Square Enix has just recently released a new art book, titled CLOUD. It was rumored that a DVD inside the book contained new trailers for Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy Versus XIII. Today we learned that those trailers have been confirmed as true.
The trailers are available here and here. A YouTube version of the FFVersusXIII is located here.
Source: Club Skill
NIS America is well known for producing niche titles that may not be financial blockbusters, but still cater to the small crowd of RPG loyalists. Well, this is great and all, but as the approach doesn’t rake in big bucks, NIS announced last month they’d be shifting their focus. They’re looking to approach a more casual audience in the future, which is probably good news for the rest of the gaming world. However, this doesn’t mean they’ll stop making those niche titles entirely…
Case in point- NIS has announced Mana Khemia (Alchemists of Al-Revis) for the PS2, which most certainly qualifies as “niche.” It is scheduled to arrive here on March 18, and NIS describes it as a “spiritual sequel” to the Atelier Iris series. They also call it a “campus sim RPG,” where players will control both students and teachers in a university environment, working to complete “academic quests.” This reminds us of a few recent RPG titles on the PS2, including GrimGrimoire and Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3. The latter actually had you attend class and interact with your peers; the effects of which would have a direct impact on your battle capabilities. Could we be looking at something similar with Alchemists of Al-Revis?
Well, we won’t have too long to wait, and we’re glad to see NIS hasn’t abandoned its roots just yet. We also wonder what “casual” titles the developers are currently working on…whenever we find out, we’ll be sure to let everyone know.
Source: PSX Extreme
On the eve of the release of the DS remake of Final Fantasy IV, Square Enix has announced that they will create a sequel to this legendary game. For cell phones.
Seriously, that’s a good-news-bad-news kick in the happy sack like no other. I was willing to forgive every other bad cell phone game that will never, ever, ever come to America that Square Enix has done because I don’t really want to play Parasite Eve 3 or Final Fantasy VII Before Crisis.
But a storyline sequel to one of my favorite childhood games? Starring Theodore, a descendant of Cecil who goes to the moon? Sigh.
Final Fantasy IV: The After will be released in February 2008 for NTT Docomo FOMA 903i series phones, and later in the spring for au’s Win Brew phones, which are the ones that are a skillion times more powerful than anything in our backwards-ass country and thus we will never get to play this.
Source: Wired Blog
You might want to plan again. Square Enix is not playing with people and will take you to court. Korean pop star Ivy recently released a music video that Square Enix felt looked entirely too close to the likeness of Final Fantasy VII characters. As a result, Fantom Entertainment was sued by Square Enix. Apparently, the video was supposed to be a parody of Final Fantasy and that they did not get permission from SE but couldn’t find their contact information.
Seoul Central District Court judge Gu Hoe-geun ruled that Fantom Entertainment “illegally used 80 percent of the storyline, setting, characters and their styles of dress and their demeanors from video game Final Fantasy VII.” As a result, Fantom was fined US $10,900. The company’s director and the video’s director were both fined an $6,500 each. In addition to this, the actual civil suit against the video creators has yet to take place.
I’m not sure what world Fantom Entertainment lives in, but it’s not hard at all to get contact information for Square Enix. Have they heard of a little thing called Google? This story definitely shows that Square Enix will do whatever it takes to protect Final Fantasy. I’d normally feel that a parody should be off limits from lawsuits, but the defendant’s excuses seemed a little retarded. Definitely be careful when trying to rip off Final Fantasy VII, because Square Enix much like Borat live under the “death by crushing” rules.
Source: Kotaku
Publisher Square-Enix announced the addition of new content to the North American version of Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors.
Extra material will include four hidden bosses and a “payback mode”, although the publisher did not elaborate on the latter’s content. It is unknown if these extras will be separate from the main story mode.
Dragon Quest Sword: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors is an action-RPG. Series Creator Yuji Horii, Manga Artist Akira Toriyama (of Dragon Ball Z fame) and Series Composer Koichi Sugiyama have all contributed to the game.
The story will take place in the kingdom of Avalonia and be largely split between towns, where players can buy items and upgrade weapons; and on-rails sections, where players move along pre-determined paths through the environment and attack enemies with Wii Remote gestures.
The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors released in Japan on July 12 of this year. The North American release is expected to occur on February 26, 2008. No specific shipment date has been provided for PAL territories.
Source: The Wiire
Legendary Final Fantasy publisher Square Enix has this week whipped the covers of an intriguing Nintendo DS exclusive called ‘The World Ends With You,’ which it describes as “an exciting new title from the makers of Kingdom Hearts.” Got your attention?
Set for release in the spring of 2008, The World Ends With You (or Subarashiki Kono Sekai as it’s known in Japan) is set in a trendy district of Tokyo, and opens with lead character Neku receiving a devastating telephone message informing him that he will cease to exist in 7 days if he fails to complete a certain mysterious task.
Jumping into action, brave Neku must utilise his fighting skills and rely on his friends and, um… fashion sense… in order to restore hope to Tokyo and prevent his own mortal erasure. How odd.
“Square Enix has traditionally been associated with RPGs set in fantasy lands, but The World Ends With You is our first ever game to be set in modern times and real-life locations,” enthused John Yamamoto, president and CEO of Square Enix Ltd. “The use of the Nintendo DS functionality is second to none. We believe gamers of all ages and abilities will be able to enjoy all that The World Ends With You has to offer.”
Boasting plenty of atmosphere via “urban grit and neon” of Tokyo via the game’s “high quality style of in-game artwork,” The World Ends With You is set to deliver an “achingly hip cast of characters” arriving with interesting personalities and strong senses in fashion, music and culture.
Beyond the odd incorporation of fashion sense, Square Enix promises to take full advantage of the DS touch screen, dual screens, and microphone when it comes to implementing the game’s innovative and intuitive combat system. Players will also be able to use “fantastic psychic powers” to read people’s thoughts, plant words into the minds of others, and even move in-world objects and barriers.
Other features include a diverse fusion-friendly soundtrack, fashion item trading via Wi-Fi, and also a host of wireless mini-games that can be played by up to four players.
Source: Monsters and Critics
Square Enix has announced that Final Fantasy XII: Revanant Wings will be released on 15th February 2008, exclusively on the Nintendo DS handheld system.
Set one year after the events of the best-selling FFXII, Revanant Wings answers questions about what happens next to heroes Vaan, Penelo, Fran and Balthier as players return to the land of Ivalice, meet new characters, visit unexplored locations and embark upon a new adventure.
FFXII: Revanant Wings sees the evolution of the innovative Gambit system that allows automated commands to be issued during real-time combat. Smart Touch Screen controls provide complete power over actions and allow users to to play solely using the Nintendo DS stylus.
John Yamamoto, president and chief executive officer of Square Enix Ltd. comments: “I am delighted that we are providing fans with another opportunity to enjoy the beautiful world of Ivalice. With the same high-production values including movies and music, Final Fantasy XII: Revanant Wings is a stunning sequel that expands upon the original game and that makes full use of the Nintendo DS hardware.”
Features:
Source: Game Planet
Whilst browsing on youtube I found this video which is the trailer for the upcoming remake of the classic game, Final Fantasy IV for the Nintendo DS. It is a great trailer, so sit back and enjoy it.
Attendees of Square-Enix’s Jump Festa 2008 event–which actually takes place at the end of 2007–will be treated to an assault of new Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts and Dragon Quest games. The downside? Almost none of it will be playable. And the side that’s deeper down the well of pain than that? A half-dozen new trailers, including new ones for Final Fantasy XIII, Final Fantasy Versus XIII, Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, and Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep, will only be shown in the company’s “Closed Door Mega Theater.” That means seemingly endless waits for a look at the semi-private showing of the PlayStation 3, PSP and Nintendo DS follow ups to Squeenix’s cash cows. It’s quite cruel.
For a list of what will be on hand December 22nd and 23rd at the Makuhari Messe, you know what to do.
The confirmed playable and already released titles are the following:
Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker (DS)
Dragon Quest IV (DS)
Final Fantasy IV (DS)
And the rest below will show up only in trailer form:
Chocobo’s Mysterious Dungeon (Wii)
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Little King and the Promised Land (Wii)
Dissidia: Final Fantasy (PSP)
Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days (DS)
Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep (PSP)
Kingdom Hearts: Coded (mobile)
Final Fantasy XIII, Final Fantasy Versus XIII (PS3)
Final Fantasy Agito XIII (mobile)
Final Fantasy VII AC: Complete (DVD)
Star Ocean: First Departure (PSP)
Front Mission 2009: Border of Madness (DS)
Full details and tiny screenshots at Square-Enix’s official Japanese site.
Source: Kotaku
In an amazing piece of news, Nintendo’s updated release list for December’s Virtual Console Wii retro service over in Japan has revealed that Square Enix is once again back on-board with another classic. This time it is the fantastic SNES strategy RPG ‘Treasure Hunter G’ for the SNES that never received a Western release. Developed by Sting, the team behind both Riviera and Yggdra Union on the GBA, it was the company’s first role-playing game and its only partnership with Squaresoft (Square Enix now). It was also the one of the last SNES games made available, and possibly the last of Squarsoft’s SNES efforts, along with Bahamut Lagoon.
The game focuses on two main characters, Red and Blue G, two youngsters eager to find their father. Upon stumbling across their dad, they uncover that he has discovered a special flying device and is just about to set off into the sky, leaving them behind. Wanting to give chase, they are set back by monsters attacking and burning down their home village. It turns out the monsters are after Rain, a strange young girl and her pet monkey, Ponga. Then the adventure takes a turn for the clichéd, with a Dark Lord set to be resurrected, meaning that the task of saving the world amazingly lands on their laps as well…
Despite the generic story, the game has a really enjoyable battle mechanic and thankfully does not have random battles, instead taking the Chrono Trigger route of having enemies either sat there, waiting to be engaged, or hiding in certain areas, ready to pounce. Whilst being a strategy game, there is not an abundance of over-complicated menus, so action is quick. The graphics are akin to those found in Square’s other SNES game, Super Mario RPG, in other words they attempted to achieve a 3D appearance on the SNES like Rare did with Donkey Kong Country. However, the more impressive feature was the soundtrack, which was worked on by two men not as well known back then, but regularly hailed nowadays - Hitoshi Sakimoto and Masaharu Iwata (Ogre Battle, Final Fantasy Tactics - ring any bells?). At the moment Western gamers can only play this game in English by obtaining the ROM by illegal means and downloading a translation patch. Hopefully Square Enix will see the light and decide to translate this eventually, though, making it more accessible to the masses.
Source: Cubed3