Final Fantasy

Fantasy Life Mixes Animal Crossing with Final Fantasy

JRPGs are often a dime a dozen in Japan but late last December, Level 5 released Fantasy Life for the Nintendo 3DS in Japan (which experienced shortages in its first week on sale). And what is it about Fantasy Life that sets it apart from the crowd? It’s that the game mixes the adventure of…

New Final Fantasy Versus XIII Info Is Coming…Apparently!

Final Fantasy Versus XIII designer Tetsuya Nomura recently appeared on a Square Enix radio program and was asked the question on everyone’s mind: When will there be new Final Fantasy Versus XIII info? Nomura seemed to be in good spirits about the question and said, “If we’re talking about when there will be news, MD…

If You Like Final Fantasy Or Zelda, You Need To Play Evoland

I killed a few hours this morning playing Evoland, a new JRPG/Action RPG released on Steam. It’s a strange thing. It’s a game, sure, but it’s also a history lesson and a love letter to two classic and venerable genres, all of which makes it well worth the $10 asking price. Evoland is, as its…

The Most Deserted, Abandoned Places In Video Games

You don’t necessarily need noisy, crowded cities to make a section of a game exciting. Uninhabited wastelands, post-apocalyptic worlds, a sea of sand dunes, vast grasslands… These can all be strikingly beautiful places, and capable of telling enticing stories. We’ve gathered some choice games below to show how well abandoned places can set the general…

Tokyo Train Station Is Covered in Final Fantasy. And It’s Awesome.

Shinjuku Station is all about Final Fantasy V. Spotted on the Keio Line’s platform, huge V-shaped pillars were draped in FF art. The v-shaped pillars are originally part of the station’s construction. Meaning? Square Enix didn’t add them, but was clever enough to incorporate the pillars into a campaign to promote the FFV‘s iOS release.…

Show Us What You Love and Hate About Cloud Strife’s Character Design

Character design is a thankless job — So many tiny, invisible decisions go into creating game characters we spend the rest of our lives with. But that doesn’t mean we can’t have a little fun with it. Using our brand spanking new image annotation system, show us what you love, hate or find hilarious about…

Final Fantasy Versus XIII Isn’t Out, But This Cosplay Is

Where is Final Fantasy Versus XIII? It’s right here in video game fandom, that’s where. While Versus XIII was first announced ages ago, the game has yet to see release. During this long wait, the game’s inability to hit shops hasn’t stopped Final Fantasy fans from cosplaying as characters from the game. Guess that’s a…

Final Fantasy V Comes to iOS Tomorrow, and It Looks… Like This.

I’m not quite sure how I feel about the look of Final Fantasy V on iOS. I mean, original character designer Kazuko Shibuya returned to polish up her original designs and make everything all pretty for the game’s mobile debut, so in a way this is true to her vision. On the other hand, it…

All the Final Fantasy XIII Digital Cuddling You Can Handle

Final Fantasy XIII has sexual tension. Ditto for its sequel, Final Fantasy XIII-2. Some apparently thought the tension wasn’t palpable enough. So they took things into their own hands. Digitally. Over on DeviantArt, several talented digital artists have their visions of Final Fantasy XIII pairings—some of which you might agree with and some of which…

Life After Final Fantasy Sure Seems Normal for This Character

You know the story: Rough, wild individual settles down. Gets a job. And turns into a boring member of society. It doesn’t just happen to regular people. It also apparently happens to Japanese role-playing characters. You have to grow up and move on! You can’t be in Japanese role-playing games forever! (Technically you can.) With…

Here’s The First Official Trailer For The Final Fantasy X HD Remaster

We only just got confirmation that the HD remasters of Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy X-2 are coming to North America, and already the first official trailer has surfaced. So what if it’s partly in German? As far as we know, this trailer was supposed to come out tomorrow. We’ve reached out to Square…

Awesome, Those HD Remakes Of Final Fantasy X And X-2 Are Coming To North America

Square Enix has just announced that both Final Fantasy X and X-2 are getting the HD treatment not just in Japan, but here as well. The PS3 will receive a one-disc bundle of both games, while the Vita will receive each game separately. Here’s Square Enix: Square Enix Inc., the publisher of Square Enix interactive…

One Last Crazy Theory About Mass Effect 3’s Ending

This is the last time that you’ll ever lose someone after this it’s you and your friends it’s you and your friends. —Stars, “The Last Song Ever Written” I have a theory about the end of Mass Effect 3. Not a serious theory, mind you. A crazy theory, the kind even I don’t take seriously,…

Final Fantasy‘s Lightning Doesn’t Like Sand. It’s Coarse and Rough and Irritating.

Also there are sand dragon things, which are not soft and smooth. The latest batch of screenshots for Final Fantasy XIII Sequel Two: I Guess You Guys Wanted to Play as Lightning shows off the Dead Dunes, a land of dunes and deadness in the world of Nova Chrysalia. Sand is pretty great. It’s easy…

Square Enix has registered a trademark in Japan for “Fantasy Village”. A life simulator? Dunno! [Siliconera]

Rumor: Final Fantasy X HD Comes With Final Fantasy X-2 HD on the PS3

According to what looks like a Jump Magazine leak (below), the HD remaster of Final Fantasy X is coming to the PlayStation with a Final Fantasy X-2 remaster on the same disc. Both the Final Fantasy X and X-2 HD versions are also supposedly packed with the “international version” content. Originally, that consisted of bonus…

Final Fantasy V on Smartphones? Nineteen Bucks in Japan.

As first revealed last December, Square Enix is bringing Final Fantasy V and “other games” to iOS. A leaked Japanese magazine scan shows how much Japanese gamers can expect to pay for this: Final Fantasy V, which is listed for iOS and Android, is priced at ¥1,800 or close to US$19. That’s a lot! But,…

Let’s Look at the PS2 and PS3 Versions of Kingdom Hearts Side-by-Side

HD versions of classic PlayStation 2 titles are all the rage these days, with everything from Resident Evil 4 to Shadow of the Colossus getting a new coat of paint. The newest in the long line of HD remasters is Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 Remix—which includes Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix, Kingdom Hearts: Re:Chain of Memories…

Final Fantasy Versus XIII Turned into FFXV by a Fashion Label’s Mistake

Ah, the world of fashion! The clothes. The models. The typos? According to Japanese clothing brand Roen, that’s exactly what caused a recent kerfuffle. Back in 2008, Roen announced that it would be making Final Fantasy Versus XIII threads like the game’s protagonists wear. Recently, however, something peculiar was spotted while surfing Roen’s website. On…

Turn-Based Combat Is The Best Kind Of Combat

Editor’s Note: I’m on vacation today, but since I know you’re all craving your regular dose of JRPG goodness, I’ve enlisted the wonderful Kirk Hamilton to jazz up Random Encounters this week. Be nice! —Jason Schreier Oh boy, here we go. If I’m gonna take over Jason’s column for a week, that means I’m gonna…