The Last Remnant receives 'platinum' score from Famitsu

by Randy Nelson { Nov 12th 2008 at 3:45PM }

If the Unreal-powered RPG sits as well with gamers as it did with reviewers at Japan's Famitsu, The Last Remnant will be the first of more, er, remnants to come. According to a post on NeoGAF, the magazine's four-person Cross Review team lauded Square Enix's Western-focused title, scoring it 10/10/9/9 (38/40) – high enough to earn its Platinum Award.

For comparison, the mag scored Infinite Undiscovery 9/8/8/6 (31/40) – it averaged a 68/100 metascore here in the States. Of course, Famitsu has been known to exhibit some ... questionable taste in the past. Take, for example, its 9/8/9/8 (34/40) score for Ubisoft's Haze.

Tags: famitsu, review-scores, square-enix, the-last-remnant

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Mynx @ Nov 12th 2008 3:50PM

FIRST! Also, I think this games looks epic. I'm probably gonna rent it.

mindshed @ Nov 12th 2008 3:53PM

I am not the first.
Yea this game looks really good.
WTF Re: Haze.

Titanium_Orchid @ Nov 12th 2008 3:53PM

in before people start calling you a douche!

Shmil @ Nov 12th 2008 4:19PM

DOUCHE!

the Brayn @ Nov 12th 2008 3:52PM

FYI

9+8+8+6 =/= 32

Farbod @ Nov 13th 2008 1:41PM

FYI - No it doesnt...

9+8+8+6=31

xFenixKnightx @ Nov 12th 2008 3:54PM

And just like that, the Japanese 360 sales surge back up!

sk8monroe81 @ Nov 12th 2008 3:58PM

and star ocean in early 2009.
MS is keeping this strategy going thru next year also.

Muu @ Nov 12th 2008 4:00PM

It was guaranteed to surge a month ago or so, when they announced the packin with Last Remnant and CD soundtrack.

Mr Khan @ Nov 12th 2008 4:20PM

Surges are how the Japanese market work. You get few "evergreen" titles like you do in the states (though Mario Kart Wii and Wii Fit might buck that trend, as they've been consistent top 20 for some time), and you really see low hardware sales over time, with severe surges based on compelling software, as opposed to America's steady stream, with very rare sharp surges based on software (last i can recall is for Halo 3)

Sinister Rouge @ Nov 12th 2008 7:06PM

The thing is that if 10 more people in Japan bought a 360, that would probably qualify as a "surge".

Vegnagun bwf @ Nov 12th 2008 3:56PM

I've been waiting for a good jrpg, I hope this is it.

sk8monroe81 @ Nov 12th 2008 4:00PM

did u try lost odyssey or infinite undiscovery?

Dr. Stabbingworth @ Nov 12th 2008 4:28PM

Lost Odyssey is pretty good, and it really picks up toward the middle/end of the first disc.

Vegnagun bwf @ Nov 12th 2008 4:44PM

I didn't particularly like Lost Odyssey, and Infinite Undiscovery doesn't look like what I would be interested in.

Lost Odyssey's characters just didn't work for me, and the uncanny valley was too prevalent for me. Most importantly though, the battles were far too long and far too often.

Titanium_Orchid @ Nov 12th 2008 4:55PM

I just took the plastic wrapping off of Valkyria Chronicles.

It smells like play-doh

SoCoolCurt (PSN: KillaKornbread - XBL: SoCoolCurt) @ Nov 12th 2008 6:34PM

dude play Tales of Vesperia. i recently bought a 360 just for the large JRPG offering and bought Blue Dragon and Tales of Vesperia as the first games. i have to tell ya, ToV is the best JRPG ive played in a LONG time. probably has me the most JRPG addicted ive been since Kingdom Hearts 2 came out.

i think this one will be good too.

Superstar90 @ Nov 12th 2008 8:32PM

2 words:
Eternal Sonata

That game is awesome, but pretty short... and pretty easy on the first run. And it's absolutely gorgeous.

Vegnagun bwf @ Nov 12th 2008 10:15PM

I've been playing Tales of Vesperia. I'm 30 hours in and I enjoyed it a lot in the beginning but now it's starting to drag a bit. The character animations and switch between anime and in-game is disorienting for the story. The writing is good and the voice acting is through-the-roof incredible, but I don't feel to attached to the characters. Their animations are just too stiff and their motives are just to uneven.

I've heard mixed reviews of Eternal Sonata. My friend who played it actually said that he hated it, but couldn't stop playing it because of the incredible music and environments. He said the combat was terrible. Bah, I don't know anymore. I used to love JRPGs because I would get really attached to the characters and the stories were often really impressive and original. These days I don't really care for the characters.

Superstar90 @ Nov 13th 2008 10:46AM

The combat system is pretty simplistic, but when you get your party level up then it becomes harder and more strategical.
If you are a diehard JRPG fan, you might be annoyed that you can just spam special moves over and over again without losing MP or anything, but it mixes action and turn-based nicely. You should at least give it a rent, you can finish it pretty quickly and it has fantastic music.
The story is pretty unique, since it takes place in Chopin's final dream and has these little history parts about Chopin's life and music (I find them really interesting). But it kinda drills values into you and has some pretty annoying characters (three 8 year olds!).

Oh and did I mention, it's one of the best looking games ever. If you have a HD TV, you owe it to yourself to watch the special attacks... so amazing!

Dadidito @ Nov 12th 2008 3:56PM

Yeah.. definitely see those hardware numbers jump back up fast.

atrimus @ Nov 12th 2008 3:58PM

*shrugs*

i just can't work up an interest in this game. maybe it'll grow on me in a few weeks, when it releases here in the US. even still, i may just wait for the PS3 version; PS3 games late to the party always seem to get an extra bag of goodies. plus, between Gears 2, Fable 2 and Fallout 3, i have enough to play on my 360 atm.

sk8monroe81 @ Nov 12th 2008 3:59PM

are u speaking of 1 game? bioshock..
because there are many other games that came to ps3 late, with no extras.

atrimus @ Nov 12th 2008 4:04PM

no. i was speaking mainly about what late jrpgs the PS3 has gotten. Enchanted Arms and Eternal Sonata both came with extras on the PS3...Eternal Sonata's extras were actually worth the wait. unlike those games, where the PS3 version wasn't announced until long after the 360 version, Last Remnant was said to come to the PS3 when it was first announced. i'm pretty sure in this case the PS3 version will have extras. if not, then i'll just buy the "cheaper by then" 360 version.

SoCoolCurt (PSN: KillaKornbread - XBL: SoCoolCurt) @ Nov 12th 2008 6:40PM

im likely going to encounter the same predicament your in right now. i just bought enough games to probably hold me over for a good while. i bought a 360 for JRPGs but if the PS3 version is right around the corner by the time im ready to buy it, then i may pick up the PS3 version if it has extras.

atrimus @ Nov 12th 2008 4:00PM

yeah, but with WKC around the corner how long will this third 360 surge last? at this point Level-5 is nearly as loved as Squenix in Japan.

atrimus @ Nov 12th 2008 4:02PM

*sigh*

this was supposed to be a reply to FenixKnight

Hyams @ Nov 12th 2008 4:11PM

All these surges! It's amazing the Japanese haven't all drowned by this point.

But yeah, fair point. I wonder which will move more hardware: White Knight Story or The Last Remnant?

Mr Khan @ Nov 12th 2008 4:17PM

That's actually a hard one, an SE RPG vs a Level 5 RPG

atrimus @ Nov 12th 2008 4:20PM

hard to say. personally i'm waiting more on WKC. Square rpgs haven't really been so impressive since FFX, and Dragon Quest VIII (developed by Level-5) pretty much trumped FFXII both in sales and quality (though in all fairness, the sales part probably didn't have so much to do with Level-5 as it did the title of the game). i see the pendulum swinging in 360's favor for a week or two, then back in PS3's favor with WKC.

seems like this generation, neither the PS3 or the 360 can sustain 30k+ weekly sales in Japan for long, which sucks because both are soundly better than the Wii.

baby sea tuna @ Nov 12th 2008 4:21PM

Preview buzz on White Knight ain't all that great.

Then again, this one doesn't look very revolutionary either. I guess we'll just have to wait and see how both of them turn out...

quartet4 @ Nov 12th 2008 4:22PM

As an added incentive, Amazon is selling pre-orders for $40.

RiccochetJ @ Nov 12th 2008 4:26PM

All due respect, but I would trust their review of an RPG over an FPS. Based on interviews I've read from Japanese devs, FPS's are somewhat of an anomaly over there.

Haggard @ Nov 12th 2008 4:28PM

Oh man, I clicked through to the Haze meta-review. Fun times!

Haggard @ Nov 12th 2008 4:29PM

P.S. copa's gif is still hilarious

http://i30.tinypic.com/2r6fjw8.gif

BLee @ Nov 12th 2008 4:32PM

this game seemed tedious and slow.. I dont know why everyone in the blogs were so high on it, labeling it a must buy/play game.. other rpgs like Star Ocean, Valkyria Chronicles or Fallout3 seem like better choices and more enjoyable..

Someone try and sell me on this game plz..