*NEW* Last Story Information + Character Concept Art

Source IGN

"March 25, 2010 - The development blog for The Last Story has thus far focused on the world of the upcoming RPG epic from Mistwalker and Nintendo. Today's post gave us a first glimpse at the characters.

Not a specific character, though. Central to the storyline for The Last Story are two groups of soldiers: knights and mercenaries. Knights are high ranking members of society, looked up to by all as symbols of authority and justice. Mercenaries, on the other hand, are looked down upon as "disposable units" who wander around like vagabonds in search of work on the battlefield.

The main characters of The Last Story are of the mercenary type, the blog reveals. This appears to be a sad setting, as mercenaries are said to know the sadness of seeing their villages burned down, their possessions taken, and their loved ones lost.

As always, the blog post was accompanied by concept art. Have a first look at The Last Story's character designs"

So what did we learn:

- There are 2 types of military groups. Knights and Mercenaries

- The main characters are from the Mercenaries group

- Knights are highly respected

- Mercenaries are thought as "disposable units" and looked down upon by the people

- Mercenaries have tragic past such as seeing their villages burned, their properties stolen and their loved ones being killed!

- Mercenaries wonder around looking for work in battlefields

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What we already knew :

- The story takes place on Ruri island

- The island is in a strategic location and thus a place of great power and wealth

- The island is governed by Count Arganon who has great ambitions

- The main city in Ruri City which is like an expansive maze with only a few dead ends.

- You will propably get lost in the city if you wonder for a while

- The designers visited small towns in France and Italy to take ideas on how to make the cities more convincing

- The developers are trying to remove the sci-fi elements of the game for a more natural feel

- Made by the father of Final Fantasy series Hironobu Sakaguchi

- Its an RPG

More concept art:

I like where this game is going already but a gameplay trailer will really show how good it will be!

I would love a great rpg for the Wii, and this looks good so far.

Mercenaries have tragic past such as seeing their villages burned, their properties stolen and their loved ones being killed!

- Mercenaries wonder around looking for work in battlefields professor64

This makes me think of Kaim from Lost Odyssey.

Sounds like it has potential so far. Kind of wish you could play as a knight though. Perhaps we will see a main character go from being a mercenary to a knight in a manner reminiscent of Cecil from Final Fantasy II (IV).

I want this!

I don't really care for the graphics -- I keep expecting to see Papa Smurf pop out somewhere. I also wish there was some form of magic.

Perhaps we will see a main character go from being a mercenary to a knight in a manner reminiscent of Cecil from Final Fantasy II (IV).

Euaggelistes

Cecil did not go from a mercinary to a knight. Dark Kight to Paladin...just saying.;)

I don't really care for the graphics -- I keep expecting to see Papa Smurf pop out somewhere. I also wish there was some form of magic.

psychobrew

I don't really care for the graphics -- I keep expecting to see Papa Smurf pop out somewhere.

psychobrew

I don't see any form of resemblance between the smurf universe, and Last Story.

sounds really generic... garrett_duffman

[QUOTE="garrett_duffman"]sounds really generic... Professor64

Nice! This is looking more and more like a cross between Final Fantasy and Chrono Trigger combined. 0.0

Really excited about this game! I'll definitely be buying day 1. I hope for the best! While Blue Dragon wasn't quite as good as I wanted, Lost Odyssey is one heck of a game.

[QUOTE="Professor64"][QUOTE="garrett_duffman"]sounds really generic... garrett_duffman

[QUOTE="Euaggelistes"]

Perhaps we will see a main character go from being a mercenary to a knight in a manner reminiscent of Cecil from Final Fantasy II (IV).

chefstubbies

Cecil did not go from a mercinary to a knight. Dark Kight to Paladin...just saying.;)

Haha! I said "in a manner reminiscent" not "exactly like"! :P

Any RPG is welcomed in my book.

Now I really want thios game. Hopefully it comes out later this year.

[QUOTE="garrett_duffman"][QUOTE="Professor64"] Generic? Let me tell you something! Halo = Humans against aliens Zelda = Bad guys kidnaps princess, Hero saves her Metroid Prime = Humans against aliens Super Mario = Bad Guy kidnaps princess, Hero saves her Call of Duty = Kill people, bomb stuff Medal of Honor = Kill people bomb stuff Burnout = Drive fast to the finish line GT5 = Drive fast to the finish line You see all games of the same genre have the same aim and goal. What sets them apart is what is between which you only learn when you play a game. Story, gameplay, plot twists, character development and graphics. We only know so little for this game and you call it generic? The man who makes it certainly cant be accused of making generic games! So let me hear where your opinion is based on! Professor64

Compared to Xenoblade, this game does sound a bit on the generic side. That's not always a bad thing, and again, when compared to Xenoblade's story.

I'm liking the art already. We need a gameplay screenshot sooner or later.

[QUOTE="Professor64"][QUOTE="garrett_duffman"] ok.. lets look at every JRPG known to man... you belong to the lower of a social class your life is tragic (if it didnt start that way, it will end up that way) wait... thats all the info we have on this game, so... ok, lets go to the art... yep, i've definitely seen this before. IN EVERY OTHER RPG EVER. psychobrew

Compared to Xenoblade, this game does sound a bit on the generic side. That's not always a bad thing, and again, when compared to Xenoblade's story.

ok.. lets look at every JRPG known to man... you belong to the lower of a social class your life is tragic (if it didnt start that way, it will end up that way)garrett_duffman

Tales of the Abyss. The main character is part of nobility and is a selfish ass until he finally learns that he is in fact a selfish ass, at which point he turns his life around.

[QUOTE="garrett_duffman"]ok.. lets look at every JRPG known to man... you belong to the lower of a social class your life is tragic (if it didnt start that way, it will end up that way)GabuEx

Tales of the Abyss. The main character is part of nobility and is a selfish ass until he finally learns that he is in fact a selfish ass, at which point he turns his life around.

Yeah, beat me to it. Granted, that is really a rarity in JRPGs, but still a good example of diversity in the main character's background.

And also, there kinda...has to be tragedy. There always have to be ups and downs in storytelling, and the story is arguably the most important part of a JRPG.

I think you kinda box yourself into a corner when you start saying 'every JRPG does this', because there are a TON of JRPGs out there. NES, SNES, Genesis, PS1, PS2, GBA, DS, current gen consoles, etc. But starting off as a dreg to society and turning into the world's hero is just the essence of progression; you start at level 1 and you're weak and useless; you end up at level 90+ and you're ungodly. Yes it's been done before countless times, but that doesn't mean the formula doesn't work.

As for the concept art, I like the Knight design (granted how creative can you get without getting sci-fi mixed in there?), and some of the island shots reminded me of Tales of Symphonia's opening for some reason.

the main characters

pretty cool

Sounds awesome, hopefully it's as good as Lost Odyssey.

i wonder when a JRPG protagonist will have a weapon other than a sword :PBrunoBRS

[QUOTE="BrunoBRS"]i wonder when a JRPG protagonist will have a weapon other than a sword :Preaver-x

Im really pulling for this one to do well. The Wii could use more "AAA" 3rd party efforts.

[QUOTE="reaver-x"][QUOTE="BrunoBRS"]i wonder when a JRPG protagonist will have a weapon other than a sword :PBrunoBRS

I don't think I've had a feeling about a game like this since "Radiata Stories" for the PS2. I loved how much of a Storybook feeling "Radiata Stories" had and I get the same feeling from this game. I really enjoyed the Battle System in "Radiata Stories" but was hoping for something a little better, so I hope this game fills the needs that Radiata left me. I can't wait to see the first Trailer for this game. If it's as good as I hope it will be, I'm totally gonna get. I hope people trust me when I say there is such a thing as a "Great" JRPG, and "The Last Story" has that kind of feeling. Maybe I'm just being too overly positive, but I think the Wii deserves that kind of game.