If you have been reading my blog, you might notice that I am in the process of playing The Last Remnant. About 5 hours in to the game and I can safely say this has been one of my most un-enjoyable RPG"s in recent memory. I am not sure if it was fan-hype or Square-enix hype that put this game in the public eye, or maybe it was the worldwide relase, but no matter the cause of it's hype, the game fails on almost every facet to deliver.

If there is one element in gaming these days that I have come to loath, it's linearity. Now I don't mind it in older games, and I don't mind it when it is well executed. But in The Last Remnant, it is more or less a crutch the game leans on. For example, after leaving the first city in an angsty-rage (how original) you travel to the next city. With no clue what you are supposed to do next, you walk around aimlessly until you find a quest giver with a red speaking box over his head. Don't even let me begin how hard it is to find this quest giver to begin with, but anyway, you go to the pub, take his orders and then it's off to the battle location. After completing his quest, he mentions that you should go back to the castle, so I go back to the first town and attempt to enter the castle. No dice, I try again. Nada. I try reloading the game. Nothing. I consulted a guide online, and nothing. After a good half-hour I go back to the second town and realize that I had to speak to a specific guard who will then trigger the event allowing me back to the castle.

Lame. The game couldn't fathom the idea of a player possibly breaking the line of events, or maybe even having a mind of their own. This is just an archaic design element that in 1995 would have been okay, but today its just cumbersome.  I understand having a chain of events, but making it so strict is just infuriating, especially when the game offers no hints as you wander aimlessly.

So far, this game has been horrendous and I've tried so hard to give it the benefit of the doubt. I'm done now.