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Kotaku East
The Cutest Little Final Fantasy Characters
The characters of Theatrhythm Final Fantasy—both ally and enemy—come from across all thirteen Final Fantasies. Yet instead of mixing and matching art styles, Square Enix Japanese graphic designer Monster Octopus to re-create all these Final Fantasy characters in their own cute, doll-like style. This is far from the only time Monster Octopus’ art style has…
By Richard Eisenbeis Published March 30, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Is Theatrhythm a Miserable Medley or a Musical Masterpiece?
The Final Fantasy series as a whole has the best original soundtrack in gaming. While many series have a standout song or two, Final Fantasy has thirteen games—and many spin-off titles—brimming with instantly recognizable tunes. Whether written by Nobuo Uematsu, Masashi Hamauzu, or other composers, these memorable scores have captured the souls of gamers for…
By Richard Eisenbeis Published March 30, 2012 -
Let Sleeping Dogs Drive and This is What Happens
I told you not to bother them. Now they’re doing stunts, participating in illegal street races, and jumping from car-to-car with larcenous intent. BAD DOGS. The game formerly known as True Crime: Hong Kong features a massive open world filled with things that explode, shatter, or die horribly when hit with sufficient force. Naturally vehicles…
By Mike Fahey Published March 29, 2012 -
Watch Kingdom Hearts 3D‘s Intro Projected On The Side Of A Building
Earlier this month to celebrate the Kingdom Hearts 10th Anniversary, Square Enix held the Kingdom Hearts Premier Event in southern Tokyo. Yesterday, to celebrate the release of Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance, they put footage of the event up on the official Kingdom Hearts 3D website. The best video shows the game’s intro movie as…
By Richard Eisenbeis Published March 29, 2012 -
Kingdom Hearts 3DS’ Opening Movie Mixes Things Up
New screens from the opening movie for Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance show off the game’s dedication to stirring the series’ already convoluted storyline into one large frothy jumble tasting faintly of salt water ice cream. I’ve been wondering which of the two Hikaru Utada opening themes they’d be using to kick off this…
By Mike Fahey Published March 29, 2012 -
Turn-Based Role-Playing Fans Find a Safe Haven in Chaos Rings II
Final Fantasy fans seeking to relive the glory days of the series when enemies were on one side of the screen and waited their turn have a new champion on the iPhone in Square Enix’s Chaos Rings II. As with Chaos Rings and Chaos Rings Omega before it, Chaos Rings II is a turn-based role-playing…
By Mike Fahey Published March 27, 2012 -
Kotaku East
What Is This New Square Enix Game?
Square Enix is launching a “secret title” this summer. It features illustrations by Yusuke Naora and Maski Hirooka. According to 2ch sleuths, the name of the game is apparently Crystal Conquest based on this domain name page. The tagline in the teaser trailer is “‘C’ is coming.” In that teaser trailer, there are helmets, armor,…
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 23, 2012 -
Final Fantasy XIII-2‘s Goofy Octopus DLC Is Straight Outta Final Fantasy VI
This is Ultros. And his buddy, Typhon. Be careful. They’ll blow you away. Ultros and Typhon are part of a new downloadable content pack for Final Fantasy XIII-2, the role-playing game that Square Enix released earlier this year for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. You might recognize the two goofy villains from Final Fantasy VI,…
By Jason Schreier Published March 22, 2012 -
That Final Fantasy Music Game Is Coming To The U.S.
The bizarrely titled Theatrhythm Final Fantasy will make its way to North America for Nintendo 3DS this summer, publisher Square Enix said today. For the uninitiated, Theatrhythm Final Fantasy is a rhythm game not unlike Elite Beat Agents or Guitar Hero. You’ll tap the touchscreen to the electric beat of Final Fantasy, rocking out to…
By Jason Schreier Published March 22, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Kingdom Hearts 3D Is Noob Friendly
Gearing up for the release of Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance, this week, part deux of Tetsuya Nomura’s interview was featured in Weekly Famitsu. Nomura discussed the latest in the Kingdom Hearts series (and added some more very vague references to Final Fantasy Versus XIII). With the latest installment to the Kingdom Hearts series,…
By Toshi Nakamura Published March 22, 2012 -
Final Fantasy Meets Mass Effect In This Amazing DLC Crossover
This is what happens when Final Fantasy XIII-2 characters wear Mass Effect space suits. The Japanese magazine Famitsu reports that the above pictures are part of a downloadable content pack that will bring armor from BioWare’s popular sci-fi role-playing game to Final Fantasy XIII-2 next week. No word on when or if this crossover will…
By Jason Schreier Published March 21, 2012 -
Kotaku East
Don’t Try To Sell Dragon Quest Beta Copies, Square Enix Warns
Eagerly anticipated role-playing game Dragon Quest X is in beta. And like with most things eagerly anticipated, there are those hoping to make a quick profit. One beta tester put a copy up on Rakuten Auction. Earlier today, Square Enix’s legal department posted a message in the auction’s comment sections, saying that being a beta…
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 21, 2012 -
Sleeping Dogs Looks Like the Shiny, Vulgar Hong Kong Gangster Video Game I’ve Been Waiting For
I got to play a video game that came back from the dead and feel pretty hopeful about its resurrection. That’s because Sleeping Dogs might just fulfill a very specific desire of mine, which is to play through a video game that takes its cues from the movies of, say, Johnnie To or Chan-Wook Park.…
By Evan Narcisse Published March 19, 2012 -
Stop Dragging Dragon Quest Around, Square Enix
In today’s warrior-dragging (get it?) installment of Speak Up on Kotaku, commenter Paradox Me ponders the poor treatment Square Enix has given Enix’s major contribution to the role-playing world. Why does it feel like Square isn’t utilizing the Dragon Quest franchise as well as they could be, despite its immense popularity? Don’t get me wrong,…
By Mike Fahey Published March 16, 2012 -
Final Fantasy Versus XIII? Oh Sorry, Here’s Kingdom Hearts 3D
Weekly Famitsu hit the magazine racks today, and if you picked it up eagerly looking for more information about Final Fantasy Versus XIII in the interview with Nomura Tetsuya (more than just the leaked tidbits of info), well you were probably let down… But if you picked it up looking for information on Kingdom Hearts…
By Toshi Nakamura Published March 15, 2012 -
Whoah, we Might Get More Mini Ninjas
Square Enix has filed new trademarks in relation to the Mini Ninjas franchise. Which, very quietly, is one of my favourite games of this entire console generation. So this is way more exciting than it should be. [Siliconera]
By Luke Plunkett Published March 15, 2012 -
Finally, Some Real Footage of Sleeping Dogs
Undercover cop and protagonist Wei Shen of Sleeping Dogs—previously known as True Crime: Hong Kong—is on assignment in Hong Kong as an undercover cop. Fronting as a deported man come at long last back to Hong Kong, Wei Shen is on a mission to take down the local triad organization by the name of Sun…
By Tina Amini Published March 2, 2012 -
My Commander Shepard Has a First Name, It’s…
What’s in a name? To the John and Jane Shepards out there, not much, but to those that prefer customizing their Mass Effect heroes picking the right name can make all the difference in the universe. In today’s Speak Up on Kotaku, commenter Salari wants to know how you name your role-playing game characters. With…
By Mike Fahey Published February 29, 2012 -
Is This Mostly-Forgotten Square Enix Game Worth Revisiting?
In today’s nostalgic Speak Up on Kotaku, commenter Daemon_Gildas imagines a world where Square Enix’s The Bouncer didn’t bounce from the hearts and minds of gamers so quickly. Does anybody else kinda wish Square Enix would do something with The Bouncer? The game wasn’t a great game or anything, but I thought they actually made…
By Mike Fahey Published February 28, 2012 -
Square Enix Registers Domain for Chrono Bind, Which Has Nothing To Do With Chrono Trigger
Square Enix registered chronobind.com and chronobind.net on Friday, Siliconera reports. Despite speculation, this is likely unrelated to popular RPG Chrono Trigger. Chrono Bind is a card game in an upcoming DLC pack for the recently released Final Fantasy XIII-2. [Siliconera]
By Jason Schreier Published February 27, 2012