Square Enix

Utada Hikaru And Skrillex Team Up For Kingdom Hearts III Music

Originally, Skrillex was going to remix Hikaru Utada’s Kingdom Hearts III theme, “Don’t Think Twice.” However, that developed into a new, original collaboration. The resulting track is called “Face My Fears.” The Skrillex collaboration, which was produced along with Poo Bear of Justin Bieber’s What Do You Mean? fame, will be released on January 18,…

The First Episode Of Life Is Strange 2 Doesn’t Hide Its Politics

In certain ways, Life Is Strange 2 is a huge departure from the first game. It’s set in a different city, with wildly different characters. It ditches the Gossip Girl-meets-Twin Peaks murder mystery for a harsher story about two teenagers on the run. But it’s still an over the top teenage angst fest. Life Is…

The Sights Of The Tokyo Game Show

Today was the first day of this year’s Tokyo Game Show. It was a business day, which means the show wasn’t open to the public. But here’s your inside look. Actually, let’s start with an outside look. Now on to the Tokyo Game Show’s innards. Sony, Bandai Namco, Sega, Tecmo Koei, Square Enix and Konami…

The Chocobo, As Drawn By Final Fantasy‘s Creators

At the Square Enix Music booth at this year’s Tokyo Game Show, there’s a display of original Chocobo artwork done by the creators of various Final Fantasy games. Some of these creators aren’t visual artists by trade, so the results are a little interesting. Above, it’s composer Nobuo Uematsu’s take on the classic flightless bird.…

Final Fantasy VIII Is MIA

Last night, Nintendo and Square Enix delighted Final Fantasy fans by announcing a whole bunch of new Switch ports. There’s Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy IX, Final Fantasy X/X-2, Final Fantasy XII, and even the adorable pocket edition of Final Fantasy XV. But where’s Final Fantasy VIII? It’s not clear why the adventures of Squall…

My Favorite Final Fantasy Taught Me Some Bad Lessons About Love

Final Fantasy VIII, the sorceress epic about a hormone-fueled romance, has been my favorite game in the series ever since I was 12 years old. I beat it almost that many times before I unlearned the lessons that Squall and Rinoa’s relationship taught me about trying to fix sad, broken guys, like the game’s gunblade-brandishing…

Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu is cancelling a live music performance and talk scheduled for October 7 in Kanazawa, Japan for health reasons. In his apology, Uematsu said he hopes he can regain his health to perform in the future with the Kanazawa ensemble

First Look At The Last Remnant Remastered For PS4

Originally released on the Xbox 360 in 2008, The Last Remnant was ported to the PC the following year. It announced for the PS3, but that release never happened. Now a decade later, the game is coming to PlayStation. Square Enix has announced The Last Remnant Remastered as a download-only title It will be released…

Here’s a look at Project Prelude Rune from Studio Istolia and Square Enix. The studio headed by Tales honcho Hideo Baba and this footage looks very early.

 Delightfully Strange Final Fantasy XV Mods

Final Fantasy XV’s PC version brings the inevitable mods. Some are just as kooky as one would hope! In June, Kotaku previously reported on the PC patch that brought mod tools to the game. Since then, creators have whipped up all sorts of things to entertain themselves and us. I thank them for that.

Eminem’s New Album Samples Kingdom Hearts [Update: No It Doesn’t]

Eminem’s surprise album drop over the weekend contains an even bigger surprise for JRPG fans: one of the tracks samples Square’s Kingdom Hearts throughout. UPDATE: Actually, it doesn’t. UPDATE 7pm, Sep 4: The album’s producer Illaproducer originally told Rolling Stone that the track sampled was Simple & Clean by Utada Hikaru, the intro song to…

Former Square Enix Employee Opens Victorian Cafe In Tokyo

Hidemi Matsuzuka used to oversee Square Enix’s figure brand. These days he’s left the game maker and is running his own cafe. While at Square Enix, Matsuzuka was popular with fans for sharing images of the latest figures and merch. (Read the thread below.) Called Chamber of Raven, his cafe and bar is located near…

We’re Not Getting This Chrono Trigger Sequel, Dammit

When not creating delightful video games, Owlboy creator Simon Stafsnes Andersen likes to create mock trailers for video games that will probably never exist. Like this one, a heartbreaking glimpse at the Chrono Trigger/Chrono Cross sequel that might have been. According to the YouTube description, it took Andersen a year to get the look he…

Now If Only Square Would Treat Final Fantasy VI On PC Like It Treated Chrono Trigger

Today, Square Enix announced that it has finished patching Chrono Trigger on PC, just days after releasing the fifth major update to the game since it launched six months ago. (Chrono Trigger is 50% off on Steam for the next week to celebrate.) Now if only Square’s other classic games would get the same treatment.…

Square Enix has announced Project Echoes, a new RPG for iOS and Android. It will be released sometime this year in Japan. No word yet on an international release.

Karaoke Parlor With Official Final Fantasy And Evangelion Themed Rooms 

Karaoke parlor Pasela Akiba Showadorikan in Tokyo’s Akihabara has a handful of seriously cool themed rooms. There are official themed rooms for Neon Genesis Evangelion, Sengoku Basara, Final Fantasy XIV and Hakuoki

The Octopath Traveler Musical Cue I Can’t Stop Thinking About

Octopath Traveler’s battle music has all of the zest you could want, brimming with quick drumbeats and arpeggiated chords. One simple trick ties together the game’s story and boss battles, creating amazing musical cues that make each new encounter even more exciting. Octopath Traveler assigns each character an instrument that’s used prominently in their leitmotifs,…

Politician Made Anti-LGBTQ Comments On Dragon Quest Composer’s TV Show

Japanese politician Mio Sugita has made international news due to her anti-LGBTQ comments on a television show. The program is co-hosted by Koichi Sugiyama, who composes music for the Dragon Quest games. This was pointed out by Twitter user Shaun Musgrave (via Duckroll at ResetEra): The network is very right-wing. The show isn’t mainstream, nor…

Octopath Traveler‘s Best NPC Is This Reclusive Old Man

Every party member in Octopath Traveler has a special ability that allows them to interact with NPCs throughout the world. Ophilia the cleric and Primrose the dancer can temporarily recruit NPCs into the party and summon them during battles. One unassuming old man is able to unleash Hell upon enemies. I’m pretty sure he’s a…

The PS1 Strategy Game That Nails Robotic Destruction

In Front Mission 3’s 18th battle, I’m on a naval base facing down two giant walking artillery cannons, four Gundam-like mechs, and an apache helicopter. It isn’t the most challenging tactical role-playing game from the PS1 era, but like lots of games from that era it’s prone to the occasional difficulty spike. Unlike many other…