Tag: strategy RPG

Through the years, whenever my buddies ask me what game I’m grinding on my phone that feels long and epic, one of my top answers has been The Last Remnant Remastered on mobile.

Now, don’t get it twisted—I’m no pro at this game. In fact, I’d still call myself a beginner even after all the hours I’ve sunk into it. But maybe that’s exactly why I want to talk about it. Because when I first picked it up, I was just as lost as anyone else, especially with the game’s biggest curveball: the Union System.

This is my take on it—not as an expert, but as someone who slowly figured things out and wants to make it a little less confusing for the next beginner diving in.

So What’s the Deal With the Union System?

Before The Last Remnant, JRPGs mostly stuck to familiar formulas:

• Classic Turn-Based (like Dragon Quest or Final Fantasy I–X) → You control each character one by one, pick from “attack, magic, item, defend,” and watch the turns play out. Simple and reliable.
• ATB – Active Time Battle (popularized by Final Fantasy IV–IX) → Each character has a gauge that fills in real time. When it’s full, you act. It added pressure and speed to the turn-based formula.
• FFXII’s Gambit System (2006) → This one let you pre-program AI behavior, like “if ally HP < 50%, then cast Cure.” It was revolutionary for letting battles play out more automatically but still under your rules.

And then along comes The Last Remnant. It said: “Forget controlling individuals—what if you controlled squads instead?”

That’s the Union System. Instead of giving commands to each party member, you organize them into unions (basically mini-teams). You don’t pick every spell or attack. You issue orders to the entire squad, and they act as one.

This flipped combat into something totally different. Suddenly, you’re less like a hero leading a party and more like a commander directing armies. Positioning, morale, and squad synergy mattered just as much as raw stats.

For some players, that shift felt groundbreaking. For others—me included when I first tried it—it felt confusing as hell.

The Flow of Battle – What You Do Before You Even Swing

The real fight doesn’t start when you press “attack”—it starts in how you set up your unions. As a beginner, this part felt overwhelming to me because you have to think about:

• Who leads each union (leaders bring skills and arts)
• Who fills the squad (soldiers add stats and stability)
• What formation you’re using (offensive, defensive, or balanced setups)

And then, once you’re in a dungeon or field, you also have to pay attention to enemy groups. Do you charge them head-on? Try to flank? Or split your unions to keep them from surrounding you?

This whole “prep before action” makes fights feel more like mini war puzzles. If you mess up the setup, the battle feels 10x harder no matter how strong your characters are.

Commands – The Clear and the Confusing Ones

Once the fighting actually starts, the game gives you commands for your unions. Some are straightforward and easy to understand:

• Attack with combat arts! → your melee moves
• Attack with mystic arts! → your spells
• Heal with remedies! → your items and recovery

But then you get the vague stuff like:

• Play it by ear
• Go all out!
• Wait and see

And here’s where the frustration kicks in. As a beginner, I remember just staring at those and going, “What am I actually telling my squad to do?”

How I Learned to Read the Vague Commands

After a lot of trial and error (and a few rage quits), here’s how I’ve come to understand those vague orders:

• Play it by ear → Think of it as “do what makes sense.” The union might attack, heal, or buff depending on the situation. Good for balanced teams.
• Go all out! → Pure offense. They’ll blow AP, use their strongest moves, and ignore healing. Best for when the enemy’s on the ropes.
• Wait and see → Defensive or conserving mode. They’ll defend, poke with weak moves, or just save AP. Use it when you’re setting up or trying to survive.
• Save them no matter what! → Your emergency revive/heal button. Everyone drops offense to bring allies back.
• Keep your HP up! → Focuses on healing and survival above all else.

Once I started thinking of them like battle moods instead of strict commands, they made a lot more sense.

Strategy – When to Use What

Here’s my beginner advice on using these commands without losing your mind:

• Use “Play it by ear” for balanced unions that can attack and heal. It gives the AI room to adapt.
• Use “Go all out” when you know you’re safe or you just need raw damage to push through.
• Use “Wait and see” to stall or when you’re trying to build AP for big moves later.
• Use “Save them no matter what” sparingly, because sometimes it wastes turns if no one is actually down.
• Use “Keep your HP up” when facing tough bosses or multiple enemy unions that can shred you in a turn.

It’s not perfect—you’ll still sometimes scream at your squad for making dumb choices—but it’s part of the chaos that makes this system fun.

Wrapping It Up – Why I Still Recommend This Game

Here’s the truth: The Last Remnant is still hard to understand, even today. If you’re new, the Union System will feel overwhelming and the vague commands will confuse you. But once you get past that hump? The game transforms. Battles feel bigger, strategies feel deeper, and experimenting with different unions actually becomes addictive.

That’s why I keep it on my phone. I’ve spent hours tweaking squads, retrying fights, and just enjoying the controlled chaos of this system. And yeah, the mobile remaster costs around $19.99, which isn’t exactly cheap. But for me? If I dropped twenty bucks and didn’t play it, that would be the real waste.

So I keep coming back. And maybe that’s the magic of The Last Remnant: it doesn’t hold your hand, but once you start to get it, you’ll want to stick around and keep learning.