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They Weren’t Kidding When They Said Final Fantasy Type-0 Was Dark
A couple months ago at PAX Prime, Final Fantasy Type-0 director Hajime Tabata told reporters that this game was dark. Really dark. “It’s a much more mature game than what you’ve seen before,” he said. It seemed very much like a PR talking point—we’re mature, and gritty!—but damn if this new Type-0 HD trailer doesn’t…
By Jason Schreier Published October 29, 2014 -
Kotaku East
Final Fantasy VII Comes To Life in Glorious Plastic
Square Enix doesn’t just make video games. It also makes toys. Cool toys. Like these. The company’s Play Arts line is bringing Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children to life with Cloud Strife, Tifa Lockheart, Barret Wallace, and Red XIII The Cloud figure is 12,960 yen (US$120), while the others are 10,584 yen ($98). Red XIII…
By Brian Ashcraft Published October 27, 2014 -
New Classes, Race Coming In Final Fantasy XIV 3.0, Heavensward
New classes, a new playable race, a level cap increase and airships? Final Fantasy XIV‘s first expansion has been announced, and it’s pretty massive. With players still eagerly awaiting the release of patch 2.4 — “Dreams of Ice” — producer Naoki Yoshida took the stage at the Final Fantasy XIV Fan Festival in Las Vegas…
By Mike Fahey Published October 18, 2014 -
Kotaku East
Tetsuya Nomura Is Busy with More than Kingdom Hearts III
Now that he’s no longer helmingFinal Fantasy XV, Tetsuya Nomura seems to have a lot of free time to work on other projects. The Nomura version of Japanese virtual idol, Hatsune Miku, is currently on display in New York until the 19th as part of a Hatsune Miku art exhibit. Asked by Weekly Famitsu in…
By Toshi Nakamura Published October 16, 2014 -
Kotaku ‘Shop Contest: Fine, We’ll Do Final Fantasy XV: Winners!
And with the results in fromlast week’s ‘Shop Contest, I officially declare the Final Fantasy XV car guys meme over. Let’s see if it went out with a whimper or a bang. It should have been over sooner, but Square Enix went and extended it by releasing high quality transparent PNG files so folks could…
By Mike Fahey Published October 12, 2014 -
Kotaku East
Former Square Enix Honcho Talks about Cloud Gaming’s Future
Last month, Former Square Enix top man Yoichi Wada announced that he would be helming a new company named “Shinra Technologies.” No, they’re not going to try to drain the planet of its life force to use as energy. Yet. In an interview with Weekly Famitsu, Wada talked about his new company and what they…
By Toshi Nakamura Published October 9, 2014 -
Kotaku East
Tetsuya Nomura’s Take on Hatsune Miku Looks So Final Fantasy
You might know Square Enix game creator Tetsuya Nomura best for his Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts character designs. Recently, his version of virtual idol Hatsune Miku was revealed in New York. Via Sega, here is what Hatsune Miku usually looks like. Or this. And as Famitsu shows, this is Tetsuya Nomura’s take, which was…
By Brian Ashcraft Published October 9, 2014 -
Kotaku East
Now, Square Enix Is Suing SNK Playmore
Back in August, Kotaku reported that SNK Playmore was taking Square Enix to court because High Score Girl, a manga Square Enix published, allegedly featured SNK characters without permission. Today, Square Enix announced it was now suing SNK. As Square Enix states in an official release, it was bringing the lawsuit against SNK Playmore because…
By Brian Ashcraft Published October 8, 2014 -
Kingdom Hearts III Is Being Made with Unreal Engine 4
In a recent interview, game creator Tetsuya Nomura revealed that Kingdom Hearts III is now being developed on Unreal Engine 4. Oh. Alright, then. It was largely assumed that Square Enix was using an in-house game engine for Kingdom Hearts III like it is for Final Fantasy XV. That would make sense, no? The Unreal…
By Brian Ashcraft Published October 7, 2014 -
Kotaku ‘Shop Contest: Fine, We’ll Do Final Fantasy XV
When folks started taking shots from the Tokyo Game Show trailer for Final Fantasy XV and pasting things behind them, I figured Chris Person’s post about it was enough. Now Square Enix has decided to help things along. Fine, let’s do this. Look, this meme has been done to death already over the past couple…
By Mike Fahey Published October 5, 2014 -
Kotaku EastWatching Square Enix’s Tetsuya Nomura Draw Is Mesmerizing
For a minute, forget all the baggage that goes with the name “Tetsuya Nomura.” The lenghty delays, the controversial designs, whatever. This guy can draw In the video below (via Famitsu), you can see the artist at work, drawing Sora from Kingdom Hearts. It’s nice to have a reminder of just how Nomura excels at…
By Brian Ashcraft Published October 3, 2014 -
Kotaku East
Square Enix Makes Better Final Fantasy XV Photoshops Possible
The game company behind Final Fantasy just released hi-res assets so people can make their own silly FFXV Photoshops. Thanks, Square Enix! As previously reported, it became a thing online for people to grab Final Fantasy XV screens and rework them for internet fun under the hashtag #FF15クソコラグランプリ (The FF15 Shitty Photoshop Gran Prix). When…
By Brian Ashcraft Published October 3, 2014 -
Our Best Look Yet At Final Fantasy XV‘s Combat
In just one month, Final Fantasy XV has somehow transformed from assumed vaporware to a genuine game that feels like it’s actually going to come out. After a year and a half of radio silence, today it seems like there’s FFXV news every week. Last night in Japan, FFXV director Hajime Tabata and crew broadcasted…
By Jason Schreier Published October 2, 2014 -
Kotaku East
Undressing This Hug Pillow Is No Final Fantasy
Musician Gackt is the closest we’ll get to a real-life Final Fantasy character. And this hug pillow might be the closest you get to Gackt. He really looks like a Final Fantasy character! And according to Gackt, FFVIII‘s Squall Leonhart was based on his appearance. What’s more, Gackt not only did the theme songs for…
By Brian Ashcraft Published October 1, 2014 -
Kotaku East
No, This Isn’t a Dragon Quest Car
Over the weekend, though, Twitter user Crexian thought he saw a car shaped like Dragon Quest’s Slime on the highway. Sorry! It wasn’t. But Slime from Dragon Quest sure looks like that car. [Photo: crexian] Crexian’s photo was retweeted over 28,000 times. However… here’s a side view. [Photo: crexian] That is actually “Pichon-kun,” a character…
By Brian Ashcraft Published September 29, 2014 -
Kotaku East
Iconic Final Fantasy Characters Made All Big-Headed and Cute
Square Enix just released character art and images of how iconic Final Fantasy characters will appear in upcoming 3DS title Final Fantasy Explorers The Explorers version of characters like Lightning, Cloud, Squall, and Tina (AKA Terra) look big-headed, slightly squat, and apparently cute. Here are images via 4Gamer: In Explorers, you can temporarily “transform” into…
By Brian Ashcraft Published September 26, 2014 -
Kotaku East
Tetsuya Nomura Talks Kingdom Hearts III, But Is Quiet on FFXV
Square Enix recently revealed that Tetsuya Nomura is no longer helming Final Fantasy XV. Now he can work on getting Kingdom Hearts III out quickly. “We’re regularly meeting schedule deadlines.” Nomura said in an interview with Weekly Famitsu. “Unfortunately, due to the engine, there are areas on the visual side where we’re struggling.” Talking about…
By Toshi Nakamura Published September 25, 2014 -
Kotaku East
Final Fantasy Character Sure Looks Strange Undressed
Not everyone looks good undressed, that’s for sure. Take this Final Fantasy Explorers character, for example. Get him a shirt and some pants! And then, Photoshops. As pointed out on My Game News Flash and 2ch, this avatar from Final Fantasy Explorers‘ character creator has been amusing some people online in Japan. That, of course,…
By Brian Ashcraft Published September 24, 2014 -
The Man Who Saved Final Fantasy XV
“This is my first numbered Final Fantasy game,” FFXV director Hajime Tabata told me at Square Enix’s Tokyo headquarters early last week. And what a numbered Final Fantasy game this is. Tabata sat comfortably in a leather chair. “I don’t feel much pressure,” he said. Final Fantasy XV, he explained, was something they were proud…
By Brian Ashcraft Published September 22, 2014