History VideoGame / TheLastStory

* KickTheSonOfABitch: [[spoiler: Dagran pinning his murder of General Ashtar on Jirall. Sure, Jirall didn't do it, but seeing how he's a total creep who ''twice'' now has had Zael wrongfully incarcerated...]]

* MultiMookMelee: The Arena battles are based on this trope: In each of the three season matches, Zael and the party members accompanying him have to venture into 3-4 encased battle zones, one after another, and in each of them there are large groups of enemies wanting to defeat them. The third and final match includes one of the game's post-ending {{Bonus Boss}}es, and it's very difficult to beat without a good strategy.

* {{Bishounen}}: Most of the younger main male cast fall under this category.

* OnlyAFleshWound: Whenever one of the characters gets a foreign pointy object lodged in them. Not so much when a non-player character gets something pointy lodged in them. However, [[spoiler: Therius brushes off with a "This is but a flesh wound!" a sword to the leg he takes to save Zael during the Gurak's large-scale attack on Lazulis Island. And lo and behold, he's fine by the end of it and can even [[BonusBoss fight Zael in the epilogue.]]]]

* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: General Asthar is the leader of the Lazulis Knights. He kicks ridiculous amounts of ass. Averted with Count Arganan, who is useless in battle.

* BonusBoss: Among the things you can do during the epilogue is take Sir Therius up on his offer for a one-on-one duel.

* ClicheStorm: Lampshaded repeatedly in-universe, in a weird, SelfDeprecation sort of way. At its heart, there is nothing new about ''The Last Story'''s plot. The bad guys want to either TakeOverTheWorld or KillAllHumans and the central couple are a pair of {{Satellite Love Interest}}s. All of the OlderAndWiser mercenaries ''completely'' understand this. As a result, they either snark about how the evenings unfold around them or, more often, {{Troll}} the living hell out of the GenreBlind characters. The scene in which Zael first meets [[spoiler:Calista]] is a great example of this. The other mercenaries might not know her exact secret but it's clear from their reactions to her posh accent that they know she's not just some random girl he picked up. So, they make like ''that's exactly what he's been doing''. It rears its head a fair bit in the sidequests as well, meaning that much of the game plays out like a grown-up version of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV''.

* {{Cutscene}}: Cutscenes are typically letterboxed, but most are in-engine rendering instead of FMV. However one mechanic in them requires you to 'look' (in First-Person view) for certain points in the area in order to advance it. This mechanic is also used just before some fights, as you can use it to avoid being ambushed or squished by traps.

* {{Deconstruction}}: Jirall is a very deliberate one for DracoInLeatherPants. He ''wants'' to be one but everyone who's plot-relevant sees this and don't treat him as such. At first, this causes him to descend into the game's ButtMonkey. Later, the fact that [[ItsAllAboutMe nobody will treat him exactly how he wants]] causes him to undergo SanitySlippage [[spoiler:until he finally snaps completely and becomes so dangerously insane that he has to be put down]].

* DialogueTree: You ''do'' get dialogue options but are generally prevented from picking whatever one you feel like. For example, early on you can either talk to Calista or put your arm around her while stargazing. Those hoping to be romantic about the whole thing will be disappointed to learn that, should you pick the latter, Zael just chickens out and staggers back a bit. Tried a second time, Zael will (hilariously) fall into the ocean.
* DisneyDeath: [[spoiler:Lowell]].

--> '''Jirall''': Mummy! Zael has been teasing me! He needs to die! Everyone has been mean to me! Die, die, die, die, die!

** Sentinel Beasts Mitra and Atar are similar to Bahamut and Tiamat from ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', and the ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' series. Both are pairs of draconic 'siblings'. Mitra, like Bahamut, is light aligned, more benevolent, and [[spoiler: summonable]], while Atar is darker, and more agressive, like Tiamat.

* FaceHeelTurn: [[spoiler: Dagran, who turns out to be the last boss of the game]].

* MyOwnPrivateIDo: Played with. [[spoiler: Post Epilogue, Zael and Calista go visit her parents' tomb. But they have to go through an army of monsters first. They're about to have their own little private moment, Zael's friends have been following them the whole time. Syrenne and Mirania even brought Calista's wedding dress for her.]]

** Calista has a number of fancy dresses. Two of them you get as armor items for the other female characters. The last one is her [[spoiler: Wedding dress]].

* ProtagonistJourneyToVillain: One of the main themes of the game, according to WordOfGod. [[spoiler:The character in question is Dagran, whose single-minded pursuit of revenge and determination to protect himself from reprisal drives him further and further down the slippery slope. By extension, Zael also counts due to Dagran pushing him down the slippery slope against his will in order to further his aforementioned revenge plot. To Dagran's credit, he gets Zael to within microseconds of crossing the MoralEventHorizon before Zael redeems himself]].

* RedEyesTakeWarning: [[spoiler: Jirall's]] eyes turn red after he is possessed by the power of Zangurak's sword. He promptly tries to kill you with it.

* RelationshipUpgrade: Takes almost the entire game before this happens, but it does between [[spoiler: Zael and Calista. Lowell and Syrenne get their own little one... kind of.]]

* RollingAttack: Terracor does this whenever it's being stunned. Muruk (as well as [[spoiler:{{Superboss}} Gigamuruk]]) rotates its encased body while standing in one spot to paralyze its opponents with electricity.

* ShockwaveStomp: Zael [[spoiler: and Dagran in New Game Plus]] can do the Vertical Slash, which involves running up a wall and then slamming down his sword, creating a shockwave, which does area damage and has the same effect as the Wind ability.

** Have Zael sneak by some guards and then calling the rest of the party is akin to an event a la ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' in the Shinra Building

** One optional sidequest is practically a BonusBoss in and of itself: Swim to the east end of the river in Lazulis City to find three Cave Cougars. Can you defeat them all by yourself? Probably not without a NewGamePlus. Fortunately for you, getting a Game Over here at least lets you exit the dungeon and return to town without penalty.

* SlasherSmile: Yurick, [[spoiler: gives a particularly nasty one to Zepha as he prepares a spell to kill him. Instead he throws his father's knife at Zefa, and it kills him]]. Zael has one [[spoiler: during an 'episode' he has when he encounters the Last Cocoon, which feeds off of his memories. He ends up during the time when his village was attacked as a child and starts cutting down the bandits (who turn out to be his friends). The smile on his face as he cuts down Mirania without realizing it is horrifying.]]
* SoundtrackDissonance: There's a standout example when fighting one tricky DuelBoss - a fun surf-rock theme plays instead of the game's usual fantasy fare. It becomes notably less so should you take advantage of the music to repeatedly shoot Prank Bananas at the boss.

* SpannerInTheWorks: [[spoiler: Dagran]]'s plan to [[spoiler:kill General Asthar]] would have succeeded without a hitch had it not been for Zael being in the wrong place at the wrong time. [[spoiler:The second half of the game deals with Dagran attempting to keep his plan from falling apart. He frames Jirall to save Zael, but ''that'' plan has enough holes in it that it encourages Therius to PullTheThread. Eventually Dagran has no choice but to kill everyone who gets too close to the truth. Dagran's overall plan to use the Outsider for revenge]] was hindered, once again, by Zael. [[spoiler: It is implied he went to Lazulis Island to obtain the power himself back at the first mission/chapter. When Zael obtained the Mark of the Outsider, he altered his plans to make him a knight and move up in the world. Between playing both sides of the war and edging Zael to go for his dreams, Dagran's the only mercenary [[WhatTheHellHero who calls him out]] for throwing away knighthood, and isn't seen again until the last chapter.]]
-->[[spoiler:'''Dagran''': Oh Zael. It would have been so much simpler if I had been granted the Outsider's power in your place.]]

* {{Superboss}}: [[spoiler:Therius]] and [[spoiler:Gigamuruk]]. The former is a one-on-one DuelBoss who can only be challenged with Zael alone, in a callback to an earlier boss fight. The latter is fought at the conclusion of the game's running TournamentArc. In both cases, you have to wait until the PlayableEpilogue to look for them.

* SwordFight: One chapter has quick time event where Zael is dueling [[spoiler: General Asthar]], Zael however has a bad habit of shouting out which way he's attacking. Or maybe [[BreakingTheFourthWall he's shouting to the player to push the button so that he doesn't, you know, die.]] [[spoiler: Later in game Zael can duel against Therius instead, as Asthar is now dead.]]

** The party tends to chat a lot during boss fights. This is usually vital in [[BreakingTheFourthWall telling the player how to win against some of the]] [[PuzzleBoss Puzzle Bosses]].
** Enforced in a cutscene in Chapter 40 by Lowell during the Zesha fight. *wink*

* ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks: [[spoiler:Zangurak]] tries this out on your party during the final battle with him. All it accomplishes for the most part is allowing Zael to [[HoistByHisOwnPetard use it to break his barrier]].

* TravelingLandmass: [[spoiler: Lazulis Island, once powered by the Outsider, starts to move and Zael can control the whole damn thing when he's in Arganan Castle. The Gurak also have their own moving island which they use to invade Lazulis Island.]]

** Towards the end of the game, in a case of GameplayAndStoryintegration, [[spoiler:the Knights invade the Gurak continent and gleefully raid it. Instead of finding items and equipment in chests, the player can find a cooking pot, a comb, and a doll and choose to take them anyway.]] However, this also results in PermanentlyMissableContent.

* WalkingShirtlessScene: The Incredible Invisibility Dye is [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin a special magical dye that renders your clothing invisible.]] Its sole purpose is to make your characters appear as if they aren't wearing any armor when, in fact, they are. And naturally, you get the dye that makes your shirt invisible long before the one that makes your pants invisible.

* WellIntentionedExtremist: [[spoiler: Dagran, his means to get revenge on his parents' killers involves helping them up to the point where he can conveniently find the right time to stab them in the back.]]

* WhiteMage: Mirania and Calista. Both girls can heal party members and, in addition, the former even has the Limit Break ability to bring back lost lives), while the latter can summon arcane circles that repulse enemy attacks.

* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: [[spoiler: Dagran to Zangurak, after Zangurak loses to the party and releases his arm, which has the power of the Outsider and the Arganan Bloodline. Dagran kills the arm and takes the power for himself.]]

* AnAxeToGrind: There's the joke weapon axe you get, and then there's the Para Axe, once fully upgraded becomes the Raijin Axe and serves fairly well as a mid-game to end-game weapon until you find a Chaos Blade.

* AnEconomyIsYou: As far as weapons, armor and upgrading them go, the party is the main source of business. The 'rest' of the economy however is based on the party buying produce and selling it back to earn money, kind of like a stock market.
-->'''Street Merchant''': Eggs are cheap today, quickly buy some today!

* VioletGlaswegian: An interesting aversion with Lowell who, despite being the only character in the game with a Scottish Accent, is actually portrayed as a charming lech. However, he IS the only mage type character who can use swords well, veering him more into BraveScot territory.

* AbsurdlySpaciousSewer: The sewers under Lazulis Island are apparently large enough to house the city's entire [[spoiler: surviving]] population plus leave plenty of dank monster-infested corridors for our heroes to explore.

* AnEconomyIsYou: As far as weapons, armor and upgrading them go, the party is the main source of business. The 'rest' of the economy however is based on the party buying produce and selling it back to earn money, kind of like a stock market.
-->'''Street Merchant''': Eggs are cheap today, quickly buy some today!
* AnIcePerson: Lowell.
* AnimeHair: The characters in ''The Last Story'' don't have particularly outlandish hairstyles, but they are pretty non-standard, with various spikes, braids and whatnot. Zael and Dagran have bird feathers braided into their hair. At least in the concept art Zael's mother can clearly be seen with a feather woven into the end of her long braided hair. Mirania has feathers in her hair as well.

* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking:
** General Asthar is the leader of the Lazulis Knights. He kicks ridiculous amounts of ass.
** Averted with Count Arganan, who is useless in battle.

* BandOfBrothers: The mercenaries.

* DamselInDistress: Calista gets kidnapped by the Gurak, twice.

* DuelBoss: Four, in total. [[spoiler: One against Asthar, then against the LaughingMad Jirall, later one against the first form of Zangurak and, in the Epilogue, a duel against Therius.]] Notably, three of them all use quick-time events at specific intervals throughout the fight.

* EleventhHourSuperPower:
** While fighting Sentinel Beast Atar, Calista can use the "Ancient Summon" precisely once to call the other Sentinel Beast, Mitra, which proceeds to clip Atar's wings, making the battle a bit easier.
** During the FinalBoss battle, Yurick gets his Meteor upgraded to "Big Bang", which shatters the boss's impervious barrier. Unlike Calista's Ancient Summon, this one he ''can'' use repeatedly... but only during that battle, [[PlayableEpilogue not after]].

* FeedItABomb: In one boss battle, Dagran notices that the boss keeps its mouth open as it prepares to swallow its victims, and tells Zael to throw a bomb in it whenever it happens. He even invokes it by having Lowell serve as bait.

** [[spoiler: The fully upgraded Phantom Blade has a 80 percent chance of increased damage to humans. The weapon is gained long after the games early bandits. ]]

* FlechetteStorm: The Muruk bosses can cover the entire arena in a shower of paralyzing spines. The Final Boss also has a flechette attack that inflicts Death (a countdown timer) on anyone it hits. Both can be blocked with the Barrier status buff or by standing inside an active Heal Circle.

* HumansAreTheRealMonsters: The knights once they've [[spoiler:successfully invaded the Gurak nation, start going around killing, looting and pillaging. This shakes Zael's dream of wanting to be a knight. They even take the Gurak civilians as slaves.]]
* HundredPercentHeroismRating: After thirty chapters, the party (who was originally disliked by the populace for being mercenaries) finally become the talk of the town because of Zael. At the beginning of the game, if you bumped into people they would berate you. At this point of the game, the people you bump into start apologizing profusely as Zael is now a Knight hero and they start to suck up to him. Even the random conversations between [=NPCs=] are about Zael and his friends.

* ItemCrafting: How you improve your weapons and armor. Find rare materials, hand them over to the Upgrade shop and pay a fee for the upgrade service.

* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler: The knights who participated in the slaughter and pillaging of the civilian Gurak island never really get punished for it.]] While it's hard to say who's guilty and who's not since they all wear the same armor, one guy who definitely gets off scot-free [[spoiler: is Baron Huge, a.k.a. he of the AnnoyingLaugh. He can be found in the post-game wandering around the lower levels of Lazulis castle, having survived the final Gurak attack.]]

* LaughingMad: Count Arganan [[spoiler: right after you defeat the Guardian Mitra which protects the Outsider half in Lazulis island, he starts cackling insanely and pulls out the sword he stuck in the Particle. It then disintegrates him, all the while he's still laughing like a maniac.]]

** The above joke items when in New Game+ can be upgraded to ridiculous levels. So who wants a piece of the Leek+99?

** Finally, a use for the Prank banana. [[spoiler: Using them on Zangurak makes the fight a lot easier as he will trip, fall and drop his sword. Which you use on him.]]

* LimitBreak: Around the level 30-40 mark, the characters gain a Spirit Bar and when filled allows them to use their Spirit Arte.

* NewGamePlus: After the credits roll, the game lets you save your data to a (preferably new) save file. You get to keep all your items and experience, making early enemy encounters a walk in the park. Bosses, however, have their levels boosted to match yours, if not boosted even higher.

* NonStandardGameOver: Surprisingly, there are times where this can happen quickly.
** If Zael gets swallowed by the Mystic Spider boss, regardless of how many lives every character has.
** During the stealth missions, if you get caught at any time.
** This is what happens if, during one of the Epilogue chapters, [[spoiler:you refuse to marry Calista three times]].

%%* OfficialCouple: Zael and Calista.

** Dagran's LimitBreak ability, Death Sentence, kills a mook after a brief amount of time. Other mooks also has this spell, so if they use it against you or your party members, the heal circles will be the only way to abort the incoming doom.

* PimpedOutDress: Calista has a number of fancy dresses. Two of them you get as armor items for the other female characters. The last one is her [[spoiler: Wedding dress]].

* {{Pirate}}: You find a shipwreck, inside you find [[spoiler: Yurick ' father's body, who was a sailor, who died with his crew trying to protect his village from pirates, for you trouble though, you receive his father's knife which is a Yurick exclusive weapon and outclasses any other knives that you will find for a while.]]

* PlayableEpilogue: Congratulations, you just beat the FinalBoss -- wait, ''is that a SavePoint?'' Once you're back in the city and the war's all over, there's still time to revisit old dungeons and finish up any lingering side quests before you proceed to the actual ending.

* PointOfNoReturn: Zael's knighting ceremony; [[spoiler: his refusal to be swear loyalty to the scheming Count upsets everything; then the Gurak arrive to besiege the city.]] You can no longer use the Map to travel between areas (or replay dungeons) until the epilogue.

* PrettyInMink: Some of the NPC ladies in the palace wear a huge fur collar with their grand dresses.

* PuzzleBoss: While most bosses ''can'' be overcome with brute force, almost every boss has some kind of trick to making the battle easier.

* SequentialBoss: The FinalBoss has three forms with absolutely no breaks inbetween.
* SexyDiscretionShot: [[spoiler: After Zael and Calista's wedding in the epilogue, the game cuts to a scene with Calista sitting [[CoyGirlishFlirtPose coyly]] on their bed with [[SexDressed a significant portion of her wedding dress' skirt missing]]. If the fact that they just got married didn't tip you off, her pose leaves no doubt about what they've been up to.]]

* SkinshipGrope: Syrenne starts to check out Lisa/Calista while they're in the bath. Leads to some LesYay. [[spoiler:Or so it sounds. She's ''actually'' fawning over her money]]. Later Syrenne says that she wants to take a bath with Mirania and her wonderfully smooth skin.

* StealthBasedMission: A few of them require you to sneak around, get from Point A to B or elude guards. Some are easier than others when you have tranquilizer arrows on hand, and others require that you don't bash a guard's skull in with the blunt end of your sword.

* WakeUpCallBoss: The white tiger from chapter 2, which is partly a tutorial about using your Gathering and Guard abilities to keep its attention off your comrades, can and will kick your ass if you're not guarding/dodging properly.

* {{Meganekko}}: Meredith, Horace's wife. [[spoiler: Also Mirania, during Chapter 28. She looks pretty good in them too.]]

* FlashStep: Some bosses have this ability. It gets really annoying.

* FreezeSneeze: Calista when you first meet her, and Mirania in the Underground Ruins.
* FrothyMugsOfWater: Averted in the UK Dub.

* GambitPileup

* ImDyingPleaseTakeMyMacGuffin: The 'key/medal' that [[spoiler:Asthar]] gives to Zael.
* ImprobableWeaponUser: Some of the weapons you receive as quest rewards are pretty... screwy.
** A leek (yes, a vegetable)
** A footstool/chair
** A hoe (with a 1% chance of landing a OneHitKill)
** A ladle
** A pitchfork - although you'd think this would actually hurt someone
** A frying pan
** Flowers
** A hunk of coral
** A wine bottle

* KnightInShiningArmor:
** Therius who is somewhat of a JerkAss.
** Zael wants to become this.

* MagicSkirt: All female [=NPCs=].

* OfficialCouple: Zael and Calista.

* OldMaster: Although not that old, Asthar falls under this category of Mentor.

* PrimAndProperBun: Some of the NPC ladies in the palace have this style.

* PrinceCharmless: Jirall.
* PrivateMilitaryContractors: The party.

* TrueCompanions: The party.
* {{Tsundere}}: Syrenne is a Type A towards Lowell.

* UnidentifiedItems: Enemies may occasionally drop rare items with labels like "? SWORD". The player can't equip these as-is, but may take them to specific [=NPCs=] for appraisal. The items may turn out to be actual weapons (often strong ones at the time, though sometimes cursed) or [[VendorTrash useless ornamental ones]].
* VendorTrash: There are a variety of "Blunt" ornamental swords, which the game outright tells you are worth quite a bit of money and totally useless on the battlefield. The Blunt Silver Sword [[StoryAndGameplaySegregation can't even be used against the vampire who is vulnerable to silver]].

* PantyShot: Averted, as when you use banana peels/oranges to trip female [=NPCs=], the models don't have anything underneath their skirts except for darkness. You can however check out the playable female characters' panties if you wish; except they all wear the same drab gray boyshorts.

* SkirtOverSlacks: A very common lower body armor design is this.

* FiveManBand: This varies as the game progresses. The average party usually sits at five people. There are some cases where the party is larger/smaller depending on the situation.
** TheHero - Zael (upgrades to TheLeader later).
** TheLancer - Dagran (who also happens to be TheLeader). Lowell becomes this after [[spoiler:Dagran's betrayal]].
** TheSmartGuy - Yurick
** TheBigGuy - Syrenne
** TheChick - Mirania
** SixthRanger - Calista, the only non-mercenary of the group.

* StandardStatusEffects: There are a variety of negative status ailments. You can cure all of them (and/or prevent them entirely) by standing inside a Heal Circle.

-->''' Zael ''': Ooh, that guy.

-->First: Talk to Ariela in the bar to get a lunchbox
-->Second: Give the lunchbox to a hungry kid near the river for a towel.
-->Third: Give the towel to a guy in the craftsman's alley for a book on magic.
-->Fourth: Give the book to a young mage in the castle library for a book on Basic Aristocracy.
-->Fifth: Give the book to a young lady outside the castle for a jewel.
-->Sixth: Give the jewel to a noblewoman inside the castle for a Ship's Journal.
-->Finally: Go to the jail to find Zoran and give him back his journal for his sword.

--> [[spoiler:Crest of the Outsider, crest of red,]]
--> [[spoiler:Bearer of wrath, [[TitleDrop one who rules all]].]]
--> [[spoiler:Crest of the Outsider, crest of blue,]]
--> [[spoiler:Lost in solitude, one seeking an end to the fight.]]

-->''' Syrenne ''': "Uwa! You're not supposed to kick it!" and "Wha - you kicked it!"
-->''' Lowell ''': "Here it comes! Yep, a kick!"
-->''' Calista ''': "Wait, you're kicking it!?"

--> '''Horace''': I was caught sneaking around a noble's mansion...
--> ''' Zael ''': Huh... so you're a thief?

--> Dagran: "Hey! You know it's me, right?"

* KirkSummation: Zael has a fierce debate with Zangurak during their final confrontation, mostly regarding the ethics surrounding the Outsider's power and how Zangurak is NotSoDifferent from humans in regards to his abuse of it.

* NotSoDifferent: The humans and the Gurak tribe hate each other rather equally, taking civilians prisoner and the like. This is made even more so obvious as in the first half of the game, where the Gurak have human slaves. When the tables have turned, humans raid the Gurak Castle and start killing civilians and taking them prisoner without second thought.

It was released in Japan on 27th January, 2011. As one of the games that was part of Operation Rainfall, which also consisted of ''VideoGame/PandorasTower'' and ''VideoGame/{{Xenoblade}}'', it saw a release in North America in 2012.

* BiggerIsBetter: During the mission where Syrenne asks you to go get some beer, if you go around the back of the tavern and stop at a certain spot, you can hear Dagran and Lowell comparing their [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar sizes]]. They also mention Yurick.

* TooMuchInformation: Horace seems to say whatever's on his mind at the time, which usually leads to him [[LastSecondWordSwap almost divulging]] [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar what he and his wife get up to.]] "HORACE!"

* {{Foreshadowing}}: [[spoiler: The fully upgraded Phantom Blade has a 80 percent chance of increased damage to humans. The weapon is gained long after the games early bandits. ]]

* LovableCoward: Horace really wants to run away during one of the late game chapters, but is still willing to help the party out by upgrading their gear inbetween waves of monsters. Of course forcefully summoning him to you with a MacGuffin will shake the poor guy up.

* MacGuffin: The 'key/medal' that Asthar gives to Zael.

* KirkSummation: Zael has a fierce debate with Zangurak during their final confrontation, mostly regarding the ethics surrounding the Outsider's power.