Earlier this week, we heard how the mobile exclusive Fantasian could potentially be the last project for Final Fantasy creator and Mistwalker Boss, Hironobu Sakaguchi, before he steps back or at least takes a break.
In the same interview with VGC, Sakaguchi was asked if his company would be up for remasters or remakes of games such as The Last Story. While there are admittedly no plans right now, he's personally more attracted to new ideas featuring original stories and worlds.
The Last Story on the Wii has something of a cult following. Once both parts of Fantasian have been released, do you have any interest whatsoever in remastering or remaking it, or even other Mistwalker games like Blue Dragon or Lost Odyssey?
To be perfectly honest, there aren’t any plans for any remakes at the moment. Although they’re called remakes, the amount of effort and resources it would command means the difference is basically nil between [developing] a remake versus a completely new game, and I would personally find myself more attracted to the idea of coming up with another original story or world, or building something new.
Apart from The Last Story, which arrived on the Nintendo Wii locally in 2012, Mistwalker has worked on other projects over the years such as ASH: Archaic Sealed Heat, Blue Dragon Plus, Blue Dragon: Awakened Shadow and Away: Shuffle Dungeon for the Nintendo DS.
As noted in the question above, Xbox 360 exclusives such as Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey were also some of the company's bigger games. Would you like to see any of Mistwalker's older games revived as remasters or remakes, even if there is a slim chance of it happening? Leave a comment down below.
[source videogameschronicle.com]
Comments 69
That’s fair, for a lot of smaller devs it just isn’t feasible or very interesting to remaster older games as the possibility of outsourcing it is a lot slimmer.
I can respect that approach. If you give me the choice between a remake of a game that I like or a brand new experience that looks interesting then I'll take the new experience every time.
What we need is Microsoft or Nintendo to pay another studio to bring them to modern platforms. Or in The Last Story's case at least make it available for download.
Glad I already own it physically, then, since a port is extremely unlikely.
Aw, it's a little sad with this one because there are some online components that I never even got the chance to try, since I only got around to playing The Last Story last year.
The character models could also really benefit from a Xenoblade Definitive Edition-style makeover, too.
Though I guess it's perfectly fine that there's no remaster, since the Wii original is still great.
Booooooooooo
That's a fair and very understandable reply.
Honestly I really enjoyed Last Story, but personally I'm not sure if I would even be interested about a remaster or remake.
...but what about a spiritual successor? Last Story included, they got some pretty good/great IPs there that are just begging to get more entries! I hope they'll consider that eventually.
I never got a chance to play Last Story, and I no longer have a Wii. They don’t have do a remaster but a straight port would be nice.
First of all, VGC's question itself was just bad. Why a remake or a remaster? He should have just asked about a basic port. Hell, Super Mario Galaxy is not even a port, it just runs on Switch via an emulator and it still looks and runs smoothly.
On the other hand he says something about "another original story or world, or building something new". He has not developed anything good since The Last Story so to speak. The Terra Battle games were just average games for mobile phones and Fantasian looks like another generic mobile JRPG. He also said Fantasian may have been his last game. With this being said, I really do not see any reason why a port of The Last Story for Switch should be a problem for him.
This is something I'll never understand, why not entrust a remaster to a port specialist. Some studios have done awesome jobs remastering games, and a simple crowdfunding campaign (not on Kickstarter because it sucks) would probably convince any dev to remaster the last story.
I'm going to hold my copy very close, then. I have it on the off chance it becomes way too expensive by the time I actually want to play it.
Last Story and Pandora's Tower were cool games
I would love to play Lost Odyssey, it's one of those games I had to "give up" when choosing the Nintendo Wii path.
This rpg is 4 discs long, it would take me forever to finish.
Fair enough to that. I would have taken either approach. Those named remakes or new experiences of equivalent quality that I would like
This is where lack of backwards compatibility or access to digital versions of older software with Nintendo shows.
Both Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey are readily available on Xbox but you can't even Download games like The Last Story from the Eshop. That's the problem with making every console control unique and being reliant on gimmicks I suppose.
@BlackenedHalo
I agree, the whole remake idea is way overdone in my opinion. There's no way that a straight port of the original games (or even an emulation) would take just as much resources as building something brand new. Add too many bells and whistles and the Switch would struggle with it anyway; and if you're catering to nostalgia then why not go the whole hog and give these games to us in all their old-school glory?
Aw, crap. I really enjoyed playing through The Last Story nearly a decade ago (has it really been that long? Jeez), and at the time, I thought the graphics were among the best on the Wii. But hot dang, they have not aged that well: it's all very blurry and somehow grainy at the same time. It would REALLY benefit from a remake or remaster, not only for cosmetic touch ups, but to also broaden its audience.
TLS was a superb game that I felt like got a tad neglected in the shadow of Xenoblade. To be fair, I know it still sold great, but still. You don't see people asking for Zael in Smash (...aside from me). Also, the online multiplayer in TLS was EXTREMELY underrated. At the time, I was impressed how well the online infrastructure worked for a Wii game. And it genuinely was blast to play in both free-for-all and co-op. I'd love to see it remastered just to have the online servers back.
But ah well, I suppose. The studio can do whatever it wants, so I'm not going to demand anything either way. I will say though, I really hope they resurrect the series with a sequel of some sort. Maybe that could be a decent compromise to both appease fans, as well as stick to the "new games only" rule. Just bring back a similar online mode TLS had, please Mistwalker. Signed, an Operation Rainfall member.
They should remake The Last Story just so that can be his last game.
Last story 2 then please!
Lost Odyssey 2 please. Or something in that universe. (Kidding...make what you want.)
But that is a fair statement to make. Why break free of the FF chain only to get tied back down by fan demand and your own games? I really feel like a lot of the 80s/90s devs hadn’t intended on getting stuck in sequel land. It pays the bills but especially for games that don’t actually build on each other (FF) it can be a creative yoke.
That is the issue with popular entertainment. The fans think they have some partial ownership to a franchise or the creative team behind it. Let alone executive meddling due to chasing fan dollars/yen/whatever. No one gets to make their own stories unless they have their own studio (but the start up nature comes with its own issues).
I feel like that is part of the reason why Miyamoto-dono has such a gameplay first philosophy. And why all the franchises he had a hand in have a ton of spinoffs.
The Last Story is so underrated. Amazing game, awesome soundtrack, engaging story. Back in the day, I enjoyed it even more than Xenoblade.
At least Microsoft was able to save Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey via the backwards compatibility program on XB1. As rumours grow of Sony shutting down the PS3, PSP and PS Vita stores, the past is disappearing fast.
For anyone who owns an Xbox 360 or One, Lost Oddysey is a great JRPG, often goes on sale for $5US, and is backwards compatible.
Rereleasing their older games would be easy money nowadays, but it's their decision. 🤷🏾♂️
Understandable to want to make something new. It sucks for the Last Story but at least Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey are backwards compatible on Xbox.
Id love to see them resurrect Cry On. It might not be 100 percent "new" but it's a shame it got cancelled and id love to see what it was supposed to be.
Maybe it's because he may have to step back soon that he doesn't want to just redo the old stuff. It's his final years to make new things before the inevitable retirement
Bringing games up to HD at this point is basically just preserving them
A new game with the foundations of The Last Story would be awesome.
As much as I would enjoy replaying this with improved graphics I respect and appreciate his desire to focus on new projects
Not gonna lie, leaving Lost Odyssey to rot on the 360 should be a punishable crime.
That said, they haven't done anything new (besides mobile drivel) for a decade now.
@Einherjar It works on the series x, it's not really rotting.
Ah that sucks... I never got to play The Last Story and it looks so good! Prices are pretty crazy on eBay. Oh well.
I suppose Nintendo could very well outsource a port of this to another developer. It was released so late into the Wii's lifespan that I can't imagine it having been terribly successful, along with Pandora's Tower.
A double pack with these two late-life gems would be pretty sweet. I skipped both as I couldn't see myself committing to two lengthy (what appeared to be JRPG-like) experiences that weren't on a handheld. I suppose time will tell.
@eatdogs I was just about to mention Pandora's Tower. I love that game.
It's a shame these great games stay inaccessible to many people maybe some day.
If so, make a new game then. Where is it?
@BenAV Even on Mobile?
@ManInTheChair I wish I could play Lost Odyssey again — it’s legit my favorite game ever; not the best, but my favorite.
You can, it's available on the 360, Xbox One and Xbox X series.
@Crono1973 Nothing looks interesting if it's on mobile.
@doctorhino A game from 14 years ago works on a platform with about 10% the userbase of the PS4...
Call me cynical but yes, yes that's still rotting without seeing the light of day it deserves.
@ManInTheChair They aren't hard to find. You can get one for less that $20 on ebay.
@Einherjar You can play it on the 360, Xbox One and XS. You know what's rotting, many PS3 games because Sony doesn't care about backward compatibility.
Lost Odyssey is a wonderful game
@Einherjar A console war fighter? Man how old are you, xbox exists and a lot of people like it. Get over it.
I loved The Last Story. I sold my copy years ago, but have been nostalgic for it. I would love a port
Its a shame but it does make financial sense. Sure, us connoisseurs know it's a classic but we also know its obscure
@doctorhino Excuse me?
What does that have to do with anything? O.o
I'm going simply by units sold and i even have to correct it down.
The source i looked up talked about ~10mil sold SX units when it's about 3mil at the moment.
The last two XBOX gens (ONE + SX) together moved a little more than the PS4 alone (~130mil against ~115mil)
Even with backwards compatibility, you're looking at a rather small install base for a game that really deserves more than that.
If you want to construe "console war" nonsense out of looking at shipped units and comparing a systems / system families reach, please do so somewhere else and spare me this childish nonsense.
Have a good day...jeez...
That seems like a weird question to ask a company that hasn't touched consoles in almost a decade. They make phone games now. Not even particularly good ones.
@Einherjar all bow down to the ps4 I guess, you sure are big on listing it's sales stats.
I’d love to see Last Story again. Loved it back when it was new... but I’m sure a new game would be even better!
@doctorhino What the heck is your problem?
Again, i was talking about the install base of the two systems.
And, like it or not, that comes with a few numbers attacked.
And said numbers sadly say that the XBOX family of consoles offer the least reach compared to all its competitors, which is sad news for a game that should be able to be played by many many more people.
If you read "console wars" into that...that's your issue my friend.
If you get a kick from misconstruing stuff to start childish internet slap fights, i'd recommend getting a Twitter account. It's that sites specialty but *please" pester someone else with it.
Really enjoyed The Last Story, it's one of my favourite Wii games. Shame it's not getting a remaster but I'd prefer a completely new game over the remaster.
Lost Odyssey was one of the best free games I got from Microsoft Rewards when they used to do that. Loved every minute of it. Blue Dragon didn’t land as well for me and I don’t think I ever finished it.
Last Story was one of those games I missed in the Wii era that I couldn’t justify the inflated price for that I always found it at. Too many other games that I could play that stretched my dollars further. Maybe one day, or not...
Im sure Xbox would line up the funds if mistwalker ever wants to return to traditional game space. They have a very friendly relation with Sakaguchi.
@Einherjar it was a strange gambit by Microsoft all around. I think they were trying hard to get some sort of base in Japan with those games (and a few others like them), and failed hard. Everyone already interested in jRPGs knew to go to PlayStation for them since the PS2 era. I remember having serious pain when I went to GameCube for the lack for that style game, and 360 had decent western RPGs but was a pretty empty place for jRPGs.
With the crapfest that was FF: the corridor walking simulator, Lost Odyssey was amazing. It is a shame that the majority of the target audience probably never experienced it and the majority that could didn’t care because it wasn’t Skyrim or a FPS. Hence why Microsoft eventually gave it away as a reward for searching the web with Bing.
@Darknyht Another big factor was that the 360 both had a 1 year head start, was the far far cheaper system to get and still used tried and true DVD's, which lessened production costs.
It took the PS3 quite some time to get into gear after launch as well (hence the meme PS3 has no games).
Many companies simply released on 360 because at the time, PS3 simply had no install base.
And i wouldn't call the (early) 360 an empty place for JRPG's at all:
Lost Odyssey
Blue Dragon
Infinite Undiscovery
Star Ocean: The Last Hope
The Last Remnant
Eternal Sonata
Tales of Vesperia
Many of them later ported over to the PS3. Imo a pretty nifty, solid and varied line up overall.
Good, I'm sick of this endless stream of remakes. If I want to play The Last Story I'll pick up a copy for the Wii.
Just give me new games and innovation.
Lost Odyssey was one of the last great JRPGs in the tradition of a classic Final Fantasy title. It is my favorite RPG from that generation of games. Too bad the company seemingly disappeared from console game development not long after.
I think that’s completely lame. I’d love to play them remastered on Switch.
This is the worst take a developer could possibly have. The Last Story is a game that DESERVES to be remastered, remade, or just plain released on Switch. It's ridiculous that a whole team of people can devote years of their life to a project just to later say, "We're not interested in revisiting that again". This is exactly why Sakaguchi has had such a difficult time finding a hit since.
@dBackLash Your opinion is bad.
I'm sure they could talk to a publisher about getting the means to get another studio to remake/remaster it for them?
It really is a lot of work but it's sad to see it be left to memory and those few with the spare funds to buy the crazily priced second hand copies.
@eatdogs we need a new Operation Rainfall (oprainfall) to bring remakes or remasters of last story and pandora's tower. We already got Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition
@Chamver sure, have fun playing the same games over and over for the rest of your life
Good thing Nintendo owns the IP then, huh?
The team has been customized to mobile development since TLS, anyway. I would bet on them doing the series good at this point in their lives.
One of the best JRPG games I've ever played! Love the story and the characters and I just found it fantastic! You could tell they were pushing the Wii harder than any game before it with the number of lighting effects, complex models, physics and texture quality. Though now it looks muddy and I'm sure Nintendo could do an HD remaster!
To me games like Losy Odyssey and Last Story show what direction Final Fantasy could have gone in if Sakaguchi was still in charge at Square Enix. Though I'm just happy these games exist at all and while I dislike FFXIII a lot I do like the direction Final Fantasy is going with FFVIIR, and what FFXVI is doing. And also, we have the Bravely Default games continuing the classic Final Fantasy design sense so ... all good
The Last Story got missed by many, I'd love to see it re-released or get a sequel.
@dBackLash Way old comment/article, but that's exactly what a gamer does; do you not have a healthy catalog of games you always go back to because they're just that great? And since you're here, I can only assume you do since you're a gamer, so wouldn't you also want a more updated version of said games to be easier to play on current hardware? If you said no to any of that then I can't understand why you'd be on this website in any capacity other than to troll.
Fun fact, I found this article while searching for Mistwalker contact info. The big "trilogy" (Blue Dragon, Lost Odyssey, and The Last Story) definitely needs to be remade for modern hardware so these amazing stories aren't lost to time. Owning anything Xbox related is cringeworthy at best, especially when 2 of those games were at the top of the list for "very few reasons to own an Xbox", and the other is on the defunct Wii/Wii U. Modern audiences would find a much deeper appreciation for these 3 games than they garnered back then, especially when moved from the Xbox crowd to real gamers.
@RobynAlecksys I rarely ever replay a game. I enjoy the story/singleplayer mode but once I'm through it I'm done with the game and move on to something new.
The few times I did try to replay a great game I just get bored real quick because I know what's coming next.
There are lots of "gamers" who enjoy playing their games in different ways. Even xbox owners are real "gamers". Stop the toxicity and just go back to enjoying your own games.
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