Latest Stories
Star Ocean The Second Story R update adds Chaos difficulty, new portraits, and more
Star Ocean The Second Story R received a free update today on PlayStation 4/5, Switch, and Steam. Developer Gemdrops and publisher Square Enix released the game last November and is a HD remake of the 1998 PlayStation game that utilizes the original 2D sprites. This update includes a new "Chaos" difficulty mode, which is harder than than "Universe" difficulty, and boosts enemy stats. The Ten Wise Men, major antagonists in the story, can now be encountered as raid enemies in the field. If you're able to defeat them, you'll get a Jewel which will allow you to summon them in battle as part of the Assault Action system that utilizes your reserve party or Star Ocean series cameos. New weapons and armor will be added to the game, and can be made in Item Creation or collected as drops from Raid Enemies. You'll also have the option of resetting character levels in New Game Plus, and Claude or Rena's star will appear on the title screen depending on your completion status. New portraits created by character designer Yukihiro Kajimoto will appear in the game, including: Clyde, Regis, Eleanor, Leifath, Mariana, and Allen. Square Enix shares the following: Star Ocean The Second Story R — Game
Final Fantasy XVI crossover event in Final Fantasy XIV runs from April 2 to May 8, 2024
Final Fantasy XVI will come to Final Fantasy XIV in a new crossover event starting April 2nd and continuing through May 8th, 2024. Titled "The Path Infernal", players will encounter the game's protagonist Clive Rosfield and the XVI iteration of Ifrit, and obtain exclusive rewards such as Clive's Metian attire and a Torgal mount and minion. Since the events are combined this year, the festival decorations will vary from city to city. Ul'dah will appropriately be decked out in Little Ladies' Day decor while Gridania will feature Hatching-tide decorations. Limsa Lominsa and residential districts will switch half way through the event on March 22nd. Take a look at the event details below, and, while you're here, check out the latest updates in Patch 6.58, which released on March 19th, 2024. This includes the loosening of restrictions on obtaining rewards from end game raids and a boost in experience points for Trust party members, among other things. The game is also hosting a combined Little Ladies' Day and Hatching-tide seasonal event now through April 1, 2024, where limited-time seasonal rewards like the Peatie mount can be obtained. And, of course, the game's fifth expansion Dawntrail has been given a July 2nd, 2024 release date with
Final Fantasy XIV producer/director talks Dawntrail content goals, updated PC requirements
During a PAX East panel yesterday, Final Fantasy XIV director and producer reflected on the ten years that has elapsed since A Realm Reborn's launch in 2013 and remarked upon the upcoming Dawntrail expansion, set to release on July 2, 2024. Here, we learned more about how the team intends to approach development not only for Dawntrail, but the years ahead. In highlighting each expansion, Yoshida touched on the major changes that came to the game as well as the challenges the team encountered as they continued to build and evolve the game to its current iteration. For A Realm Reborn, the rebuilt version of the game that was made after the poor reception of the game's original 2010 release. During launch there was extreme congestion that caused servers to be unable to accommodate players ability to log in and play. This situation played out again for the recent Endwalker expansion, and in an effort to mitigate this, the team has been working on renting servers and allowing players to migrate to less populated servers to be able to play - so that players are not stuck in queues for hours with thousands of players in a virtual line to get
Final Fantasy XIV Dawntrail launches July 2, 2024, early access June 28, collector’s edition revealed
Earlier today at a PAX East panel Final Fantasy XIV director and producer Naoki Yoshida revealed that the game's fifth expansion, Dawntrail, will release on July 2nd, 2024. Early access for the game will begin the preceding Friday, on June 28th. Players who pre-order the game will be granted access to the early access phase, and you can start pre-ordering the game March 26th at 9:00am Pacific. Details about the different editions were also revealed. Like the Endwalker expansion, there won't be a physical disc release of the game nor its Collector's Edition for PS4/5 and Xbox - but should players want to get their hands on the physical goods - there will be a Collector's Box option as well. Players who are just looking for digital items can opt for the Digital Collector's Edition, and pre-order gifts can be obtained before the expansion's launch when your pre-order is confirmed. The in-game Moogle Delivery service will then send you the gifts. Check out the goods below! While you're here, take a look at the recent changes that came with Patch 6.58, which launched March 19th. Physical Goods Available in the Collector's Edition or the Collector's Box. Dawntrail Boxart by Yoshitaka Amano Viper FigureH 9.65" x W 4.52"
Final Fantasy XVI DLC “The Rising Tide” launches April 18
The next round of Final Fantasy XVI now has a date, just announced during a special PAX East panel where game producer Naoki Yoshida shared a new look at "The Rising Tide" featuring Leviathan. It's due to drop on April 18, and will be available individually, or in the discounted Expansion Pass. This upcoming DLC takes place before the ending of the main game, and includes more than just the wayward Eikon. The Rising Tide will open up with an unmarked letter delivered to the hideaway with a curious request - the Dominant of Leviathan needs to be rescued and Clive and friends will have to journey to the new location of Mysidia to uncover its tragic history. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfl3KgFrAQc While the Story Focused Mode will see a level cap raised to 60, Final Fantasy Mode in New Game+ will go up to 110. Additionally, new Eikonic abilities will be available to Clive from Leviathan the Lost. This new ability set will allow you to down enemies both near and far, along with a new Eikon Feat called Serpent's Cry - allowing Clive to summon a sea serpent that can deal precision strikes to distant enemies. Leviathan won't be the only power Clive discovers
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth update 1.020 includes new graphics setting and other fixes
Square Enix released a new 5.77 GB update for Final Fantasy VII Rebirth tonight, which features some fixes and adjustments to the game's performance and gameplay systems. Here's a look at the patch notes for Version 1.020: Corrected typograhical errors and omissions in some text. Fixed an issue with the player-controlled character that occurs under certain conditions on the map. Fixed an issue where Red XIII's abilities 'Supernal Fervor' and 'Watcher's Spirit' could be easily cancelled during battle. Fixed an issue where enemies could stop moving in certain conditions during battle. Fixed a progression bug that occurred in certain conditions during a quest. Improved frame-rate and overall game stability. Added "Performance - Sharp" and "Performance - Smooth" option to the graphics settings. (Editor's note: The in-game description for "Performance - Sharp" is: "Prioritize maintaining a 60-fps framerate with a sharper image quality.") (Editor's note: The in-game description for "Performance - Smooth" is: "Prioritize maintaining a 60-fps framerate with a softer image quality.") Improved the graphical quality. The camera's 'Inverted' settings are retained in the gliding mini-game's camera and while riding a gliding chocobo. The camera's 'Inverted' settings are retained in the target mini-game's camera. The vines in the Mythril Mine have been enhanced to for better guidance. A difficulty setting has been added to the
Final Fantasy XIV 6.58 loosens endgame reward criteria, buffs Trust experience points
Final Fantasy XIV 6.58 is available to download today for Windows PC, Mac, PlayStation 4/5, and Xbox Series. This patch is a bit of small one, to bookend some of the endgame content released in the latter stages of the post-Endwalker era. Restrictions on items to upgrade gear have been eased, as is customary over time, including the removal of weekly lockouts on items obtained from Thaleia or Pandaemonium: Anabaseios. The team has also buffed the amount of tomestones you can get from Wondrous Tails, and the EXP that your Trust AI companions can earn as you raise their levels by take them through dungeons. This applies to the Endwalker series dungeons to a smoother curve towards level 90. In other news Final Fantasy XIV, the team will begin their testing phase for cross-regional data center travel on March 24. Producer and director Naoki Yoshida will be making an appearance at PAX on March 23 with a dedicated panel: 'Journey to Dawntrail: The 10 Year Adventure of FINAL FANTASY XIV'. It's here we may get some new reveals for the game's fifth expansion due out this Summer. For a full list of changes including resolved and known issues, check out the official 6.58
Final Fantasy XIV will test cross-region data center travel starting March 24
On March 24, 2024, the Final Fantasy XIV team will be launching a test phase for cross-region data center travel. This will allow players to visit other regions hosted in physical data centers across the globe. Currently, visiting other players in the same physical data center is Originally, players would need select the same data center and world to be able to play together outside of instanced duties. Next, the ability to visit other worlds in the same group became possible with the introduction of the World Visit system. Then, the ability to travel to different data centers hosted in the same physical location was added. Finally, players from different regional data centers will be able to travel back and forth — if all goes according to plan, that is. World Visit system(illustration: Square Enix) Data Center Travel System(illustration: Square Enix) The move is also in anticipation of the upcoming Dawntrail expansion, specifically as a potential mitigating factor for data centers experiencing high volume at peak hours. This was especially a problem during the Endwalker expansion, where many players encountered extremely long queue times for weeks after the game's official launch. It created such a bottleneck that Square Enix was forced to suspend
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth orchestra world tour announced for 2024-2025
Following the launch of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth last month, Square Enix and AWR Music Productions will partner to bring the game's music on a worldwide orchestra tour that extends into next year. AWR conductors Arnie and Eric Roth are known for the Distant Worlds: music from Final Fantasy concert series that has been bringing the franchise's music on tour since 2007. This tour will bring orchestral arrangements of songs composed by Nobuo Uematsu, Masashi Hamauzu, Mitsuto Suzuki, and the many other composers that contributed to the Rebirth soundtrack. Check out the tour schedule below. For more information, including when tickets for each venue go on sale, check out the official site here. DateLocationVenueAUG 10, 2024Los Angeles, CA, USAPeacock TheaterAUG 17, 2024 (First)Chicago, IL, USASymphony CenterAUG 17, 2024 (Second)Chicago, IL, USASymphony CenterAUG 23, 2024Fort Worth, TX, USABass Performance HallAUG 24, 2024Fort Worth, TX, USABass Performance HallAUG 30, 2024Rotterdam, NetherlandsRTM Stage RotterdamAUG 31, 2024Osaka, JapanGrand Cube OsakaSEP 1, 2024Osaka, JapanGrand Cube OsakaSEP 7, 2024Kanagawa, JapanPacifico YokohamaSEP 8, 2024Kanagawa, JapanPacifico YokohamaSEP 13, 2024Singapore, MalaysiaThe Star TheatreSEP 14, 2024Munich, GermanyOlympiahalleSEP 15, 2024Rome, ItalyAuditorio Parco Della MusicaSEP 28, 2024 (First)London, UKRoyal Albert HallSEP 28, 2024 (Second)London, UKRoyal Albert HallOCT 3, 2024Detroit, MI, USAOrchestra HallOCT 12, 2024Richmond, VA,
SaGa Emerald Beyond introduces Siugnas the Dismal King and Vampire race
In the latest SaGa Emerald Beyond, we get a look at yet another protagonist you can choose for your adventure: Siugnas, the Dismal King. He's a vampire king who ruled a land of darkness, until he was deposed by an unknown entity. Finding himself in Brighthome, he recruits fallen warriors from this land into repel invaders and to reclaim his lost abilities. Siugnas can recruit generals into his party, amongst others, and use vampiric Sanguine Arts to drain the blood of his fellow party members. By doing so, he can increase his Life Points (LP) and learn additional abilities. When a party member has their blood drained, they become "thralls" to Siugnas. While their LP will decrease, he can equip them with Sanguine Gear and turn them into "knights" that can then use Sanguine Arts. Should those characters have their Sanguine Gear removed, they will be come "wastrels" with 1 LP and lose their ability to use Sangine Arts and Sanguine Roles. This decision is irreversible, so you'll have to think carefully before knighting a character. SaGa Emerald Beyond releases on April 25, 2024 for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Windows PC, iOS, and Android. Square Enix shares the following: Trailer — Sigunas, the