Last Blade, The

[Discoalucard]

www.hardcoregaming101.net/lastblade/lastblade.htm

Been sitting on this for a while, just wanted to stagger the updates. Should probably be up by the end of the week.

Last Blade is one of those games I feel I should play more of. I've barely touched the first, and spent a good amount of time with the second when it came out for the DC, but since then, it's been sitting on the shelf in favor of King of Fighters or Samurai Shodown 2.

[zzz]

I would highly recommend playing the original more. I consider the sequel to be a good game, but a disapointment after the masterpiece that was the original. The portable game is actualy my second favorite in the series.

[kyouki]

I've been playing the PS2 ports of these games lately and am really enjoying them. I can't say I like them as much as the Samurai Spirits series for some reason. I think part of it is that while the chain combos are cool, they don't really make sense to me considering this is a weapons-based series. The atmosphere is very cool, and the backgrounds are gorgeous, and of course the music is fantastic (both original and arranged).

However, considering the direction the Samurai Spirits games went in, this is a fine successor. I like it a lot more than I like Tenkaichi Kenkyakuden anyway.

[Deleted]

I've been playing the shit out of the LB games lately, each title of which is so rich in syrupy greatness that the fact that it's generally overlooked in favor of KoF and SS is quite the shame. It could be awesome enough if the graphics and sound weren't so aesthetically and aurally pleasurable, but SNK really decided to fill each cranny and nook with detail. Of course, the gameplay itself is just so done well, but this is SNK we're talking about.

Great article for a great series. I'm still hoping for an LB3 meself.

[Shinigami]

One thing I should mention, if the Speed mode is similar to the custom combos in Street Fighter Alpha 3, that would be V-ism, not X-ism.

The burning building in Last Blade 2 always reminds me of the final battle in the Ninja Scroll movie.

[MRSKELETON]

I love The last blade games,
And i love my garou, But TLB outshines it.

[Neo Rasa]

Glad you liked my manual scans. Tonko's artwork is so rad. The whole series is very artistically relevant, it's a shame no one ever really viewed the games on that level upon release since they were just more derivitive 2D fighters to the public. The original is probably one of the best games I've ever played. To me it's flawlessly effective at being so intensely paced while having such a somber atmosphere to it. It's more involving than many RPGs I've played.


I do enjoy how Garou uses the classic Fatal Fury controls (FF2, Special and 3) and evasive techniques, but I love Last Blade's system as well. It feels a little more consistent with regards to what button combinations do what in the actual game. A lot of people don't realize how elegant it is.

You get four slashes across just two buttons. Instead having to hit two buttons at once like in the earlier Samurai Shodown games it's:

Weak === away+A
Light === A
Slash === B
Hard Slash === forward+B

You still have your knockdown blow by hitting B+C. C itself performing various kinds of kicks. It feels more intuitive than Samurai Shodown to me even if I play the SS games more overall. It's a shame more Last Blade games haven't been made to fully refine and perfect what's there. I hope to God the PS2 anthology makes it here once the PS3 comes out.

[zzz]

I am amazed that the ambient field recording effects were not discussed more. Playing with nothing but sword clashes, rain pouring, seagulls squaking, puddles splashing, crickets chirping, crowd noises, shoes stepping on wooden bridges, or whatever, is way more effective than any video game music.

[Deleted]

zzz said:

I am amazed that the ambient field recording effects were not discussed more. Playing with nothing but sword clashes, rain pouring, seagulls squaking, puddles splashing, crickets chirping, crowd noises, shoes stepping on wooden bridges, or whatever, is way more effective than any video game music.

Although I am usually not approving of ambience (King of Fighters 97 and American version of Rushing Beat Shura [a.k.a. The Peace Keepers], I'm looking in your direction), it just fits like a glove in LB.

[Neo Rasa]

Agreed, especially in the original game (Washizuka and Moriya's backgrounds are real standouts here).

[sainttweeter]

I want to like these games, but for some reason I just don't. I just don't know why I don't like these games.

[Neo Rasa]

Nobody's perfect.

[recap]

I don't know whether if the PS2 versions are AES or NGCD ports ("emulations", actually), but they're said to be pretty poor, not just because of the ugly display they used (hi-res instead of true low-res) but also for serious control issues.

And I find a bit unfair judging the DC port of Dai Ni Maku according to its US version. Made by a quite random company, by the way. It's one of the best NG ports ever made, actually.

The second part's correct (and full) name is 'Bakumatsu Roman Dai Ni Maku ["The Second Chapter"]: Gekka no Kenshi ~Tsuki ni Saku Hana, Chiri-Yuku Hana~'.


Edit: About the article's closure. SNK's 'demise' was not actually that. SNK Playmore, like it or not not, is essentially the old SNK with another name and most of its dev teams gone. Hence, every SNK IP belongs to SNK Playmore these days, Gekka no Kenshi included. And there's no chance to see another Atomiswave game from this company or other; the system is officially dead.

Hope all this rant serves.

[Discoalucard]

recap said:

I don't know whether if the PS2 versions are AES or NGCD ports ("emulations", actually), but they're said to be pretty poor, not just because of the ugly display they used (hi-res instead of true low-res) but also for serious control issues.

Hi-res part is true, but the controls are fine outside of the occasional slowdown (which is admittedly inexcusable for the PS2.) There's also the low quality sound effects which stand out even more against the arranged music. Then again, I'm not hugely versed in the Last Blade, so if there's any minor timing issues or anything, I wouldn't have picked up on them.

recap said:

And I find a bit unfair judging the DC port of Dai Ni Maku according to its US version. Made by a quite random company, by the way. It's one of the best NG ports ever made, actually.

All of that applies to the Neo Geo version as well, it was heavily censored in America by SNK, not Agetec, its American publisher. So the criticisms are more leveled towards SNK's treatment of the localized version in general (although the absence of the Hanafuda game is probably Agetec's fault.) Agetec was actually quite good in bringing a few games to America during the PSOne/DC era, including the R-Type games and KoF 99.

SNK Japan has been censoring US ports of games up until the KoF 2000 release for the PS2 (which I forgot to mention in the article, should probably stick that in.) This is even after the US side swore up and down they'd be uncensored.

[Neo Rasa]

Sad thing is they weren't even consistent with it. Metal Slug First Mission on the NGPC is not censored in the US (though its sequel is), the original Last Blade is not censored AT ALL on any version, but Last Blade 2 is in the US across the board. KoF 2000 is censored in the US MVS too (they even eliminated Mai's bounce).