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'Final Fantasy XII' remaster comes to PS4 on July 11th
Final Fantasy XII, the last in the franchise to grace the PlayStation 2, is getting the remaster treatment on PlayStation 4. Today, at a special event in Tokyo celebrating the series' 30th anniversary, Square Enix announced two release dates for the game: July 11th for Europe and North America, and July 13th for Japan and other parts of Asia. Final Fantasy XII The Zodiac Age comes with updated environments, characters and cutscenes, running at a smooth 1080p, a newly recorded soundtrack in 7.1 surround, and a trial mode where you can battle monsters in up to 100 successive rounds.
Square Enix is making an 'Avengers' game for Marvel
Yesterday morning, Marvel and Square Enix teased in separate tweets that they had an announcement to make. The internet went into overdrive: A superhero world for Kingdom Hearts 3? Wrong. Very wrong. Today, the two companies have revealed a multi-game partnership that starts with "The Avengers Project." A teaser trailer shows a pair of cracked glasses, Thor's hammer and an Iron Man gauntlet lying in the dirt, discarded. A sombre voiceover explains how "the world will always need heroes," even if people think "that if you're different, you're dangerous." It's all very doom and gloom, buts ends with the hopeful tagline: "We just need to reassemble."
'Final Fantasy XV' kicks off a limited-time carnival event
It's not just multiplayer games that can host limited-time events. Square Enix is launching the Moogle Chocobo Carnival, a time-sensitive Final Fantasy XV feature, today (January 23rd) at 8PM Eastern. So long as you have the Holiday Pack add-on (free or paid), you can visit Altissia to participate in carnival games and chocobo races, play new side quests and indulge in themed treats. The gig runs until February 20th, so you'll want to act quickly if you want to give it a look.
'Final Fantasy XV' tricked me into buying Cup Noodles
I should have been turned off by the commercial advertising casually strewn throughout Final Fantasy XV. Coleman logos are plainly visible when the game's heroes set up camp for the night. Billboards for Nissin Cup Noodles line the highways of Eos. It's product placement so obvious it's almost laughable -- and yet, I now have an eight-pack of instant ramen on my kitchen counter. What happened? A beautiful, devious combination of empathy and nostalgia.
'Tomb Raider' writer Rhianna Pratchett says goodbye to Lara Croft
Rhianna Pratchett is a veteran video game writer who most recently penned the scripts for Tomb Raider and Rise of the Tomb Raider, but today on Twitter she announced her amicable departure from the series. Pratchett helped usher Lara Croft, the franchise's legendary protagonist, into the modern era when Crystal Dynamics rebooted the series in 2013.
Someone Google Translated 'Final Fantasy'
As much as we love them, Japanese role-playing games can be baffling at the best of times. Yet thanks to some clever localization, teams of writers and translators around the globe have managed to make sense of these intriguing adventures. But what if these localization teams didn't exist? That's the question translation enthusiast Clyde Mandelin asked, resulting in him rigging up a program to Google Translate Final Fantasy IV.
'Deus Ex Go' is now ready for your puzzle creations
If you've ever wanted to create puzzles for mobile games rather than playing whatever the developer gives you, you're about to have a field day. Square Enix has released a promised Puzzle Maker update for Deus Ex Go that lets you craft your own challenges on Android and iOS. As the studio told us back in June, this isn't considered a throwaway feature -- the aim is to have a genuinely practical, easy-to-use level editor that you'd want to try on your phone. You can share your work with the community, as well, so this could extend the life of the game even if you hardly touch the creative tools yourself.
First season of 'Hitman' ends on Halloween, in Japan
The first season of Hitman's episodic experiment comes to a close on October 31st -- no tricks. This final installment takes place in Hokkaido, Japan and according to publisher Square Enix, it's "the culmination of everything players will have learnt in terms of both gameplay and story." So hopefully you've been paying attention. The mission takes place in a remote compound replete with Zen gardens, an organic sushi restaurant (fingers crossed you can poison the shashimi) and a Japanese hot spring.
The 'Final Fantasy XV' soundtrack was a decade in the making
What were you doing 10 years ago? Try to think back. Maybe you had a different job or lived in another apartment. I was still a college student, waiting tables at a pub in my spare time. It feels like a lifetime ago. Now, consider this: Back then, Japanese composer Yoko Shimomura had just been asked to work on Final Fantasy XV. She wrote the first track in 2006, while it was still called Final Fantasy Versus XIII. Ever since, she's been waiting. Waiting and working through 10 years of tumultuous development, for the moment that fans could hear her work as it was intended -- as part of the full game.
Disney-Square mashup 'Kingdom Hearts 2.8' is delayed to 2017
Kingdom Hearts 3 is a long way off. To tide keyblade fans over, Square Enix has been remastering the previous games -- both the console and handheld instalments -- and releasing them as three-part collections for the PlayStation 3. The latest instalment, Kingdom Hearts 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue, was due to come out on the PS4 in December, but that's now changed to January. The slight delay was announced at the Tokyo Game Show alongside a new trailer, which teases the ongoing adventures of Sora, Riku and Kairi, as well as older keyblade wielders Aqua, Terra and Ventus.
'Final Fantasy XV' slim PS4 bundle hits the US on November 29th
Did you look on wistfully as Sony Japan unveiled a special edition slim PS4 to mark the launch of Final Fantasy XV? You don't have to anymore. Sony has confirmed that the console will reach GameStop stores in North America on November 29th for $449 US, or $549 Canadian. In the UK, it'll launch on the same day at GAME for £330. Besides the conspicuous moon decal on the system, you're getting a 1TB hard drive, a branded DualShock 4 controller, Square Enix's role-playing game (plus downloadable extras) and the Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV movie on Blu-ray. It's a tempting deal if you can't get enough Final Fantasy into your life, although we have to ask: do you get this, or would it be wiser to spring for the more powerful PS4 Pro plus a separate copy of the game?
Beautiful indie game 'Below' is delayed once again
If you're eager to play Super Time Force developer Capybara Games' latest title, Below, you're going to have to wait a bit longer. The atmospheric and ethereal indie game has been delayed once again, this time with no new release date. Below was originally supposed to come out this summer for Xbox One and PC, but Capy needs a little more time to make sure it meets the studio's high standards.
'Final Fantasy XV' delayed to November 29th
Noctis and friends have put their bromance-filled road trip on hold. Square Enix has confirmed today that Final Fantasy XV, the long-awaited JRPG once known as Final Fantasy Versus XIII, will now launch on November 29th, rather than September 30th. The two-month delay will make room for an update that was going to be offered as a "day-one patch." Director Hajime Tabata believes the downloadable would have been unfair to players with poor internet access, which is why he's decided to wait and include it with the main disc. The extra time, Square Enix promises, will also be used to "conduct quality testing" and add "further polish."
Square Enix's first Apple Watch RPG is stylish yet dull
There aren't enough dedicated apps for the Apple Watch, let alone role-playing games from established publishers like Square Enix. The name alone conjures images of classic RPGs: Final Fantasy, Chrono Trigger and Valkyrie Profile to name a few. That's why Cosmos Rings, the company's first Apple Watch-exclusive RPG, feels like such a departure from the norm. It's vivid, gorgeous and inspired, but unfortunately it falls victim to the very same cliches of so many mobile games that came before it.
Square Enix's 'Cosmos Rings' is an RPG for your Apple Watch
After pulling installments of the Chaos Rings series from the App Store and then filing a trademark for a game called Cosmos Rings in Europe, Square Enix turned some heads. Now the publishing giant is bringing us an interesting new release: an RPG exclusively for the Apple Watch. Unsurprisingly, it's called Cosmos Rings.
NPD finally adds digital tracking to its game sales reports
For years, the NPD Group has tracked and reported video game sales figures. Every month, the company issues an email to the media detailing the top ten selling games for the month prior, total amount spent on games, hardware and accessories and year-over-year and generation-over-generation growth or decline. The glaring hole in those reports is that they didn't account for digital game sales from places like Steam, PlayStation Network or Xbox Live. But that's changing and with this month's data, we'll finally have steps toward a true, comprehensive picture of how much a particular title has sold, both from retailers and digital distribution.
'Final Fantasy VII' comes to Android
Final Fantasy VII, the classic role-playing game that brought 3D graphics to the series, has finally been released for Android devices. It's now on just about every major platform, as it arrived on Steam in 2013, hit iOS last August, and has been available on the PS4 since December, 2015. While originally intended for the Nintendo 64 console, it was first launched on Sony's PlayStation in 1997 and helped popularize the console.
Prosthetic arms inspired by 'Deus Ex' are coming next year
Remember that prosthetic arm, inspired by Metal Gear Solid, that Konami developed for a British amputee? Well, it seems the company has started a trend. Square Enix and Eidos-Montréal have now teamed up with Open Bionics, a specialist in low-cost prosthetics, to develop some designs based on the world of Deus Ex. The franchise delves deep into a possible future where human augmentation is commonplace, changing society and warfare in equal measure. Two arms -- one based on Adam Jensen, the hero of Mankind Divided, another on the wider Deus Ex universe -- will be released next year as royalty-free designs that anyone can use.
'Kingdom Hearts 2.8' sets up 'Kingdom Hearts 3' this December
Kingdom Hearts 3 is still a long way off. In the meantime, fans of the Disney and Final Fantasy mashup are being treated to a part remaster, part compilation called Kingdom Hearts 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue (yep, that's the official name.) The games comes with a HD version of Dream Drop Distance, originally released for the 3DS, and two new experiences called Back Cover and A Fragmentary Passage. Confused yet? Don't worry, Kingdom Hearts is known for its convoluted storyline. Today, Square Enix is announcing that the PS4 game -- already confirmed for Japan -- will also be coming to the West. It'll be out "globally" sometime this December. To whet your appetite, the Japanese publisher has released a new trailer. It starts with Dream Drop Distance but quickly switches to Fragmentary Passage, a new playable chapter following Aqua in the realm of darkness. You'll then see a snippet of Back Cover, a movie exploring a mysterious group called the "Foretellers." It's supposedly tied to Kingdom Hearts Unchained X, a smartphone game that recently launched in the US.
Remastered 'Final Fantasy XII' comes to PS4 in 2017
Add Final Fantasy XII to the next batch of Square RPGs getting a major facelift. The company announced today that a revamped version, titled Final Fantasy XII The Zodiac Age, is heading to the PlayStation 4 next year. And before you start worrying, yes Sony has confirmed that it's headed to North America and Europe in 2017 as well. As usual, you can expect it to run in 1080p and it'll feature an upgraded music mix. There will also be a revamped job system and some interface tweaks originally seen in the international version of the game.
