In Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, you will explore a variety of Disney worlds in not only single- player mode, but also in multiplayer missions (with up to four players locally) made possible by the unique networking features of the Nintendo DS in an all-new and mysterious Kingdom Hearts storyline.
The action-RPG will be released in Japan in February 2009. Don’t expect a release elsewhere until late in 2009.
Gameplay from the new chapter in the Kingdom Hearts series was finally unveiled at the Tokyo Game Show 2008. Square Enix has now released that trailer to the public.
Dragon Quest 9: Protectors of the Starry Sky is Square-Enix’s long awaited sequel to Dragon Quest 8: Journey of the Cursed King on the PlayStation 2, but this time, it’s coming to the Nintendo DS. This new video was debuted at the Square-Enix booth on the Tokyo Game Show 2008, but has now finally been released by the company to the public.
Developer Level-5 have announced the single- and multi-player (with up to four players online) RPG will be released in Japan in March 2009. Don’t expect a release elsewhere until late in 2009.
Watch as the great-looking 9th quest gets under way!
Square Enix’s new action-RPG Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time for both the Wii and Nintendo DS is coming out in Japan in a few months on January 29th, 2009. If you’re curious how the Pollux Engine allows up to four Wii and DS gamers to play together at the same time online (co-op), as well as supporting complete interaction between the two system, then you’ll enjoy the debut trailer.
Watch the first Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time gameplay video.
Click on the bottom-right corner arrow to view it fullscreen.
The latest issue of Japanese manga magazine Shonen Jump has a reveal by games developer Square Enix who announced a new action-RPG titled Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time for the Wii and Nintendo DS! The game will be released in Japan on January 29th, 2009. This news comes after this year’s release of Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fate for the DS, but before the Wii follow-up Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers has even been given a release date. Like Echoes of Time, both of those previously announced action-RPG’s are also sequels to 2003’s Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles on the GameCube.
Echoes of Time will feature a Wii / DS connection that allows you to play the game with up to four players (using four different character classes) on the DS and Wii at the same time (both locally and online!) thanks to a Pollux Engine created by Square Enix. As you might expect, the two versions will have different gameplay, namely using the DS stylus or Wii Remote.
The story is said to revolve around nearly-16-year-old Charlotta, who goes out of her village for the first time, only to encounter a massive tower and a mysterious crystal. Not much else is known at this point, but a fun tidbit is that you can transfer your Mii characters’ faces you made on the Wii to the DS version.
A year and a half ago Japan got Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix+ that included an extra disc with a 3D remake of the GameBoy Advance RPG title Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories. Out of the blue yesterday at the Gamestop Manager Conference, rpgsite confirmed that Square Enix representatives mentioned they will be releasing Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories as a standalone game for the PS2 in America during the Holiday season 2008, at a price of $29.99.
To those who didn’t play the original, Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories takes place between Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II. Aside from adding polygonal 3D battles and worlds using the same graphics as seen in the first Kingdom Hearts game, Square Enix will also add voice acting, new cutscenes, an improved soundtrack, and brand new battles that weren’t in the 2D original.
It’s finally coming! Get hyped by watching some Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories gameplay from the Japanese version.
In the RPG Infinite Undiscovery, players are drawn into a real-time world woven of countless threads where their choices spin untold discoveries. The actions taken by the player with each discovery have a real-time impact on the world. Situational Battles: Players are confronted with a variety of dramatic “situational battles” such as executing a daring escape while a gigantic ogre follows in hot pursuit, or waging battle amidst towering tidal waves. The dynamic environments change and respond in real-time to player commands, creating an entirely new experience never before seen in the genre. A Seamless World and Real-time Action: Combat, exploration, and other actions all take place within the same environment, seamlessly shifting between each game facet. Battles are carried out in real-time, bringing the vibrant fighting sequences of the Star Ocean series out of the traditional battle screen into a beautiful and lush environment.
Deep in a forest, in one of the Order’s prisons, a young boy named Capell was being held captive. His captors called him the “Liberator,” though he had no clue as to what they meant. On the third day of his imprisonment, he was rescued by a spirited young woman named Aya. She was a member of a small band of brave warriors who had gathered under the banner of Sigmund the Liberator to free the world from the iron grip of the Order. Upon meeting Sigmund, he was surprised to find a man who shared his very face and appearance. This meeting would change Capell’s life forever and shake the foundation of the world itself.
Proof that making up words doesn’t actually create a better game. Find out all about it in this Infinite Undiscovery video review.
Infinite Undiscovery key features are:
* Discovery & Impact: The actions you choose to take upon new discoveries will have a real-time impact on the world.
* Situational Battles: Players will be confronted with a variety of dramatic situational battles such as executing a daring escape while a gigantic ogre follows in hot pursuit, or waging battle amidst towering tidal waves. The dynamic environments change and respond in real time, creating an entirely new experience never before seen in the genre.
* A Seamless World and Real-time Action: Combat, exploration, and other actions all take place within the same environment, seamlessly shifting between each game facet. Battles are carried out in real-time, bringing the vibrant fighting sequences of the Star Ocean series out of the traditional battle screen into a beautiful and lush environment.
* Connect Ability System: 17 characters join the hero, Capell, with unique Connect Ability actions that allow the player to tap into their abilities and take direct control.
To quote the video review: “You probably shouldn’t judge a game by its title, but in all honestly, Infinite Undiscovery tells you everything you need to know. It only half makes sense — and only when you squint your brain. That is the design approach in a nutshell. Some of the choices tri-Ace made don’t make a whole lot of sense, but you can certainly play through some of the gaffes. This isn’t a game marred with horrendous bugs or unplayable combat. And it’s not boring. It’s just misguided. The story is intriguing enough that RPG fanatics should at least give this a rental. Considering it’s on the short side for a Square-Enix RPG, you shouldn’t have trouble beating it in a week.”
Square Enix is aiming to buy half of Tecmo in the wake of the company’s recent troubled history in what it is calling a “friendly deal”.
Square Enix president Yoichi Wada presented the offer as an attempt to rescue Tecmo. Tecmo has been rocked by a declining stock price, class-action lawsuits, and the departure of and legal action by star designer Tomonobu Itagaki in the span of two months. And then just last week, Tecmo president Yoshimi Yasuda abruptly stepped down, citing personal reasons.
To accomplish this, Square Enix intends to buy a majority stake in Tecmo by purchasing over half of the companies shares at 920 yen each, 30% more than the studios previous closing price. Square Enix is stating that the deal is a “friendly” one and that they would not pursue it further if Tecmo doesn’t respond positively to the buyout by September 4th or reject the deal outright.
“Tecmo is a group of excellent creators with a proven track record in the global market, which is a precious human resource of Japan,” explained Wada. “We, however, cannot be optimistic about the future of this significant resource, given the current circumstances surrounding Tecmo. We believe that Tecmo will be able to make a great leap forward by joining Square Enix Group, which will provide the group with further growth opportunities as well.”
Though Tecmo has not yet publicly commented on Square Enix’s offer, it is likely tempting to many shareholders. The ¥920 ($8.46) per share offer is a 30 percent premium on Tecmo’s ¥706 ($6.49) closing price last Thursday. The Bloomberg news service values the entire bid at 22.3 billion yen ($205 million). As a result of the offer, Tecmo stock shot up 14 percent to close ¥806 ($7.41) per share last week, with Square Enix’s stock rising 2.6 percent to ¥3,610 ($33.20). — Via 1up
Final Fantasy: Dissidia is a Final Fantasy spin-off developed exclusively for Sony’s PSP. It’s set for a December 2008 release in Japan, but release dates for other region haven’t been set yet by Square Enix. 2009 maybe?
Dissidia: Final Fantasy’s genre has been described as “dramatic progressive action” and it’ll have 3D graphics. It features wireless one-on-one game play and fights revolving around the use of individual special skill sets of characters to do damage to opponents until their HP is down to zero. Players can also customize their characters with equipment.
Watch Onion Knight and the Cloud of Darkness go at it in this new Final Fantasy: Dissidia battle gameplay video.
Click on the bottom-right corner arrow to view it fullscreen.
Square Enix today announced Chrono Trigger DS — their 1995 SNES RPG re-mastered for the Nintendo DS — has been given a release date in North America on November 25th, 2008. The game is expected to launch in Europe for the first time ever in January 2009.
This all-new edition of the game contains all the classic essence of the original release while introducing the portability, dual-screen presentation and Touch-Screen functionality of Nintendo DS, taking players back in time to re-experience the epic RPG that set the benchmark for the RPG genre. While it’s no 3D remake like the recent Final Fantasy games on the DS, it does have other added features such as: a brand new dungeon and a Wireless Play (Wi-Fi enabled) multiplayer mode.
Square Enix’s DKS3713 private fan event was held this weekend in Japan. There the company announced Final Fantasy Agito XIII and Parasite Eve 3 will be released on PSP. As both games were originally meant for mobile phones, a great many fans rejoiced over this news.
On Final Fantasy Agito XIII they said: it began life as a mobile phone game due to the popularity of mobile games in Japan, but seeing the RPG being ported to PSP means it’s more likely to be played by people who aren’t Japanese. No release date has been set yet.
The game is set in a magic school named Akademeia, and will gradually expand to the larger world outside of the school. It is described as an online RPG, but not “massively multiplayer” although it’s been said players can form parties of characters and most likely play through the game cooperatively.
On Parasite Eve: The 3rd Birthday they said: it was announced as a mobile phone game, According to 1UP the port suggests that this will be a true Parasite Eve sequel. Nothing more was shown of the game, so we still don’t know if it’ll be an RPG like the original or a survival horror action game like the sequel. It will be released in 2009.
The scenario director Motomu Toriyama did say in the past that Aya Brea is the main focus of this spin-off game (officially Parasite Eve is not in the title anymore). Due to her special powers, she still has the body of a woman in her 20s, although in terms of age she should actually be 35 years old. The game starts on a late night on Christmas Eve, Aya and the other members of CTI: New York are called into headquarters in response to an outbreak of attacks in Manhattan by a creature called Twisted. These creatures emerged from a mysterious time contortion.
In Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, you will explore a variety of Disney worlds in not only single- player mode, but also in multiplayer missions (with up to four players locally) made possible by the unique networking features of the Nintendo DS in an all-new and mysterious Kingdom Hearts storyline.
