Mistwalker

The Last Story [Beta – Wii]

The Last Story is a RPG developed by Mistwalker and AQ Interactive, published for the Wii in 2011 (Japan) and 2012 (Europe / America. During the development the game had a different storyline and it was known as “Last World“, with a more futuristic theme, settings and weapons. As we can see in the concept arts below, the combat system was also much different, while in the 2 beta screenshots we can notice a missing wooden door and an early version of the castle courtyard.

Hironobu Sakaguchi talked about this beta version in an interview published in a French magazine. Here’s  a translation thanks to Youloute:

I would much rather have used my original script, which in my opinion was much better. For example, at the beginning of the game, the heroin was blind and had tears of blood streaming down his face … Nintendo doesn’t want it. That said, I am grateful for the financial support they provided (laughs).

Thanks to KEK8 for the contribution!

Images: 

Cry On [Xbox 360 – Cancelled]

Cry On was an RPG in development at Mistwalker for the Xbox 360 that was officially cancelled in December 2008: “AQI decided to cancel the project after analyzing the current market environment and forecasts for the future”. Only a handful of artworks and concepts were ever officially shown from the project and unfortunately, no gameplay of any sort was ever shown to the public. The game’s character designer was Kimihiko Fujisaka.

Images:

Thanks to a transcripted interview that we can found on QJ360, we are able to read some interesting details about the game’s story and gameplay: The game’s setting is meant to resemble the Middle Ages, with a heavy focus on machines, including transportation air craft. The people of this time period place tiny “Bogle” creatures on their roofs to act as a protecting charm. The Bogles, were once powerful giants who lived alongside humans, but are now given the name “Soulless.” Recently, humans have decided to revive them for war purposes using a special skill that transform them into giant form.

The story begins when main character Sally is given this special skill from her father, the King. The Bogle that she takes into her company is different from other Bogles in that it can speak human languages.

You take control of Sally, starting off the game with your tiny Bogle riding on Sally’s shoulder. The game will require you to cross mountains, climb trees and engage in other activities difficult for a little girl. Once you’ve collected a particular item, the Bogle will transform into a giant, and end up placing Sally on his shoulder.

One of the concepts of the game, Sakaguchi reveals, is to let players experience the difference in traveling through the world as Sally and as the Bogle. The scale, playable character and perspective will change as you play the game, switching off between Sally and the Bogle.

Each time the Bogle transforms, the resulting giant will be different. Sakaguchi gives a hint at what we can expect, suggesting that you can use a stone to destroy the surroundings, then attach the fragments to the Bogle, making it bigger and giving it a different shape. This change will happen in real time. Sakaguchi wanted the Bogle’s design to differ with each transformation in order to avoid giving it the image of a robot, instead giving players the feeling that they’re dealing with a mysterious, living creature.

Gameplay will take different forms depending on which character you’re controlling. Sakaguchi wants to give the game more of a puzzle/RPG focus when playing as Sally, as he doesn’t want her to wield a sword. The action will come when players use Bogle.

Even when playing as the Bogle, Cry On isn’t a pure action game. The game is focused on the scenarios which are being crafted by Sakaguchi himself. Sakaguchi mentions a couple of possible situations: saving people as part of the storyline and using Bogle to raise a ship out of the water.”

Video: