Tag Archive

New Kingdom Hearts III Trailer Still Lacks Release Date

Posted on June 11, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

Square Enix released a brand new trailer for Kingdom Hearts III almost a full four years after it was originally revealed at E3 2013. My original headline about the game’s announcement so many years ago told readers that “no you’re not dreaming, Kingdom Hearts 3 has been announced” and now this latest trailer opens with “Don’t assume your dreams are just fantasy” – for the entire series fan base and enthusiast press playing KH III has been relegated to the realm of dream or fantasy since the title has yet to appear at a major industry convention or conference in anything but pre-rendered trailer footage.

As for the details about what’s going on in this trailer… well, I haven’t the slightest gosh darn clue. My wife and I are slowly playing through the series and I’ve still got three games left (Dream Drop Distance, Birth By Sleep, 2.8 Prologue) before I am completely caught up. So far the series plot (to me) is slightly disjointed but still enjoyable, if not a little off the wall.

If you want to see pretty visuals of Sora pulling off cool combo moves, Pete and Maleficent rendered in crisp PS4 HD and for the first time four party members active at once – watch the trailer below.

While there’s no release date the end of this trailer, Square Enix does promise the reveal of a brand new world and another new trailer at D23 this coming July.

Come on Square – can we have a release date now? Don’t let our dreams be dreams and give us a release date.. JUST DO IT

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Search Your Feelings, You Know Star Wars Battlefront II Gameplay Looks Impressive

Posted on June 10, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

EA dedicated a very lengthy section of their four hour livestream this afternoon to DICE’s sequel to 2015’s Star Wars Battlefront reboot. This included an on-stage presentation and featurette about the group of skilled players who helped provide input to developers about the type of changes needed to make Battlefront II’s multiplayer a success. We also got our first look at an actual full multiplayer battle thanks to their Battle on Theed promotion.

DICE has made a number of fundamental changes to how the gameplay systems work in Star Wars Battlefront II. The most obvious is that units, heroes, maps and technology from all three eras (A New Hope Era, Prequels Era, The Force Awakens Era) are all present within a single match. Want to have Rey fight alongside Han Solo? You can do that! Want the Emperor to electrocute Jar Jar Binks, GO FOR IT (okay.. even in my wildest fan dreams we don’t know if there is an actual playable Jar Jar.) Power-ups and ship combat have changed as well – instead of picking up a token on the battlefield to spawn a special weapon, vehicle or hero, players are provided “battlepoints” for almost every action they perform . Whether you’re shooting an enemy player, blowing up a ship with a tracked missile or capturing an objective you’ll earn battlepoints for all of them – at one point during the livestream we saw a ship simply spawn and then crash into a building, and that player still earned BP. The amount of MP to spawn with a different class, weapon, hero or vehicles differs – so we don’t have a clear sense as to how much each of the specific types of purchases cost.

During the livestreamed Assault on Theed multiplayer match, which takes place on the planet of Naboo the Separatists (which include clone troopers from Episode II, the Rebels from A New Hope era and The Resistance from The Force Awakens era) must defend the palace from a large mobile bomb being escorted by the forces of the Galatic Republic (Empire from A New Hope Era, The New Order from Force Awakens Era). Matches on Theed are divided into three distinct phases: a large open urban area where aerial dog fights happen alongside multi-unit battles in the streets of Theed. If the Galactic Republics continues their push the courtyard near the palace gate will unlock, funnels ground units into a narrower space. The final phase of Assault on Theed takes place in the Queen’s throne room and is designed for full on close-quarters combat. It is quite interesting to see Battlefront II adopt three distinctly different gameplay flows and map styles within a single match, very similar to what DICE tried to achieve with the Death Star DLC for the original Battlefront.

Other interesting tidbits included the inclusion of Episode I’s Battle Droids and Darth Maul as selectable units after accumulating enough battlepoints. It was also confirmed during the match that both Han Solo and Boba Fett will return from the first title as Hero Units alongside newcomer Rey. With EA promising 3 times as much content as the original title and free Hero, Mode and Map updates for all players without a season’s pass Battlefront II should have Star Wars fans excited. Star Wars Battlefront II will be out on November 17th 2017 on Xbox One, PS4, PS4 Pro, PC and Xbox Scorpio.

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Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age Story Trailer Released

Posted on June 8, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

A brand new Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age trailer has been released ahead of E3 2017. This trailer focuses on some of the major story beats as well as a footage from the introduction cinematic (which still looks drop dead gorgeous after all of these years). Don’t worry about major spoilers as these story moments are shown out of sequence and without any context. Regardless if you’ve played the original XII or not, one thing is clear: The Zodiac Age is one beautiful remaster.

Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age will be released on PS4 and PS4 Pro on July 11th. It should be playable at E3 however you won’t have to go that far to get a taste of the game, several Best Buy stores here in Canada have had an early XII: Zodiac Age demos at their PlayStation kiosks for months.

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Sonic Mania Confirmed For Release on August 15th For PS4, Xbox One, PC and Switch

Posted on May 30, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

Sonic Mania finally has a release date after being delayed earlier this spring. Fans of rolling around at the speed of sound can pre-order Sonic Mania for PC, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch or PS4 through their system’s digital store for a suggested retail price of $25.99 Canadian (prices vary depending on region).

Originally revealed during the Sonic The Hedgehog 25th Anniversary Stream last winter, Sonic Mania is the first original 2D Sonic title since 2009’s Sonic Colors for the DS. Co-developed by Sonic Classics port master Christian Whitehead, HeadCannon, and PagodaWest Games, Sonic Mania reimagines classic zones while introducing powerful bosses and pixel perfect physics.

To celebrate the reveal of Mania’s release date SEGA has released a special animatic short featuring the three playable characters – Sonic, Tales and Knuckles. This short has quite a few hidden easter eggs: my favorite being the numbers/letters on the elevator. Is this SEGA acknowledging that Sonic 4 Episodes I & II are no longer considered canon?

Sonic Mania is available for digital pre-order right now but the game will release in a limited physical Collector’s Edition as well.

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Development of Final Fantasy 7 Remake Moved In-House At Square Enix

Posted on May 30, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

Responsibilities related to the development of the Final Fantasy 7 Remake has reportedly been moved to an internal team within Square Enix, shifting them away from the external team at CyberConnect2 who were previously working on the highly anticipated title.

Announced during a live-stream to promote the free to play Final Fantasy Mobius, newly minted Final Fantasy 7 lead developer Naoki Hamaguchi had this to say about the company’s decision to take on the development duties for the FF7 remake directly rather than contract them out:

“In view of factors such as improving quality when the product goes into mass production in the future, the company has decided to shift the developmental system back to within the company, so as to maintain a stable schedule and have control over factors such as quality. We will be forming a robust system within the company to properly carry out the development.”

Above: One of the few glimpses the public got of CyberConnect2’s Vision for FF7R.

Hamaguchi’s previous credits within Square Enix include Lead Events Programmer on the Crystal Engine used in Final Fantasy XIII, Main Programmer for Final Fantasy XIII: Lightning Returns and Director of the mobile title Final Fantasy Mobius. Currently, it is not known whether or not Hamaguchi’s involvement in the Final Fantasy 7 remake supersedes the involvement of Nomura as director – similar to the way Tabata replaced Nomura on Final Fantasy XV back in 2013 or if Hamaguchi will work under Tetsuya Nomura.

CyberConnect2 are well known for their work on the Naruto series of games based on the anime & manga of the same name.  In addition to 17 Naruto titles CyberConnect 2 has also worked on several Dot Hack titles, games based upon the JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure license and they also have an unannounced VR title in the works as well.

It is unknown how Square Enix’s Final Fantasy 7 remake will differ from CyberConnect2’s vision for the game. From what small glimpses of the game that the public has seen – FF7R would have been a multi-part episode game that retold the major plot points from the 1997 original with real-time combat not so different from the system used in Final Fantasy 7. CyberConnect2’s version of FF7R would have been powered by Unreal Engine 4.

As soon as we have more information of Final Fantasy 7 we will be sure to bring it to you.

[Quote via Polygon]

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The Walking Dead: A New Frontier Ends Next Tuesday

Posted on May 26, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

Telltale’s The Walking Dead: A New Frontier will see its conclusion with the release of episode 5 next Tuesday – May 30th and It will be available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, iOS and Android.

What will happen to the residents of Richmond as everything hangs on the edge of oblivion? You’ll have to play the game to find out when it releases next week. Our reviews editor Meghan Kass has been reviewing the episodes as they’ve been released so make sure to check out a couple of her reviews to catch up.

The Walking Dead: A New Frontier serves as both a sequel to the excellent The Walking Dead Season 2 for existing players and a fresh start for newcomers. As a treat for players of the previous entries, Clementine (the protagonist from Season 2) makes an appearance in A New Frontier.

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Sonic Forces Allows Players To Make Their Own Character

Posted on May 17, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

SEGA announced today that they will be making every early 2000s Sonic fan’s dream come true by allowing the creation of custom characters who will fight alongside the blue blur in the upcoming Sonic Forces.  These new characters will use a “third gameplay style” which combines the behind the camera fast paced motion of Modern Sonic with the 2D gameplay of Classic Sonic and the added twist of equipable gadgets.

Players will be able to select a number of different base animal forms for their original character, each with their own unique bonuses. Here are the ones that SEGA has announced thus far:

  • Wolf – Automatically draws in rings when near them
  • Rabbit – Has longer invincible time after receiving damage
  • Cat – Keeps one ring after being hit
  • Dog – Restarts with five rings after the player dies
  • Bear – Blows away enemies with a homing attack
  • Bird – Flies high with double jump abilities
  • Hedgehog – Collects rings when getting damaged

A brand new trailer released today showcases the number of options available for these OCs.

Here is some raw gameplay featuring a custom character:

Also released were some new screens centered around the player character:

Sonic Forces will be released later this year on Xbox One, PS4, PS4 Pro, Nintendo Switch and Windows PC.

 

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Remixed Zombies DLC Drops For COD Black Ops III

Posted on May 8, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

Black Ops III

Activision has announced a brand new DLC pack for Call of Duty and it is neither for last year’s Infinite Warfare or the upcoming Call of Duty: WWII.  The newly announced ‘Zombies Chronicles’ resurrects not only hordes of the undead but also the multiplayer community for 2015’s Call of Duty: Black Ops III.

Featuring remastered & reimagined versions of Zombies maps from past COD games like World at War, Black Ops II and the original Call of Duty: Black Ops, Zombies Chronicles provides players with a greatest hits of corpse filled maps.

Owners of Call of Duty: Black Ops III will be able to purchase Zombie Chronicles on PlayStation 4 on May 16th. It will be priced at $29.99 USD and will require either a digital or physical copy of Black Ops III to be accessible, Zombies Chronicles is not a stand alone title. In addition to the 8 included maps owners of Zombies Chronicles will also receive 2 all new Gobbleguns, 20 vials of Liquid Divinium  and a PlayStation exclusive Black Ops III Zombies Chronicles dynamic theme.

For more information about the add-on including the official Call of Duty Zombies timeline head on over to the game’s official site.

[Source]

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Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood Benchmark Reveals New Job Actions

Posted on May 1, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

Adventurers in Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood will soon set sail for the land of Doma and Ala Mhigo. Before they set foot in these new areas it is best to make sure that one’s PC is up to the task. Both acting as a stress test for the upcoming expansion and a tease for keen-eyed players – offering a look at several unannounced job actions – the PC benchmark is a must download for any hardcore FFXIV player.

The official Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood benchmark takes players through several different pre-configured scenes including a bustling Doman city, a large scale battle on the outskirts of Ala Mhigo, into the heart of the uprising and even one of the new primal fights.

Astrologans can turn cards red:

Brand new Bard action complete with mid-air casting circles:

Ninja’s get to ride giant toads:

[Gifs via this IMGUR album]

In addition to the release of the downloadable Benchmark a Letter To The Producer Live was held last week. The broadcast was in Japanese only but thankfully FFXIV Community Manager Matt Hilton was on hand to provide translations of the several player questions asked on the live stream.

Regarding weather effects and aesthetic differences between A Realm Reborn, Heavansward and Stormblood:

Q: Heavensward areas were different from ARR areas in how the light and shadow were applied. Will there be a different scheme for Stormblood areas as well? Please let us know if there are any unique weather conditions or times of day that are especially spectacular!

A: Once again, the biggest focus is in the contrast between light and shadow. Many small specifications were made regarding putting the visuals together; one such detail was “air”, such as clouds, mist, and fog. The Other areas and dungeons are themed around “the feeling of air”.

There are also newly implemented weather conditions, so we’d be happy if players would take a step back and enjoy the sunrise/sunset occasionally.

Players got the chance to ask if there will be new hairstyles in FFXIV: Stormblood:

Q: I believe there are lots of NPCs in the Doman area with Asian-themed hairstyles. Would players be able to use these hairstyles? I want a top knot!

A: There will be two new hairstyles, but there’s no top knot. If there’s a lot of request for it, we’ll consider it.

Here is what Yoshi P had to say about how gear progression and procurement will work in Stormblood in contrast to 3.0 and ARR:

Q: Will there be job-specific gear in Patch 4.0? If so, I would like to know how we obtain them.

A: *The video showed CG artwork for the dark knight, dragoon, paladin, bard, and scholar job-specific gear.

In 3.0, players exchanged Allagan tomestones of esoterics to obtain their job-specific gear, but since they were job-specific, it was difficult to obtain them, and it also caused a situation where player item levels were not same when they hit level 60. We want everyone to look cool when they hit level 70, so we added a new system which offers a set of gear in a box, and players will be able to choose one. Additionally, I’m sure players will request this, so I just want to mention that once you take the gear out of the box, you won’t be able to put them back in.

Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood offers adventurers a number of new features beyond the two new areas. As with every expansion we’ll get new 24 person raids, new beast tribes, new side-quests, new light party dungeons and more. One of the biggest features being promoted currently is the ability to swim, gather under water and even dive deep with underwater mounts. Stormblood will be out on PS4, PS4 Pro and Windows PC on June 20th 2017. A number of bonus items are also being offered as an incentive for pre-ordering the expansion. New players who purchase Stormblood will also gain access to 2015’s Heavansward.

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Dark Rose Valkyrie Releases On June 6th In North America For PS4

Posted on April 19, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

Veteran developers known for the “Tales of” franchise – Takumi Miyama (scenario writer) and Kosoke Fujishima (character designer) – bring JRPG fans a brand new title with the upcoming release of Dark Rose Valkyrie on PlayStation 4 this coming June.

Dark Rose Valkyrie casts the player in the role as the leader of an elite military unit known as ACID (anti chimera interception division) who must protect humanity from horrifying creatures – once human, but now transformed due to a mysterious virus.  The game’s narrative takes us to an alternate 1929 when a massive meteorite crashes into Earth – unleashing the Chimera Virus which wipes out 3% of the planet’s population. Players must lead their squad through the main story to solve the mystery of the Chimera Virus, the Black Meteorite and prevent another pass eradication of humanity.

We originally brought you news of Dark Rose Valkyrie back in November of last year. The full version will be available in both physical and digital formats on June 6th with the European release set for June 9th.

Along with the announcement of the release date for Dark Rose Valkyrie publisher Idea Factory Internationalism released some brand new screenshots:

 

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Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age Gets New Screenshots

Posted on April 17, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

Get an up close look at the updated in-game models for  Ashelia Dalmasca, Judge Gabranth, Fran and other characters from Final Fantasy XII as well as several screen grabs from the game’s fantastic Gambit battle system with 20 brand new screenshots released by Square Enix for Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age.

11 years have passed since the original PlayStation 2 release of FFXII and this July Square Enix will update the game with new visuals, gameplay enhancements for the previously Japan only International releas and rebalanced combat system.

Final Fantasy: The Zodiac Age will release in North America on July 11th.

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The Walking Dead: The Telltale Series- A New Frontier episode 3: Above the Law | Review

Posted on April 9, 2017 by Meghan Kass

Telltale Games has come out with the newest episode in their Walking Dead series. While the two part opener was good, it needed to really develop our new protagonist in order to live up to the love that the games built up for Clementine or even Lee. Javier is certainly not unlikable, but can Telltale continue its line up of strong protagonists? Can they build up Javier without neglecting Clementine? How will the story of Javier’s group progress and what will be learned about this New Frontier? This mid season episode has a lot of answers and story to unbox. This episode has a lot of story points and character development to look at, and less gameplay aspects to talk about, so minor spoilers are to follow, but nothing that ruins the episode. I recommend if you have played the episodes up to this point, definitely continue despite the lacking gameplay

 

The episode opens up by diving into Javier’s past and how he began to lead the family after his brother David’s absence. We see thatKate is hesitant to take action against the walkers and the kids are hesitant to leave without their father, but you must make the hard choice of either staying and risking the walkers becoming too numerous and overwhelming or leave and hope that David finds the group later down the road. His conversations with Kate and the kids when deciding how to handle their uncertain future offer quieter, but essential moments that help enrich the characters and offers some insight into how they ended up in their present situation and why they might feel the way they do. Getting this insight and character development really shows how much Telltale cares about their protagonists for the Walking Dead and puts at ease concerns that may have risen about switching protagonists for this season. We see how hard it is for Javier to take the leadership role, how hard it is for Kate to protect her loved ones while seeing such gruesome sights and how hard it is for the children, especially Gabe, to leave their father behind.

 

We also get some insight into what has happened to Clementine and her time with The New Frontier. We see how she got her tattoo, how she became a loner again after finding some stability and what choices she had to make to save her only remaining ties to family. A major discovery happens concerning AJ and we see that Telltale has not given up on Clementine or her story regardless of the change of protagonists. Clem is still as interesting and even heartbreaking a story as ever. We learn more about the connection between Javier, Clem and the New Frontier and the title “Above the Law” becomes very clear as we go deeper into how The New Frontier works. As the trailer for the episode showed, David reunites with his family, creating some hard choices for the family. Do they accept David back? Do they side with the New Frontier now that they learn David is involved? You need to make your own decisions and judgments after some investigation and conversations. There are some interesting developments, but it soon becomes a bit convoluted and frustrating when dealing with some dubious characters. There were times I even went against how I normally would respond in order to take a more aggressive action as opposed to a diplomatic response because of my frustration. The plus side is that this lead to some interesting responses from those around me.

 
Overall, this episode was wonderful for the character development and bonding with our new protagonists, but somewhat lacking in the rest of the departments that would have knocked it out of the park. There is certainly no reason to give up on this season or The Walking Dead now, so play for yourselves and discover why some are “Above The Law”.

 

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Destiny 2 Leaks Point To A Likely PC Release

Posted on March 24, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

It is no secret that Bungie & Activision are hard at work on a sequel to 2014’s Destiny, the loot-based shooter that launched 3 additional content heavy expansions that when combined with the base game have kept guardians busy for years. A set of new leaks, one comprised of promotional materials from an Italian retailer, and another from a shop listed from a German retailer point to Destiny 2 coming to Windows PC for the first time.

Originally appearing on the Italian website Leganetwork.it, the now removed poster showcases three helmet humanoid guardians – each brandishing a different type of weapon.  Featured prominently on the poster in that familiar Destiny typeface is “Destiny 2 – September 8th“, adding further credence to speculation that the Destiny sequel will launch in the early Fall.

Via PCGamer here is a look at the Italian Destiny 2 Poster:

Yesterday according to this Reddit post on r/PCGaming Destiny 2 briefly appeared on GameStop Germany’s public facing website listed for Windows PC. The listing has since been taken down and clicking the provided GameStop.de will simply redirect you to the store’s homepage. The thread is still an interesting read, not for new information on the unannounced sequel, but rather to see just how polarizing a game like Destiny can be. Some in the thread enjoyed the original despite its’ lack of story content, some see the potential of an MMOFPS but feel Destiny 1.0’s approach got it all wrong and others deridde the genre hybrid all together.  

None of this information is exactly new as industry veteran reporter Jason Schreier reported almost six months ago that Destiny 2 would indeed appear on PC. In his initial report, he stated that Bungie had decided that they wanted to shift the games’ multi-platform strategy to include PC in the full sequel even if that meant leaving behind all of the characters & content created for the first title.

In part his report said:

“Earlier this year, I’d also heard from a person familiar with Bungie’s plans that Destiny 2, which is currently slated for a late 2017 release, will be on PC…. Bungie’s leadership wants Destiny 2 to feel like a proper sequel, even if that means leaving old planets, characters, and activities behind. “

At the end of the day while we don’t have a lot of concrete details on the Destiny sequel these latest retail promotional material & listing leaks could point to an imminent reveal. Huge publishers do have a habit of sending promotional materials to specialty stores like GameStop ahead of product reveals, but these reveals are usually only days or at most a week separated from the shipment of said posters & promotional items. Remember how badly Ubisoft got burned a couple of years back when they shipped Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag posters early? 

 

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Join The Division For Free With New Trial

Posted on March 6, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

The Division

Ubisoft’s year old open world third person shooter set in a post-federal government Manhatten, Tom Clancy’s The Division now has a free trial available on Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Windows PC via Uplay. After downloading the client brand new agents are able to play for free until level 8 or after eight hours have elapsed. In terms of the character level cap this is the exact same level cap that was used during the games’ alpha & beta tests.

Players on Xbox One have had access to the trial since the end of last week while those on Sony’s console will have to wait a few more days from now, as The Division’s trial will not go live on the PlayStation Network until March 9th.

If you haven’t checked out last year’s mega-hit (and subsequent abandoned ghost town) The Division then now might be the perfect time. When Ubisoft released patch 1.6 in January they did a lot to address player criticism when it came to The Dark Zone, which has been a massive haven for hackers & cheaters.

If you are intended to play on PC, make sure your rig meets the recommended specs below. Regardless of what your platform of choice is you are in for a massive download.

Recommended PC System Requirements:

  • OS: Windows 7, Windows 8.1, Windows 10 (64-bit versions only)
  • Processor: Intel Core i7-3770, AMD FX-8350, or better.
  • Memory: 8 GB RAM
  • Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970, AMD Radeon R9 290, or better
  • DirectX: Version 11
  • Storage: 40 GB available space

[Source]

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Final Fantasy VII Remake Gets Two New Screenshots Showing First Boss

Posted on February 18, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

Final Fantasy VII remake

Square Enix’s Final Fantasy VII remake for current generation consoles might seem like vaporware given the fact that it has almost been two years since the initial reveal trailers’ debut but two brand new screenshots have surfaced showing the game’s first boss, Guard Scorpion.

These screenshots come our way from the twitter of French gaming outlet The Share Players. Not only does one screenshot showcase the Guard Scorpion but another shows Cloud taking cover behind some crates. Cue the 30 minutes long YouTube analysis about the grainy screenshot’s HUD and other minor details.

These two screens were taken by folks attending the Magic Monaco 2017 convention.

Last month at the Final Fantasy 30th anniversary celebration Square did release a piece of Key Art for FF7 which you can check out below:

 

[Source]

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