Displaying items by tag: Square Enix

Final Fantasy 14 Stormblood's release date is just a few short days away, and to help build anticipation for its launch, an eight person boss battle is open for attendees at E3. This is a the first chance for the public to try Stormblood and its two new classes: red mage and samurai. I braved the lines to get my hands on the new battle coming this expansion.

Producers Kei Hirono & Hiroki Fujimoto Invite Players to Asia, Europe, and US Events

Today SQUARE ENIX announced a host of FINAL FANTASY BRAVE EXVIUS Fan Festa events, scheduled to take place around the world in celebration of one year of service of the critically acclaimed, free-to-play mobile RPG adventure. This major milestone coincides with the 30th anniversary of the FINAL FANTASY series, with the series of fan gatherings adding to the commemoration of FINAL FANTASY’s success.

World of Final Fantasy certainly isn't the only Final Fantasy spin-off around, but it’s perhaps among the more successful one. There's a lot that series veterans will find familiar. New systems and approaches are combined with many traditional Final Fantasy staples to create a product that complements an already extensive catalog of many great RPG games to date.

Dragon Quest Builders is published by Square Enix and was released in North America October 11, 2016, for Playstation 4, Playstation 3, and Vita. For those who don’t know what this game is exactly, imagine if Dragon Quest and Minecraft got fused together. You still get a story with beloved characters from the Dragon Quest franchise but with a slight Minecraft twist. I had already previously tried out this game at PAX West 2016 in a short demo. For first impressions of the game, check out the article here.

Final Fantasy XIV Fan Festival 2016 in Las Vegas came and gone and probably will not return until a year after the next expansion. This year at Fan Festival, the biggest announcement that all FFXIV fans have been waiting for was the official announcement of the next expansion – Stormblood. This was announced on the very first day of the festival and was followed by a teaser trailer showcasing a mysterious blonde female in a red dress. Almost immediately, social media and FFXIV sub-Reddit exploded with speculations of who this mysterious female could be and what the new job will be. The opening keynote was of course presented by the director and producer of FFXIV, Naoki Yoshida, with on stage translations by Christopher Koji Fox. There was no official announcement of what the new battle jobs will be, but in typical Naoki Yoshida fashion, he wore a shirt that hinted what one of the jobs may be. The presentation lasted an hour and was followed by the Development Panel featuring Masaki Nakagawa on the main stage. During this panel, Masaki Nakagawa talked about the battle development for one of the newer 24 man raids that he worked on.

Having never played much of FFXII, I can’t really make a direct comparison. I can, however, talk about the things I saw and the gameplay I experienced at PAX West this year. I was lucky enough to be part of a two hour session with the folks at Square Enix for a hands-on experience with Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age, a HD remake of the 2006 original that was announced earlier this year at E3.

Dragon Quest VII: Fragments of the Forgotten Past came out for the PS1 back in 2000 for Japan and in 2001 for US. Square Enix decided to remake it into the 3DS format for Japan in 2013 and now finally, the US is getting a localized version as well in the 3DS format which is scheduled to be released September 16, 2016. During PAX West 2016, I got to play Dragon Quest VII: Fragments of the Forgotten Past at the Nintendo booth on the 3DS.

Recently, Square Enix released a 52-minute gameplay video of the Master Version of Final Fantasy XV showcasing the game’s opening chapters. In all, the 60-minute features Chocobo racing, new monsters, side quests, equipment, ability and magic synthesis systems, and the Wait Mode. At PAX West, we were invited to participate in a 1-hour hands-on demo on PlayStation 4. From what I can say, the game has been improved, but for better or worse?

Hiroki Chiba began his career at Square Enix in 1993, where he assisted in the creation of FINAL FANTASY VI. He was also the Event Planner on the CHRONO TRIGGER and FINAL FANTASY series. After working on the development of the character Vincent from FINAL FANTASY VII, Chiba became the Scenario Writer and Event Director for DIRGE of CERBERUS -FINAL FANTASY VII-. Additionally, he has worked on the event scenes and the scenario for titles including FINAL FANTASY VII, FINAL FANTASY VIII, FINAL FANTASY X, FINAL FANTASY TYPE-0 and LIGHTNING RETURNS: FINAL FANTASY XIII. Since then, Chiba has continued to work on the overall direction and scenarios for many titles. 

We managed to get a sneak peak at the new upcoming game, World of Final Fantasy, with the developers from Square Enix at PAX West this year. World of Final Fantasy is a RPG that takes place in the land of Grymoire where players will take the characters, Reynn and Lann, on an adventure to discover their past.