Tag Archive

Square surprises with Octopath Traveller for Nintendo Switch

Posted on September 17, 2017 by Jason Nason

So I was caught caught off guard with the announcement of a title that wasn’t on my radar but has quickly caught my attention. That game is a brand new RPG offering from the fine folks at Square Enix called Project Octopath Traveler (working title).

The game is being developed by the producers of Bravely Default at Square Enix and is a new RPG brought to life through a mixture of CG, pixel art and visual wizardry. Project Octopath Traveler launches worldwide in 2018. But there is already a free demo for the game in Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch.

Man I need to get my hands on a Nintendo Switch, pronto!

In the game you’ll embark on a vast new role-playing adventure as one of eight travelers, all with their own origins, paths, and goals.

The producers of the Bravely series at Square Enix have brought a new world to life through a mix of CG, pixel art, and “HD-2D” visuals. Embark on a vast new role-playing adventure as one of eight travelers, all with their own origins, paths, and goals. Where to begin? Who to team up with? Where to go next? Only you can decide.

Each traveler can use a distinct Path Action, a specialized way of achieving objectives and interacting with people you encounter. The warrior can “challenge” people to a duel, whereas the dancer can “allure” others to follow her, even into battle! Enjoy the freedom to choose your own path while experiencing the story through the role you play. Combat revolves around the Boost system, a fusion of traditional turn-based battling and modern enhancements. Each turn, build up BP that can be spent to dramatically increase your strength or provide aid. Identifying when to Boost may just be the key to victory.

In the already released demo you choose the path of the dancer, Primrose, or of the warrior, Olberic, and set off on an adventure all your own in this free demo from Square Enix. After you’re done playing, take a survey to let the development team know your thoughts.

The roles you play, the places you go, and the people you join are up to you.

Project Octopath Traveler launches worldwide on the Nintendo Switch in 2018.

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Today Marks Final Fantasy VII’s 20th Anniversary (In North America)

Posted on September 7, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

The adventures of Cloud, Barrett, Aerith, Tifa, Yufi & Co pass the two-decade milestone today as Final Fantasy VII was released on September 7th, 1997 for the original PlayStation. Marking the franchise’s jump to the 3rd dimension for the first time alongside an intricate battle system and breathtaking pre-rendered cinematics  – FF7 became a landmark title for not only Square Enix but the PlayStation brand as a whole.

In the past 20 years, Final Fantasy 7 has been re-released on a number of platforms including Dreamcast (unofficially through 3rd party emulation), PC (1998), PlayStation Portable, PlayStation Vita, Steam and most recently on iOS. What took an entire console to render two decades ago can now be played in the palm of your hand!

Several FF7 spin offs have also been released following its breakout success – to mark the 10th anniversary of the game, Square Enix commissioned an entire multi game project called “The Compilation of Final Fantasy 7”. This compilation included:  Before Crisis for the PSP, After Crisis for Mobile Devices and Dirge of Cerberus for the PlayStation 2. The 10th-anniversary celebration is also well known for bringing us the Advent Children feature film and the Final Fantasy 7: The Last Order anime as well.

Recent efforts have focused on remaking FF7 for the PlayStation 4 but despite an announcement at E3 2015 little has been shown from the HD upgrade. It doesn’t help that Square moved development of FF7’s episodic rebirth from external developer CyberConnect2 to a brand new in-house team. It is unknown if Square Enix will keep the direction that CC2 was going for with FF7:R – which from all accounts would have been a real time action title not unlike Final Fantasy XV, retelling the major story beats over multiple separate episodes.

Square Enix failed to mention today’s anniversary on either the official English language Final Fantasy twitter account or the twitter account for Square Enix USA.

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Dissidia Final Fantasy NT closed beta dates confirmed

Posted on August 8, 2017 by Jason Nason

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

You can register for the closed beta here.

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.

Read More

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Final Fantasy TCG opus III releases Friday as Square Enix celebrates sales milestone

Posted on August 2, 2017 by Jason Nason

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.

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Kingdom Hearts III Visits The World of Toy Story, Release Window Announced

Posted on July 15, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

At the D23 Expo Square Enix dropped a brand new 5-minute trailer for the conclusion of Sora’s adventures, Kingdom Hearts III. For the first time in franchise history players will guide Sora & friends through a world based off of a Pixar property – fittingly enough it is based upon the first film to put Pixar on the map, 1995’s Toy Story.

Watching Buzz and Woody interact with Sora, Donald and Goofy is a treat in itself but this new footage has so much more to offer us. Sora using a hand drill to launch spikes out of the ground? Check! Sora piloting two different kinds of toy mecha in a toy store? Double check! Release window?… wait for it!

Yup at the end of the D23 trailer Square drops the bomb KH fans have been waiting for – a “release window” – note, I didn’t say the exact date. We now know that Kingdom Hearts III is intended to be released sometime next year.

With such a huge event happening, this wasn’t the only Kingdom Hearts related news to drop at D23. IGN.com had a chance to ask long time series developer and KH3 co-director Tetsuya Nomura a couple of KH related questions. The most pressing question asked of him – I feel  – is the possibility of Kingdom Hearts III coming to Nintendo’s widely popular Switch platform.

Here is what Nomura had to say:

“The Nintendo Switch is definitely a very interesting piece of hardware, but if we lightly say, ‘Oh yeah, we’ll be on the Nintendo Switch,’ I’m sure people will come back and say, ‘But what about the PS4 and Xbox One? We want them out first. Don’t focus on other platforms,’” Nomura told IGN. “So for now, we want to focus on what platforms we’ve already announced we’re going to be releasing Kingdom Hearts 3 on. And so after, perhaps, maybe we can start thinking about other possibilities.”

IGN also asked Nomura about the possibility of the previously released Kingdom Hearts 1.5 + 2.5 collection coming to Microsoft’s Xbox One / Xbox One X platforms, so if that is of interested definitely check out their article.

What else is there really to say? I’m super stoked to see Kingdom Hearts III finally be released. As a latecomer to the franchise, I’ve still got quite a few games to beat before I’m caught up – specifically Dream Drop Distance, Birth By Sleep and 2.8: A Fragmented Passage. Despite the fact that it feels like I’ve been writing about this game for years – and I have since its’ 2013 reveal – we might finally get to play the fabled KH3!

[Trailer Source: Youtube, Quote Source: IGN]

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Final Fantasy XIV Stomblood Impressions #2 – Vising The Great City

Posted on July 3, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

It has been a week since the launch of Stormblood, the latest expansion for Final Fantasy XIV and I thought it would be a perfect time to share some updated impressions now that I am several hours further into the expansion’s narrative. Unlike my last impressions entry, this one is not free of spoilers, be forewarned that ahead of this paragraph are bullet points that may contain story, quest and NPC related spoilers.

If At First You Don’t Succeed, Try and Try Again

Throughout the first four levels of the campaign (60 – 63) the Warrior of Light & Co. has had their share of failures and setbacks assisting the resistance. As Lyse, The Warrior of Light, and Aliase enter the occupied lands of Gyr Abania they are not treated with the hospitality that House Fortemps showed the party in 2015’s Heavensward. Instead, the people of Ala Mhigo are hesitant to work alongside the heroes, for a wide variety of reasons. Some of these reasons are macro-focused (such as the Eorzean Alliances thus far refusing military involvement against the occupying Garleans), and some are on a more local level (the bloodbath that took place at Baelsar’s Wall didn’t leave anyone that could help). It’s going to take a lot more than small favors, fetch quests and heartfelt speeches to rally the hearts of a population that has been trampled by oppression for decades, one that would be risking the superior numbers of the Garlean forces coming down on them even harder should another organized resistance fail.

Residents of Gyr Abania despise the empire, and the tyranny it has thrust upon them but it is understandable that they refuse the help of our players, this is not just one quest NPC for the Warrior of Light to fight – this revolution belongs to the hearts of the people of Gyr Abania. All of this is a lot deeper than the political fare found within the 2.X and 3.X series of patches where the leaders of the Alliance stand around the groves of Gradania, talk and then nothing really changes.

The Towering City of Kugane

The bloodbath at Rhalgar’s Reach complicates things even further, after rallying the survivors of the previous revolutions and standing alongside both the eager and formerly unconvinced the people as well as members of the player’s party take a literal beating. Efforts are then turned towards the on-going resistance in the Far Eastern lands of Othard.

It is here in Othard that we are introduced to the second major city, Kugane, a large trading hub and the only port open to outsiders. Like Gyr Abania the residents of Othard are under Imperial rule and the flow of people, good and information coming in and out of Othard is tightly controlled. Right from the outset it is clear that the political climate and overall atmosphere of Kugane does not set the expectation for whatever other areas the continent of Othard has in store for us. The party must keep a low profile to avoid the Empire’s attention, this means that direct action against Imperial forces is off the table for the time being and using a corporate headquarters just down the road from the Garlean Empire will have to suffice.  Outsiders are known by the label of “Ijin” (an obvious parallel to the Japanese concept of “Gaijin”) but the Ijin concept stretches far beyond societal labels, with the immediate tangible ramification of the Ijin label being a separate housing district for outsiders. From a gameplay perspective, Kugane’s large red bridges and absolutely stunning architecture are home to the usual suspects – a market board, a materia handler, an aetherite and several NPC vendors. Curiously there are two things that make Kugane distinct from other major quest hubs in XIV – the lack of any Job or Crafting guilds and the fact that none of Kugane’s side-quests involve combat in any way.

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Square Enix Dedicated An Entire Hour To Disidia NT Gameplay Premiere

Posted on June 14, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

Square Enix dedicated almost an entire hour of their nearly seven-hour E3 live stream to their upcoming fighting game, Disidia NT, during day one of the conferences. Previously known as Disidia Final Fantasy Arcade, this newest entry in the cross-game franchise pits heroes and notable characters from almost every FF title against each other in teams of 3, using a unique battle system. Up until this E3 Disidia NT was confined to the arcades of Japan but now it will be released in North America on PS4 by the end of 2017.

Disidia NT’s battle system is quite unique when compared to other team-based fighters out there. After choosing your Final Fantasy favorites you’ll be paired against two other teams of three in an all out battle. Heroes are divided into 4 distinct roles – Vanguard, Assassin, Marksman and Guard. Each different character type has a distinct role and play style that also determines their position on the field. For example, Guard type excel at being tanks and are useful at the front of the party’s space, agro-ing enemies. Assassins are fast moving characters who excel at reaching the backline of an enemy team’s position and unleashing quick attacks before getting out. Disidia NT’s battles can take place either up in the air or on the ground, a team is eliminated when they suffer 3 deaths – but not necessarily one of each team member. Combine all of these mechanics with two different attack types (HP and BRAVE) and the fact that Brave Points can be traded between players and the ultimate attacks, Limit Breaks can turn the tide of battle and you have one of the most unique/complicated fighting game systems.

Confirmed Characters

  • Warrior of Light
  • Garland
  • Onion Knight
  • Cecil
  • Kain
  • Bartz
  • Exdeath
  • Terra
  • Brantford
  • Kefka
  • Cloud
  • Sephiroth
  • Squall
  • Zidane
  • Kuja
  • Tidus
  • Shantotto
  • Vaan
  • Lightening
  • Noctus

If the battle system sounds a little overwhelming make sure to watch through the entire one hour presentation. Disida looks like a lot of fun, even if I am not really familiar with the franchise up until Final Fantasy VII – yup I came into FF quite late so I’ve missed out on some of the great 16-bit entries.

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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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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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People Can Fly & Square Enix Partner For Unannounced Title

Posted on June 1, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

Square Enix

Square Enix – the publisher who most recently rebooted their reboot of a 20 year RPG classic – has announced that they will be partnering with People Can Fly for an unnamed ‘high-end original title’ for console and PC.

Whatever form this new project takes, it will not be featured during Square Enix’s 2017 E3 showcase and will not be at the show in any facet. Previously People Can Fly gained notoriety as a subsidiary of Epic Games where they worked on the Gears of War franchise including an original entry in the franchise, Gears of War Judgement, released in 2013. In addition to the Gears of War and Painkiller franchises, People Can Fly also partnered with Gearbox Software to deliver Bulletstorm: Full Clip Edition earlier this year.

Lee Singleton, Head of Studios at Square Enix was quoted with the following in Squeenix’s press release announcing the partnership:

“We’re massively excited to be working with the talented team at PCF in Warsaw, a studio filled with people who really know their craft … We’re building a game we all want to play which will be the perfect addition to our portfolio.”

It will probably be a few years before we hear about what the Polish developer is working on in conjunction with Square Enix. Then again Square still has quite a few projects to release that they announced at the start of this console generation back in 2013 *cough*.

 

 

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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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Here Is How Classes & Combat Are Changing In Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood

Posted on May 22, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

Square Enix held a nearly four hour livestream for the last FFXIV: Letter From The Producer Live before the Stormblood expansion is released next month. In this special Letter From The Producer Live Yoshi-P & friends gave us an overview of how the battle system will change in 4.0, revealed many of the new class specific changes coming to Stormblood as well as releasing new cash shop items for the Mog Station and much more.

If you weren’t able to watch the livestream this morning or don’t have the attention span for a four hour broadcast I’ve summarized the majority of the big reveals in this article. Please remember that some of these reveals come from translated screenshots and an in-development build of Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood – they may not accurately represent the final game.

If I missed anything huge or simply got something wrong please feel free to email pr[at]brokenjoysticks.net and I’ll make sure to issue a correction. With so much new content revealed I’m sure I missed something.

Without further ado here’s all the major reveals:


Battle System Changes

Why Change The Battle System?

  • Previous battle system was too complex – Too many actions per job and not enough hot bar slots.
  • Too much emphasis on players focusing on status icons.
  • Large disparity between the amount of DPS done by “core players” (end game raiders etc) and those who play more casually.
  • Lack of synergy between some jobs while other jobs worked well together in group settings.

How The Battle System Will Change In 4.O

  • Cross-class skills will no longer be in the game.
  • Being replaced with “role actions” with five different types. (Tank, Healer, Melee DPS, Ranged DPS, Caster)
  • Requirements for unlocking jobs will change now that cross class skills have been eliminated.
  • Actions on existing players’ hotbars that no longer exist will be greyed out to remind them to swap them out.
  • Players may have up to 5 “role actions” active at any given time.
  • Slots for role actions unlocked at levels 12, 20, 32, 40 and 48.
  • Several discrete abilities have been merged together into new actions where this makes sense (example: raging strikes).
  • Most jobs have less actions than they did in 3.0 despite new job actions being added in 4.0.

PVP Changes & Adjustments

Problems With The Old PVP System

  • Level restrictions for PVP were too high.
  • Too many job actions.
  • Takes too long to get thru existing content before PVP becomes available.

Changes Coming In 4.0’s PVP Overhaul

  • Removal of unused actions.
  • Any jobs over lvl 30 can participate.
  • PVP actions determined by role, not by Job.
  • Gear affects your character’s look only. Stats from PVE are not carried over.
  • PVP Actions are now PVP specific.
  • Each job has 9 PVP Actions + 2 selectable actions and adrenaline rush.
  • Stuns have been removed.
  • For an unspecified time at the launch of Storm Blood PVP will be in a “unranked pre-season” with the start of an official ranked season coming sometime later.

New Mog Station Cash Shop Items

  • Scenario Skip items allow players to skip the Main Scenario quests for either A Realm Reborn or Hevansward.
  • Scenario Skip consumables only mark the Main Scenario quests as complete and do not affect side quests.
  • These items do not affect player Job levels at all.
  • Priced at $18 USD for ARR MSQ Skip, $25 for HW MSQ Skip. Buying the Heavansward MSQ Skip also includes ARR Quests – new players do not have to buy both.
  • Job boosters will level one single job to level 60 with all actions and gear unlocked.
  • Dungeons tied to Main Story Quest will be unlocked but the first time bonus for Story Dungeons will still be available. These items do not automatically unlock optional side quest dungeons.
  • Job boosters can only be used once per account.
  • Priced at $25 USD.
  • All of these new optional items will be available on June 16th when Early Access launches.

Class Changes:

Astrologian

  • New job actions have been added that go until LVL 70.
  • The rotation for this class hasn’t changed much from the 3.0 iteration even with these new abilities.

Bard

  • Now has “music bars” that display the amount of time remaining in the song so that Bard’s know how long active effects have left.
  • Cast timers for Wander’s Minute has been removed alongside the damage buff that this provided permanently.
  • Removal of cast timers was due to the disparity between core and casual players in terms of the amount of DPS being done. Overall Square saw the adoption of Bard slow after the launch of the last expansion.
  • New multi arrow bard abilities.
  • New poison animations.

Black Mage

  • Fourth level of thunder being introduced with Storm Blood. Thunder IV is an AOE cast.
  • Enochian’s recast time is now 30 seconds.
  • Once Enochian has been cast Black Mage’s have access to either the Umbral Ice or Astral Fire chains of abilities.
  • New spell in Storm Blood called “foul” is being introduced – large damage but can only be used Enochian for at least 30 seconds. Foul can not be stacked together.

Dark Knight

  • On screen resource bar is known as the “Blood Gauge”.
  • Once the Dark Knight begins collecting “Black Blood” the Blood Gauge will become visible on screen.

Dragoon

  • Not a drastic change in regards to the rotation that players will perform.
  • Dragoon’s passive ability allows them to build up Blood of the Dragon.
  • Using the move Mirage Dive will be able to gain a status from the Brood to open up further abilities while in combat.
  • New actions available up until level 70.

Machinist

  • Like bard, Machinist no longer has a cast timer.
  • Flamethrower ability first shown in the Storm Blood benchmark makes an appearance in the job actions trailer.
  • On screen Job UI is a “heat gauge”. Some actions will raise heat while others will lower it, it is the machinists goal to manage the heat resource and make sure it doesn’t fill up all the way.

Ninja

  • Has two different job gauges – Scrolls & Hotun.
  • Scrolls are raised by performing auto attacks.
  • A chance to cast Ninjitsu with no cast timer.
  • Burn scroll to summon a giant toad. Looks like toad casts oil.

Paladin

  • Shields now block physical and magical attacks.
  • An unnamed move was shown where the paladin spins their sword in a circle like Link’s spin attack (from the Legend of Zelda series).
  • Yet another unnamed move has the Paladin spread wings behind their back, almost looks similar to a limit break. Party members behind the Paladin will take 15% reduced damage for the duration of the cast. While this ability is being cast the Paladin will take a 100% damage reduction.

Red Mage

  • Has two different mana pools: Black & White.
  • Players will have to balance between the two different mana types because if they stick to only one of them their DPS will be low.
  • One of their main mechanics is the ability to chain spells together.
  • Example: First spell will use its’ initial cast timer, the second spell in the chain will be counted as an instant cast with no timer. Players can chain either spells of the same color or different.
  • Spellblade – functions almost like an “ultimate ability” if the job actions trailer is accurate. At the end of a rotation, a Red Mage may spend her entire dual mana bar to thrust forward and empower her sword to deal a massive amount of damage. After the attack lands, she jumps back with a flourish.


Summoner

  • Third stage added to their rotation after DreadWyrmTrance that allows the summoner to call a representation of Bahamut onto the field.
  • Currently not known what the Bahamut summon actually does but the explosion in the Job Actions trailer sure is massive O.O.

Warrior

  • Two different on screen gauges depending on their stance.
  • With the removal of the wrath resource Warriors will now collect a resource known as “Inner Beast”.
  • When the Inner Beast gauge reaches 100% it will begin to glow.

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Square Enix Ends Its Business With Hitman Developer IO Interactive

Posted on May 12, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

Square Enix included a statement in its’ recent year-end financial report that the publisher will be seeking to end its’ business relationship with Hitman creators IO Interactive.

In their brief statement that accompanied their financial report Square says that they have made this decision to “maximize player satisfaction” and their “market potential”. Interestingly this decision took effect on March 31st of this year but now nearly two months later we are hearing about Square Enix to part ways with IO only now.

Here is part of their statement:

“To maximize player satisfaction as well as market potential going forward, we are focusing our resources and energies on key franchises and studios. As a result, the Company has regrettably decided to withdraw from the business of IO INTERACTIVE A/S, a wholly‐owned subsidiary, and a Danish corporation, as of March 31, 2017. This decision has resulted in booking of the extraordinary loss amounting to 4,898 million yen, including disposition of the content production account related to the business and impairment loss of intangible assets, in the financial results for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2017”

IO Interactive originated as an independent developer before being purchased by Eidos Interactive around the time of the release of Hitman: Blood Money in 2006.  Ownership of IO passed on to Square when they merged with Enix in 2009.

IO Interactive’s most recent title was a reimagining of their popular Hitman franchise as an episodic title that was released over the course of a number of months. Despite some pre-release worry about the episodic format not fitting with the franchise’s past, IO was able to capitalize on the core mechanics of the stealth series and combine it with an online-enabled achievements system to provide the player with an ever changing rewarding experience.  When I played the first episode after the game’s closed beta last year I found it to be quite enjoyable and eventually ended up purchasing the first three episodes of 2016’s Hitman.

In their statement, Square Enix reported that the end of the business relationship with IO Interactive and the cancellation of their existing projects resulted in SE reporting a 43.79 million $ USD loss. SE is currently seeking new investors for IO Interactive but as of press time, it is not known if IO or Square will retain the rights to the franchise. We also do not know what the end of this developer/publisher relationship means for the proposed Season 2 & Season 3 of Hitman.

[Source]

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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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