Square Enix

How To Take Down Susano, FFXIV Stormblood’s First Primal

Primal battles in Final Fantasy XIV are massive spectacles that pit a group of players against powerful creatures that usually show up in the series as summons. Stormblood’s first primal, Susano, gets more massive than most, but a well-coordinated group can take him down pretty easy. Susano is a take on Susanoo, the Shinto god…

Final Fantasy XIV‘s Director Says There’s Still So Much More To Do

Naoki Yoshida just wouldn’t stop looking at his computer. The beloved producer, credited with transforming Final Fantasy XIV from disaster to dream MMORPG, kept typing and clicking as I spoke to him last week in a private room at E3, frowning occasionally. So I asked what he was looking at. “Because we’re under maintenance right…

According to a post on Final Fantasy XIV’s Lodestone community site, some of thetechnical difficulties players are experiencing during the launch of the Stormblood expansion are due to ongoing third-party DDOS attacks. Freaking third-parties, ruining everyone’s good time.

Final Fantasy XIV Stormblood Progress Report: Lost Connections

Since Final Fantasy XIV’s Stormblood expansion launched in early access on Friday morning, I’ve leveled a Red Mage from 50 to 60 and taken my first steps into the city state of Ala Mhigo. Imagine what I could have accomplished had the servers been anywhere near stable! While the crux of the Stormblood expansion involves…

How To Unlock Red Mage And Samurai Jobs In Final Fantasy XIV

The Stormblood expansion for Final Fantasy XIV introduces two new jobs to the massively multiplayer RPG—Red Mage and Samurai. To access them you don’t have to rush through days of story quests and journey to new lands. You just have to be level 50 and talk to the right people. Rather than lock the new…

Final Fantasy XIV’s New Expansion Off To A Predictably Rocky Start

Stormblood launched in early access today, and the servers are getting bodied. As I see it, we wouldn’t have constant lag, frequent disconnects and players forming massive lines in a desperate attempt to get a quest done if Final Fantasy XIV didn’t make such attractive expansion packs. What seems completely ridiculous to folks who haven’t…

The Makers Of Final Fantasy XIV Are Still Deciding How To Add Blitzball

Blitzball is coming to Final Fantasy XIV, but director Naoki Yoshida doesn’t know how to make it happen. He’s torn between two options, he says, and both of them sound pretty good. Blitzball, which is sort of like underwater soccer except players can poison one another, is both a minigame and significant plot point in…

IO Interactive Goes Independent And Keeps Hitman Franchise

This past May, Square Enix announced it was parting ways with IO Interactive. Today, that studio says it’s now officially independent and will keep the rights to the Hitman series. Below is a statementfrom IO Interactive CEO Hakan Abrak: In its 19 years of history, Io-Interactive has brought you original and exciting entertainment; from Mini…

Final Fantasy Comes To Life On A Japanese Hotel 

To mark Final Fantasy’s 30th anniversary, the side of a Yokohama hotel was turned into a FF spectacular thanks to projection mapping. This was how the InterContinental Yokohama Grand Hotel looked over the weekend during the special two-day event. Cool, huh?  Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking…

Square Enix Releases Much-Needed Instruction Manuals For Mana Collection

When the Seiken Densetsu Collection, the first three games in the Mana series, was released earlier this month in Japan, it did not come with instruction manuals. So Square Enix has decided to change that by releasing them online. The manuals can be viewed here. As Kotaku previously pointed out, Seiken 3‘s Super Famicom release…

Secret of Mana Collection Proves Switch Is Awesome For Retro Gaming

I’ve been playing Super Nintendo games on my Switch all week, and it is a glorious thing. Virtual Console might be MIA on Switch thus far, possibly due to Nintendo wanting to roll out a Netflix-type catalog alongside its paid online service in 2018. But Square Enix ain’t got time for that, and has rolled…

Team Ninja’s Final Fantasy Fighting Game Comes To PS4 Early Next Year

Fighting Final Fantasy fans eagerly awaiting the console port of Team Ninja’s arcade brawler now have a better idea of how long they’ll be waiting, as Square Enix announces Dissidia Final Fantasy NT for early 2018 release on PlayStation 4. Japanese arcade goers have been enjoying three-on-three free-roaming battles between popular Final Fantasy characters since…

Sino Alice Art Gets Covered Up Because Of Cleavage

The art for Sino Alice has been changed on both the Google Play Store and the App Store in Japan. The original key art, which can still be seen on Square Enix’s website, featured low cut outfits. The new art, however, does not. Sino Alice was created by Yoko Taro of Nier fame and developer…

Japanese Trains Get Final Fantasy Music 

As part of Final Fantasy’s 30th anniversary, a Yokohama subway station is playing FF music when trains leave. At Minatomirai Station, a “Victory Fanfare” plays as the “departure melody” (発車メロディ) for trains heading towards Motomachi Park. (If you’ve forgotten what that tune sounds like, have a listen to eight minutes of Victory Fanfares.) For trains…

Images Of Apparent Life Is Strange Prequel Pop Up 

We’re just over a week away from E3, and video game companies everywhere are leaking like ships in a hurricane. Today’s rumor is an apparent prequel to Life is Strange, made by a new developer and scheduled to be revealed within the next couple of weeks. Our story starts with this press release, which revealed…

Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood‘s New Zones Are So Pretty

Final Fantasy XIV is one of the prettiest massively multiplayer online role-playing games going, and with next month’s Stormblood expansion it’s only getting prettier. Here’s a video tour of some of the new lands (and waters) players will be able to explore come June 20. There are plenty of fresh sights in the Eastern lands of…

‘Life Is Unfair’: A Q&A With Nier: Automata‘s Director

Nier: Automata is both a wild action game and an introspective look at the things that make us human. We corresponded with director Yoko Taro via e-mail to talk about the game’s themes, what goes into writing memorable characters, and what he’d like video game players to stop doing. Here, in full, is our Q&A:…

Square Enix Announces New JRPG Lost Sphear For PS4, Switch, And Steam

The followup to I Am Setsuna is Lost Sphear, the latest release from Square Enix’s Tokyo RPG Factory. Here’s how Square Enix describes the game: The adventure of LOST SPHEAR begins in a remote town where a young boy, Kanata, awakens from a devastating dream to find his hometown disappearing. To stop the world from…

The Plot Twist In Star Ocean: Till The End Of Time Is A Lot More Believable Today 

Most video games are content just to string the player along through dungeons, towns, or corridors full of machine gun cover while dishing out character arcs and weapon upgrades. Only a few try to reflect on the nature of reality and human existence. Star Ocean: Till the End of Time tried to do both. The…

Square Enix Moves Final Fantasy VII Remake Development In-House

Previously, Square Enix was working with external studio CyberConnect2 to develop Final Fantasy VII Remake. But now, Square Enix will be making the game in-house. Third party studio CyberConnect2 is perhaps best known for its Naruto and .hack games. Back in 2015, it was revealed that Square Enix was working with the studio on the…