Square Enix

20 Years Later I’m Still Thinking About The Bouncer

Sometimes a piece of pop culture worms its way into your brain, builds a comfortable, cost-efficient home in your cerebral cortex, and lives there happily for decades on end. My own tenant is The Bouncer, an odd beat ‘em up by Square Soft, which came out in Japan 20 years ago today before fading into…

And Now The Moment Avengers Players Have Been Waiting For

Shield refraction, everybody. Thanks to community feedback, Iron Man can now bounce his Unibeam off Captain America’s shield in Marvel’s Avengers, amplifying the beam’s damage. As it should be. It’s a classic Marvel Comics combo move, one you’d think would be a no-brainer for inclusion in a cooperative multiplayer-focused game. It’s okay; Developer Crystal Dynamics…

Square Enix’s Project Athia Is Console Exclusive On PS5 For ‘At Least 24 Months’

Project Athia, the next game from the team behind Final Fantasy XV, will be console-exclusive to the PlayStation 5 for “at least 24 months,” a new Sony demo reel of upcoming games revealed. Little is known about Project Athia (apparently a working title) apart from it being some sort of fantastical action game from Square…

Final Fantasy XIV producer Naoki Yoshida discusses his career in a thirty-minute YouTube documentary. It’s an interesting look into what makes Yoshida tick as he speaks in-depth about his work and the future of games. 

SaGa Frontier Is Getting A Remaster

Square Enix announced a remaster of 1998 PlayStation game SaGa Frontier today, coming summer 2021. SaGa Frontier Remastered will be available on Switch, PS4, Steam, iOS, and Android. In a tweet, the developer says the remaster will feature “updated graphics, events, cutscenes, enhancements, (and a new protagonist!).” Here are the full details from the YouTube…

Marvel’s Avengers Didn’t Sell As Expected, Says Square Enix

Earlier this month in Japan, Square Enix held a briefing for investors. This week, the Tokyo-based game company finally released an official transcript of the meeting. During the presentation, Square Enix President Yosuke Matsuda said, “The HD Games subsegment posted an operating loss as initial sales of Marvel’s Avengers were lower than we had expected…

From Xenogears To Xenoblade: The History Of Monolith Soft

If you’d told me back in 2006 that Monolith Soft would go on to become one of Nintendo’s most talented and indispensable first-party development groups, I would have said the same thing as everyone else: “The guys who did Xenosaga?” It’s an old joke at this point, but for years that was Monolith Soft’s reputation:…

Square Enix Aims For Work-Life Balance With Permanent Work-From-Home Option

In Japan, the global pandemic has led to some—but certainly not all—Japanese companies have employees work from home. Square Enix wants to make this choice permanent for its employees. “Rather than utilizing work from home solely as a means of preventing infections during the current pandemic, the Company will establish it as a permanent and…

The World Ends With You Is Finally Getting A Sequel

After a long drought spent wondering when Square Enix would show a crumb of attention to fans of their 2007 action RPG hit, The World Ends With You is finally getting a sequel. Announced via YouTube, NEO: The World Ends With You returns to the streets of Shibuya featuring all new protagonists and a fully…

Avengers Gets Its First New Hero, Kate Bishop, On December 8

Not that we’ll ever truly get tired of Captain America, Ms. Marvel, Black Widow, Thor, Iron Man, and The Hulk, but it’s nice to see some new blood on the way. Kate “Hawkeye” Bishop joins the roster of Marvel’s Avengers on December 8, bringing with her a whole new story arc and a quiver full…

Voice Actor Remembers How Final Fantasy Versus XIII Was Resurrected As Final Fantasy XV

Today on Twitter, voice actor Tatsuhisa Suzuki recalled his time working on Final Fantasy Versus XIII and the game it eventually became, Final Fantasy XV Suzuki asked his followers if they wanted to hear some FFXV anecdotes, writing that the game’s script was actually three times as long, but it had to be trimmed down.…

Final Fantasy VII Remake Getting Real-World Stealth Game In Tokyo

In Japan, there are what are called real-infiltration games (リアル潜入ゲーム or riaru senyuu geemu) in which players try to sneak into particular locations. These real-world games are the opposite of escape rooms, or riaru dasshutsu geemu (リアル脱出ゲーム) in Japanese. On December 9, a Final Fantasy VII Remake real-infiltration game is opening in Tokyo. Players become…

First Details About Final Fantasy XVI‘s Characters And World

When Final Fantasy XVI was first revealed last month, aside from a debut trailer, details were scant. Now, Square Enix has updated the game’s official site, providing info on characters and the in-game world. FFXVI producer Naoki Yoshida said Square Enix would be releasing said info before diving back into development. Final Fantasy XVI takes place…

Bravely Default II Misses 2020, Launches February 26

The Switch sequel to Square Enix’s 3DS RPG Bravely Default, originally slated for a 2020 release, is now scheduled to arrive on February 26, 2021. According to the opening segment of this morning’s surprise Nintendo Direct Mini Partner Showcase, developers are using the additional time to work on balancing difficulty and reworking controls after the more…

Dataminer Says Words Like ‘Honkers’ And ‘Robitussin’ Might Get You Banned In Kingdom Hearts Rhythm Game

Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory is an upcoming rhythm game for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Switch that expands the already convoluted Kingdom Hearts storyline. The game got a demo earlier this month, in which well-known speedrunner and dataminer Kaitlyn “Orcastraw” Molinas discovered what she says is a list of words players could get…

Inject The Whimsy Of Balan Wonderworld’s Opening Directly Into My Veins, Please

As the U.S. barrels towards a history-shaping day of reckoning, I find myself craving lighter, happier things. The bright, colorful, and slightly creepy intro movie for Balan Wonderworld, the new game from the creators of Sonic the Hedgehog and Nights Into Dreams, is exactly what I need. Magic happens when director Yuji Naka and designer…

Decades Later, Final Fantasy VIII Is Getting A Physical Release On PS4

Last year’s surprise remaster of Final Fantasy VIII is getting a physical version on PS4 in Europe and a few other countries, because it’s 2020 and there are no rules. Square Enix announced the unusual collector’s item on Twitter earlier today with a price tag of €19.99. In addition to Europe, it’ll also be available…

The Most Fun I’ve Had In Avengers In Weeks Is This Chair

Boredom can do strange things to a person, especially a person who has been waiting weeks for fresh content in a popular service game. Today’s patch finally brought a new hub location to Marvel’s Avengers. That’s where I found this one chair. S.H.I.E.L.D. Substation Zero is a new hub location added in patch 1.3.3. It’s…

Kingdom Hearts: Melody Of Memory Demo Shows Off A Charmingly Simple Rhythm Game

The demo for the upcoming Kingdom Hearts rhythm game is live today for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Switch. Based on what I’ve played, it’s the most straightforward game the series has ever seen, so simple you can play it with just one button. In Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory’s Field Battles, which are the…

Avengers Patch 1.3.3 Eliminates Some Of The Game’s Biggest Nuisances

Along with planting the seeds for new story content with the addition of a new remote S.H.I.E.L.D. outpost, tomorrow’s patch 1.3.3 for Marvel’s Avengers does away with several annoyances players have been complaining about since day one. For example, it adds remote faction terminals to outposts, increases the radius in which items are automatically picked…