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| Last Battle Plot Analysis |
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| Version 2.2 |
| Devon Mc Mindes & Richard Griffeth |
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[email protected] |
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|_______________________________________________________|
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| Table of Contents |
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| Section 1 - Introduction | [0000]
| __________________________________________ |
| Section 2 - Chapter One | [a000]
| List of Areas and Quotes | [a001]
| Plot Analysis - Being a Hero | [a002]
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| Section 3 - Chapter Two | [b000]
| List of Areas and Quotes | [b001]
| Plot Analysis - True Heroism | [b002]
| |
| Section 4 - Chapter Three | [c000]
| List of Areas and Quotes | [c001]
| Plot Analysis - Redemption | [c002]
| |
| Section 5 - Chapter Four | [d000]
| List of Areas and Quotes | [d001]
| Plot Analysis - Final Fight | [d002]
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| Section 6 - Version History/Credits | [e000]
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|______________________________________________________/
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| Introduction [0000] |
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This is a plot analysis for a game that appears to have no coherent plot.
The game manual roughly glosses over the events that occur during gameplay, but
the game itself makes no mention or ackowledgement of any story at all.
So the contents of this guide are not meant to explain the story or provide
exposition, but rather to ananyze the thematic elements of the plot and how the
characters utilize and react to them.
This is just a fancy way of saying that there isn't a whole lot of story to
talk about, so I'm really flying by the seat of my pants.
Hope you enjoy it!
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| Chapter One [a000] |
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/------------------------------------------------------/
List of Areas and Quotes [a001]
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1. Western Area
Max- I wanted you to meet Alyssa!
Aarzak- Now you have the look of a hero!
2. The Wilderness
Alyssa- Aarzak! Save the world!
Aarzak- I am the only one who can save this world!
Strength has increased!
3. Hulk's Area
4. Prison Entrance
Aarzak- What's the matter!
Gere- I want to become a hero.
5. Quiet Village
Luisa- Finally, the enemy has begun to move!
Aarzak- At last, the time has come!
Defensive power is increased!
6. Rebel's Prison
Zee-Bee- I can't believe you're here! Save me!
Aarzak- I want you to help me.
Strength has returned!
7. Southern Area
8. Butcher's Area
9. Eternal Plain
Syd- For Duke I will fight to the end!
Aarzak- What kind of being is Duke?
/------------------------------------------------------/
Plot Analysis [a002]
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At the beginning of the game, Aarzak meets up Max, his friend
(according to the manual). Max wants to introduce Aarzak to his companion (??),
Alyssa. While talking, Aarzak comments that Max looks like a hero. True
heroism is one of the common themes found throughout this game.
At the end of the Wilderness, Aarzak meets Alyssa for the first
time. She tells him to save the world. Aarzak replies that he is the only
person capable of saving the world. Aarzak, as well as the people around him,
must believe that he is a real hero, as only heroes are capable of doing things
like saving the world.
Near the prison entrance, we meet Gere. He is a bounty hunter, and the
father of Anne, who we have not met yet. Gere is the first example of somebody
who is clearly not a hero. He is distraught, to the point that a near stranger
will ask him why he looks so down (shown by Aarzak asking him
"What's the matter!"). He replies that he wants to be a hero, a goal so
rediculously out of his reach, that Aarzak can only reply with silence. People
like Gere cannot save the world. This kind of work is best left to people like
Aarzak and Max.
In the Quiet village, we meet Luisa, a friend of Gere's. She provides
Aarzak with the critical information required to correctly time the attack on
the boss of the area. Aarzak uses her advice to his advantage, and successfully
brings peace back to the land. The purpose of Luisa is show that even
non-heroic people, or those with the taint of non-heroism in their lineage, may
still be of use to the real movers and shakers.
On the Eternal plain, Aarzak comes face to face with Syd, a lackey in
the service of Duke. After his defeat, he shows his persistance by yelling "I
will fight you to the end!" Aarzak's only reply to this is the cryptic
statement, "What kind of being is duke?"
Aarzak may have been making some sort of social comment, or perhaps he was
serious. In the case of the former, he could have been referring to the sort of
man that trains and employs people like Syd. Syd was obviously not a hero, as
he was defeated in honorable battle by Aarzak. Any man who employs non-heroes
can't be a very good person at all.
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| Chapter Two [b000] |
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List of Areas and Quotes [b001]
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1. First Gate
2. Second Gate
3. Third Gate
4. Quiet Village
Anne- Take revenge on behalf of my father!
Aarzak- Gear's death was not in vain!
Strength has increased!
5. Fourth Gate
Duke: Why? You saved my life!
Aarzak- This is not yet the time for you to die!
Defensive power is increased!
6. Forbidden City
Sophia- Why was only Alyssa carried away?
Aarzak- As long as I am here, Alyssa will not die!
Strength has returned!
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Plot Analysis [b002]
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Three years pass between chapters one and two. Three villains who
previously escaped Aarzak's heroic grasp have returned and kidnapped Alyssa.
She is in need of a real hero, like Aarzak. Note the strange absence of her
companion, Max in the effort to save her. Perhaps Max was not a true hero, but
only appeared to be one?
The first person we meet here is Anne, Gere's daughter. She asks Aarzak
to take revenge for the death of her father! The news of Gere's death is only a
confirmation of our previous assumption that he was not hero material. Indeed,
trying his hand at heroism has cost him the greatest price of all - his life.
Aarzak's tells her that "Gear's death was not in vain!" This appears to be a
sincere promise of revenge to a grieving child, but it really shows the
insignificance of non-heroes in Aarzak's world. When Aarzak says Gere's name,
it is spelled G-E-A-R, obviously the wrong spelling. While Aarzak enjoys and
enthusiastically promises heroic things like revenge, he cannot be bothered to
remember the name of a non heroic person.
The next person we meet is Duke, the employer of non-heroes. During
this fight, Duke fights well and honorably, much better than his lackeys. Aarzak
allows him to live after the fight, telling him that this is not his time to
die.
Something Aarzak saw in duke may have convinced him of the heroism alive in Duke
waiting to awaken, and a hero cannot honorably take the life of another hero.
Duke is allowed to live and continue toward his heroic awakening.
At the very end of chapter two, we come face to face with the berieved
mother of Alyssa, Sophia. She tells her sorrows to Aarzak, who promises that
Alyssa will not die. He can confidently make these promises, because he is a
hero.
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| Chapter Three [c000] |
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List of Areas and Quotes [c001]
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1. Pirate Ship
Aarzak- Take me to the land on the other side of the sea.
Dare-Devil- I will risk everything for you!
2. Pirate Ship 2
3. Savage Land 1
4. Savage Land 2
5. Eternal Plain
Duke: I am sorry, I couldn't save Alyssa!
Aarzak: Duke! What a hero you are!
Strength has increased!
6. Dry River Bed
7. Western Village
Cynara- There is no mistake. He is heading to Gromm.
Aarzak- I'll hurry back to Gromm!
Defensive power increased!
8. Desert
9. The Gromm Castle
Gromm- Hell is ahead!
Aarzak- What sort of place is hell?
Strength has returned!
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Plot Analysis [c002]
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In the beginning of chapter three, Aarzak must cross a river. To
accomplish this, he hijacks a boat from a captain named Dare-Devil. Seeing the
heroic superiority of Aarzak, the captain immediately swears to risk everything
for Aarzak, showing the power heroism has over the feabler minds one may
encounter.
After crossing, we see another scene with Duke. His heroism has now
truly awakened, as Aarzak predicted it would. Duke apologizes for not being
able to rescue Alyssa, who is still in the hands of her captors. Aarzak replies
cryptically again, saying "What a hero you are!"
This may be a sarastic remark on his previous decicion to let Duke live. He has
allowed Duke to awaken, and he was still incapable of even a single act of
heroism, showing that even those with gifted with heroism may not have what it
takes to be a hero.
Soon after this encounter, we meet Cynara in the western Village. She
is direct when she informs us of the location of the next enemy, and Aarzak
returns the directness.
Aarzak finds and fights Gromm inside his castle. After the battle,
Gromm makes the threat that "Hell is ahead!" Aarzak, in his own strange style,
replies with the cryptic comment "What sort of place is hell?" This speaks
leagues about the intense heroism as well as the arrogant humor of Aarzak's
character. Still, the story of this game is vaguely explained in the manual,
and barely even glossed over in the game itself, so we can only speculate as to
what the intention behind this response may have been.
Maybe Aarzak is making another of his sarcastic comments, like saying
"I don't know the meaning of fear!" He believes himself to be so powerful that
even the terrors of hell pose more of an inconveinience than an actual threat.
Whatever the intentions behind his speach, Aarzak only has one enemy remaining
for him to defeat.
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| Chapter Four [d000] |
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List of Areas and Quotes [d001]
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1. Valley of no return
2. Castle Entrance
3. Great Coliseum
4. The Garokk Castle
Garokk- Without breaking the seal, I'm invincible.
Aarzak- A seal?!
Strength has increased!
5. Eternal Plain
6. The village
Rob- There is a secret in the west mausoleum!
Aarzak- You can now solve the secret of the seal!
7. East Mausoleum
Gross- My memory has returned!
Aarzak- My brother!
Defensive power has increased!
8. West Mausoleum
????- You can now try to solve the secret of the seal!
Aarzak- At long last the seal has come to light!
Strength has returned!
9. Northern Village
Garokk- This is the place where I die!
Garokk- Farewell! Aarzak!
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Plot Analysis [d002]
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It is worth noting that chapter four takes place over most of the same
ground as chapter three. According to the manual, there is no time gap between
these two chapters, yet when you advance to the final part of the game, all of
the water has turned into lava.
The only sensible explaination I can think of for this, is that when Gromm told
you that Hell was ahead, he meant it literally. To defeat the final boss and
escape from hell would truly be an act of heroism worthy of Aarzak's time and
devotion, so it only makes sense that Aarzak would end up here eventually.
Almost halfway into the chapter, we meet the final boss of the game,
Garrok. He tells us that a secret seal is making him invicible. Aarzak is
surprised by the seal, an unexpected twist in his perfect execution of heroic
justice. Still, even when others may begin to question their own heroism, Aarzak
presses onward, unwavering.
In the village a little further on, we meet Rob. He tells us that the
secret is in the west mausoleum, and that we must solve it. Aarzak speaks,
though it is uncertain to whom he is speaking. He says "Now you can solve the
secret of the seal!" We know from experience that small people like Rob are
incapable of acts of heroism like Aarzak. The most likely possibility, is that
Aarzak is breaking the fourth wall, and speaking directly to the person
controlling him through his adventure. Even making it this far in the game is
an act of heroism, as you must restart the game entirely over when you die, and
there is very little health regeneration. Next to Aarzak himself, you are the
closest thing to a hero he has to talk to.
During a pitstop in the east mausoleum, we meet and fight with Gross,
Aarzak's brother. Gross, according to the manual, has "lost his memory, and
turned to a life of crime." In true brotherly fashion, a good beating brings
him to his senses. It also proves that the heroism of Aarzak is so great, that
he can overcome severe psycological impairment using only his fists.
Inside the West mausoleum, strange things happen. After fighting to the
end, we find no character to greet us, only a cryptic speech bubble, belonging
to somebody named "?????" This probably just means that a disembodied voice is
speaking to us. Aarzak solves the secret of the seal immediately, without even
a pause in between speech bubbles. However, the contents of the seal are never
disclosed to the player.
This is probably Aarzak's way of reasserting his superior heroism over
the player after communicating directly with them earlier. While Aarzak
aknowleged that you-the-player were indeed heroic enough to consider the
secrets of the seal, he wants to remind you that he is the real hero here, and
doesn't actually need your help. You're merely along for the ride.
After backtracking a ways, we reach the final boss of the game, Garrok.
This battle is deceptive at first, pitting you against an enemy with a life bar
only a tiny fraction of the size that yours is. However, one or two blows
reveals that you are not fighting a mere man at all, but the prince of darkness
himself! His lifebar grows to rival your own, and your true last battle begins.
Here, we can begin to see some light in Gromm's last words to you, and
the question posed by Aarzak (What sort of place is Hell?), seems that it may
have an answer after all. To many people, Hell is the sort of place where you
go to be eternally punished for your crimes against social morals. Aarzak
failed to understand this because he cannot fathom himself committing crimes or
breaking any sort of morals. He is a hero, after all. It only makes sense that,
failing to relate to the basic concept of Hell, Aarzak would be confused about
the sort of place that it is. Now, he knows. Hell is the sort of place where
true heroism is tested and proven, shown in the last battle between Aarzak and
Satan.
Aarzak emerges victorious over the prince of darkness, yielding one,
final text sequence. Garrok drops to the ground and says "This is the place
where I die! Farewell Aarzak!" Garrok acknowleges that he has been defeated.
The polite goodebye is probably his way of submitting to Aarzak's heroic might,
admitting that good has triumphed over evil.
Aarzak does not waste a reply on him.
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| Version History/Credits [e000] |
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Version History
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May 15, 2008 - ver 1.0
I wrote the first version today!
- Quick runthrough of game manual while Richard played on the other side of the
room
- List of areas and quotes completed for the whole game
- Analysis of first three chapters
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June 11, 2009 - ver 1.1
- Added analysis of chapter four
- Added an extras section for gatekeepers to hell
- Organized walkthrough into sections
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July 22, 2009 - ver 2.2
- Underwent heavy organization changes
-Finished plot alalysis
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Credits
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Devon Mc Mindes and Richard Griffeth had a really hard time hooking up their
old Sega Genesis when Richard came over to hang out, and they gave up
eventually.
After they went to go get some sandwiches, Devon downloaded a ROM of
Last Battle, and played through the first chapter. It was hilarious.
On a lark, Devon decided to write a plot analysis for a game that essentially
has no plot. Richard played through the rest of the game, providing funny
commentary while Devon wrote this guide. Richard went home.
This guide copyright 2009 Devon Mc Mindes and Richard Griffeth.
Last Battle copyright 1989 Sega.
