[I am about to spoil The Last Story from a 10,000-foot-view level. I won't tell you the name of the last boss or that really funny line the one guy said after that cool thing happened, but some spoiler-y concepts will be discussed. You have been warned.]

"You can no more win a war than you can win an earthquake." — Jeannette Rankin

War is the great devourer of souls.

Such is the pervading theme of Mistwalker’s newest game, The Last Story. It is found woven into the narrative, sprinkled over the fields, veining the tunnels, and tucked into the wardrobe at the back of the tavern. Not that war is a new concept to video games, of course, but it’s typically used as a framework for creating the traditional Hero’s Journey — war is the setting that makes the heroics of the individual’s story possible. But what about those heroes? What happens to them along the way? What is the cost of victory?

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