Great story and characters make this game worth checking out!
Story 9.5/10
The Story in this game is very fantastic. True it may take a few hours to get into it, but certain moments in the story will catch you off guard and leave a good impression on you. As the game goes on you will definitely find yourself wrapped up in story and wanting to see it through to the end.
Score 9/10
Uematsu (of final fantasy) doesn't disappoint here. It is true that this score isn't as good as many of the legendary final fantasy scores we've heard from Uematsu in the past, but it certainly doesn't fall far behind. Many of the songs stand out in certain areas such as boss fights and the main theme song. Uematsu certainly didn't let us down here.
Characters/ Character Development 10/10
This is without a doubt the highlight of "The Last Story." All of the main characters interact very well with each other with allows us to feel how close the band of mercenaries really is, weither it is something serious or something comical. Syrenne is definitely the character you'll always want to see more of. Her drunkenness and anger always provide a good laugh, but she does develop more as the game progresses so she is never left as a one dimensional character. Lowell and Syrenne also interact very well together and will always leave you wanting more.
Gameplay 6/10
The gameplay here is a bit lacking. The fighting style is hack-and-slash with about three other options for each character's attack. This isn't a bad thing and it does still provide some solid strategy but it would be nice to provide a lot more attacks and various things for each character to do. The game itself is pretty linear and unless you're running around the city or castle there isn't many places to explore that aren't a one or two way path. On the other hand the game does provide some good strategy to boss fights even with the limited amount of things you can do.
Graphics 9.75/10
For a Wii game this game has amazing graphics and at times may even surprise you that you're playing it on the Wii. It's not perfect, but you certainly won't be disappointed here.
Difficulty 5.5/10 (0 being the easiest, 10 being the hardest)
The Last Story falls in a good middle of what a difficulty should be. Nothing is impossible to overcome, but at the same time you may need to do certain fights 2-3 times to get the mechanics down of how to do things. Also you will never really feel like you're underleveled as upgrading weapons is a good way to deal damage to strong enemies so you'll never need to be grinding to get ahead in this game.
Organization/ Clarity 4/10
When looking to do a side quest mission someone will tell you to go here or there, but that is about the extent of figuring out where you need to go. Very little is given on how to complete certain things which can cause a bit of grief but most side quests can just be completely avoided without any consequence so it's not really that big of a deal.
Fun 7.75/10
Doing the main quests are participating in the arena are both very exciting, but that's about the extent of it. Since the game is pretty linear it doesn't provide much else for the player to do.
Overall this game is definitely one worth playing. True it probably won't be the best game you play this year, but you will enjoy playing it regardless. Since the play time ranges from between 25-30 hours it's a quick little game that you can get through easily. I would recommend this game for someone who is looking for a short game to play or someone who wants a game with a great story and interesting characters. It's definitely worth a play through, but missing it isn't devastating.