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ReviewsFinal Fantasy XIII-2: The Kotaku Review
In an epic tale of time-traveling heroism, Square Enix travels two years into the future to rectify the mistakes it made with Final Fantasy XIII. Have they found redemption with Final Fantasy XIII-2, or is history doomed to repeat itself? What ever happened to Lightning? Something horrible has happened to the main character of 2010’s…
By Mike Fahey Published January 30, 2012 -
Everybody Was Final Fantasy XIII-2 Fighting, Even Chase the Chocobo
Yesterday Square Enix released a video demonstrating all of the nifty things you can do instead of fighting in Final Fantasy XIII-2. Today? Today is all about the battles, which are arguably as entertaining. My favorite aspect of Final Fantasy XIII-2‘s battle system is definitely the ability to recruit monsters to your party. Every time…
By Mike Fahey Published January 27, 2012 -
There’s a Lot More to Do in Final Fantasy XIII-2 Than Save the World
While Final Fantasy XIII was all about getting the job done in a timely fashion, Final Fantasy XIII-2 gives the player plenty of time to relax between tasks. Check out some of the more entertaining diversions tucked away in next week’s sequel. Gambling, trivia contests, side missions, mini-games; these were the things I missed the…
By Mike Fahey Published January 25, 2012 -
In Which the Lord of Hell Accidentally Takes a Bus to Michigan
In the first of a series of live-action videos promoting Square Enix’s PlayStation Vita launch game, Army Corps of Hell, the lord of hell takes a bus to Hell, Michigan. Honest mistake, really. I don’t know, Hell, Michigan seems like a lovely little place to settle down and raise an army of the damned. I…
By Mike Fahey Published January 20, 2012 -
Here’s Hoping They Never Make a Sequel to The World Ends with You
In today’s Speak Up on Kotaku, commenter Zombie711 wants Square Enix’s DS masterpiece The World Ends with You to end with itself. In other words, here’s one of the game’s biggest fans explaining why it should never, ever get a sequel. Aww. I like The World Ends with You. A Lot. But at the same…
By Mike Fahey Published January 20, 2012 -
Kingdom Hearts 3D Gets a Special Hardware. Release Date, Too.
Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance will be out March 29 in Japan. There will be a special Kingdom Hearts 3DS handheld. While I like the monogram, I’m not a fan with the Kingdom Hearts text or the stupid Disney copyright. The Dream Drop Distance 3DS comes bundled with a copy of the game. Pricing…
By Brian Ashcraft Published January 19, 2012 -
Whoah, What is This Deus Ex Movie? It Looks Incredible! [Update]
A video turned up on YouTube today saying it was behind-the-scenes footage of a Deus Ex “Live Action Short Film”. And it looks way too slick/expensive to be a fan film. The credits at the end list it as being the work of Enso Productions, a professional “Action Design Team”. Which basically means people who…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 19, 2012 -
The Lovely, Colorful Platformer ScaryGirl Arrives on XBLA
ScaryGirl, a platformer based on Nathan Jurevicius’s graphic novel, has been released on Xbox Live Arcade, with a PSN release scheduled for next week and a “coming soon” release date for PC. As you can see in the trailer and screens above, it’s looking mighty nice! I had been under the impression that this was…
By Kirk Hamilton Published January 18, 2012 -
Time Travel Opens Up Worlds of Possibility in Final Fantasy XIII-2
One of my favorite features of Final Fantasy XIII-2, time travel allows the player and their party to jump back and forth between different eras in the game’s history, small self-contained ‘What If?’ scenarios filled with stories to experience and items to collect. For fans of the Final Fantasy XIII setting, XIII-2‘s different time periods…
By Mike Fahey Published January 18, 2012 -
What’s Going On with Final Fantasy Versus XIII? Well…
This summer, six years will have passed since Final Fantasy Versus XIII was first shown in trailer form. Talk about a long time. As previously mentioned in Aug. 2011, Square Enix actually did not begin work then. By 2009, Square Enix showed gameplay footage, and now in early 2012, the game’s designer, Tetsuya Nomura, is…
By Brian Ashcraft Published January 18, 2012 -
Heroes of Ruin’s Going to Make You Fight Off Lots of Angry Shark Men in Lots of places
I’m not going to lie to you: that golden-haired, human-faced, griffin-looking creature early in this video for Square Enix’s action/RPG gives me the creeps. Put an animal head on a human body—as with the numerous shark men seen in this Heroes of Ruin trailer—and I’m fine but something about the opposite screams crime against nature…
By Evan Narcisse Published January 16, 2012 -
Hitman: Absolution Rips Off Red Dead Redemption in the Coolest Way
Last week, my friend and colleague Matt Cabral wrote up an excellent preview of Hitman: Absolution for Kotaku. I was given the same demonstration by IO Interactive and Square Enix this week at CES and couldn’t agree with him more – the game is going to be bloody fantastic. However, one small reason for this…
By Dave Oshry Published January 15, 2012 -
Square’s Scarygirl is Anything But Scary, All Sorts of Fun
What if I told you Square Enix and Tik games were coming out with a game based on the celebrated and psychedelic characters of Nathan Jurevicious next week? What if I told you I’ve played it and it was a ton of fun? What if I told you it reminded me of one of my…
By Dave Oshry Published January 15, 2012 -
Dragon Quest X Has Online A.I. Support for Lonely Players
Dragon Quest X is online—a possible problem for DQ players who either want to play alone or don’t have friends to play with. Fret not! The game supports A.I. group characters for online single play. Phew! [DengekiOnline]
By Brian Ashcraft Published January 12, 2012 -
Customize the King of Evil in Army Corps of Hell
Square Enix parades the troops and dresses up the King of Hell in his Sunday finest in the latest video for Army Corps of Hell, the PlayStation Vita’s most colorfully-titled launch game. In Army Corps of Hell you play as the King of Hell himself, leading an army of 100 goblins of various types in…
By Mike Fahey Published January 11, 2012 -
Guns Blazing, Square Enix is Ready To Shoot Up Japanese Arcades
This summer, Square Enix is releasing a new third-person shooter dubbed Gunslinger Stratos. It’s not a home console game—yet. Rather, it’s a four-on-four team-based online arcade game that allows players to battle others in game centers across Japan. Gunslinger Stratos runs at a brisk 60 frames-per-second on 60 inch, full HD displays. It’s slated for…
By Brian Ashcraft Published January 11, 2012 -
Check Out Square Enix’s Brand New Headquarters
This Summer Square Enix, the home of everything from Final Fantasy to (these days) Deus Ex, will be moving house, shifting its headquarters to a brand new building located in Shinjuku’s East Side Square. It looks like a hospital. From the future. [via Gamasutra]
By Luke Plunkett Published January 9, 2012 -
Which Japanese Game Companies Will Die in the Next Decade?
Nothing lasts forever. Not you, not me, and certainly not game companies. Just ask Midway, Pandemic, and Acclaim. They’re gone. In the latest issue of Japanese weekly Shukan Gendai, the publication goes through and attempts to suss out which Japanese companies will still exist ten years from now. Shukan Gendai awarded points to companies on…
By Brian Ashcraft Published January 9, 2012 -
Behold the Awesome Power of Final Fantasy XIII-2‘s Moogle
They’re not just about floating about saying “Kupo” anymore. In Final Fantasy XIII-2, many of the game’s most important mechanics are Moogle-powered. I’m not a picky Final Fantasy fan. All I want is a lengthy adventure of some sort and an adorable little floating critter by my side at all times. So I think I’m…
By Mike Fahey Published January 5, 2012