Last Word Review

The spoken word is a beautiful thing. Great speeches can change the world, and great debates can set it on fire. For centuries, we've been told that the pen is mightier than the sword, that words can sink deeper than any blade – a fine philosophy, and something I believe in myself. However, as true as it is, the idea has never truly permeated videogames. Aside for titles like Ace Attorney, we still seem to have a strong predisposition for guns, blood, and guts – very few games have characters where words are their forte. However, Twelve Tiles looks to change all that with their new title Last Word, a cross-pollination of an RPG and a visual novel where the characters fight with their mouths, not magic.

The most important and penetrating part of Last Word is the story itself. You play as a young photographer called Whitty Gawship (say that one five times fast) who has been invited to a grand party where all the heads of the most affluent houses in the upper-class town have come to meet at the invitation of one Professor Chatters. You represent Gawship House, and tagging along with you is Seymour Saymore, a desperately shy young man who heads Saymore House. Throughout the course of the evening, you will be tasked to uncover many mysteries, such as the downfall of Saymore House, the military career that our host for the evening had, the unsettling young servant that works at the event, and the odd machine that the professor is cooking up. You'll uncover new information by exploring the house, gossiping with the other attendees, and besting them in debate.

I’m hesitant to let any plot details go here, as the story is the most appealing part of Last Word by a country mile, and to really ‘get’ it, you have to experience it yourself. The characters are well-realised, all with their flaws and foibles; they do what some videogames struggle with; they feel human. As such, some are lovely, and some, you’ll relish getting the opportunity to crush – I got real satisfaction from making the more snobby guests crack. As the characters are so well drawn, the dialogue hits the mark thoroughly, meaning Last Word offers a story experience so sharp, it rises above the hoi-polloi of other narrative-driven games. You'll be desperate to work through the game just to see how it ends! It's that good.

What will strike you hard is the game's sparkling visual presentation. Last Word seamlessly blends pixel graphics with drawn art to create a super fine set of visuals. The house is well realised, and the use of fully-drawn portraiture helps put a face on the supporting characters, which makes them more human by adding to their personalities. I was a big fan of old Mrs Prattle, with her nose turned high in the air, and her eyes seemingly in perma-roll – beautiful. However, while the 16-bit inspired graphics are very pretty, I was left scratching my head at one part of them. The sprites of all the characters do not look human – they are instead more like coloured silhouettes representing their character, which clashes oddly with the game’s more conventional design choices. I have to say, I don't understand this artistic choice here one bit. Not that it matters or impacts the game in the slightest, but I was very confused as to why they didn't just use human-looking sprites. Maybe, years from now, the scholars will have an answer, but right now, I've got nothing.

In debating, it's assumed that whoever is able to get the last word has the strongest argument and therefore wins, and this is the premise that Last Word is based upon. You spar against other characters in an RPG battle setting, where you must 'damage' the opponent enough to win a verbal tug of war. You get there by employing three kinds of linguistic techniques – disruptive, submissive, and aggressive. Disruptive attacks do light damage, and built up your energy bar. This energy bar fuels submissive manoeuvres, which are used to build up tact points. These tact points are used to unleash aggressive linguistic attacks, which act as the killing blow in the argument. All of these attacks also have a certain 'type', meaning you can cause extra damage to the opponent if your 'type' beats theirs.

Also in effect here is a 'composure' mechanic – your verbal beating can enrage your competitor, and vice versa, and the more pissed off they are, the more effective your aggressive attacks will be. Initially, I found this battling system to be a nightmare to work with; it was like trying to read Latin. However, once I became fluent in the more subtle nuances that this part of the game has, I was beginning to battle with ease. This is a slow burner, and despite not being the largest part of the game, it's necessary to progress further. It may seem like double Dutch to you at first (it did to me) but you'll be willing to learn quickly to keep up with the game's excellent storytelling.

Success in debate will reward you with experience points, and, depending on which person at which point, vital topics to discuss with others which will help you solve the game's mysteries, which will allow you to advance. However, you are given the option to converse with people at the dinner party freely in order to level up – and considering that early on you are very badly outmatched by others, you'll want to take that opportunity. In the beginning, you'll get badly thrashed, and perhaps that's why the battle system frustrates – if the game had eased me in a bit more, I wouldn't have found the experience so frustrating in the early goings. However, after a little bit of grinding, I had battling under my belt, and the XP began to flow freely. This can be spent on new conversation topics (however, these are for the side mysteries, so pursue these in your own time) or stat boosters; for instance, the ability to begin a conversation with 10 extra tact points. The presence of side mysteries and the ability to level up should be music to everyone's ears – this adds extra play time and more of the excellent story to discover.

However, if you're left confused by the modified battle system, you'll definitely be won over by Last Word's soundtrack. A portentous affair, it's inspired by the classical school of music to support the setting of upper-class nitwits having a get together, talking about how good the wine is. It creates a comfortable ambience, but sometimes the music takes a subtle dark turn – brilliantly reflective of the evening and its guests, where everyone smiles and shakes everyone's hand, but secretly hates everyone around them. The music captures that essence so beautifully, as well as being a genuinely good soundtrack – the battle theme, in particular, is astounding. It's a lower-tempo, more reflective piece that goes perfectly with the conversation battles. Last Word has one of the most convincing soundtracks of the year, for two reasons. First, the music sounds great as standalone pieces. Secondly, it just complements the game so perfectly to the extent where I can't imagine a more perfect soundtrack.

This is perhaps the smallest part of the game I could possibly comment on, but it deserves a nod here. Last Word, as you may have noticed, has its tongue firmly planted in its cheek in regards to its character names. I've already made reference to Whitty Gawship and Seymour Saymore, our protagonists, but this extends to the supporting cast, too – for instance, we have the fabulously named Holden McCall, Will Banter, and best of all, Judge Chaff Boasting. This sense of wittiness makes the game all the more entertaining – Last Word is a joy to play, not a chore.