[PCWorld]

Post your comments for Hands On with Square Enix's The Last Remnant here

[Marlowe]

I've heard form various people that the game runs poorly, or has loading problems or something.. can you speak to these issues?

[mattpeckham]

You bet Marlowe.

For anyone else reading, The Last Remnant is Square Enix's first tango with the Unreal Engine 3, the same engine powering games like Gears of War 2 and Unreal Tournament 3.

That said, it's running fine for me off a hard drive install. It does slow up in spots, especially during some of the in-engine cutscenes (the one where the protagonist's sister is abducted at the beginning stands out in memory here), else it's perfectly playable when you're moving around and diving in or out of battles.

The issue with loads might be related to the fact that there's so much loading all around. Those loads are quick but frequent, since you don't move through fully realized cities or world areas. Instead, you just jog between what I always think of as "area nodes." The upside is that you can navigate maps quickly. The downside is that even the map screen you have to invoke to pick a place to warp to takes a couple seconds to load.

Minor issues for me, really. Unless that changes further along, they wouldn't rise to the level of mentionable in an actual review.

[Marlowe]

Thanks! It doesn't sound much different than loading with Fable 2; installing on the HD may be the way to go.

You've given an interesting impression of the game, even though the game does seem to have some flaws. I think I'll at least rent it, anyway.

[syllvenwood]

game is definalty not for rent. It has a very unique and indepth union system that really sets it apart from any other jrpg. And even nicer is the game is actually very challanging. You ar ehanded nothing in this game you need to fight for each inch. Story is well played out, Much better than how Matt decidedly bastardizes it, if he doesnt like jrpgs he should just say though rather than trashing a game, have some respect for what you do.

[mattpeckham]

Bastardizes? Geez syllvenwood, tell us how you really feel. :)
I gave some first impressions. Share some of yours by all means, but calling mine "bastardizing" is just tetchy mischaracterization.
And what part of "big Square Enix fan" translates as "doesn't like jrpgs"?