Last Ranker

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.

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.

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.

During its first week of release, Last Ranker entered gaming charts in fifth place, selling over 60,750 units. It continued to sell strongly into the following week with a further 21,000 units, dropping to ninth place. It remained in the top 25 best-selling games during early August. According to estimates from both journalist website Famitsu and data collection company Media Create, the game sold over 100,000 units during 2010.

Its story and characters were positively noted. Famitsu praised the setting and called the characters "unique and charming". In a preview for 1Up.com by Ryan Winterhalter noted that the setting stuck close to genre tropes aimed at teenage Japanese males. Its pacing was a recurring point of concern for journalists.