Square Enix describes Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn's latest 2.4 update, titled Dreams of Ice, as the game's biggest update to date. It's available now. Amongst other additions, the update adds new and expanded storylines, several environments, a new job and class, and the wintery dungeon of Snowcloak.
During the London Final Fantasy XIV Fan Festival this weekend, Square Enix revealed a few new pieces of information about the game's upcoming expansion, Heavensward. Most notably, flying mounts and the new Dark Knight job class. Because the only thing better than [utl=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chocobo]a chocobo[/url] is a chocobo than can fly you to work.
The first expansion for Final Fantasy 14: A Realm Reborn will be called Heavensward, and it's coming in Spring 2015 according to Square Enix. The developer made the official announcement at the Final Fantasy Fan Festival over the weekend. Gaming website Gematsu has gathered the first nuggets of information on what players can expect.
Square Enix announced today that Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII will be released across all PAL regions in Spring 2008, exclusively to the PSP. John Yamamoto, president and chief executive officer of Square Enix comments, “CRISIS CORE -FINAL FANTASY VII- is one of the most anticipated FINAL FANTASY releases of all times. The game pushes the boundaries of the PSP hardware and will offer a truly fantastic gameplay experience for new fans and fans of the original instalment.”
Square Enix could be planning to release a demo for their next title in the classic RPG series Final Fantasy which is known as Final Fantasy XIII. Snippets from two magazines, Dengeki and Famitsu reveal this but no release date was listed. They do say that the demo will give fans a chance to see what the new battle system is like.
Many people are familiar with the Final Fantasy series of games. With the first release in 1987 for the NES, it has developed a large following (in fact, it is the fourth best-selling game franchise of all time) and crossed genres. Final Fantasy XI: Wings of the Goddess is the fourth expansion pack to this the eleventh installment in the series. If you're a fan of FFXI, and considering picking up this expansion, read our review to see if Emmanuel Brown thinks your money will be well spent. Read the Final Fantasy: Wings of the Goddess review.
Famitsu claims that game director Tetsuya Nomura has revealed in a recent interview that Final Fantasy Versus XIII has been put “on hold”. The entire Versus team is helping to finish Final Fantasy XII, as this title gets the number one priority for now. No release date has been mentioned, unfortunately.
In an interview with 1UP, Microsoft Game Studios' Shane Kim has said decisions like that of Squire Enix to bring FFXIII to Xbox360 will help "opens doors for us in Japan". The Xbox360 hasn't fared too well in Japan but Kim hopes that this "step-by-step process" will convince more developers to take notice.
Square Enix announced today that a demo for its long-awaited RPG Final Fantasy XIII will be available to consumers that purchase the Blu-ray edition of Final Fantasy VII Advent Children next March. We expect sales for the Blu-Ray edition of Final Fantasy VII Advent Children to run out quickly due to this exciting prospect, so pre-ordering a copy could be a good idea.
At an invite only affair in Japan, Square Enix has revealed that the next full title instalment in the Final Fantasy franchise will be arriving next year - no word on Europe though. While they have announced an Xbox360 version work has not started on it yet and won't until the PS3 version is complete.
Rumours sparking from the latest issue of Famitsu suggests that Microsoft paid for the porting of Final Fantasy XIII from the PlayStation 3 to the Xbox 360, according to several sources that say they've read the magazine, but this won't be confirmed until scans start appearing on the Internet. The article also suggests that FFXIII will be out next summer in Japan, with Europe and US versions coming by the end of next year.
Square Enix's Shinji Hashimoto has said he hopes fans won't think of the decision to go multiplatform as some traitorous move or even as a "disappointment." He says they're not "cancelling or delaying the PS3 version", it's an "added bonus for 360 fans." He revealed the PS3 is the focus right now, then they'll move onto the 360 port.
Gamers are reporting that since the launch of NXE for the Xbox 360, the MMORPG Final Fantasy XI has been having a tough time of it. The problem seems to surround the PlayOnline Viewer that already required an installation to the HDD. Microsoft and Square Enix haven't come up with a solid fix just yet.
Square Enix was all for discussion with Sony about getting Final Fantasy XI to work on the PlayStation 3, but that representative left Sony apparently. FFXI Online is already playable on PS2, Xbox 360 and PC. The PS3 lacks PS2-emulation software and it seems Sony don't have "any plans to address that issue" say Enix.
The countdown on the official Final Fantasy XIII website has now finished, and new gameplay trailers have been released. You can see them on the official website.
Recently FFXIII director Motomu Toriyama has spoken with Famitsu magazine and has allayed fears the game would slide out of the calendar year. He tells the mag everything is going as planned and '09 is the year for FFXIII, with the demo releasing this April. It'll be around an hour's worth and includes the full game battle system.
Square Enix announced today that the first in a series of three previously announced add-on scenarios for their MMO game, Final Fantasy XI, will be available to purchase on 23rd March, 2009. This add-on scenario, titled "A Crystalline Prophecy – Ode of Life Bestowing," will be available exclusively for online purchase through the PlayOnline Viewer, and will be priced at 9.99 Euros and £7.99. After purchase, FINAL FANTASY XI players will have access to this new content after the release of the upcoming version update in early April 2009.
The Japanese developer has revealed the lifetime sales numbers for three of their biggest names: Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest and Kingdom Hearts. It should come as little surprise that Final Fantasy leads the pack, with over 85m copies sold around the world. Second place goes to Dragon Quest with 47m, while the new kid on the block...
The differences between the FFXIII demo and it's full retail counterpart are going to be big, the net has been scoured and an evolutionary list compiled. Among things like you'd expect, like frame rate tweaks, there are some pleasant surprises too. Victory poses are "under consideration," better targeting, subtitles, Summons, and more...
During an interview, FFXIII producer Yoshinori Kitase has said the team are "thinking" about including only the English voice work and not any Japanese. There'd be "enough memory" with Blu-ray on PS3, but the Xbox 360 "probably not" due to disc space limitations. It's vague but the PS3 version outside of Japan could contain both.