THE LAST REMNANT (PC) CODE NAME:TLR

SUMMARY

In ancient times, mysterious artefact referred to as Remnants were discovered all over the world. Offering incredible power, they so on came into the hands of the covetous few, and thus was the world delicate equilibrium shatted. The people were divided into those who ruled and those who were ruled over. War was inevitable. Our story begins a thousand years later.

Rush lives with his sister Irina on the secluded Eulam Island, a place far removed from the ceaseless battle for control over the Remnant which rages on the mainland. However, his peaceful life is shattered one day when he witnesses his sister abduction by a mysterious group of soldiers. He immediately sets off after them, ill-prepared for the evils of the outside world but determined to find his sister at any cost.

REVIEW

So, what's new for the PC version? Square Enix has completely eradicated the crippling technical issues that plagued the Xbox 360 version. On the 360 and uninstalled, The Last Remnant suffered from awful slowdown, horrible texture pop in and tiresome loading. During battles that involved more than four or so Unions, the game slowed to a crawl when anything other than a simple sword slice was triggered. Character and environment textures sometimes popped in five seconds after a scene loaded. And the game loaded what felt like every five minutes - before a fight, after a fight, in between cut scenes... all the bloody time.


Another useful addition is the ability to add any number of leaders to your unions. In the 360 version there were limits on the number of leaders you could have in your party, which meant you were forced to fill unions with generic recruits. Not only does being able to fill your force with proper characters make your team tougher, but it helps you engage with proceedings because they all have back stories, personalities and voice over dialogue. And finally, SE claims the character animations have been improved, but I didn't notice any difference. Better is the option to select Japanese or English voice-overs, an addition that's sure to please hardcore JRPG fans.

Ultimately though, the primary complaint we had with The Last Remnant on Xbox 360 rings true of the PC version: The Last Remnant is a stale JRPG with interesting combat and lovely graphics. The PC isn't exactly inundated with JRPGs, so for some it will feel fresh and vibrant. If the only thing that prevented you from picking up the game on 360 was the technical issues, then The Last Remnant on PC is for you. But, as was the case with the 360 version, it's hard to recommend if you're anything but a die-hard SE JRPG fan.

SCREENSHOT

MY RATING : 7 | PRICE : RM10

Good : 7
Gameplay : 7
Graphics : 7
Sound : 7