I'm not really ecstatic about anything from the Last Story. None of this was really clear what is going on. Will we ever see the game, or it destined to be forever artwork.

I hope this is akin to Chrono Trigger instead of having co-op implemented... I got a co-op vibe from that... *shivers in fear of western influences badly placed in a game that doesn't need them*

....Co-op is a "western influence" now?

I don't get it really, but the basics of what I'm seeing from these images is the game may have multiplayer support and allow you to split commands between different party members. In effect, dropping your party in one area and going 'solo' with a Knight or Mage, and when the battle is initiated, the rest of the party jumps in.

We'll probably just have to see actual gameplay footage to understand the mechanics in full. I still expect that at TGS. E3 at the earliest.

I don't see how it is not. Specially with all the recent games that have it implemented. It is a much less used gaming mechanic in japanese made games, no matter how many Monter Hunters or Resident Evil 5's you throw around.

The west may not have created it, but it certainly is spreading it through common implementation. Shooters-o-rama come to mind. *vomits*

What an intensely narrow view of co-operative play! That borders on fascinating.

I mean, co-op in JRPGs has been fairly common for a long time. Hell, it was even in the SNES Final Fantasies. And a lot of Square's games, come to think.

And EarthBound, if I remember right.

Yes, because Squaresoft, EarthBound and a a few other JRPGs in the 32-bit era represent the majority of the japanese gaming industry.

I'm not "pro co-op". If it tickles you, that's a shame.

I don't remember any FF or Earthbound game that had coop play.  But the Mana series is famous for its coop feature.  And its not like it was a negative for doing so.  You could still play the game by itself as well.

In this day in age, we're seeing games that have multiplayer or coop features sell better than single player games, so frankly, if this game has a coop feature, it can only help it sell better.  I just advocate that they allow you to play the game single player as well.

The only problem with coop is when they FOCUS on the coop features and it detracts from the main game.  But that comes down to good game design.

I don't actually care if you like it or not, I just don't see how you can treat it as some kind of sinister western influence when it's nothing of the kind.

I don't think this is describing co-op. It looks more like a more dynamic SRPG to me.

Regardless - as I remember, you could control EarthBound with two controllers, and you can assign different characters in.... FFIV or FFVI.... to be controlled by different controllerso n the SNES. If I remember right. It's some RPG I played that allowed that.