The Last Story - latest information from Iwata Asks feature

The following information comes from Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata, Mistwalker CEO Hironobu Sakaguchi, and AQ Interactive’s Takuya Matsumoto…

- Sakaguchi and Matsumoto believe the game offers a lot of freedom when approaching situations
- event scenes don’t have a fixed camera.
- freely control the camera to a certain extent
- this was done on purpose for those that watch recorded play-sessions via video sharing sites, which the dev team is hoping will inspire other players to try things a different way
- game features a purposeful hand-held camera effect
- Matsumoto joked that he would keep the camera continually focused on heroine Kanan
- camera does not force a perspective during speaking scenes
- treasure boxes and drop items are all random
- for online play, you can customize the lines your character says during combat
- dialog customization system originates from the sheer amount of voice in the game
- expect to hear your allies’ voices while on the move and during battle
- prior to a battle, the leader will give advice
- during battle the leader will continually shout out orders
- this also allows you to pick lines of dialog that make no sense when taken out of their context
- Sakaguchi originally had staffers reading the lines of dialog, and wanted to keep those voices for online play. This was later decided against.
- once again, online play features cooperative boss fights and competitive battle royal modes
- both modes allow 6 players
- Sakaguchi feels this offers a different feel from the main story, and he also hopes that people use the arena to show off their clothing.
- battle system has a “chain” system where allies take turns striking an enemy, building up more and more damage
- Matsumoto feels that experiencing this system with actual friends will increase the feeling of affinity.
- ability to use other characters besides the main character when playing online co-op mode
- mages take time to cast their magic
- you may not be able to use other characters during online battle royal
- The Last Story has story as one of its main pillars, as Sakaguchi feels this is important
- Sakaguchi is hoping that the freedom will allow players some replayability
- Sakaguchi feels that a strong story element can reach players of all types
- Sakaguchi also believes that story helps teach the player the gameplay systems and controls
- once a player learns those mechanics, they can better enjoy online play
- Sakaguchi says that the best game is one where you get a second burst of flavor after biting into the gum the first time

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