desires collide with one another, creating tensions and conflicts that make their journey together all the more compelling.

These tensions come to a head when Lisa joins the group. Her mysterious past piques the interest of spiky-haired protagonist Zael--whom you spend the vast majority of the game playing as--with their blossoming relationship and its resulting ups and downs adding a hefty dose of melodrama to the proceedings. Sure, in true JRPG style, it can get a little saccharine, but it's balanced out by an overarching plot that introduces warring nations, corrupt governments, and the very survival of the land itself. There's even a sprinkling of religious iconography that gives you plenty to read into if you're eager to further immerse yourself in the richness of the narrative.

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While the story is a sprawling epic, the world you explore is less so, at least at face value. Events take place on Lazulis Island, on which a single city serves as the main hub for your adventures. Its cobbled streets, seedy taverns, and stonewalled castles are filled with all manner of citizens--some eager to strike up a conversation, others to sell you some of their wares--that create a lively and atmospheric environment that touches on aspects of the Middle Ages, without being too heavy handed with its themes.

Despite being set in a single city, there are still a wide variety of quests. One moment, you're fighting off hordes of enemies in Lazulis castle; the next, you're enjoying a quiet drink in Ariela's Tavern before being whisked away to explore musty underground caverns deep beneath the surface. Between quests, you're given the freedom to explore the city--to talk to its citizens, to go shopping, to soak up the medieval ambiance. There are many side quests to complete too. Some are your typical fetch quest, but others go further, asking you to rescue lost children, learn how to swim, or go on dates with various singletons from the city. Such freedoms do wonders to distract you from the fact that the main story quests are largely linear in nature, with the excellent narrative just willing you to push onward.

Most quests you undertake involve action of some sort, and fortunately, The Last Story has a combat system worthy of the narrative that drives it. The combat system combines elements of the Western and Japanese RPG to create something that is wholly unique and thrilling. The action takes place in real time in the environment you're exploring, with enemies visible before you fight them; there are no random encounters or swishy battle screens here. Your melee attacks and those of your compatriots are largely automated, each of them hacking, slashing, or casting magic at nearby enemies.

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Not everything is automated, though, particularly character movement, so you need to make the most of Zael's dodge and cover abilities to avoid enemy projectiles like arrows and magic attacks. Conveniently placed rocks, pillars, and walls give you plenty of places to take cover behind, and are the ideal place for letting fly a few shots of Zael's non-automated weapon, a crossbow. Different arrows have different effects, with some causing status changes, such as poison or sleep, and landing a well-placed headshot fells an enemy with a single shot. From cover, you can also seek out destructible areas of the environment, such as bridges that house archers or towering columns of rock that are just begging to be dropped onto an gang of unruly monsters.

Those areas can be destroyed by issuing commands to others in your party, with all manner of fire, ice, and nature spells at your disposal. As each spell lands, it creates an elemental circle, which, when walked through, adds that elemental ability to subsequent melee attacks. By using Zael's gale ability you can "diffuse" those circles, which cast further status effects, such as silence. Or in the case of healing circles, they instantly heal your entire party. And if that weren't enough to be getting on with, there's Zael's gathering ability, which draws the attention of enemies onto Zael, leaving your teammates free to cast spells or land a few blows with their swords.

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It's a strategic system that works brilliantly, not least because it takes place in real time, which makes fights dynamic, action-packed affairs. The pace at which new abilities are handed out is also spot-on, giving you time to master them, without ever feeling underpowered during battles. Customization fiends may lament the lack of options when it comes to each character's spells and abilities, but weapon and armor upgrades give you plenty to tinker with, each affecting your characters' various statistics, such as stamina, attack power, or defensive abilities. More superficially, there a range of dyes you can buy that let you go colour crazy with clothing options.

Such enhancements make it over into New Game Plus, which unlocks once you've beaten the game, giving you the opportunity to take on all those small side quests and secret areas you might have missed the first time round, with a powered-up posse. Further attempts to extend the game's longevity come in the form of multiplayer deathmatch and cooperative horde-style modes. They're not something you frequent often and feel a bit tacked on, but given the wealth of content on offer in the single-player campaign, it's no big loss.

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The Last Story is a fantastic game; one that pushes the JRPG genre forward in ways that are innovative yet still complementary to the tradition of the genre. Its rich narrative straddles the line between emotionally affecting and breathtakingly action packed; its thrilling battle system is a unique, modern take on everything that has come before. And its visuals are some of the best ever seen on the Wii, pushing the system to its limits with its beautifully detailed environments and dazzling special effects (even if there's a little frame rate stutter during more complex scenes).

And that's not to mention the music from legendary composer Nobuo Uematsu, with its majestic melodies complementing the action in a way that is truly sublime. But its biggest success lies with the characters themselves, their diverse personalities and formidable ambitions forever pushing you along their journey from rags to riches. You want to be there with them; to guide them through their darkest of hours; to share in their happiest of moments. You will care. That alone makes The Last Story worth the price of admission and a captivating experience that everyone should play, JRPG fan or not.

'
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The Good

  • Rich narrative with characters you actually care about
  • Innovative and fast-paced battle system
  • Beautiful visuals push the Wii to its limits
  • Heaps of side quests
  • Great localization

The Bad

  • Minor frame rate issues

About the Author

Mark is a senior staff writer based out of the UK, the home of heavy metal and superior chocolate.
181 Comments  RefreshSorted By 
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DoomglooM

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Suck It gamespot

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DoomglooM

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and I definitely think 9 is much too high a score for this!

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bat725

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A little late, but I just beat it and it's one of the best JRPG's I've ever played. Took me back to the glory days of FF 7-10. Masterpiece!

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Cartr1dgeBased

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<< LINK REMOVED >> late reply, but even xenoblade? thought it was the best jrpg this gen (played lost odyssey, playing ni no kuni)

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FLEEBS

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I just picked up this game, and I have to say, I think it's fantastic!

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crimes73

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Rich narrative? The characters and plot are far from being interesting and innovative. I can hardly say I care about any of them. All with their tragic past (don't any of them have parents? Come on...). The game itself is better but not ground-breaking either. The "minor frame rate issues" are "major frame rate issues".

Even the music by Nobuo Uematsu is not really memorable.

In the end what is really good about this game is the very good use of frequent cutscene to advance the plot, the visuals and some ideas found in the fighting system.

Way too little to earn a 9.0 out of 10.0.

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DoomglooM

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<< LINK REMOVED >> Agreed

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Lynx_7

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<< LINK REMOVED >> That's more or less how I felt too. Since Sakaguchi was in charge of the game I had somewhat high expectations for it, but it didn't even come close to fulfilling them. The plot was rather simple and I didn't feel very invested on it(but I will admit a certain event near the end did surprise me a little bit, though in retrospect it should have been fairly obvious), the characters were fine but not particularly memorable, the combat system could have used some improvements and the overall scope of the game just felt too small. I wish the game was less segmented and more open with a big world map with varied locations to explore. Like the FF games Sakaguchi himself directed. Instead, there was a single city that served as a hub and some dungeons which the game throws you in after some cutscenes instead of letting you actually get to there through actual gameplay.

Maybe I was expecting too much and I'm not being very fair, but considering the good word of mouth and reviews of this game I really wanted to feel immersed and really like this game. However, it was a fairly forgettable experience after all was said and done. It's certainly not a bad game, I would say it's good (I gave it a 7.5 myself), but that's about it. Amongst the JRPGs I've played it doesn't set itself apart from the average.

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malachi_27

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<< LINK REMOVED >> In some respects, I agree. The game suffers from its execution more than anything, but I found, once every quest was completed, and the credits scrolled, that I was more than satisfied with the experience. I think The Last Story should be experienced from beginning to end.

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crimes73

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<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> By all means, this is not a bad game at all and I am happy I played it from beginning to end (I personally rated it 8.0 / 10.00 which is very positive).

It's just that there are considerable flaws that can't allow this game to be up there, among the elite titles (9.0+) in my opinion.


Still, this is a game I would recommend playing, especially if the player enjoys a game where cut scenes are prominent.

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FlameEmperor

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Wii U HD remake and............. GO!

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meborp_1981

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The camera control is terrible. The story seems to jump around with no real focus and the later boss battles are an exercise in frustration where you run around trying to avoid death while you wait for a party member to reveal the one weakness you can exploit to actually damage the boss.

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DoomglooM

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<< LINK REMOVED >> yes

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RaoulTyrone

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Kinda sucks that its exclusive to Wii, sounds like a pretty good game

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Zonno

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So. Finally a good game for the Wii. Shamefully I don't like JRPG's.

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goldensunfan

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<< LINK REMOVED >> I know what your saying here and the Wii has plenty of great games. Sure there are the ones that are a steaming pile of **** but because of that the true stellar games are like diamonds in the rough. the 360 and PS3 have their share of bad titles too.

As a SD console the Wii has had excellent games. I just bought a HD tv so I naturally had to but component cables to get good picture on it as I don't think my TV has the best upscaler cause I get jagged edges. I may have to get 1st party component cables but I may just keep my old SD tv just for my cube and Wii.

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mariokart64fan

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if the only bad is slight frame rate issues this should have been a 9.5

who put the score lol

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Mr_BillGates

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Now we need a game called Final Story, or Last Fantasy.

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normpap

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The title is a parody of "Final Fantasy"

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bbkkristian

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<< LINK REMOVED >> No, it's its own game.

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goldensunfan

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<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> Actually it is in essence a parody of the Final Fantasy name. Read some of the interviews with Hironobu Sakaguchi and you will learn he approached designing the Last Story as if it was his last game the very same methodology he followed creating Final Fantasy. When he created Final Fantasy he did so as if it were his last name hence why he called it "Final Fantasy." Also Hironobu and Squaresoft had a bit of a falling out so to speak so this may have been his way at perhaps poking fun at his former brainchild.

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jer_1

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<< LINK REMOVED >> Obviously this is it's own game, he wasn't saying it was related. The name is definitely a parody of Final Fantasy. The Last Story, Final Fantasy...Yeah, it's a parody name.

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Dudester22

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<< LINK REMOVED >> lmao dude! The last story, Final = last, Fantasy = Can be seen as story-ish

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bbkkristian

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<< LINK REMOVED >> "Parody name?" Nothing's comical about it but I do see the similarity. I mean, It is the same guy who designed Final Fantasy.

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eliebaz

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looking forward to the wii u i hope it's backward compatible so i can play these games :)

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goldensunfan

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<< LINK REMOVED >> The WiiU is confirmed as backwards compatible with Wii games.

Though if you are interested in these games and looking to get a Wii U, you may want to pick them up now. They are going to be on a limited production run from Xseed games depending how well they sell. Least I read that somewhere that Xseed was going to wait for sales numbers to see whether to make a second run so if you can.. look into picking them up now because It may be hard finding used copies down the road.

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Ultramarinus

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<< LINK REMOVED >> Nah, people complain that Nintendo platforms are lagging so much behind anything else that developing multi-platform or porting over from and to Nintendo consoles are virtually impossible. Everybody suffers from it.

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hotdiddykong

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Another Awesome RPG on the Wii

Stop Whinning about it not being on the other consoles, this is all you people do when the Wii does its best, whine about it not being on your consoles. If thats the case, Stop complaining. The Wii has the special Exclusives that make it worth buying and this game is just adding to the already impressive Library of Exclusives

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alioli

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<< LINK REMOVED >> I whine as long as it's not on pc *lol*

No, but seriously, ofc I will whine if a game comes out on a console I do not own.

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goldensunfan

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<< LINK REMOVED >> Here here! Skyward Sword, Metroid Prime 3, Xenoblade, Last Story, Smash Bros, Mario Galaxy 1 and 2. I held off on buying a PS3 for a while. Just picked one up this summer because when it launched I was really only interested in Metal Gear Solid 4. But the Wii on the other hand while at launch didn't have titles I wanted, I knew that they would come.

The wii still has some of the best games in terms of art direction, skyward sword, and xenoblade and last story obvious examples. Microsoft and Sony seem content to churn out the next Uncharted or the next Halo which is ok if you like those games but Nintendo always finds ways to use its hardware and artistry to create memorable experiences. I.e. windwaker, Skyward sword.

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essam24

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wii = game's destroyer , wii u = game's crasher this is an opinion.

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worldofkey23

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look << LINK REMOVED >>

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Sparkstarter17

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I loved this game. The story is definitely on par with Xenoblade and the combat system is soooo fun. It isn't the longest rpg but I think the price there askin for is more then worth it for this gem. You really should buy it before judging it.

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linkman3

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Perfect, I finally a have a justifiable reason to buy a wii, All I like on the wii is zelda and smash bros, really happy that the wii has a good rpg

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goldensunfan

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<< LINK REMOVED >> Have you tried Metroid Prime 3 corruption? Or maybe the Goldeneye remake. Or Madworld? Red Steel 2?

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parkurtommo

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<< LINK REMOVED >> Don't forget Xenoblades

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Steba93

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Finished this yesterday and though LS isn't quite on par with Xenoblade, it's still definitely one of the best games in this generation. Everyone who has Wii have no reason not to buy this, or if you don't, go buy Wii and buy this, Xenoblade and Pandora's Tower.

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Senor_Kami

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It's a shame that after the stellar Lost Odyssey, Microsoft basically kicked Mistwalker to the curb and now they're stuck making games on the Wii.

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goldensunfan

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<< LINK REMOVED >> You act as if thats a bad thing? shame on Microsoft. There are more important things than graphical processing power. Remember back in the days of the NES? or maybe even the N64, we got games like Ocarina of time and they still play just fine today.

Eye Candy is nice but you can still make great games on a system like the wii. And this comes from a person who also has a PS3. WIi offers games that simply arent on other consoles.

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djmaster1994

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<< LINK REMOVED >> Nintendo was involved in The Last Story and they own the Trademark.

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Steba93

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<< LINK REMOVED >> Stuck? I'd say Wii is an improvement. It's not on par with other consoles, but that's why devs can focus more on story and gameplay, they don't have to make the game compete with other magnificent looking games on other consoles and PC. Besides, I think at least Xenoblade looked much better than many games on 360 or PS3, environments, especially forests, were really great looking.

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parkurtommo

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<< LINK REMOVED >> Not really, to develop a game on the wii you pretty much have to downscale some things due to it's limitations, which probably adds even more effort to developement than simply using "normal" graphics and AI.

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djmaster1994

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<< LINK REMOVED >> Oh right what happen with FFXIII lack of towns and sidequest

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Aleksa8

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False. Developing HD graphics is incredibly difficult, frustrating, and time consuming. There's no downscaling, Mistwalker built Last Story from the ground up AND put in great visuals as well, wihtout the pressure of having to have it look amazing as they would have on the HD consoles, which would have taken months from development (yes, months), ultimately distracting from the gameplay and story.<< LINK REMOVED >>

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Aleksa8

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<< LINK REMOVED >> False. Developing HD graphics is incredibly difficult, frustrating, and time consuming. There's no downscaling, Mistwalker build Last Story from the ground up AND put in great visuals as well, wihtout the pressure of having to have it look amazing as they would have on the HD consoles, which would have taken months from development (yes, months), ultimately distracting from the graphics.

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