Along with the resurrection of the site.. we’ll be bringing back out regular editorial content as well. To kick off our first weekend back I thought I’d get The Analog Gamer back up and running quickly as well. First out of the box I wanted to take the opportunity to highlight a game I’m sure many of the mainstream RPG players have never heard of – Untold.

I’ll let the following interview with one of the game’s creators explain exactly what Untold is but lets just say this is not your normal pen and paper RPG concept. Click through to the jump to read through my interview with Brannon Hollingsworth, Untold’s co-creator and one of the talented folks from The Wandering Men Studios. You can also find out more about Untold itself on its official website.

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Square Enix announced yesterday through a press release that The Last Remnant will be heading to the PC sometime during the Spring of 2009. The RPG will be released in North America and across all PAL territories and includes features not available on the original Xbox 360 version that was released back in November.

Square Enix did not elaborate on whether these extra features are the downloadable content that was released via Xbox Live starting on December 1 or not, so we will just have to wait until they reveal a bit more information about it. Therefore, if PC version of The Last Remnant interests you, be sure to check back with us as information becomes available.

Heading to Xbox Live December 1 is new downloadable content for The Last Remnant.  Some of it will be free for the RPG, and another one will cost 100 Microsoft Points ($1.25) and is expected to be released on December 15.

While this is indeed great news for gamers wanting a bit more game for their buck, only Gold members will be privy to the content the day it hits. Silver members, as usual, get the short end of the stick (except for paid content) and will have to wait until December 8 and 29 to enjoy the same free content.

To avoid any confusion, here are all the gory details:

• Challenge Pack 1

• “Purgatory’s Sins”
  Price: Free
  Release date: Gold Member: December 1
  Silver Member: December 8
  Level up your game with this pack of ultra-challenging guild tasks. Adequate game progression is necessary.

• “The Key of Ancient Ruins”
  Price: Free
  Release date: Gold Member: December 1
  Silver Member: December 8
  Unlock the gates to the Ancient Ruins with this key, and discover what mysteries lie within its crumbling depths.

• “March to War Set”
  Price: 100 MSP
  Release date: Gold Member: December 15
  Silver Member: December 15
  Three special unlockable formations (Scatterswarm, Goblet and Catapult) that will boost your tactical strength during battle.

• Challenge Pack 2

• “The Price of Lies”
  Price: Free
  Release date: Gold Member: December 22
  Silver Member: December 29
  Add this pack of the most difficult guild tasks yet. Adequate game progression is necessary.

To find out more about The Last Remnant, check out our FileFront page, and our previous posts.

Over on IGN, Erik Brudvig and Hilary Goldstein, wrote an editorial titled The Gameplay Mechanic: Fixing Square’s RPG Machine, regarding some issues they have found with Square-Enix’s latest RPGs The Last Remnant and Infinite Undiscovery. In this piece, they also mention ways in which they think that Square Enix can improve upon their staple game format by getting with the times and create more of a western role-playing game (WRPG) instead of continually churning out the same ole hat every time.

The writers take a few missteps right off the bat–one of which is blasting Square for not knowing how to use the Unreal Engine 3 and suggesting that they either “learn to use it or ditch it”. This caught me off guard a bit because while The Last Remnant does indeed use the UR3, Infinite Undiscovery does not. Instead, it uses one developed in-house by the developer of the game Tri-Ace. Anyone, especially a game blogger/journalist would have known this, so it was either an oversight on their part, or they just have no idea what the hell they are talking about. I choose the latter.

Regardless, when I read that part yesterday, it convinced me to just stop reading where I was and dismiss the whole article out of my mind. I had no reason to continue reading it because in my opinion, complaining about something that had no basis in fact was just not worth my time. However, today the folks over at MonsterVine gave me a reason to read the rest of the offending piece over on IGN thanks to their well thought out rebuttal.

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Square Enix announced this morning that their newest RPG, The Last Remnant has shipped for the Xbox 360. Developed by tri Ace, long ago, the world was filled with Remnants – mysterious artifacts from an ancient civilization. But as time passed, the powers of the Remnants began to shift the world’s balance. As the rift widened between those who ruled and those who were ruled over, a new era dawned: one of countless frays brought upon the world by those enslaved by their own lust for power.

Storyline: Rush lives with his sister Irina on secluded Eulam Island, far from the power struggles for Remnants that are occurring back on the mainland. However, this peaceful life is shattered when his sister is suddenly kidnapped by a mysterious group of soldiers right before his eyes. He immediately sets off after them, unaware of the evils of the outside world but determined to find his sister at any cost.

In celebration of the release, Square Enix has sent us two new trailers.  Above, you will notice a trailer showing off a battle sequence in the game, and the posted after the break is called Crookfen which gives you an idea of just how lush the gaming world is in The Last Remnant.

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Square Enix announced this morning that they too will be throwing their hat into the “pre-order and get extras” ring by way of their upcoming tactical-RPG The Last Remnant.

Through select retailers, most notably Amazon and GameStop, gamers who pre-order the Xbox 360 version will receive three special unlockable formations (Scatterswarm, Goblet and Catapult) that will boost your tactical strength during battle. No formal list of which retailers were offering this special deal were listed, so you may want to check with the store where you usually buy your games.

While it is understandable for game companies to want gamers to purchase their games, does offering extra goodies if you pre-order make you want a particular title more than before? Mostly, pre-orders just give those who pre-order an in game item earlier than they would normally get it, thus only really giving gamers bragging rights instead of the loss of something cool. In this case, and in some others, this is an extra item or advantage; therefore, isn’t this unfair to gamers who do not really want the hassle of pre-ordering, yet in the end will miss out on something special if they don’t?

The Last Remnant will be made available on November 20 for the Xbox 360 and the PS3 version is expected to hit sometime in April 2009.

Square Enix announced today that Infinite Undiscovery for the Xbox 360 has shipped to retailers across North America.

The first full-scale, new generation RPG is a collaborative effort with tri-Ace and promises to draw players into a real-time world, woven of countless threads, where their choices will spin untold discoveries. Real-time battles are intertwined with the world map, and players can use the environment to customize gameplay and enjoy a number of play styles.

Infinite Undiscovery is the first of three major RPGs launching simultaneously around the world for Xbox 360 in the coming months. With The Last Remnant and Star Ocean: The Last Hope following on November 20, and in spring 2009 respectively, this is just the beginning of the RPG triple-whammy from Square Enix.

STORY: Deep in a forest, in one of the Order’s prisons, a young boy named Capell was being held captive. His captors called him the “Liberator,” though he had no clue as to what they meant. On the third day of his imprisonment, he was rescued by a spirited young woman named Aya. She was a member of a small band of brave warriors who had gathered under the banner of Sigmund the Liberator to free the world from the iron grip of the Order.  Upon meeting Sigmund, he was surprised to find a man who shared his very face and appearance. This meeting would change Capell’s life forever and shake the foundation of the world itself.

FEATURES:

• Discovery & Impact: The actions you choose to take based upon new discoveries will have a real-time impact on the world
• Situational Battles: Players will be confronted with a variety of dramatic situational battles such as executing a daring escape while a gigantic ogre follows in hot pursuit, or waging battle amidst towering tsunamis. The dynamic environments change and respond in real time, creating an entirely new experience never before seen in the genre
• A Seamless World and Real-time Action: Combat, exploration and other actions all take place within the same environment, seamlessly shifting between each game facet. Battles are carried out in real-time, bringing the vibrant fighting sequences of the STAR OCEAN series out of the traditional battle screen into a beautiful and lush environment
• Connect Ability System: 17 characters join the hero, Capell, with unique Connect Ability actions that allow the player to tap into their abilities and take direct control

In Requiem: Bloodymare, Possession Beasts are powerful beings that can take the most horrific of monsters and make it beg for its life… while it has a mouth, that is.

Remnants of an ancient tribe, the Possession Beasts are rare and powerful creatures. Born from sealed relics, the Beasts are the lasting heritage of the Khun, a human-beast hybrid tribe from southeast Parness. Taming the beast sealed within the relics, Temperions can summon forth the great power of these beasts. With the brawling Giont and the intelligent Rebria, Temperions can temporarily enhance their own fighting abilities with the beast’s skills. Most fighters prefer the Giont’s skill, feeling their own strength and power swell into crushing blows. The caster classes stay more towards Rebria, preferring to use their wits to freeze enemies at a distance. As more of Ethergia is explored, who knows what other beast relics lay in wait, patiently waiting for a new owner to tame them and bring them to bear against their foes.

Starting on level 23, players can take the Forgotten Relics quest and obtain their first Possession Beast at the end of the quest-chain. Another way to obtain a Possession Beast is by hunting monsters of level 40 and above. Once a player’s Hardcore Gauge is full, he or she can call upon their Possession Beast (just like they would activate a skill) and use it inflict maximum damage on their enemies.

More information on Possession Beasts Giont and Rebria is posted after the break. They don’t come out that often, so when they do, it’s always a fun time. For more information on this Mature MMO, check out our previous posts on the game.

You can also check out some screens of them in action by clicking here.
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The E3 trailer for The Last Remnant was abscent from our inboxes last week, but Square Enix have finally released the trailer from E3 and I have posted it above for your viewing pleasure.

The Last Remnant will be the first game from Square Enix that utilizes the Unreal Engine and is scheduled for a simultaneous worldwide release on November 21st for the Xbox 360 and will eventually land on the PS3, and Windows PCs.

The trailer below was also released at E3, and it is bascially an expansion of the above trailer with more clips of battle sequences and cutscenes.

The Last Remnant is expected to be released sometime this Winter for the Xbox 360 and like other RPGS Star Ocean: The Last Hope and Infinite Undiscovery, it is also being developed by tri Ace for Square Enix.

Long ago, the world was filled with Remnants – mysterious artifacts from an ancient civilization. But as time passed, the powers of the Remnants began to shift the world’s balance. As the rift widened between those who ruled and those who were ruled over, a new era dawned: one of countless frays brought upon the world by those enslaved by their own lust for power. A thousand years later, the journey of one young man begins…

Imagine a vast, war-torn battlefield, scarred by years of conflict where countless enemies surround the player, who is backed up by his own army. Threatened by numerous foes and saved in the nick of time by allies, players will feel the true tension of a soldier on the battlefield. The Last Remnant features a battle system has been carefully crafted to deliver a brand-new experience for gamers, as they control forces in massive battles between up to seventy different units at once.

PS3 owners will also be able to get in on this upcoming RPG, but a tentative release schedule has yet to be announced. For more E3 screens hit this link.