Square Enix

When Can We Play Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn?

We’re just a few short weeks away from the grand re-launch of Final Fantasy XIV on August 27, but some folks are going to get to play even earlier than that. Break out your Lalafell swimsuit calendars as we mark down the final beta, early start, and welcome back campaigns for FFXIV. First up, new…

The Big Final Fantasy Question

Is Final Fantasy dead? Should we stop getting excited about the series? Is it time to abandon all hope? A great deal has been written about the decline of Square Enix’s titanic RPG franchise, and it’s hard to find a Final Fantasy fan who doesn’t have strong opinions about how the influential series has evolved…

The Great Japanese Divide

As a JRPG fan, I’ve always had a hard time accepting that what Japan wants is often drastically different than what I want. So when Capcom announced this week that the next Breath of Fire—a series of traditional JRPGs revolving around a boy who can turn into a dragon—would not be a traditional RPG but…

Good news: that Tomb Raider sequel—outed by Kotaku during Comic-Con—is already in the works. In a post on the company’s corporate blog, Square Enix CEO Phil Rogers says that they’re “well into development” on a “next-generation” sequel.

In Japan, Square Enix just announced Dragon Quest Monsters 2, a numeric sequel in its popular Dragon Quest Monsters spinoff series. As some commenters have pointed out, this is a remake of the original DQM2. The game’s “general director” is Yuji Horii, and it will feature monster designs by Akira Toriyama. It’s also being developed…

For Some Reason, Lightning Returns Has Boob Jiggling

One of the best things about Final Fantasy heroines is that, generally speaking, they’ve tended to be strong females and haven’t really relied on fan service. Until now, that is. At a recent Q&A session with Lighting Returns: Final Fantasy XIII‘s developers, the following question was asked: “Is it true that Lightning went from a…

It’s Hard To Play Square’s Vampire Game When The Hero’s This Sexy

While an Unreal Engine 3-powered vampire hunting period piece set in an alternate 19th century Paris may sound pretty compelling, the coolest thing about Square Enix’s Bloodmasque is facial mapping technology console developers gave up on years ago. Seriously, look at my character. Those partial black-framed glasses; the beard that stops before his chin; those…

This Man Likes the Vita So Much, He Practically Remade His Game For It

As of July 23rd, Square Enix has released its popular RPG, Chaos Rings, to the PlayStation Mobile section of the PlayStation Store, where it can be downloaded and played on smartphones, tablets, and the PS Vita. When asked why he decided to release the formerly smartphone-only game on PS Mobile, producer Takehiro Ando’s answer was…

Square Enix Has Its Eye on China. Yeah, Just Like Everyone Else.

Yoichi Wada, the guy at Square Enix who gets to sit in the “Chairman of the Board” chair is in China for the “China Digital Entertainment Expo” (also known as “ChinaJoy”), China’s biggest game show. Wada gave a speech about the Free to Play model of games at the pre-Expo developer/publisher conference, during which he…

A Moment To Remember The Kickass Chaos Rings Music

I still remember booting up Chaos Rings back when it first came out. This ass-kicker from composer Noriyasu Agematsu came on, and I thought, “Okay, I’m going to play the heck out of this game.” That bass! Those crazy climbing piano chords! That F-horn rip! So much good stuff. The game was pretty cool, too,…

Ex-Eidos Boss Slams Square Enix

Ex-Eidos Montreal boss Stephane D’Astous, who left the studio last Friday, has come out firing shots at his former parent company. Eidos Montreal is the development studio behind Deus Ex: Human Revolution and the upcoming Thief reboot. Their parent company, Square Enix, develops games both in Japan and in the west under their Eidos branch.…

There’s a New Star Ocean Game. But Don’t Get Excited Yet.

Hey, guess what! There’s a new Star Ocean coming out in Japan. But it’s probably not what you expect. That is, unless you really like card-based social games for Android and iOS. Do you? It’s okay if you do! If so, Square Enix is releasing Star Ocean: Material Trader This is the art style. It’s…yeah…

This Final Fantasy Abbreviation Might Surprise You

Everybody knows that the “proper” abbreviation for Final Fantasy is “FF”, right? Nope! Recently, a website managed by the Japan Game Users Association asked over 300 Japanese gamers from teenage to 40-something about how they abbreviate Final Fantasy. Over 70 percent (70.7 percent to be exact) shorten Final Fantasy to “FF”. However, 17 percent said…

This Drakengard 3 Character is a Virgin. Apparently That Matters

Drakengard 3 (Or as it’s known in Japan, Drag-On Dragoon 3), the 10th anniversary celebration of the original Drakengard is gearing up for its release this autumn. To get fans excited, Square Enix has been steadily releasing new information on the game to keep them interested. The latest character introduced in this week’s Weekly Famitsu…

Patch Will Give Jailbroken Deus Ex Players The Ability To Shoot

After yesterday’s uproar over new mobile game Deus Ex: The Fall disabling guns on jailbroken iOS devices, Eidos parent Square Enix has announced plans to remove the function via an upcoming game update, apologizing for not being clear about the restriction up front. The feature, likely put in place to deter piracy, affected a number…

Eidos Disables Your Guns in iOS Deus Ex, If Your Device is Jailbroken

Released yesterday for iOS Deus Ex: The Fallis all about giving the player options, unless that player is attempting to run the game on a jailbroken iPhone or iPad, in which case it removes one of the most important abilities in the game — pulling the trigger. Encountered by Redditor KipEnyan and verified by several…

Kingdom Hearts Looks Just As Delightful As You Remember

Man, this new Kingdom Hearts 1.5 trailer brings back memories. I can’t believe it’s already been 11 years since Square’s action-RPG first came out. This trailer, of course, is for the HD remake of Kingdom Hearts that will be out for PS3 on September 10 Really, Kingdom Hearts 1.5 is kind of a dumb name,…

Square’s Considering Bringing Dragon Quest X Outside Of Japan, But…

There’s a catch. There’s always a catch. Now that the online role-playing game Dragon Quest X—first released for Wii and Wii U—is getting a PC release in Japan, Famitsu asked producers Yosuke Saito and Yu Miyake if they plan to bring the game overseas. Their answer: sure, they’re considering it… but it could be a…

Final Fantasy XIV Isn’t Coming To Xbox Because Of A Silly Policy

Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, the much-improved reincarnation of Square Enix’s online role-playing game, will be out on August 27 for PC and PS3, then later in the future for PS4. No Xbox 360. No Xbox One. Allow Naoki Yoshida to explain why. Speaking with RPGSite, the new director of FFXIV pointed a finger…

See What A Difference HD Makes For Final Fantasy X

Along with the news that every preorder of the Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster will be upgraded to the Limited Edition with a 24-page art book for a case, Square Enix also released a comparison video that demonstrates how much we probably could have done without this remaster. Smoothing out the jaggies is lovely and…