I got the game back upon it's PAL release in February. I paid extra for the special edition because the steelbook looks fantastic, see video:
NoE also ran a few Q&A sessions with Sakaguchi in the weeks preceeding the game's release as well. I attended the one in London, and I heard one occurred in Paris as well. I got a signed poster will adorned my university room until the end of the academic year (and probably will again in a few weeks) and he signed my FFV cartridge.
As for the game itself, I personally enjoyed it and view the game as a solid 85%. I've said this many times, but I truly believe the key to enjoying it to view the game as an action game with RPG elements, rather than visa-versa; at the Q&A session I attended Sakaguchi implied the same. This is best illustrated by the game's bosses; instead of as in most RPGs where bosses are defeated by one's team being a sufficient level and exploiting elemental weaknesses, in this gmae bosses are more similar to those found in Zelda or an action game; the player must perform specific actions /items/weapons/spells to get the boss in a vulnerable position and then attack and then repeat. According to the Nintendo Channel I spent 31 hours on the game; I estimate that no more than 3 were on the online, meaning roughly 28 hours on the main story. Even though that is short for an RPG, it's worth remembering that it is above average for an action game (also even some of my favourite RPGs, such as Chrono Trigger, Super Mario RPG and Secret of Mana, have similar lengths). While I think the game could've been longer, I wouldn't got as far as to call it short. Graphically, the game is amongst the best on the Wii, with very good character models, water effects and in particular animation (it's quite funny watching Zael running into people, slip on banana skins and hit his head on swinging signs). However, this takes it's toll on the frame rate which frequently drops, usually in hectic battles, but sometimes even in the real time cutscenes. The game's music is good, but lacks the quality found in Uematsu's more famous work, that said the game has a few classics, such as the main theme and my personal favourite:
Gameplay wise, the game is good, but needs a little refinement IMO. If a sequel is ever made, more spells/abilities need to be added, in the online multiplayer their should be far less OHKO moves. The game has very little in the way of sidequests, there is a colloseum which is very fun (I had more fun in it that those in other RPGs such as the Tales games), but can only be accessed a few times over the course of the game. Equally, the game has quite possibly the best hub world in any game I have ever played, but one can only explor it about a dozen times during the story. Difficulty wise, the game is easy, bordering at times on very easy. Only the final form of the final boss did I find at all hard. For example, in the penultimate dungeon there is a small stealth section where one must hide behind pillars and move between them when enemies aren't looking; to cut a long story short I cocked up and a regular battle started, which was no harder than any other. In most games I would've been punished by automatic failure or a battle with an unbeatable or very hard enemy, but not in The Last Story. I loved the final 3-4 hours of the story and believe that to be the best section of any action game I have ever played; the bosses/minibosses are awesome (the battle in which the above music plays is my favourite bit of the game), the last 2 dungeon designs are very good and it has some good plot twists, it's also worth noting that the final dungeon is only time in any RPG I can recall where the party is split up and I enjoy it (usually I dislike those sections).
tldr: basically the game is good/very good, but by no means a masterpiece. Think of it more of an action game than an RPG and don't go in expecting FFVI or Chrono Trigger with current gen graphics.
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