The Last Remnant

The Last Remnant
Xbox 360 version cover art of the game, depicting Rush Sykes
Developer(s)	Square Enix
Publisher(s)	Square Enix
Director(s)	Hiroshi Takai
Producer(s)	Nobuyuki Ueda
Artist(s)	Yusuke Naora
Writer(s)	Masato Yagi Miwa Shoda Akitoshi Kawazu
Composer(s)	Tsuyoshi Sekito Yasuhiro Yamanaka
Engine	Unreal Engine 3
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360
Release	Xbox 360 WW: November 20, 2008 Microsoft Windows EU: March 20, 2009 NA: March 24, 2009 JP: April 9, 2009
Genre(s)	Role-playing
Mode(s)	Single-player

The Last Remnant (ラストレムナント, Rasuto Remunanto^?) is a role-playing video game developed and published by Square Enix for the Xbox 360. The game had a worldwide release on November 20, 2008, and was also released for Microsoft Windows in March 2009, and received an international release through digital retailer Steam in April 2009. A PlayStation 3 version was originally announced, but was never released. The game is set in a fictional world divided into multiple city-states inhabited by four different species and whose past includes conflicts over "Remnants," magical artifacts of varying forms. The player takes the role of Rush Sykes, a young man searching for his sister that becomes entangled in a secret war. It features a unique battle system in which the player command multiple groups, or "unions", of characters rather than individual units.

The game was directed by Hiroshi Takai and was the first game developed by Square Enix to use the Unreal Engine 3. It was intended by Square Enix president Yoichi Wada to "become a cornerstone for [their] worldwide strategy". Art direction was overseen by chief artist Kimihiko Miyamae and art producer Yusuke Naora. The game's soundtrack was composed by Tsuyoshi Sekito with assistance by Yasuhiro Yamanaka. It was later released as a three-disc album. The design and dialogue of the game were created to appeal to international players as well as Japanese players, and the motion capture for the main characters, including the lip-syncing, was done with Western, English-speaking actors.

The game received a weak reception by reviewers, though it was better received by Japanese reviewers than by Western ones. A common complaint, especially in the original Xbox 360 release, was of graphical problems including low framerates and "texture pop-in" where higher resolution textures would suddenly replace lower ones several seconds after a scene had started. Other issues included complaints about the game's storyline and battle system, though these were not as universal. The Last Remnant received praise for its art direction and music.