Latest Stories
NYCC: Inside the Polaroid world of Life is Strange
One of the more interesting titles made available at Square Enix’s press event during New York Comic Con came from Dontnod Entertainment, who developed Remember Me in 2013. Life Is Strange seems like part coming-of-age tale, part mystery, and part supernatural tale. It is the story of Max, a teenager who returns to her home town of Arcadia Bay, Oregon, and takes part in a mystery involving a missing teenaged girl. Oh, and she can rewind time. Developed by a team of 40, Dontnod creative director Jean Maxime-Moris considers Life Is Strange a blend of “AAA” and “indie” gaming. This was perhaps the most involved of the presentations at Square Enix’s NYC event, complete with a low-lit lounge setting with beanbag chairs and a wall of Polaroids. Moris and art director Michel Koch were available to give a sense of what Life Is Strange is about. After a trailer, Koch began the demo with Moris narrating, which introduced Max as a reserved individual. The core mechanic reminded me a bit of titles like Heavy Rain or even Telltale games, in which the player explores rooms and interacts with objects and people that affect one another with several possible outcomes. The game
NYCC: Hands-on with Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris
Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light provided the fun “couch co-op” kind of gaming that is slowly making its way in the rearview as online gaming continues as the norm. At an event in New York yesterday, Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics allowed some time with their follow-up: Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris. It aims for the same kind of fun as its predecessor, harkening back to multiplayer arcade games like Gauntlet amidst a third-person, isometric camera view. It also interestingly keeps the same ‘adventure serial’ tone of previous Tomb Raider titles after the darker atmosphere of the 2013 reboot. The setting shifts from Central America to Egypt, and this time four players can join in on the fun from the previous game’s two, which makes for some chaotic fun. The demo featured four playable characters: Lara Croft, her rival Carter Bell, the goddess Isis, and her son Horus, each with specific abilities that will assist (and possibly hurt) other players. The demo had us run through an Egyptian catacomb littered with traps and plenty of enemies that will require players to keep track of their characters’ on-screen location. Lara and Bell come equipped with pistols and firing
NYCC: Final Fantasy Type-0 HD hands-on with a title revived for the new generation
Final Fantasy Type-0 is probably one of the more fascinating entries in Square Enix’s RPG franchise if you live outside of Japan. For years, fans have requested the PlayStation Portable title be brought to the west, and Square Enix finally answered that call during this year’s E3. Say what you will about the direction of the franchise over the last few years, and where it’s heading with the most recent Final Fantasy XV trailer, but after a hands-on experience with a PlayStation 4 demo of Type-0 HD, it certainly comes off as the Final Fantasy people have been wanting. The opening cut-scene suggests a wartime theme, and the demo opens up at the walls of a fortress. Not a lot could be said about the characters themselves in the demo, but they were three of a possible fourteen party members with different specialties and abilities. The very first thing I noticed the moment I had control was that this was a fast, fast game. Combat moved at such a rapid pace that it took me about two or three battles in its real-time combat system before I really had a feel for it. I noticed the game still went on even
A Realm Reborn blog post showcases new music from Ul’dah and Thanalan
A brand new developers blog post has unveiled Ul'dah's new theme for Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. 5118
Final Fantasy V comes out on iOS tomorrow!
Final Fantasy V comes out on iOS tomorrow, March 27th. 5110
Final Fantasy XI: Seekers of Adoulin out now in North America and Europe
Square Enix has released the Final Fantasy XI: Seekers of Adoulin launch trailer! 5094
Final Fantasy XI: Seekers of Adoulin version update notes
The newest Final Fantasy XI expansion, Seekers of Adoulin, has been released! Here is a quick rundown of the patch notes. 5086
Transcript of Square Enix’s Final Fantasy XI & XIV PAX East panel
This is a transcript of the Square Enix panel at PAX East that just ended! The main topics of the panel were Final Fantasy XI and Final Fantasy XIV. 4977
Live Letter VI: submit questions for Final Fantasy XIV’s director!
On April 4th, Final Fantasy XIV's Director/Producer, Naoki Yoshida, will be hosting another live questions and answers session with the Final Fantasy XIV community. 4963
Square Enix announces device authentication for Final Fantasy XI and Final Fantasy XIV
Square Enix announced today that mobile authentication will soon be available for Final Fantasy XI and Final Fantasy XIV. 4936