According to new reports the Final Fantasy franchise might be branching out in a slightly unexpected direction – the “souls” genre. Going from a party of casters, melee, healers and heroes to a single playable character is quite the departure from what we are used to from Final Fantasy. Sure the series has experimented with a three member setup (XIII) and even a two party setup (Lightning Returns) but the slower paced combat, potential focus on counters and expected difficulty spikes could mean the end result is something entirely unseen in the FF series.
News broke via Fanbyte two days ago that this souls-like title will be titled Final Fantasy: Origin, it is under development at Team Ninja and will be exclusive to the recently released PlayStation 5. Further details have also supposedly come to light via the R/GamingLeakSubreddit where it was revealed that the game will focus on the setting of the first Final Fantasy game from the NES – and a reminder that game didn’t have jobs, bahamut or even Chocobos – so there’s lots of room for new inclusions. Difficulty will apparently be dynamic, meaning that multiple difficulty settings will be offered from the outset. To top this all off, like the Ni-oh games before – a playable Alpha version of the game will be made available for fans to leave feedback before the game launches.
As with anything of this nature – unconfirmed rumours of in-development games in the weeks leading up to E3, take it all with a grain of salt. The fact that other outlets, with much more reach inside of development studios, and other insiders are corroborating this story means there is probably something to it.
E3 will be held on June 12th through the 15th as an online only event. Square Enix will be holding their own presentation showcase during that time.
With Final Fantasy is making the jump to Nintendo Switch throughout the next year there are still many more tales that would be an absolute delight to have on the go on Nintendo Switch. The lack of Final Fantasy 8 in the release schedule has been covered to death – and apparently there’s no modern port for S.E to easily convert to switch – so baring that entry here are six more Final Fantasy titles that should grace our favorite console.
In no particular order….
Final Fantasy Explorers
Monster Hunter World showed that Capcom’s long niche boss gauntlet game can have massive mainstream appeal and the recent launch of Monster Hunter Generations: Ultimate on Switch was nothing to sneeze at either.
Now take the barebones structure of Monster Hunter’s gameplay and apply it to possibly the most well-known RPG franchises to exist and it sounds like a winning combination. Foregoing the well-known narrative structure of previous Final Fantasy entries1, like Capcom’s games, Explorers had players traverse an island performing various objectives from gathering to combat. With well-known jobs like Red Mage, Fighter, Summoner, Dragoon and more available, how is this not a rife for a complete remake for Switch?
Final Fantasy Tactics
Ivalice is a world that has been visited many times and Nintendo Switch owners will get the chance to visit Dalmasca when Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age arrives next year but missing from Square’s line-up is the game that started the Ivalice mythology – 1998’s Final Fantasy Tactics.
Eschewing the Active Time Battle system and even the traditional side-view combat camera angle – Final Fantasy Tactics takes all of the trappings of previous FF titles and crafts something truly unique. Playing more like a strategy RPG, complete with isometric camera angles, Final Fantasy Tactics crafted an intricate narrative set in the aftermath of a great war. Featuring 20 different jobs (PlayStation original version2), interesting conflicts between characters and a vast wealth of lore – Final Fantasy Tactics is perfect for players who want to immerse themselves in both strategy and deep storytelling.
Final Fantasy XIII-2 / Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII
Square Enix’s “Fabula Nova Crystalis” might not have panned out as originally intended but what did it eventually give us was a trilogy of games that greatly expanded upon one of FFXIII’sheroine Lightning and the world’s lore. Welcome but unexpected (to me) at the time was FFXIII-2 focus on her sister Serah’s quest to find Lightning after the events of the original XIII. Taken as a trilogy the XIII Saga greatly expands upon the larger universe with the introduction of deities, alternate timelines and even the ability to view alternate timelines where certain events did or did not take place.
The Final Fantasy XIII trilogy takes the world initially created for the first game to unexpected places but you might be wondering why the first game didn’t make it onto this wishlist. Simply put the original FFXIII would never fit onto a single Switch cartridge or even two of them. As of the writing of this article Nintendo Switch carts are limited to 16GB and some of the largest digital Switch games come in at approximately 30GB (hi DOOM!). XIII has a number of 720p cut-scenes that made a Blu-Ray disc on PS3 mandatory (or 4 Xbox 360 DVDs). Switch owners would be better served by a truncated movie version of the XIII events or that game’s story as a data-log.
Final Fantasy XIV
At last we come to what is undoubtedly my most wanted FF title on Switch – Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood. What can be said about the world of Eorzea that hasn’t already been expressed by other fans and Warriors of Light? Naoki Yoshida and his team have taken XIV and made fashioned a world that I simply want to live in – from the rolling green foothills of the Azim Steppe to the lush forests of New Gradania, the world of Final Fantasy XIV is as vibrant as it is diverse when it comes to setting. Special mention also goes out to the music – from the memorable City State themes, Zone themes you can’t but help to humm or the amazing music brought to every raid tier by the talented Masayoshi Sokken – the music in FFXIV will leave you awestruck. Flesh all of that out with a Main Scenario that helps create characters that resonate with players and a regular patch cycle that adds new content to the game every few weeks and it is easy to see why thousands of people login to FFXIV every day.
I’ve been playing FFXIV since the waning days of A Realm Reborn and it remains a place that I visit every day – whether I’m exploring the new Main Scenario quests, running daily content with my spouse or just logging in to hang out in chat with my comrades in my Free Company. With dozens of classes- both battle and crafting – seasonal events, 24 person raids and weekly loot drops – there is always something to do in FFXIV and it really is my second home.
Square Enix is bringing Final Fantasy XV Pocket Edition HD to the Nintendo Switch (it’s actually already available in the Nintendo eShop). That much we already knew. Well it looks like Square Enix is going all in with the Nintendo Switch.
On the latest Nintendo Direct it was announced that Final Fantasy XV Pocket Edition HD isn’t the only Final Fantasy game coming to the Switch. High-definition versions of some of the most beloved Final Fantasy games of all time are coming to Nintendo Switch.
This includes Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy IX and Final Fantasy X / X-2HD Remaster, as well as the recently released Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age. This is the first time any of these Final Fantasy games has been released on a Nintendo system.
In addition, three other games in the Final Fantasy universe will launch on Nintendo Switch in the near future.
The leveled-up edition of World of Final Fantasy Maxima launches November 6th, Chocobo’s Mystery Dungeon EVERY BUDDY!launches this winter and Nintendo GameCube co-op game Final FantasyCrystal Chronicles Remastered Edition with online multiplayer and no need for a link cable comes to Nintendo Switch in 2019.
I haven’t played the bulk of these games on the PlayStation and PlayStation 2, and played a little bit of Crystal Chronicles, but after Final Fantasy XI I haven’t played much at all. I’m excited to see these released on the Switch.
Are you excited by these releases? Will you be playing through them?
The latest mobile Final Fantasy adventure has arrived in Final Fantasy Dimensions II. A new adventure that transcends time and space…
The hero Morrow and heroine Aemo travel through the present, past, and future and gain allies along the way on their great quest to save the world. In the game you’ll equip and fight with crystals known as signet stones to acquire new abilities for your characters.
The eastern continent of Ajima and the western continent of Westa. A great disaster caused by human error destroys the civilization of magic that prospered during the Ancient Era and divides the world into east and west, ushering in a long period of conflict between the two. A young boy named Morrow who lives in Navos, a small island at the center of the world, loses himself listening to tales of Wrieg’s travels, a Westan adventurer.
Morrow follows Wrieg after he senses something strange from an odd shooting star and meets a mysterious girl from the future named Aemo. The world of Eidola exists outside the present, past, future, and beyond.
Many of these signet stones possess the powers of the Eidolons, summoned beasts from throughout the history of the Final Fantasy series!
Final Fantasy Dimensions II retails for $19.99 CAD.
Square Enix confirmed today that the Closed Beta Test for Dissidia Final Fantasy NT will run from Friday, August 25th (9pm PT) through Sunday, September 3rd (9pm PT) on the PlayStation 4. Players in North and Latin America have until Sunday, August 20th (11:59 p.m. Pacific) to register online for a chance to participate in the Closed Beta Test
Fans can also look forward to playing as Blitzball legend and Final Fantasy X antagonist Jecht, who will be making his debut in the game when it releases next year. While in the full game Jecht will not be playable in the Closed Beta.
Square Enix has announced that the total global shipment for the Final Fantasy Trading Card Game Opus series has exceeded 5.5 million packs worldwide. The anticipated “Opus III,” the third wave of cards available for the series, will be available on August 4th in North America.
The Final Fantasy Trading Card Game Opus series is based on the Japanese “Chapter” series, which captivated TCG fans for fifteen chapters from February 2011 through March 2015.
This new edition features improved game balance and card design as well as the addition of new illustrations from recent FINAL FANTASY titles and localization into six languages: English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, and Japanese.
Square Enix debuted a teaser trailer for their upcoming mobile Final Fantasy adventure RPG mobile game, Mobius Final Fantasy. The game will feature fast paced action battles, deep character customization and console-quality HD visuals that push the boundaries of the mobile platform.
Mobius Final Fantasy tells the story of a man who wakes up in a world called Palamecia with no memory of his past. There, he finds himself tasked with bringing hope to the world by unraveling a mysterious prophecy around the legendary warrior of light. The game is being created by an all-star development team including producer Yoshinori Kitase and writer Kazushige Nojima – known for their work on the acclaimed Final Fantasy VII and upcoming Final Fantasy VII Remake.
Sitting in the massive crowd at Sony’s E3 press conference was surreal, when the event wrapped up my hands were shaking and my heart pounding but in the back of my mind it felt like there was something left unsaid. In the world of games journalism you have to take every leak, slip of the tongue and rumor with a dump truck of salt and even then that isn’t enough skepticism. Here is a quick run-down of three of things that the internet told me I should have expected to be announced.
#3 – More Details About The Final Fantasy VII Remake
Square Enix and Sony shocked the world with a remake that fans have been requesting for nearly two decades last year. This year? Everything was oddly silent, not a word was mentioned about Squeenix’s trilogy of titles that will spin the tale of Cloud, Aerith and Barret in a new direction. Instead we got a generic zombie shooter that used the same two enemy models over and over that could have passed for any of the countless Day-Z ripoffs on Steam.
#2 – An Update On Shenmue III
After not one but two successful crowdfunding drives for Yu Suzuki’s next chapter in this long running franchise and we didn’t hear anything this evening,, not even a glimpse in a one of the brief sizzle reels. Sony answered the prayers of Dreamcast fans fourteen years after the console exited the market with a hail marry announcement no-one could have expected. As one of the announcements that “won” E3 for Sony last year it was odd that Sony’s executives were so silent on this one.
#1 – Read Dead Redemption 3
A lot of people expected this one given the fact that the game’s “Map” leaked a weeks back. Hell, even some have joked that they’ve seen horses and cowboys walk out of Rockstar’s offices. Once again Rockstar has proven that they can still skip one of gaming’s biggest events simply because we will all be listening whenever they have something to say.
What do you think of my list of disappointments? Let me know in the comment and be sure to keep checking Broken Joysticks for more E3 coverage.
Square Enix announced today that a brand-new Final Fantasy experience called FINAL FANTASY BRAVE EXVIUS will launch for free (with in-app purchases) on iOS and Android devices this summer. The hit title has already drawn in more than six million players in Japan and is an entirely new role-playing adventure for the mobile generation.
The title brings the classic Final Fantasy lore with legendary heroes from the franchise.
Adventurers will follow two knights of the kingdom of Grandshelt, and a young girl who suddenly appears before them, as they begin their quest to pursue a highly sought after crystal. Players will make their way through various types of dungeons to search for items, collect gil, uncover hidden paths, and venture new routes.
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment and SQUARE ENIX last night unveiled Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV, a fully CG animated movie slated to premiere this fall. The movie will be released worldwide as a cross-media collaboration with Final Fantasy XV, the upcoming Final Fantasy sequel.
Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV features an all-star cast, including Sean Bean (Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones) as King Regis, Lena Headey (300, Game of Thrones) as Princess Luna and Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad) as Kingsglaive soldier Nyx.
Just yesterday Square Enix released Final Fantasy Explorers for the Nintendo 3DS and now tomorrow their classic GBA game Final Fantasy Tactics Advance will arrive on the Nintendo Wii U Virtual Console.
The fate of the kingdom Ivalice is once again in your hands, only this time instead of the GameBoy Advance holding Ivalice it will be your Wii U gamepad.
When Marche and his friends open an ancient magical tome, their small town is transformed into a fantasy-filled kingdom known as Ivalice. Guide Marche and his clan against countless foes, and discover the wonders of Ivalice. Build up your party, master abilities and summons, and learn tactical combat to win in battle.
Square Enix and Ubisoft games headline the weekly sales available for all PSN members this week. In this latest weekly sale many games from the Final Fantasy and Far Cry series are available at a reduced price, and even more if you have an active PlayStation Plus subscription. If you missed out on the Final Fantasy XIII sequels, both are available for $15.00 USD a piece. Also if you haven’t tried Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn on PlayStation it is also available and includes 30 days game time with the software license! Other awesome deals include a whole pile of PS1 classic FF titles from the 90s including FFVIII and FFIX.
All prices in USD, not reflective of the PS Plus discount and sales are only available in North America as far as I am aware.
PS1 Classics On Sale
Final Fantasy 8 – $5.00 USD
Final Fantasy 9 – $5.00 USD
Final Fantasy V – $5.00 USD
Final Fantasy Origins – $5.00 USD
Legend of Manna – $3.00 USD
Parasite Eve II – $5.00 USD
Final Fantasy VII – $5.00 USD
Vagrant Story – $5.00 USD
PS4 Games On Sale
FFXIV: A Realm Reborn (Includes 30 Day Game Time)
Sleeping Dogs Definitive Edition – $10.00 USD
Tomb Raider Definitive Edition – $7.50 USD
Murdered Soul Suspect – $7.50 USD
Far Cry 4 – $19.80 USD
PS3 Games On Sale
Crystal Defenders – $5.00 USD
Space Invaders Infinity – $5.00 USD
Final Fantasy XIII Lightening Returns – $15.00 USD
It’s a pretty well known stereotype in the North American movie world – perhaps globally – that movies based on the stories told in video games generally aren’t that great. Of course, that’s a somewhat mixed opinion with the people who actually make them because, in spite of this, a great number of those movies turn a pretty nice profit, some of them even hitting blockbuster status. Among those that were panned critically, though, is a diamond in the rough that was often seen as a great standalone movie that suffered against a franchise name that was well-known for being incredibly high quality and was riding a huge wave of success and expectation at the time. The pressure of expectation was a big one and for a brand new studio created by a company that hadn’t ever made a feature-length film in the past – we have to remember their contributions to the Animatrix series of shorts and the various CGI work they’d done for other movies before The Spirits Within – and with that hype train riding faster and faster towards release, the movie was almost doomed to be panned, from the time that train got on the tracks… follow the jump for more!
As a kid having grown up during the 90s, I got to experience the height of the console wars in full swing: Nintendo vs Sega. Both of those companies duked it out for the dominance of the console market, with several other competitors such as Atari with their Jaguar and NEC’s TurboGrafix-16 lagging severely behind. Unfortunately, with growing up in the US, gamers such as myself missed numerous releases. Some of those were either not localized from Japan, or the translations of various games that did make it over were severely butchered by such things as Nintendo’s no-religious imagery/text policy, or had copious amounts of Engrish. Possibly one of the more famous examples of Engrish was the localization of the Sega MegaDrive game Zero Wing, which spawned one of the earlier memes of 2000/2001.
As we’re closing in on the end of one year and getting ready to start the next, a lot of people are reflecting on the year that’s past and others are looking at the year to come. I’m one of those looking to the future and I’ll tell you why: 2016 and the coming years after are going to be an extremely exciting time for games. While gaming has always been a longtime passion of mine, I do have to admit that it has felt like, in the last couple generations, innovation and creativity had been been steadily decreasing while market saturation has been steadily increasing. It wasn’t looking good as the market was looking stale and things weren’t change. Sure, there were gimmicks that came and went but nothing really stuck. There were few real surprises and the things that jumped aboard the hype train were mostly games we’d been anticipating and asking for, for years. There was a lot of vaporware, a lot of E3s that came and went that left us wanting more and spending more time laughing at the flaws than celebrating the wonders. In my honest opinion, the fifth generation was the last generation that truly brought us wonders we never thought we’d see possible and all the last couple generations did was expand on that. We never saw anything truly groundbreaking and that’s part of why 2016 is going to be an exciting year: we are going to see a lot of broken ground and whether or not it will be truly successful, we finally see companies going out and taking risks and those are the kinds of moves that change gaming for the better. Follow the jump for our preview of the year to come and what to watch for!
