Final Fantasy

Final Fantasy XIV Gets A Cute David Bowie Reference

Above, via Redditor LightSamus: a dedication to the late David Bowie, found in Final Fantasy XIV’s new Antitower dungeon, which was added with the 3.2 patch yesterday. Cute. On another note, I’ve spent the past few weeks binge-playing FFXIV, and I really really love it, although it seems like I’ve just gotten up to the…

Final Fantasy IX Can Be Silly

“Emoticons are unavailable,” the mobile version of Final Fantasy IX tells you when you name a new character. WELL, WE’LL SEE ABOUT THAT. Meet one of Alexandria’s finest soldiers, Captain :(. When you’ve played an RPG like Final Fantasy IX over and over again more times than you can count, sometimes you’ve just gotta spice things…

Goofy Dad Recreates Final Fantasy VII Summons With His Butt

My five-year-old daughter, just now: “I like it when he was shaking his tush-tush.” Papa Luciano is at it again. After hilarious turns making his body a vessel for Smash Bros.’ taunts and Street Fighter victory poses, the middle-aged man is interpreting the summons from the beloved JRPG. You will believe a man can chocobo,…

My Favorite Images From Toy Fair 2016 Day Two

My second and final full day at my very first Toy Fair 2016 in New York City has come and gone, and already I miss it terribly. Nothing flipping through photos of Nerf guns, Pokemon plushies, Final Fantasy figures, Monster High dolls, Transformers, Marvel heroes and more can’t fix. I’ve been dreaming of this weekend…

Fan Transforms Ganon Amiibo Into Final Fantasy VII‘s Barret

Here’s an insanely great custom Amiibo Barret from Final Fantasy VII, by artist GandaKris It’s not a 3D-printed model, but a skinned, repainted, remodelled version of the Ganon Amiibo. You can see traces of his beard in the WIP photo below, but otherwise GandaKris did an amazing job, and it’s pretty hard to recognize the…

My Favorite Images From Toy Fair 2016 Day One

Day one of my first trip to Toy Fair came and went far too quickly. Between bitter cold temperatures and a series of scheduled appointments I didn’t get much time to wander the floor, but when I did I found pretty things at every turn. You’ll see some old toys and some new ones. Some…

Final Fantasy IV‘s Creepiest Enemy Pops Up In FFXIV

Hey, look, it’s Calcabrina. To quote Kotaku’s Mike Fahey: “NOOO, STOP, GET IT AWAY FROM ME.” For quite some time now, the folks at Square Enix have been stuffing Final Fantasy XIV with references to other Final Fantasy games, and this new patch is no exception. With patch 3.2, it looks like they’ll be adding…

Surprise: Final Fantasy IX Is Out Now On Phones

Stealthy Square Enix snuck Final Fantasy IX out on iOS and Android this morning, and presumably it’ll be on Steam soon too This new version of the ninth Final Fantasy has high-res character models, touch controls, and a set of new cheats like a “no random encounters” mode and a fast-forward button. You can also…

Reminder: Final Fantasy Tactics Is Still Incredible

It has become clear, in the wake of the disastrous Unsung Story, that we may never get a proper successor to Final Fantasy Tactics. Fortunately, the original game is as good today as it was in 1998. This past weekend, the game studio Playdek broke months of silence to announce that they’d put Unsung Story…

The Final Fantasy Adventure Remake Is Excellent

This week, Square Enix released Adventures of Mana, a remake of the classic Game Boy action-role-playing game Final Fantasy Adventure. Like many of Square’s other mobile games, it’s both A) pricey and B) excellent. I bit the bullet and bought a copy on iOS last night, dishing out $14 for the privilege. (It’s also out…

Even Final Fantasy Can’t Make Me Enjoy The Monster Hunter Formula

After years of trying to get into Monster Hunter, I thought I’d finally found my opening. If any game could get me into co-op monster slaying, it would be Final Fantasy Explorers. It was a good try. Originally published on 1/13/16 I don’t blame Monster Hunter for failing to engage. I appreciate the idea of…

The lovely Final Fantasy Adventure remake,Adventures of Mana, arrives on iOS and Android on February 4 in North America. Still no sign of Japan’s Vita release making its way Stateside. No pricing yet either, but how much can a Square Enix mobile game possibly be?

Final Fantasy XV‘s Combat Kicks Even More Ass Now

Remember the exciting battles fought in the second coming of Final Fantasy XV Episode Duscae? They’ve got nothing on the awesome Niflheim base battle footage show during the finalActive Time Report. Check out new combos, warp kills, magical explosions and more. Check it out. I’ll walk through some of the cool new features quickly for…

Watch The Latest Final Fantasy XV Active Time Report Live, Right Here [All Done]

Magic! Stealth! Magitek armor! Exclamation points! Plus an update on the March event where we expect more useful information, like a release date, all in the latest Final Fantasy XV Active Time Report, kicking off live at 11 PM Eastern. And we’re done. The archive should be live shortly. For those of you who missed…

That Final Fantasy and Louis Vuitton Collaboration? It Exists in the Real World, Too. 

First, there was a CG trailer with the Final Fantasy XIII character. Then, there was an interview. And now, Louis Vuitton shops are plastered with Lightning. There’s one word for this and that word is “surreal.” In Japan, commenters on the popular bulletin board 2ch have been uploading photos of Louis Vuitton shops and real-world…

Kotaku ‘Shop Contest: Final Fashiony: The Winners!

Last week I asked our Photoshop-savvy readers to give us a video game fashion model who could give Final Fantasy’s Lightning a run for her money. Our winner gives her a run for her monkey. I am so sorry. Let me make it up for you by establishing a school to teach children to collect…

Kotaku ‘Shop Contest: Final Fashiony

Inspired by both Louis Vuitton’s choice of virtual model and Venture Beat’s excellent response, this week’s ‘Shop Contest is too sexy for your games. The objective is simple. Take a video game character, turn them into a fashion model. It doesn’t have to be something high concept and high price like Louis Vuitton or Venture…

Louis Vuitton Interview With Final Fantasy‘s Lightning Should Be Canon

Many fans were surprised when Final Fantasy XIII’s pink-haired heroinetraded in her Firaga in favor of being a fashion model. In a completely made-up interview given exclusively to UK’s Telegraph, Lightning reveals how significantly pricey clothing has changed her life. Fans called Lightning modeling purses and other items designed by Louis Vuitton creative director Nicolas…

If You Have Three Hours To Spare, Watch This Final Fantasy IV Speedrun

If you have a few extra hours today, spend them watching this three-and-a-half-hour speedrun of Final Fantasy IV, an RPG that was certainly not designed to be completed in fewer than four hours. Using a technique called step manipulation to determine exactly when each random encounter will spawn, AGDQ 2016 speedrunner nocashnocash is able to…

What Some of Japan’s Biggest Game Creators Hope To Do in 2016

It’s a new year. Can you believe it? Sure you can. While you ponder how you’ll spend it, here is what some of Japan’s most famous game creators hope to accomplish. In this latest issue of Weekly Famitsu, a huge number of game makers revealed their aspirations for 2016. Note that not every Japanese game…