THE LAST REMNANT Remastered for iPhone

The Last Remnant goes mobile

More than a decade after its first release, Square Enix brings back The Last Remnant to the gaming world—this time, entering the mobile platform. The Last Remnant Remastered mobile version will give you the classic role-playing game with heavy graphical improvements. The game also offers a wide variety of characters and maps that you can explore. However, if you are looking for any significant change from its original version, you will be disappointed. The game remains to be a brutal JRPG with confusing design decisions that drove its previous players away.

Still the same story

The Last Remnant Remastered follows the story of Rush, the protagonist, who pretty much keeps rushing into battles. He and his sister live a quiet life despite their parents working as important scientists in the city. The story begins when their parents call for them to live in the city, and her sister got abducted by the evil antagonist.

From here, Rush embarks on a stereotypically epic quest where he needs to gather allies, collect and upgrade his weapons, and gain strength. He will also need to take on menial side-quests to save his sister. All in all, he basically needs to go through the usual JRPG motions.

As far as the story goes, The Last Remnant Remastered features a wealth of clichés and predictable plot points. Its writing and characterization are all over the place. To cap it off, the game also has a hit-or-miss voice-acting that sometimes causes the story to go awry.

Battle system unlike any other

The story of The Last Remnant Remastered is basically a ho-hum. However, the same cannot be said to its battle system. If there’s one thing great about the game is its SRPG-like battle system. Unlike other JRPGs where you can only control a small party of three or four characters, the game places you in charge of potentially dozens at a time.

The battles are still turn-based but the game emphasizes more on positioning and placement. Where you place your troop will greatly affect the result of the battle. If you are not careful with how you direct your units, the enemies will have an easy time crushing your morale—and in turn, your party members. 

The Last Remnant Remastered also allows you to get support from allies in the distance when you've found yourself in a deadlock. If your team is low on health, you can also get help. Speaking of deadlock, if you are not familiar with it, there is a tutorial that can brief you. But, here enters another problem: the way the battles play out is not that clear. The game uses esoteric terms that are confusing to anyone who skips the tutorial windows.

A mix of good and bad

The Last Remnant Remastered comes with a great battle system that hardcore players will certainly enjoy. However, outside the battle, the game can be pretty uninspiring. There is no real overworld. Instead, you get a world map where you can select dungeons or towns. Towns are segmented and need a load screen between them. Moreover, they don’t look that great. The game is originally an Xbox 360 game, but it looks as bad as Final Fantasy XII, which is just as underwhelming.

But on a happier note, fans of the game will be glad to know that the remaster is much smoother in both the framerate and the loading screens. Moreover, it gives you the option to double the battle speed. Don’t be too happy about this, though, as it can work as a double-edged sword. It can be amazing when grinding through levels but disastrous for the QTE segments.

Finally, before you decide to download The Last Remnant Remastered on your phone, you need to note that it requires large memory space—approximately 6.1GB. And due to its large size, the download takes ages to complete.

Conclusion

Overall, The Last Remnant Remastered is the best bad RPG out there. It has plenty of interesting ideas, sure. The Union battle system and character progression are commendable. But all of it is mired in obscurity and confusion that it doesn't much have of an impact. If you are an RPG fan and you have the resolve to go through frustrating entries of the genre, then you can give this game a try. But if not, then you can look for another game.