The Last Remnant: Staff Voice

Square Enix continues its tradition and created a Staff Voice feature in the official website of The Last Remnant.

Currently the company plans four developers to share their views on the Tokyo Game Show 2007 trailer.

Hiroshi Takai, Director

01/04

I'm Hiroshi Takai, director of the Last Remnant.

I hope you all got a chance to check out our movie at TGS 2007, which contained actual gameplay and cutscenes taken from the prologue, along with other exciting event scenes. This is all we can show for now, but we hope we'll have more for you soon.

I'd like to explain a little about the battle system shown in the movie.

The battle system is a "Turn-burst, command-based system using symbol encounters". Although it may sound like it belongs to a generic old-school RPG, once you play the game, you'll realize that it's world apart from typical RPGs, as the game forces the player to constantly come up with new strategies and think on their feet.

As you can tell from watching the movie, although it features a command-based system, this is not your typical RPG battle where both parties directly face each other (except for at the beginning, of course). You won't have to idly sit back and watch while your ally next to you is getting beaten up.

We are striving to create an RPG with new elements that make the players feel like they're playing a game in a completely new genre. We hope you are looking forward to the Last Remnant because it'll definitely be something worth waiting for.

Yusuke Naora, Art producer

02/04

I hope you all enjoyed the TGS movie. I'd like to take this chance to explain how some of these characters were created.

Rush and Irina were the first characters created, but because we were going for a "normal" family that accidentally gets sucked into war, we designed them to be simple and not as flashy as main characters usually are. Unfortunately, these "normal" siblings get sucked into an adventure that is anything but.

David stands at an angle to give off a commanding, authoritative air. Much thought was put into his expressions and facial features. All of the event scenes we chose for the movie portray his true character - a though leader who is always ready for battle.

And then there's the Conqueror. We knew that we wanted him to be dressed all in red - the color of blood -- but it took a lot of time and effort to get his dominating presence just right. We knew we had what we wanted when we created the scene where he punches his fist through a door. He had become the perfect Conqueror, and now he is one of my favorite characters in the story. Just as a side note, I hear there's a rumor going around that he is the "other" playable main character, but this information is not accurate. We apologize for the confusion.

Although only a few of the main characters have been announced, far more appear in the story. They appear in event scenes and even fight in battle, and we hope we can show you some of them very soon.

We are still in the midst of creating the game, but we thank you for your support and your patience.

Tsuyoshi Sekito, Music composer

03/04

Hi, I'm Tsuyoshi Sekito, the composer.

How'd you like the trailer? I'm going to talk a bit about the Last Remnant's music, which I'm in charge of, and the game's sound in general.

For the beginning of the clip, as Irina is kidnapped, I wanted the music to be simple, bringing even more focus to Rush's tortured scream. The music at the middle is meant to evoke the tense feeling of being confronted with countless riddles, while the music leading into the last half is meant to sweep all the away. As for the last song, the first time we played it for the public, it was intended to be the theme of David, marquis of Athlum -- but with a slight chance in orchestration, it has a much more stately feel.

In order to create the game's soundtrack, the Last Remnant sound team has been putting a lot of effort into preproduction. This time around, we've had to create sound effects and music for two different trailers: one for the public events such as the Square Enix Party and TGS, and another for the website. We've taken a slightly different approach to each.

We wanted to maximize the impact of every sound in the TGS trailer, so the music was carefully adjusted so that it wouldn't mask the sound effects. We also used some sound effects not intended to be used in the final game.

The music and sound in the trailer were created to best place the viewer in the world of the Last Remnant -- to really bring across the feel of the game. The sound effects are pretty much what will be in the final game. Now, both versions are in stereo, but the final game will have 5.1-channel surround, so don't worry if the sounds in the current trailer sound a bit placeholder.

An incredible amount of details are necessary to put together dialogue, sound effects, and music to create a cohesive soundtrack. We, the Last Remnant team, are working hard to pull it all together, so look forward to it!

Nobuyuki Ueda, Producer

04/04

There's been a bit of a break between TGS and the new trailer coming up on the website, but I still hope you can enjoy the newest trailers for the Last Remnant.

The new trailer focuses more on the game's story. It only runs for about three minutes, but we tried to pack in as much of the mood of the game as we could into that limited space. I asked the staff to find the most striking scenes from the game so we could give you a taste of what to expect.

Irina, kidnapped by a mysterious man; Rush, enveloped in light; David and his Athlum army; the appearance of a man only known as the Conqueror. While only small peeks from each scene were shown, they are all very important to the story. Also, in separate scene, a new female character appears. I can't get into the details quite yet, but illustrated in the desktop wallpapers, she has a deep relationship with David.

Then, there are Remnants that exist in their world. In addition to the Gae Bolg - the cannon-like Remnant that David control - another Remnant featured in the trailer is the Valeria Heart, the giant sword seen as a symbol of strength to the people of Athlum. A more detailed introduction to Remnants is forthcoming, but for now, just know that the ultimate power that Remnants hold affects the characters featured in the trailers, as well as many other characters who have yet to be introduced. Just how that works out and the extent of that effect is a big part of the story, so keep guessing!

I believe Mr. Takai talked a bit about the battle system, and not to repeat him, but it really is much deeper than the few seconds it received in the movie. Mr. Takai talked about gathering a very selective staff for designing the battle system. Just hold on a little longer - we're certain that you'll enjoy what they come up with.

Our entire team is dedicated to bringing out the deepest RPG experience we can offer in the Last Remnant. We'll present more information soon, so stay tuned!