The Last Remnant Remastered

We’d give this one a very light recommendation; if you’re an RPG nut and you have the mettle to get through the more frustrating entries of the genre, this is the game for you. If not, we’d recommend you take a pass

Born of experimentation and a combat system quite unlike anything else from its time, The Last Remnant Remastered takes all of the PC enhancements and balance changes that were never previously available on console and adds in a few graphical filters to appeal to another generation of console players.

The Last Remnant Remastered brings back a game from the previous decade with its positive points, such as its excellent combat system and soundtrack but also some flaws of its days such as a rather lifeless world and a bland plot. Nevertheless The Last Remnant Remastered for the Nintendo Switch is an interesting work and worth picking up by its original players and newcomers to the game.

Those that stick with it long enough, and put in the unusually big effort required to truly grasp all its ins and outs, will find a good JRPG story a few hours in, just one with hit and miss production values.

The Last Remnant Remastered is an overall good experience, provided you have the patience to leave the game to read up on things that would normally be included in-game in a more modern gaming experience, or in an in-game guide or manual in the past.

The Last Remnant is a fascinating and frustrating experience. Beneath a fundamentally mediocre game are a lot of interesting ideas. The story is epic and interesting, but only in parts. The battle system is wholly unique and feels massive in scope. Except you have to play the game for hours and hours before it becomes any fun. The Switch is full of quality RPG ports at the moment, and there are plenty more coming. The Last Remnant is not one of them.

From a technical point of view, the work done in this Switch version of The Last Remnant Remastered is remarkable : the visuals are stunning, even on portable mode. Alas, the intricacy of the combat system and the world design in general, inherent in the game itself, are not very engaging.

WORTH CONSIDERING - The Last Remnant Remastered is available now for the Nintendo Switch. It’s not a particularly good game but there are a few good ideas throughout, albeit far and few between. With so many other great JRPGs available on the Switch it’s hard to justify why anyone would want this game over any others.

Ultimately, even if everything else were great, and the combat system worked exactly like they wanted, the game would still feel unfair. And in a 100+ hour JRPG, that constant grinding unfairness will poison any joy a game can create. There are times where I enjoy playing it, but always know a kick in the teeth is lurking around the corner.

The Last Remnant is an interesting experiment in expanding the traditional turn-based battle system, but there are enough annoyances in that system and weaknesses in its setting and characters to keep this from reaching the heights it's clearly reaching for.