Game Review

Graphics (n.) The use of animation and visual effects to stimulate the senses	(Very Poor)	I think Pong has more graphics than this. It kinda reminds of that blackboard toy that glows in the dark. The only redeemable factor from these rather simple graphics is that this game uses lines and circles instead of sprites to draw all its graphics. This considered, it does take some programming power and a little bit of imagination to draw the dragons and the minions that make up The Last Fantasy. Still, the finished product doesn't look too impressive.
Sound/Music (n.) The smooth blend of atmospheric sounds and original harmonies	(Very Poor)	Personally, I always enjoy writing RPG reviews. But sometimes you have to review the good and the bad. This is certainly the bad, as The Last Fantasy is short of many crucial RPG elements. The last chance for Last Fantasy to redeem itself was by having sound or music. Alas, it has neither.
Gameplay (n.) The precision of control and involvement of character within its universe	(Very Poor)	I won the game by holding down the spacebar.
Story (n.) The creativity and presentation of the game's critical plot	v (Poor)	The game's story progresses as you learn more about Keela, at least if you were paying attention to the story. The presentation for the game's story isn't very exciting, and requires a lot of reading instead of interacting. You have very little options in this linear quest.
Replay Value (n.) The timelessness of the gamer's delight, such that the experience can be repeated again and again	(Very Poor)	The game practically plays itself, which detracts from replay value entirely. I didn't like the way that a lot more of this game consists of reading the story instead of fighting it out. And when you have to battle, I don't like the way the options are so limited. A good RPG is all about strategy, and with only one weapon and one magic spell, The Last Fantasy misses the mark entirely.
Challenge (v.) To strike the mental nerve in such a way as to stimulate human thought and reflexes	(Very Poor)	I don't think Realm Software intended it this way, but The Last Fantasy is ridiculously easy to beat and quick to solve. A lot of this RPG consists of demos, which remind me of the recent outbreak of Final Fantasy VII and VIII. If the graphic detail of those RPGs had the same level as The Last Fantasy, perhaps the masses would realize that Square's latest offerings to the RPG world are of poor quality.
Fun Factor (n.) The overall entertainment value as maintained throughout the adventure	(Very Poor)	I certainly hope that no one chooses to attempt to make a game of lower quality than the RPG I have seen here. What worries me is that the game is in fact complete. There are a lot of shoddy, incomplete RPG demos out there that do not have enough play value or completeness to be reviewed as a game. Yet The Last Fantasy surpasses these RPG demos simply by being a complete game. But no matter how hard I tried to ignore it, it was not fun playing The Last Fantasy because of two fundamentals; it was not fun to see and there was nothing to do. I certainly hope that Realms Software has gone on to better things. Heck, the sweetest revenge from being the lowest-rated RPG ever in this list would probably be if the main developers of this game would grow up and get a good $75,000/year job down at Retro Studios or something. After all, it's obvious that these people have the tenacity to program something no matter what. Still, all I could think to myself while playing this half-sim/half RPG was "Why?!"
Players	1 player	Genre: Role Playing Game
Rating		To solve: 10 min Final Rating: 1/35

Download

To download The Last Fantasy (38.2KB), click here. wTo run this game, you must have any version of Microsoft QuickBasic. wTo play The Last Fantasy, unzip the file and run "FANTASY.BAS" from QuickBasic.

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The Highs: The Last Fantasy is a finished QBRPG game with up to three chapters, multiple characters, and a drawn-out storyline...
The Lows: ... but none of these things save The Last Fantasy from being one of the worst game experiences ever made in QB.

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