Springing Gaming Forward

By Tiberius Jonez

It's April. The birds are chirping, warm breezes are blowing and here in Minnesota, people are spending more time outdoors and less time on their couches playing video games. Of course I'm not most people. Sure, I'm enjoying the Spring weather with plenty of time on the basketball court or playing softball, but I'm still getting my daily recommended allowance of gaming. With its predictable lack of new releases, Spring is a good time to catch up on games you've missed previously, and like a good multivitamin, your daily gaming diet should include a variety of nourishing ingredients.

I've been playing a smorgasbord of different games lately. I recently started playing Call of Duty 4 again after my best buddy recently bought an Xbox 360. He is addicted, and I am happy to feed his addiction with a steady diet of Headquarters and Hardcore Search and Destroy matches via Xbox Live. After a six month hiatus from the game, the truth that there is no better first person shooter on the market has been reaffirmed in my mind.

The Last Remnant has seen considerable time in my PC-DVD Rom drive and I am thoroughly enjoying it's beautiful scenery and lively combat. TLR's story is quite enjoyable too, but I really keep playing just so I can see the beauty of the next unexplored area. Honestly, this is the most fun I've ever had with a Japanese style RPG.


Fable II rounds out my big three of the Spring so far. I know the game's been out for a while, but when you play as many games as I do, you don't always get to try EVERY new release right away. In truth, I'm glad I had to wait this long to play Fable II. While I've been looking forward to playing it for a while, I did have some reservations about it. I have a long and star-crossed relationship with Peter Molyneux games, beginning with the original Black and White and continuing with Black and White 2 and the first Fable. Prior to their respective releases, I had huge expectations for these games, partly due to Molyneux's own marketing promises, and partly due to the hype propogated by my fellow game journalists. While I enjoyed all of them to differing degrees, I was also disappointed by each of them in different ways. So, while I was sure I would enjoy Fable II, I expected to be disappointed by it
on some level.

After five days of playing it, I can honestly say I've thoroughly enjoyed Fable II with very few downer moments. My only real complaint with the game is the menu system. Some actions require too many repeat trips into the menus, which tend to open a bit slowly. Other than that, the action, story, graphics and music of Fable II are all top notch.

The graphics deserve an extra mention. Walking through the world of Albion is a treat for the eyes at every moment. Aside from the occasional drab cave, the environment is stunning. I love that the game features day/night cycles, I only wish they were longer. An Albion day passes in five real world minutes, which is too short when you are enjoying a particularly beautiful sunset over Bower Lake.

The combat is greatly improved over Fable I, as is the overall story. If you haven't checked out Fable II, you owe to it yourself to play it.

I have other games on the back burner biding their time to get some time in my 360 or PC and I recently got Metal Gear Solid mobile which I've only played long enough to get through the VR training. I will have an update, and full review posted in the next couple weeks for MGS mobile.

Enjoy the warm weather and keep on gaming!

The Last Remnant PC review

By Tiberius Jonez

Final Fantasy; unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past ten years, you know it is widely considered the crown jewel of Japanese style role playing franchises. Personally, I never really enjoyed it until the release of Final Fantasy Crisis Core for the PSP. I always found the stories utterly clichéd, the combat tedious, and the graphics to be less than stellar, except for the cut scenes. And I’ve never personally understood the Japanese penchant for creating male heroes that look like 12 year old girls. Never mind the endless grinding and random encounters.

So, imagine my apprehension when I read that The Last Remnant, the latest attempt by Microsoft (the game first appeared on the Xbox 360) to tap the Japanese RPG market, was created by Final Fantasy developer Square Enix.

The Last Remnant makes a very good first impression; the opening cut scene is dramatic and full of excellent eye candy. In this scene, we witness the kidnapping of our hero, Rush Sykes’ sister, Irina. Of course, the kidnapping is just the tip of the iceberg of a much broader reaching political intrigue in which our hero will eventually find himself deeply embroiled.

The story is alright. Though it never quite reaches the level of fine literature, it does have some dramatic moments, some touching moments and the occasional plot twist that might actually surprise you.

My favorite part of the game is the combat. The Last Remnant's battle system is unique, though it will likely be several hours before you truly appreciate its intricacies. Rather than controlling individual party members during combat, you recruit leaders and soldiers, and group them together into unions. Although each unit has his or her own stats, equipment, and arts (the game's versions of spells and combat skills), you issue union-wide, turn-based commands on the field. Whereas in most RPGs you choose very specific actions, such as casting a particular spell or using a particular item, in The Last Remnant you choose broader commands. These may include healing unions that need it; performing mystic arts (though you can see which arts the units will use, you can't micromanage them on a unit-by-unit basis); or summoning Rush's awe-inspiring, beautifully designed Cyclops to assist in battle. It should be noted that the combat feels most comfortable with a gamepad, especially an Xbox 360 controller. While the combat is certainly functional with a mouse and keyboard setup, it is clear the system was designed for a gamepad.

Another thing I could never quite get used to, and one that is common to JRPGs is how, even though you are traveling with a large group of people, you only ever see your own character while exploring the world. Your allies are only apparent when engaged in battle. You've just completed this epic battle, and a split second after it ends, here you are all by yourself. I find this design choice to be slightly jarring.

The battle system is quite deep, and the graphical effects and animations are all very well done, and never become boring. The same can’t be said for the repetitious one-liners that Rush utters before each encounter. After a while, I desperately wished for a way to shut him up and just start the next encounter.




The world presented in the game is stunning to look at, and considerably larger than that found in the Xbox 360 version. While you will travel through many varied types of terrain, they all feel connected and reasonable within the game’s “reality”. There is the occasional texture pop-in, but overall the game's visuals are vastly improved over its Xbox 360 counterpart. Frame rate drops are very rare. One problem, and this is nitpicking, is the animations of some of the characters during in-game conversations. Some of the body language is just plain strange. It’s hard to explain, but you’ll know it when you see it. It’s not enough to detract from the overall enjoyment of the game, but it does occasionally end the suspension of disbelief that is the hallmark of any great game, film, or book. I do have to consider it a slight hit to the game’s otherwise excellent presentation.

The Last Remnant is a very long game, even if you don’t choose to explore every side quest and nook and cranny. Thankfully, the music is excellent throughout. Every area of the world has its own theme, and the music in battle is always rousing and never gets stale. The voice acting is generally very good, but there are occasional awkward moments.

Overall, the technical improvements Square Enix made to the PC version of The Last Remnant render it far superior to its Xbox 360 cousin, and make it one of the most enjoyable RPG games around, and one that any fan of the genre should make a point to experience.

Presentation (8)
Graphics (9)
Sound (10)
Gameplay (9)
Lasting Appeal (7)
Overall 8.6