Last Ranker is a 2010 role-playing video game developed by Imageepoch and published by Capcom for the PlayStation Portable. Set in a fantasy world where warriors are ranked by Bazalta, the world's ruling military and government who are dedicated to fighting hostile beings called the Evinos, the player controls protagonist Zig as he decides to enter Bazalta and reach its top ranks. He ends up allied with a rebel group and fighting against both Bazalta and the Evinos. Gameplay combines mission-based exploration, and combat featuring players controlling Zig in real-time during turn-based battles.
The game was created by director Kazuya Niinou, based on his love of tournament-style fights in shōnen manga and his wish to create a title fitting for Capcom's history of fighting games. The team featured industry veterans including Capcom producer Minae Matsukawa, illustrators Tatsuya Yoshikawa and Shin Nagasawa, and composer Yoko Shimomura. The scenario was created by Final Fantasy writer Kazushige Nojima, who also created supplemental novellas expanding on the narrative and characters.
The game remains exclusive to Japan, a fact attributed to the platform's weak market presence overseas. Last Ranker saw generally positive reviews from Japanese critics, with many citing its gameplay as standing out from other RPGs of the time. Debuting in the top ten best-selling titles of the week, it sold over 100,000 units during 2010. It was supported by two guidebooks, two manga, and two CD dramas written by Nojima.
Gameplay
Last Ranker is a role-playing video game where players take on the role of protagonist Zig as he battles his way through the ranks of the military group Bazalta. The game has Zig navigating 3D environments in towns and the countryside areas, fulfilling missions for Bazalta and unlocking new areas of the world as Zig's Ranker status improves within Bazalta. Zig can wear equipment and accessories that both change his appearance and alter his abilities and statistics. He can also equip two weapon types; a sword as his main weapon, and a subweapon.
The battle system, while grounded in turn-based mechanics, also uses real-time elements. Three types of battles appear; random encounters against monsters, battles against rival soldiers tied to Zig's battle rank, and boss battles. The battles play out in real-time, with Zig as sole playable character and the current enemy or enemy party attacking in turn; with multiple enemies, Zig can select which target to attack. Zig's attacks rely on a charging energy meter filled with a resource called SP. Different attack types use varying amounts of SP, with Zig being unable to do anything except block when he runs out of SP.
Zig uses his sword for standard and heavy attacks, with a secondary attack using the equipped subweapon tied to different combat styles; subweapons include a second sword, dagger, axe, gun or gauntlet. Zig can have two accessible pairings of main and sub weapon, with one being active at a time. Attacks can be chained together to create combos which deal higher damage. The player can also open quick command menus to use skills, and some attacks cause status ailments for Zig or the enemy such as poisoning or paralysis.
Ranker battles are triggered by soldiers who see and confront Zig during exploration. When defeated, Zig advances to the defeated soldier's rank. Losing the battle causes a game over. All Ranker characters have a "Break" gauge in battle which is lowered by different attacks. When the gauge is emptied, hits cause more damage. After winning a Ranker battle, they will be entered in an in-game encyclopedia. Following encounters with the more powerful Rankers in standard and boss encounters, Zig can learn their powerful finishing ability, which grants him that ability to assign to the command menu. Through battles Zig gains experience points, which increase his level and both raise his statistics and unlock more skill slots. Skill uses are limited in battle, and using the powerful "mystery" skills will use all skill points for that battle.
Synopsis Setting Last Ranker is set in a fantasy world which is governed by the Warlord Organization Bazalta from the capital city Ghandoar. Governing the world through force, Bazalta organizes and trains an army of 100,000 fighters, using a ranking system to gauge experience and skill. Bazalta's leaders, the Seven Knights, are the strongest warriors in the world. Their stated goal is defending the world from the Evinos, an alien species which consume all life they find. Bazalta was founded by three families who fought the Evinos, the Bazaltas, the Salvatores, and the Cantaleras. The Cantalera, who possess mystical powers, were banished and became a nomadic tribe, then the Salvatores were destroyed in turn and left the Bazaltas in control of the Warlord Organization. A notable faction within the world is Anti-Bazalta, a rebel sect who oppose the Knights' ethos of dominating solely through force.
Characters The main protagonist is Zig (Hiroshi Kamiya), a member of the Cantalera tribe who grows frustrated with their traditions and leaves to join Bazalta. He is initially opposed by his friend Faz (Yuichi Nakamura), son of the Cantalera leader. Zig joins Bazalta alongside Ren (Marina Inoue), a survivor of the Salvatore line seeking retribution and restoration for her line. A prominent side character is Missy (Kaori Nazuka), Faz's younger sister and another friend of Zig's who serves as the Cantalera tribe's shaman. Zig is initially recruited into Bazalta by Makis (Wataru Hatano), an assessor for new soldiers. He becomes a subordinate of Tylong (Hiroki Yasumoto), the strongest warrior below the Seven Knights and current head of a hated family controlling their own territory within Ghandoar. Key characters from the Anti-Bazalta faction are Igorida (Megumi Toyoguchi), a one-eyed warrior woman who knows forbidden truths about the world, and the gun-wielding Bazalta double-agent Galgano (Jun Fukuyama).
The central antagonists are the "Seven Knights", the most powerful fighters in Bazalta, forming a council which controls the world's military, politics and finances. Many have now fallen into corruption, using their positions for selfish ends. Those featured are Harth (Tomokazu Seki), the current strongest warrior who only wants to fight strong opponents; Yuli (Mitsuki Saiga), a ruthless tactician and current head of the Bazalta family; Rosa (Aya Endō), an archer dedicated to the Knights' original goals; Zebrilla (Banjō Ginga), a merchant who bought his way into the Knights; Norma (Kotono Mitsuishi), a seductive warrior who can use magic and possesses other bodies to prolong her life; and Sengoku (Rikiya Koyama), a warrior from an Eastern land dedicated to honing his abilities. The seventh Knight Barbaro, Galgano's father, is never seen in-game.
Plot Zig, dissatisfied with the repetition of Cantalera's rituals without knowledge of its origins, leaves despite Faz's attempt to stop him. Found by Makis, he is taken to Ghandoar and inducted into Bazalta alongside Ren. After some initial missions, Zig is coerced into becoming a subordinate of Tylong, whom Ren initially hates, as part of Tylong's goal to become one of the Seven Knights. Zig is sent on a mission to discipline his own tribe, who defy Bazalta's rule and are suspected of aiding Anti-Bazalta. He arrives to find the entire tribe slaughtered by Bazalta forces before he arrived, later revealed to be the work of Yuli; Faz and Missy are the only ones to have escaped. He later clashes with Igorida and Galgano, learning from them of the Knights' corruption and a greater threat posed by the Evinos. He is also attacked by an embittered Faz, who was saved by Yuli and told that Zig betrayed the tribe's location. Faz now acts as Yuli's subordinate, later going on Yuli's orders to kill a small faction gathering around Ren's attempts to reclaim her family's status. Tylong also vanishes, and is branded as a traitor by Bazalta.
Zig and Ren are lured by Igorida into a meeting. There they find Makis, Tylong and Harth have defected to Anti-Bazalta to oppose the Knights' corruption. Igorida reveals that the Cantalera erected a magical barrier around the current inhabited world keeping the Evinos at bay, though a time of catastrophe when the Evinos will attack in strength is fast approaching; her forbidden knowledge came from Norma's unsuccessfully attempt to take over her body. They are briefly ambushed by Yuli and Galgano, who turns on Anti-Bazalta to help save his father Barbaro from imprisonment. Galgano is killed by Yuli after he reveals Barbaro committed suicide while imprisoned. Zig continues to operate within Bazalta, raising his rank and covertly helping Anti-Bazalta, hoping to bring Faz over to their side and find out if Missy is alive. Eventually found out, Zig reunites with Anti-Bazalta and they face the Seven Knights' forces; he in turn defeats Sengoku and Rosa, and kills Norma. He then fights Faz, who reveals Yuli is holding Missy hostage as leverage over him. Faz defects, and eventually Zig defeats Yuli and saves Missy.
A new Seven Knights are formed from Harth, Zig, Faz, Tylong, Ren, Igorida, and a repentant Rosa. Missy reveals that her tribe's ritual was designed to predict the Evinos's rampage, which is immanent. Reclaiming a stolen Cantaleran artifact from Zebrilla, they discover that a proclaimed king of Cantalera and the "Last Ranker"—the world's strongest warrior—can open a doorway to the Evinos's domain and end them. The Evinos begin their attack, focusing on the Cantaleran ruins where the doorway is located. The Seven Knights, aided by Makis and Tylong's forces, storm the ruins and open the portal to the Evinos core using Zig and Harth, but Harth insists on fighting Zig to fulfil his longing for combat. Zig wins, taking the role of Last Ranker, and goes through the portal. Zig destroys the Evinos's leader, an entity which has forgotten its original purpose, and escapes to reunite with the others as the Evinos die. The ending shows Zig and Faz mourning their tribe, then an ending narration reveals the new Seven Knights reformed Bazalta into a non-political training institute.
Development Last Ranker was developed by Imageepoch. The staff included multiple industry veterans. The game was directed by Kazuya Niinou, who had earlier worked at Atlus on Trauma Center: Under the Knife and the original Etrian Odyssey before joining Imageepoch and directing 7th Dragon. Niinou had a great respect for Capcom as love of their projects had encouraged him to enter the gaming industry, particularly Street Fighter II. After Imageepoch entered a production agreement with Capcom, Niinou created the game's design pitch around Capcom's fighting game legacy. The producer was Capcom's Minae Matsukawa, known for her work on the Ace Attorney series, while established Capcom illustrator Tatsuya Yoshikawa created the character designs. Capcom had long been absent from the RPG market, so Matsukawa wanted to create something original. Yoshikawa described his work on the game as less exaggerated than his work on Breath of Fire or Devil May Cry, steering to his preferred style of "muddy" and restrained designs. He described the designs as being inspired by the music and the storyline, and on the requests of senior staff. The Evinos enemies were designed by illustrator Shin Nagasawa, known for his work on monster designs for the Etrian Odyssey series.