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GameSpy: What was the inspiration behind creating The Last Remnant?

Square Enix: A group of our designers got together to talk about this new IP, this new game, and they came up with the idea of the Remnant, a mysterious object. That started the creation of the plot and story.

GameSpy: What separates The Last Remnant from other Japanese RPGs that we may have played in the past?

Square Enix: What most separates this game from the usual RPG is that in those games you generally give one command to one character, and one character will act. In this game, with its massive battles, you give commands to a bunch of characters, and they react differently.

GameSpy: We noticed a couple different character designs in the trailer. There's a big musclebound guy with a minotaur-horned helmet, a frog-like race, a sexy human female, can you tell us more about these?

Square Enix: We don't consider the game to have a huge variety of characters. It's a pretty stereotypical mid-century fantasy RPG. What we did try hard to do was watch lots of movies and actors, and observe how people change their appearance just by cutting their hair, or how they talk. We wanted to implement those subtle characteristics into each character. That's where you can really feel the difference with our characters.

There are only four different humanoid races in the game. The different races that you saw in the trailer are those, and anything outside of those is classified as a monster. The human-type characters are called Mitras. The cat-like people with four arms are the Sovannis. The frog-like little characters are called Qsitis. The larger fish-like people are the Yamas. Those names aren't final, they may be changed.

GameSpy: From what we were shown today, the game features some very dramatic characters and serious tones. Care to elaborate on this feeling that was imparted by the trailer?

Square Enix: The trailer was made really serious, to let the audience be drawn into the game by showing the player the plot and everything. But there are humorous aspects to the game. They just weren't shown in the first trailer.

GameSpy: Can you run us through some of the game mechanics and the combat system so we can learn more about it?

Square Enix: (laughs) Where do we start?

GameSpy: How much interaction can we expect in combat, how fast-paced is it?

Square Enix: It's a turn-based role-playing game, so there is a pause to choose commands. After you give a command, there is a battle that is triggered by the program. But you don't just sit back and watch the battle. You still have actions and interactions even after you give that command.

GameSpy: Can you give us some examples?

Square Enix: Like we said, you don't just sit back and watch. When a character attacks another character, or defends from an attack from an opponent, there is a moment in the system called Critical Trigger, where you press certain buttons to evoke some actions. We can't really go into more details than that.

GameSpy: We can assume this will result in things like critical hits and excellent defenses, right?

Square Enix: I think what you're saying is quite right. For example, if you get a critical hit, you may get a bonus "two-handed damage bonus." We don't make it happen by chance, but through the player's actions.

GameSpy: What kind of character development can we expect to find in the game?

Square Enix: We have two ways of developing characters. One is the basic abilities, improved by fighting strong enemies. Also, you can improve your weapons, and customize them using materials. They will then deal more damage.

GameSpy: Can you tell us more about the remnants?

Square Enix: There is no single word we can use to describe remnants at this point. Even within the development team, people have different understandings of what remnants mean to them. This is a very subtle example, but if you say water, it exists as naturally as you can imagine in one world. If you have one drop, it doesn't cause any disasters. But if you have too much, it causes floods. Remnants can be considered as being somewhat similar to water in our world.

Our expectation is that when people complete the game, the users will all have a different concept and understanding of the remnants.

GameSpy: Do you find it difficult internally to develop a new role-playing franchise within Square Enix, alongside such time-honored franchises like Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy?

Square Enix: It is definitely a challenge to get the already established customers from other established IPs, including our own. But if it wasn't difficult, it wouldn't be worth trying.

GameSpy: The big announcement is that The Last Remnant is coming first to Xbox 360. Is this a marketing decision, or were you having trouble working on the PS3?

Square Enix: This is mainly for development reasons. We're developing the game using the middleware Unreal Engine, and the Unreal Engine has a slower development on the PS3 side. It was only really workable after Unreal Tournament was published, so this was mainly a development decision.

GameSpy: It's a myth that the Unreal Engine is just for shooters, but many believe that to be so. Why did you pick the Unreal Engine for development of your game, and what has development been like with it?

Square Enix: The Unreal Engine made it very easy to work with cut-scenes and such in the early phases of development, which you can't really work on if you're using your own technology. The difficulty has been in overcoming the differences in development culture between Square Enix and Epic. But it's been a good challenge, one that we've enjoyed.

GameSpy: Will you be using Unreal Engine in any possible sequels or other products?

Square Enix: We can't really say if we're going to go with Unreal Engine or Crystal Engine, or we could probably create our own engine from scratch when we're ready to make the next game. But we want to remind you that we don't start game development by picking an engine. It starts by creating the ideas, and then turning those into the game. We'll pick the engine that's most suitable for creating those ideas.

GameSpy: I've always been amused by how the original Final Fantasy was released, followed by many, many more Final Fantasy games, with no actual "final" game in sight. Do you feel like you've painted yourself into the same corner with the title of this game?

Square Enix: We hope that this is not the last, The Last Remnant! Do you know why we named the original game Final Fantasy?

GameSpy: Right, the company was going bankrupt at the time, and that would have been your last great RPG.

Square Enix: Yes, we hope you're not worried about our company today!