The Last Story

The Last Story is a JRPG from studio Mistwalker, founded by Hironobu Sakaguchi, creator of the original Final Fantasy series, with music composed by his longtime collaborator Nobuo Uematsu. It arrived on Wii toward the end of the console's life cycle and, together with Xenoblade Chronicles and Pandora's Tower, formed a trio of genre flagship titles that helped Wii maintain its reputation as a platform for excellent Japanese RPGs even late in its lifespan.

The story follows mercenary Zael and his companions as they fight to rise to a better social standing on the island of Lazulis. The combat system abandons turn-based battles in favor of action-oriented, real-time combat with cover behind obstacles, targeting, and team cooperation, where the leader can issue orders to allies. A distinctive mechanic called "Gathering" lets the main hero draw enemy attention to himself, allowing his allies to attack from the flank, while the camera dynamically zooms in and out during battles depending on the situation, giving the fights a cinematic dynamism unusual for RPGs of the time.

The game released in Japan in 2011 and reached Europe and North America a year later, where JRPG fans received it as a fitting farewell for Wii to the genre. Sakaguchi's signature style is evident in the emphasis on characters, their relationships, and dialogue full of dark humor, not just the combat system, and the game is still valued today as one of the most distinctive Japanese RPGs of its generation, helped in no small part by its quality English localization, which earned separate praise from critics. Why play it: Because it's one of the last and most ambitious JRPGs Wii ever received.