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Lightning Returns to an 'evolved' battle system in latest trailer
Square Enix offered a new trailer for Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy 13 today, showing flashes of the game's combat system. The sequel to the sequel of the 2010 RPG features skill-changing equipment customization options as well as tactics like evade, overwhelm and stagger, emphasizing strategic methods of ripping enemies apart. The trailer also includes a brief glimpse at Lightning's confrontation with Caius Ballad, a character first seen in the previous game. Lightning Returns will launch on February 11 in North America and February 14 in Europe for PS3 and Xbox 360. The game's demo and pre-order bonuses were revealed earlier this week, so players can check it out for themselves.
Get counter-productive with this Lightning Returns trailer
This "13 Days" trailer for Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy 13 shows Lightning in action with varying outfits. The game's battle system includes a means to counter physical attacks, which uses up a portion of the ATB gauge, and battles where Lightning destroys sections of enemies for item rewards.
Final Fantasy XIV releases notes for patch 1.20
Expected to drop on to the live servers later this week, Final Fantasy XIV's patch 1.20 is bringing with it several large-scale overhauls to combat, leveling, and crafting. In anticipation of the patch release, the patch notes have just recently been posted on the official site; they contain a number of new pieces of information. Among the news is the revelation that players will be able to ascend even further in the ranks of the Grand Companies, and there are new rewards from the vendors as you climb to Sergeant Third Class. The patch notes also contain the finalized levels and names of the various adjusted actions as well as discussion of the game's new system for allocating bonus points per class. There's also a small preview of the fight against Good King Moggle Mog XII with the video embedded just after the break. If you're looking forward to the patch, it's still not quite here, but having the full list of notes to inspect should help take some of the edge off.
Final Fantasy XIV's latest producer's letter shows off auto-attacks
It probably feels like it's past time for another Final Fantasy XIV letter from producer Naoki Yoshida, but the wait is finally over. In the latest installment of what's become a regular dispatch from the company to the fans, Yoshida discusses the upcoming changes and additions due for patch 1.18. But rather than waste space describing what the updates to the game's battle system will be like with the inclusion of auto-attack, Yoshida instead opts to show players with a short video demonstrating the system in action. The one piece of bad news in the letter is that the patch is going to run a bit later due to the extra balance issues introduced, overshooting the previously stated window of mid to late June. Yoshida estimates a roughly two-week delay, putting the patch in early July. Still, Final Fantasy XIV players should be happy with the contents of the letter, especially the preview of auto-attack combat (embedded just past the break).
Triple your pleasure with three Dragon Nest updates
Your typical Massively news post centers on an item or two of interest from a current MMORPG. It might be class-related info, it might be a juicy dev quote, or it might be a video. Rarely, though, do we manage to cram all three of those items into a single, value-packed news post quite like this one. And we owe it all to the folks at Nexon who've smothered us with a veritable gob of new information about Dragon Nest. The free-to-play fantasy MMO's website has just updated with our trifecta, and you can pay a visit to link number one to learn about the game's Warriors, Clerics, Archers, and Sorcerers. Behind link number two is a lengthy dev blog from Desmodeus Dragon Nest's lead producer who talks about the title's visuals, action, and story. Not to be outdone is link number three, which boasts a shiny new video detailing various combos and attacks from Dragon Nest's battle system. OK, maybe it is outdone, since you can also watch the video behind the cut without leaving the comfort of your Massively home. Either way, a smorgasbord of new Dragon Nest info awaits.
Patch 1.15a live for Final Fantasy XIV
The latest pass of revisions to Final Fantasy XIV has just gone live, bringing another set of improvements requested by players. It's also the first installment of Naoki Yoshida's promise to bring patches out on a faster schedule, with the announcements having just hit the official site recently. As promised, the update brings with it further improvements to inventory space, the market wards, and the battle system, the last of which was highlighted just yesterday. Inventory space has been helped notably by the increase of stack sizes for a variety of common materials, previously capped at stacks of 12 and now stacking to 99. Search results for the market wards have also been improved and streamlined, thus making it easier for players to sell their larger stacks of several items. The full list of patch changes are available for perusal, and while it's not everything promised for the near future in Final Fantasy XIV, it's a good first step.
Naoki Yoshida talks upcoming changes to Final Fantasy XIV
Since taking control of the game in December, Naoki Yoshida has been relatively silent about the future of Final Fantasy XIV -- aside from a letter to kick off the new year and a player poll, development has been oddly quiet. That does appear to be changing, however, with Yoshida giving an interview to Famitsu in which he discussed priorities for the game's further improvements as well as what he doesn't want to change. According to the interview, the team's first priorities are further improvements to the UI and changes to the battle system, with Yoshida cryptically remarking that the world currently seems a little too peaceful. He does note that trying something innovative like the market wards isn't necessarily the best option all the time, and there's a hint that we may see a more traditional auction house put in place for the game. It's interesting news for Final Fantasy XIV fans, no doubt enough to chew on for some speculation -- although how soon any of it will come to pass is anyone's guess.
Translated interviews offer more insight into Final Fantasy XIV's world and playstyle
We're just coming off of a holiday weekend here in the US, and Japan had their own recent stretch of holidays, so news on Final Fantasy XIV has been a little bit slower of late. But a recent group of interviews in the June 11th issue of Dengeki have been translated thanks to the team over at FFXIVCore, and they cover topics from materials of armor to the game's not-always-praised battle system. The first part of the interview talks testing and systems with Hiromichi Tanaka and Nobuai Komoto, while the second part discusses visuals and worldbuilding with planner Kenichi Iwao. Tanaka and Komoto confirm that the next phase of testing is set to begin soon, as well as dropping the news that the next test will likely feature an almost totally redesigned battle system. It's even hinted that players were never meant to experience the current system, that it was there almost as a placeholder. By contrast, Iwao discusses the lore and visual aspects of the game, talking about how items will be made from different materials, and how players who want to play a male Mito'qe shouldn't give up hope just yet. All Final Fantasy XIV fans are encouraged to read both interviews, since there's a lot of information available in both -- just the thing for the post-holiday doldrums.
Chaos Rings and Sonic 2 out, Square Enix games on sale
Square Enix has released their Chaos Rings game that we heard about a while ago. At US$13.99, it's one of the most expensive iPhone (not iPad -- yet) games you'll find, but the reviews are terrific so far. The game appears to be a classic Square Enix title, complete with great graphics, a deep storyline and a tight battle system. I haven't gotten a chance to try it yet, but it definitely looks intriguing, and if the game matches up to the hype, we could have a new bar set on Apple's handheld platform. To celebrate, Square Enix is putting all of their other games on sale, including dropping Final Fantasy 1 and 2 down to $7 each. If you've been waiting to pick up one of their other titles, now's your chance, and maybe you can add the money you save into the price of the new game. And finally, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is now out from Sega for the iPhone. Unfortunately, the game uses the same Sega emulator as all of their other games, so it's not exactly glitch-free or polished gameplay. Still, it's playable, and it's definitely the second Sonic game, recreated on the smaller screen. You can pick it up for $5.99.
More looks inside of Final Fantasy XIV
It's a good time to be a Final Fantasy XIV fan, with testing now in full swing and information coming out an accelerated pace. While we'd been in the dark for some time, we're now moving into almost having an information glut. FFXIVCore has been hard at work translating everything released by Famitsu, and there's a lot to digest from there, ranging from confirmation of things we've already suspected to new information altogether. Aside from several screenshots of the game in action, we find out that characters will indeed have both first and last names on creation, in the style of Guild Wars and Dungeons and Dragons Online. The battle system will apparently use staggered sets of abilities rather than steady auto-attacks, something more akin to City of Heroes than Final Fantasy XI. Learned abilities can be used regardless of a character's class, allowing extensive mix-and-match play with each character. In addition to all of that, we also learn just how deep the character building is: levels allow you to improve your stats and skill levels allow access to new abilities, but almost everything is built on player choice. There's a lot for Final Fantasy XIV fans to digest, but the game is shaping up to be very different than its predecessor while retaining the same rich flavor.
Infinite Space puts two launch videos into orbit
Did you pick up Infinite Space yet? The DS spaceventure was released from its docking station by Platinum Games yesterday, and so far the reviews are actually better than we expected. We've got two more launch trailers to share with you: one above which seems to be the intro to the game (complete with Star Wars-style crawl and the weird narration we've come to expect from this game); and another after the break which will walk you through the game's battle tutorial. If you've tried the game out, let us know what you think below. The battle system seems different and the story isn't supposed to be too bad, either. You wouldn't think that an infinite void of open space would have that much going on, but maybe it's worth a shot.
