Square Enix

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…

The PS4 and Switch versions of Dragon Quest X have release dates for Japan: DQX for PS4 will be out August 17, while DQX for Switch will be out September 21. No word yet about outside Japan. 

Star Ocean: Til the End of Time arrives on North American PS4 on May 23. It’s the same game as the 2004 original, only the jaggies have been cleaned up through the PS4’s HD emulator and it’s got trophy support. It’ll be available to download via the PlayStation Store for $20.99.

It’s Ridiculous That Nier: Automata Still Hasn’t Been Patched On PC

Nier: Automata came out two months ago on PC. It’s a really good game, and a clear standout during an unusually strong spring. So why the heck is the PC version still loaded with basic bugs and other problems that haven’t been patched? I spent last weekend blasting through Nier: Automata on PC. I got…

Japanese Game Companies That Won’t Allow YouTube Comments 

Nintendo America, for example, allows comments on its YouTube videos. The company’s Japanese headquarters does not, and some people online in Japan don’t sound too happy. This has been going on for a while now, but a recent 2ch thread shined a light on the discrepancy. It’s kind of strange that Nintendo doesn’t allow comments…

The Hitman Series Has A Long History Of Excellence

Yesterday, Square-Enix announced that it was parting ways with Hitman developers IO Interactive. So why don’t we take some time to appreciate one of the best crafted stealth series around? Hitman is an action-stealth series that forged a unique identity in the early days of the genre. While games like Metal Gear Solid (1998) focused…

Square Enix Had “Record-High” Sales Last Year 

Even though things might sound grim with the IO Interactive split, Square Enix proper is doing well. Really well, it seems. “For this fiscal year,” Square Enix stated in an official release, “the Company reported record-high net sales, operating income, ordinary income and profit attributable to owners of parent, respectively.” Year on year, Square Enix…