1. The Last Story Reveal
Amidst all the lawsuits, game reveals, systems launches, kickstarter projects, controversy, slip-ups, and localization announcements, nothing in 2012 got us at Oprainfall more excited than when Reggie announced the North American localization of Hironobu Sakaguchi’s The Last Story.
If you’ve listened to episode 4 of the Downpour Podcast, you know that some of us followed and joined Oprainfall because we wanted this game – and I’m certain there are more than the four of us that felt that way. Could you really blame us? It was created by the man behind Final Fantasy – and its composer, Nobuo Uematsu. What other new IP held that kind of pedigree?
So, it was on February 22nd, mere days before the end of The Last Story month and another write-in campaign, that Reggie went before the Nintendo fan base and stated that The Last Story would be coming to North America. We have our little publisher that can, XSEED Games, to thank for that.
Sure, what followed was confusion, particularly with the release date, but you can’t blame XSEED for that. Retailers were putting in place holder dates for the game – possibly something to do with keeping the game in the system. But it was still coming. And we still got it.
Now, we all have stories about why we’re here and why we love these games. So to close this article out, I want to tell you my story with The Last Story.
Back in the beginning of 2011, I stumbled upon the Wikipedia page for The Last Story. I saw the pedigree that it had and thought, “Man I hope this comes over.” I never experienced Sakaguchi’s earlier projects before I got my Wii but I thoroughly enjoyed playing the older Final Fantasy games, even the DS remake of Final Fantasy III.
But then, of course, came the revelation that NOA wasn’t going to publish the game. I still held out hope, even signing the Operation Rainfall petition when I learned about it. That hope would eventually pay off that February day. It would of course be tested by the waiting but it never dampened my spirits for the game.
Then came August 13th, the day before the expected release – and four days before it actually released. I was up at night, watching videos, and stumbled across the trailers for The Last Story. I clicked on the character trailer that was made for Europe and started to tear up as I watched it. I had a feeling that this would be the last new game I would ever buy for the first new console I ever bought. Sure, I had other consoles but I got to experience so much with the Wii, from classics I never got to play when I was younger to quirky titles from crazy developers. This was a culmination of the past five years of owning a Wii.
From where I stand, no one could ask for a better title to go out on.
And that, ladies, gentlemen, and those of unspecified gender, is what were the Top Moments of 2012 for Oprainfall. Agree? Disagree? Think we left something out? Leave a comment below and let us know what your top moments were for 2012.
