Square Enix

The Iconic Final Fantasy Art Of Tetsuya Nomura

From Final Fantasy VII through to XIII (and Kingdom Hearts in between), one man has stood as a beacon of everything people love — and loathe — about Square Enix. And that man is Tetsuya Nomura. Joining Square over twenty years ago as an artist, Nomura had his first big break designing many of the…

Dissidia Final Fantasy Takes The Fight To Japanese Arcades

Announced this weekend at the Japanese Amusement Expo, Dissidia Final Fantasy takes Square Enix’s franchise-wide fighting game from the PSP to the arcade with three-on-three battles between a horde of iconic characters. While more information is expected later this year, the first trailer (thanks Kev!) gives us a good idea of what Japanese arcade goers…

Square Enix Is Sorry for Parodying a Disgraced Scientist

Well, I guess that didn’t go as planned, now did it? Then again, maybe it did. Japanese researcher Haruko Obokata caused one of the biggest science scandals in recent memory after her botched stem-cell research was proven highly questionable. Obokata resigned due to research misconduct, and currently, there’s talk of criminal charges against her. Square…

Square Enix has trademarked “Square Soft” and “Enix” in Japan. It’s unclear if this is to prevent other companies from using them (highly likely!) or if Square Enix will use them for branding (perhaps!).

Bravely Second, the sequel to Bravely Default: Flying Fairy, finally has an official subtitle. The game will be called Bravely Second: End Layer.

How Final Fantasy XV Does Pre-Render and Real-Time

In Final Fantasy XV, pre-rendered and real-time graphics do look different. Not that different, apparently. Recent Japanese magazine scans show a pre-render and real-time comparison for FFXV character Cidney, the first female Cid While she’s not a playable character, Cidney appears as an in-game mechanic. Below, you can see the images via GermanFFBlog and website…

Final Fantasy XV, The Cat Simulator

Just as Square Enix used a “Dog Cam” to show off FFXV, it’s now using a “Cat Cam” to do the same. At the recent Taipei Game Show, a feline friend explored an in-game train station. The below video is from ETtoday: Here’s the same footage, but at a slightly higher resolution: While right now…

Final Fantasy Kitchen Knives Deal Critical Damage To Fruit, Vegetables

Yes, I know. I want them too. But, much as I’d like to own some rad Final Fantasy cutlery, these were custom-made for one specific super-fan. We can ogle them from afar, though, and ogle we shall The Super-Fan Builds team enlisted the help of the ever-talented folks from Man At Arms to construct four…

Square Sure Put A Lot Of Work Into Final Fantasy Type-0 HD

Here, for your enjoyment, is an official Square Enix comparison video that shows how they’ve transformed Final Fantasy Type-0 from a dark ugly PSP game to a GORGEOUS new-gen console game. Well, OK, it’s not that gorgeous. Everything looks a touch too glossy, and a lot of the textures are clearly carried over from the…

How Final Fantasy XV Is Influenced by Back to the Future: Part II

Don’t expect DeLoreans, hoverboards and sports almanacs. But according to Wan Hazmer, Final Fantasy XV lead game designer, the title has found inspiration in an unlikely source: Robert Zemeckis’ 1989 sci-fi flick. In an interview with Travel Garage TV, Hazmer talks about how the game’s developers are striving to create believable environments. “A concept of…

Meet The New Man In Charge Of Final Fantasy

The director of Final Fantasy XV is reading your comments, Kotaku. Hope you’ve got good ones. Hajime Tabata, the newly-elevated Square Enix superstar who is helming the next two major Final Fantasy games—Type-0 HD (this March) and XV (eventually)—told me on Friday that sometimes, when he has spare moments, he goes through Kotaku comments and…

I Picked The Perfect Time To Get Back Into Final Fantasy XIV

After spending the better part of 2014 exploring other MMO avenues, in 2015 I’m getting back into Final Fantasy XIV, just in time for the massive two-part pre-expansion patch 2.5, “Before the Fall.” Yesterday Square Enix released a lengthy trailer detailing the new content coming in patch 2.5, an update so large it’s coming in…

Final Fantasy Theatrhythm: Curtain Call is getting some new DLC tracks—starting today you can get songs from Xenogears and even Seiken Dentetsu 3 (a Secret of Mana sequel that was never released in North America) for $0.99 each. Full list here.

Couple Uses Abandoned Church For Perfect Final Fantasy Cosplay

This could have been superb even with just the clothes and the makeup, but cosplayers Malindachan and Ex-Shadow didn’t stop there once they learned there’s an abandoned church near their home. It became the famous Sector 5 church of Midgar from Final Fantasy VII, the perfect location for their cosplay shoot. They’re dressed as Aeris…

In Final Fantasy XV, Your MP Isn’t for Magic

As far as we currently know, the combat in Final Fantasy XV is going to be your basic action RPG format with single button presses for attacks. So how is the magic going to work then? While he wouldn’t offer specifics, director Hajime Tabata did reveal some interesting aspects of the combat mechanics in his…

Hitman Is The Official Worst Host Of A Christmas Party

You probably don’t want to attend a Hitman-hosted Christmas party. Unless you like tons of murder and awkward physics, of course. Then I guess you do. Playful YouTuber Robbaz celebrates Christmas once again by playing through video games for us, this year wandering through a Christmas party in Hitman: Blood Money. The mission—You Better Watch…

One Lousy Chrono Trigger Song Coming To Theatrhythm Final Fantasy

This weekend Square Enix announced downloadable songs from non-Final Fantasy games coming to the latest iteration of FF‘s rhythm game. That’s four songs from Bravely Default, three from the SaGa series and one each from Secret of Mana and Chrono Trigger. That’s not right. I love the music in Bravely Default and the SaGa series,…

All Of This Weekend’s Big Final Fantasy XIV and XV News

Between Tokyo’s Final Fantasy XIV Fan Festival and the Jump Festa 2015 in Chiba, Japan, fans of the latest two numbered FF games were up to their eyeballs in new info this weekend, from a new playable race in FFXIV to the first female Cid in FFXV. Here’s a quick refresher to bring you up…

Dragon Quest Heroes May be My Favorite Warriors-Style Game Ever

For the playable demo of Dragon Quest Heroes, I went in expecting just another Warriors-style game with a Dragon Quest skin over it. What I got was much more. During this past weekend in Japan, the annual Jump Festa was held, during which – among other things – Square Enix revealed a playable demo for…

FFXIV Community Holds Massive Vigil For A Dying Player

As a Final Fantasy XIV player reportedly lay dying in the hospital, friends and strangers within the game gathered to pay their respects as he passed. According to a real-life friend of Codex Vahlda, a level 50 bard on Final Fantasy XIV‘s Gilgamesh server, the 29-year-old player behind the character had been brain dead in…