Last Rebellion Review

Last Rebellion, NIS America’s latest RPG title developed by Hit-Maker (also responsible for Dragoneer’s Aria and Blade Dancer on the PSP), has just been released on the Playstation 3. Fans of epic RPG’s have a lot to look forward to in the next couple of months with the release of big name titles like Final Fantasy XIII and Resonance of Fate.

With so many wonderful RPG’s to choose from, will Last Rebellion be able to make a name for itself, especially in the shadow of FFXII? Let’s take a look on the HOTs and the NOTs:

HOTs

Art Style
In Last Rebellion, you won’t find the typical cookie cutter CG videos. Instead, these are replaced with still images. Conversations between characters are done in via a two sided conversation showing each character’s portrait. Akaya Kato deserves a lot of credit for a job well done on the art. It looks like it’s done in pastel painting. Very colorful!

Unique Battle System
Last Rebellion’s most shining feature is the creative battle system. It is the traditional turned based combat, but improvements have been made, like the ability to deal massive damage if you hit the correct body parts. When the battle starts, you will have CP (Chain Points) that you have to use to attack your foe’s specific limbs. These points run out every time you target an attack.

Depending on the body parts you hit, visual confirmation is provided and the words “BINGO” are displayed. There are numbers that correspond to each enemy before you confirm your attacks. Attack those enemies in the right order and you will get a major attack bonus.

Stamp Attack is another unique feature in Last Rebellion. When you attack the enemies using the Chain Points (CP), you can strike once again with Stamp Attack. Copying the combination of the attacks you used previously, you will be able to repeat these but this time, combined with powerful magic. As soon as the enemy drops their HP to 0, it doesn’t mean they’re dead. Using Aisha’s SEAL power, you can finish them off, and as for Nine’s, you can absorb the MP of that enemy before SEALING them off. If you don’t SEAL the enemies after a certain amount of time, they will be brought back to life with full HP.

Monsters on Screen
Tired of random encounters? In Last Rebellion, the enemies are on screen. There will be different kinds of monsters you will be facing throughout Nine’s and Aisha’s adventure. You can decide if you want to avoid them or not; the choice is yours. This was a welcome addition and made the pointless, random encounters disappear.

NOT

PS2 Graphics?
If you find yourself feeling a little out of place playing this game, you’re not alone. The graphics are, at best, Playstation 2 quality. In this day and age, that’s simply unacceptable. The environments are bland and repetitive. The enemies are reused over time, only with different colors. The same goes for magic attacks that you use. No animations whatsoever.

Cheesy Voice Overs
NIS America is one of those publishers that usually get good voice actors for their games. With Last Rebellion, don’t expect to be enthralled. I can say that most of the time, you will get a cheesy conversation between characters and it is a major let down.

Feels Dead
As you find yourself exploring in this dungeon crawler RPG, one of the things that will annoy the hell out of you is the atmosphere of the game. With no inspiring background music whatsoever, you will get bored easily and thus making you want to turn off the game. I can’t say for sure that there is a town but there will be people that you can talk to but they all look the same. When engaged in a battle, there is an upbeat music that can be considered as mediocre. At least there’s a tune that we can listen to but overall, the game feels dead and empty. Think of the game’s atmosphere as a ghost town.

Dungeon Crawler… BORING!
Most of the dungeon crawler games that I’ve played are usually boring. With bland environments and repetitive atmosphere, Last Rebellion is no different. As I said previously, the game feels dead and thanks to the dungeon crawler atmosphere the game will let you feel. There is a map on the right hand corner that you can look at. Looking at it will get you interested when you see a place with City on it. Once you get to it, you’ll just find out that it’s another dungeon.

Battles are time consuming / Chests
You’ll spend most of your time in Last Rebellion battling monsters. Just remember when you are in a battle is to be patient. It can take up to thirty minutes to battle just a regular enemy depending on the level. It is also hard to level in this game since if you don’t do any special damage to the enemy, you won’t get any extra EXP. After each battle, you’ll receive certain amount of keys that you can use to open chest. Since there are no shops in this game, you will get your healing items via the Chest that you can find. Remember that you can open these chests as many times as you want as long as you have the certain amount of keys.

VERDICT

With so many RPGs coming out this month and the next, Last Rebellion will be your last resort if you’re looking for a low quality experience. The game is a major let down and it is a big disappointment to me since I was looking forward to this game. There’s something wrong with all almost all aspects of this game and to me, I couldn’t call it an RPG. Do yourself a favor and spend $49.99 towards the purchase price of other RPGs coming out.