Last week, Square Enix announced that it was pulling it’s long-misunderstood JRPG The Last Remnant from digital markets and scrapping all of its physical copies. The news came as quite a shock since the last time anybody thought about The Last Remnant was when critics hammered it into oblivion immediately upon release.
Well, we now have a reason for Square Enix’s decision. The Last Remnant Remastered has been announced for a PlayStation 4 release this Dec. 6, and Square Enix is prepped to show it off at Tokyo Game Show along with a stream of the gameplay on Sept. 22.
Along with new gameplay elements and a better screen resolution, Square Enix has confirmed that the game will no longer utlize the Unreal Engine. The Last Remnant notoriously misused the Unreal Engine in its original release, leading to poor performance and screen lag on the Xbox 360 version. The PC port, available for only a limited time on Steam, makes better use of the engine, but it is still not optimal.
If you ask me, this is the chance that The Last Remnant needs to make its stand as a misunderstood JRPG. Not a masterpiece by any means but hardly the garbage most treated it as.
This news comes alongside the announcement of Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Remastered, which was announced for the PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch. Square Enix has a few huge original projects underway, including Final Fantasy VII Remake, Kingdom Hearts III, and the Switch version of Dragon Quest XI.
These remasters seem like an easy way to get some revenue while Square Enix takes a break from major releases. I’m down! I have too many new games on my plate at the moment, and both of these remaster choices are fun, misunderstood gems that didn’t get the love they deserved upon release. With the frame rate of The Last Remnant smoothed out and no need for the Game Boy Advance link for Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles’ multiplayer, maybe the gaming community will give them the love they deserve.
