The Last Remnant

The Last Remnant (ラストレムナント, Rasuto Remunanto?) is a role-playing video game developed and published by Square Enix. The game is directed at both Japanese and Western audiences and had a simultaneous release in Japan, North America and Europe, on November 20, 2008 for the Xbox 360. It was released worldwide for Microsoft Windows in late March and received an international release through digital retailer Steam on April 9, 2009. A PlayStation 3 version was originally announced, but was never released. The game is set in a fictional world divided into multiple city-states inhabited by four different species and has "Remnants", mysterious and coveted ancient artifacts of varying shapes and sizes which uses magic powers, and a war sparked by its creator The Conqueror, and the search by Rush Sykes for his sister. It features a unique battle system in which the player command multiple groups, or "unions", of characters rather than individual units.

The game was directed by Hiroshi Takai and was the first game developed by Square Enix to use the Unreal Engine 3. It was intended by Square Enix president Yoichi Wada to "become a cornerstone for worldwide strategy". Art direction was overseen by chief artist Kimihiko Miyamae and art producer Yusuke Naora. The game's soundtrack was composed by Tsuyoshi Sekito with assistance by Yasuhiro Yamanaka. It was later released as a three-disc album. The design and dialogue of the game were created to appeal to international players as well as Japanese players, and the motion capture for the main characters, including the lip-syncing, was done with Western, English-speaking actors.

The game received a weak reception by reviewers, though it was better received by Japanese reviewers than by Western ones. A common complaint, especially in the original Xbox 360 release, was of graphical problems including low framerates and "texture pop-in" where higher resolution textures would suddenly replace lower ones several seconds after a scene had started. Other issues included complaints about the game's storyline and battle system, though these were not as universal. The Last Remnant received praises for its art direction and music, and several review sites gave higher scores to the PC version of the game than the 360 version.

As of February 2013, the PlayStation 3 version is still listed with a "To Be Announced" release date on Square Enix's official Japanese website.

Read more about The Last Remnant:  Gameplay, Development, Music, Reception

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