So recently i got around to finishing my first playthrough on The Last Story, after a three week hiatus from playing games thanks to assignments.
So my first main thought about the game is how the story feels so disjointed, for me it wasn't so much an actual overarching narrative in the first part rather a collection of mini stories that the characters happen to have fallen into. One example of this that I can remember clearly was about chapter 20 I was wandering around the hub world and all of a sudden a cut-scene focused on a hooded figure, to cut it short I was then saving a young girl from a cult in an abandoned bar.
There are a few other instances like this, such as Yorick's family history story, that makes me wonder why they weren't just made into fully fledged side quests. Maybe Mistwalker wanted the players to experience some of these instances in order to flesh out the stories and the characters but I felt that it clouded the overall narrative of the piece.
Also while I enjoy the gameplay systems that the game employs I didn't feel like there were enough strategic moments present throughout the game that really pushed me to use tactics, bar the odd boss fights. Too many encounters I dealt with by just going full force on attack. As usual with squad mates in rpg's the ai is completely bloody useless at changing to suit the battle field.
The characters overall I thought were bland and generic, the voice work mostly felt flat to me with Syrenne being my favourite voice actor, I don't know if it was just her actual talents or the use of a Mancunian accent that made my day. But compared to Xenoblade chronicles pretty disappointing.
I've been listening to the soundtrack for a while now and the standout tracks are Toberumono and the battle theme music Chitsujo to Konton to. The main theme was pretty forgettable for me.
In the end I understand that it isn't truly fair to judge the two games side by side but for my money Xenoblade is probably the better game. Not to say that the game isn't good but put between the two and I know which I would choose everytime.
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