I played Last Cloudia again after 5 years and wish I hadn't left
Nostalgia is a tricky little thing, and a powerful weapon in the right hands. JRPGs pretty much defined most of my childhood just as they have for an entire generation, and Last Cloudia knows how to wield that weapon masterfully. From the Star Ocean-esque cut scenes to the intro theme that sounds suspiciously like Lunar: Silver Star Story, it all just feels incredibly familiar in a warm-and-fuzzy way, which was why I was immediately hooked on this RPG when it first launched.
Life, as always, got in the way, and eventually, I found myself drifting from Kyle and Rei and their epic quest to save the world. And so I tucked them away in the dusty corners of my mind, only to be unearthed again five years later to make me regret ever having left them there in the first place.
Now, I say that both as a positive and a negative, because for one thing, the surge of emotions that washed over me as soon as I came back was exhilarating, but for another, I realised after just a few minutes into the RPG that I was now at a complete and utter loss.
I had no idea what the buttons did or where the menus went. I knew nothing about the raid dungeons and the multiplayer content, much less the limited-time events peppered throughout the whole thing. Collabs have come, and collabs have gone, and I'm still here, with my unused gems and my Arks in mid-level, waving around my Spirit Maiden Theria like she's still the best healer in all the land.
I suppose this is exactly the kind of issue that plagues a lot of gacha RPGs these days. While live service means people will never get bored of the same ol' thing, it also means there's a constant need to keep updating, to keep filling up all those menu items until there's no more space left to fill (literally, as you can see on the screenshot of my actual main menu below). Sure, they have return bonuses to keep stragglers like me who have strayed from the path from ever straying again, but that doesn't mean they're enough to help me catch up with all the shiny new things.
I did try to start over with a new account, too, just to see how the system would handle a total newbie, and interestingly enough, it offered three Arks and one of three Level 100 heroes just to help you catch up. There's a bit of hand-holding via the tutorial, of course, but the main menu is, unfortunately, just as cluttered.
It's just too overwhelming, and it simply makes me long for the good ol' days when things were much, much simpler.
Now, I'm well aware that Last Cloudia isn't a premium single-player RPG, but I suppose if it had optional DLCs rather than yet another menu item, I probably would be able to catch my breath. It's my fault for not sticking with it, no matter how much I was obsessed with it back then, after all, but I just wish it had some form of progression I could take at my own pace.
Obviously, this isn't to say I didn't have fun coming back to an old flame. The music, the sound effects, the retro pixel art, and the overall vibes - nostalgia is woven into the very fabric of the RPG, and while some elements felt foreign and new, some felt like muscle memory and, in essence, a form of time travel, so to speak.
Now that I'm back, though, will the nostalgia be enough to make me stick around this time? Or will the sheer number of new mechanics put me off for good? Is Last Cloudia only as strong as its existing (and very loyal) fanbase, or are newbies to the franchise not as intimidated as I am?
Ask me again after five years, I suppose. And given Last Cloudia's incredible popularity at the moment, I don't doubt Kyle and Rei will still be adventuring along happily by then - with or without measly little me.
