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Kotaku EastJapanFinal Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade Had A Dedicated Team of Lighting Experts
When Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade was announced earlier this year, Square Enix detailed how it changed the textures and lighting, as well as added fog effects. Some changes were more subtle. During today’s Sony online event, Final Fantasy producer Yoshinori Kitase ran through the changes in the PS5 version. Most of the information was…
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 21, 2021 -
CultureMorning CheckpointBlack Panther Coming To Avengers, Gotham Knights Delayed, Outriders Launching On Game Pass And More
This week on Morning Checkpoint we celebrate the death of Fortnite’s Peely, learn more about upcoming Square Enix games, see who’s the next big hero coming to Avengers, eat a baby(?) and get a look at the next generation of PSVR controllers. Great Kotaku Content From The Past Week I hope this grows into a…
By Zack Zwiezen Published March 20, 2021 -
CultureMorning MusicBravely Default II’s Grand Music Does Most Of Its Storytelling
Welcome to Morning Music, Kotaku’s ongoing hangout for folks who love video games and the cool-ass sounds they make. Today, let’s listen to some of the songs from the new Final Fan–, err, Bravely Default II’s instant-classic soundtrack. Bravely Default II (playlist / VGMdb / longplay / impressions) never ends. Good thing it has a…
By Ari Notis Published March 19, 2021 -
OpinionI Feel You, Life Is Strange Teen
I haven’t played any of the Life is Strange games, because I have no nostalgia for my teenage years. Today’s trailer for the next installment in the series, True Colors, with its moody acoustic cover of Radiohead’s “Creep,” has only reaffirmed my desire to leave my past in the past. How were any of us…
By Riley MacLeod Published March 18, 2021 -
CultureSpider-Man Still Isn’t Coming To Avengers Anytime Soon
Spider-Man is still coming to Marvel’s Avengers and will remain exclusively available on the PS4 and PS5. However, the developers on the game confirmed that the original release window for Spidey, early 2021, is no longer accurate. Talking to IGN, Crystal Dynamics head of studio Scot Amos explained that a playable Spider-Man is being worked…
By Zack Zwiezen Published March 18, 2021 -
Tips & GuidesDon’t Delete PS4 Avengers Before Importing Your Saves To PS5
Following a delay last fall, Marvel’s Avengers is officially out today for next-gen consoles. But if you’re trying to boot up your PlayStation 4 save files on PlayStation 5, you might notice that your hard-grinded save data doesn’t automatically transfer over. Personally, I was aghast. My Iron-Man didn’t deserve to be stuck at level one!…
By Ari Notis Published March 18, 2021 -
OpinionSo, It’s Been A Year, Huh
On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the growing outbreak of covid-19 a pandemic. In the year since, over 120 million people have been infected by the virus worldwide, and 2.5 million people have died because of covid-19. Life has forever been changed. We wear masks. Avoid crowds. Businesses have shut down, and…
By Zack Zwiezen Published March 18, 2021 -
CultureEverything We Saw In Today’s Square Enix Presents
Square Enix held its first Nintendo Direct-style “Square Enix Presents” showcase today, and while most of what was shown was stuff we’ve seen before, there were a few surprises. For one, Life is Strange: True Colors, the latest game in the visual narrative series, is coming later this year. Square Enix’s upcoming PS5 console-exclusive Project…
By Ethan Gach Published March 18, 2021 -
CultureSquare Enix’s Project Athia Is Now Called Forspoken, Coming In 2022
As part of today’s Square Enix showcase, the publisher showed another snippet of its “narrative-driven adventure set in a beautiful yet cruel world,” Project Athia. Only it’s not called Project Athia anymore. Now it’s, uh, Forspoken, a name that, if nothing else, was not previously spoken for. Forspoken will be out in 2022. Last year,…
By Nathan Grayson Published March 18, 2021 -
CultureLife Is Strange, Before The Storm Getting Remastered Collection
In addition to new Life is Strange installment True Colors, the folks at Square Enix and Deck Nine are working on a remastered bundle that collects every episode of the original Life is Strange and its prequel spin-off Before the Storm for release on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Steam, and Stadia this fall. This bundle,…
By Ian Walker Published March 18, 2021 -
CultureMeet The Star Of The New Life Is Strange
During today’s Square Enix Presents broadcast, the publisher revealed Life is Strange: True Colors, the next entry in the choice-driven adventure series. The full game—no episodic releases this time—is coming to PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC, and Stadia on September 10. Life is Strange: True Colors is being developed by…
By Ian Walker Published March 18, 2021 -
CultureBlack Panther Finally Announced For Marvel’s Avengers
Black Panther should have been in Marvel’s Avengers from day one. Instead, he’s a DLC character whose announcement was delayed last year due to the unfortunate passing of actor Chadwick Boseman. During today’s Square Enix Presents stream Black Panther was finally revealed, coming to the game later this year in the “War for Wakanda” expansion.…
By Mike Fahey Published March 18, 2021 -
CultureFinal Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis Will Have Loot Boxes
Final Fantasy VII Ever Crisis, the mobile compilation aiming to bring all of the Final Fantasy VII extended universe’s stories together in one place, will have loot boxes, creative director Tetsuya Nomura confirmed yesterday in a new interview with Famitsu While the smartphone game itself will be free, there will be monetization mechanics built in…
By Ethan Gach Published March 18, 2021 -
CultureReports: Nier: Automata’s New PC Version Is Better Than The Busted Original Release
A new PC version of Nier: Automata, part of the Become As Gods Edition, has just been released on the Microsoft Store and Game Pass. And early reports are that, unlike the version available on Steam, this one actually works The game’s original PC release on Steam back in 2017 was a notoriously poor port,…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 17, 2021 -
Kotaku EastJapanEven Square Enix Is Getting Into NFTs
Square Enix is joining the NFTs fray with one-of-a-kind digital assets for their Million Arthur franchise. Please be excited. Today, Square Enix announced that it would be joining forces with Double Jump Tokyo for the endeavor. Double Jump Tokyo was founded in 2018, and the company has been at the forefront of blockchain technology in…
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 17, 2021 -
CultureOdds and EndsWarren Spector Thinks Deus Ex Is Too Real For 2021
The Game Developers Conference kicked off today as a week of virtual talks. In a live chat alongside a rebroadcast of his 2017 GDC talk, Deus Ex designer Warren Spector talked about why he wouldn’t make the game today. “I’m constantly amazed at how accurate our view of the world ended up being. Frankly it…
By Riley MacLeod Published March 15, 2021 -
Tips & GuidesPSA: Game Pass Members, Cancel Your Outriders Pre-Order
It was true nine years ago and it’s true today: Stop pre-ordering games. The latest case in point comes by way of Outriders, the upcoming looter-shooter from developer People Can Fly. Earlier today, Microsoft confirmed that Outriders will be part of the Xbox Game Pass library when it releases next month for pretty much everything…
By Ari Notis Published March 15, 2021 -
CultureSquare Enix Will Reveal New Life Is Strange During Digital Event Next Week
Square Enix announced it will debut the first episode of its very own Nintendo Direct-style digital event, known as “Square Enix Presents,” next Thursday, March 18. Among other things, the studio plans to officially reveal the next game in the Life is Strange series, with “an all-new protagonist wielding an exciting new power.” A new…
By Ian Walker Published March 11, 2021 -
Kotaku EastJapanReport: Despite Covid Emergency, Capcom Made Employees Work At Office After Cyber Attack [Update]
In early January, with Japan posting some of its highest covid-19 cases, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga declared a state of emergency for a number of prefectures, including Osaka. As part of this declaration, the government asked corporate employees to work from home or limit the number of staff in the office. According to Business Journal,…
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 10, 2021 -
CultureOver 5,000 Final Fantasy XIV Players Were Banned For Using Or Advertising Real Money Trading
Square Enix announced earlier this week that over 5,000 Final Fantasy XIV players were banned after they were caught using or advertising real money in-game. As spotted by PCGamesN, on March 4 FFXIV publisher Square Enix revealed via a news post on the FFXIV website that 5851 players had been banned for their involvement with…
By Zack Zwiezen Published March 7, 2021