. ▁According ▁to ▁Sak ag uch i , ▁the ▁theme ▁was ▁quite ▁personal ▁for ▁him , ▁and ▁also ▁displays ▁the ▁" fore ign ness " ▁of ▁the ▁game . ▁ ▁Release ▁ ▁Sak ag uch i ▁revealed ▁that ▁he ▁was ▁working ▁on ▁a ▁new ▁game ▁in ▁July ▁ 2 0 0 9 . ▁Initial ly ▁target ed ▁for ▁a ▁reve al ▁that ▁year , ▁this ▁was ▁delayed ▁for ▁unknown ▁reasons ▁into ▁ 2 0 1 0 . ▁The ▁game ▁was ▁announced ▁by ▁N intendo ▁in ▁January ▁ 2 0 1 0 , ▁alongside ▁its ▁platform ▁and ▁logo . ▁It ▁was ▁released ▁on ▁January ▁ 2 7 , ▁ 2 0 1 1 . ▁Despite ▁prompt ing ▁interest ▁from ▁genre ▁fans ▁in ▁the ▁west ▁since ▁its ▁official ▁announ cement , ▁shortly ▁before ▁its ▁Japanese ▁release , ▁N intendo ▁announced ▁that ▁The ▁Last ▁Story ▁would ▁remain ▁exclusive ▁to ▁Japan . ▁N intendo ▁explained ▁that ▁the ▁effort ▁involved ▁in ▁bringing ▁The ▁Last ▁Story ▁over se as ▁would ▁be ▁too ▁much ▁work ▁on ▁top ▁of ▁other ▁important ▁releases ▁such ▁as ▁Kir by ' s ▁Ep ic ▁Y arn ▁and ▁titles ▁for ▁the ▁N intendo ▁ 3 DS . ▁Despite ▁this , ▁N intendo ▁stated ▁that ▁there ▁was ▁a ▁strong ▁possibility ▁of ▁it ▁re le asing ▁in ▁the ▁United ▁Kingdom ▁due ▁to ▁its ▁growing ▁R PG ▁market . ▁It ▁was ▁officially ▁announced ▁for ▁Europe ▁in ▁June ▁ 2 0 1 1 . ▁The ▁European ▁local ization ▁was ▁handled ▁by ▁N intendo ▁of ▁Europe , ▁using ▁the ▁same ▁team