Gaming News

Today Zaperart has successfully launched The Blueness of a Wound on Steam, a point & click adventure game set in the Blue Mountains in New South Wales, Australia. From the creator of the graphic novel Lost Dreams of the Unicorn (Roko Zaper - also known as redcloud9 here on Final Fantasy Forums) and featuring music from the incredible Hiroki Kikuta (Secret of Mana, Koudelka), this new saga sees Roko's unique artistic talents suited to a new medium. Combining a real setting with mythological elements, if you fancy a dive into the uncanny realm of Dreamtime, this is the experience for you!

After someone unexpectedly found a logo of the game within the files of the upcoming mobile entry chronicling the backstory of series chief antagonist Xehanort, Square Enix have all of a sudden announced Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory, a rhythm-based game for current consoles of a similar DNA to the Theatrhythm Final Fantasy releases on the 3DS.

During the 'PS5 - The Future of Gaming Show', Square Enix put out a short teaser for a new IP by Luminous Productions - the studio formerly headed by Hajime Tabata and known for producing Final Fantasy XV. The game has no release window but is said to be "designed exclusively" for Sony's new next-gen machine. The end of the teaser trailer does state this is a PS5 console exclusive, with a later PC version to follow.

I'm sorry, but did you honestly think FFVII Remake was the most important Final Fantasy release this year? Move aside, Cloud, and let your Clavat masters take centre stage this time, because the delayed Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Remastered Edition is on track for a late summer release this year - the 27th August. Please note that the western release for PS4, Switch and mobile platforms will be digital only.

With an incoming new anime adaptation of the Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai manga, Square Enix are going full steam ahead with a trio of companion video games for this spinoff adventure to the wildly popular, venerable RPG series in Japan. As these games are primarily for a domestic Japanese audience, there is no guarantee - or indeed, any expectation - that they will see western releases, with perhaps one exception.

The original NieR is ten years old! In a celebratory 10th anniversary livestream of the NieR series, Square Enix announced a remastered version of the cult classic, currently dubbed the very snappy name of NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139. It will come to no surprise, particularly given the game is also coming to both the Xbox One and PC, that this updated release has been confirmed for a western release, though no release window was provided.

What better way to start the week than with a bit of casual eco-terrorism and destructive vandalism of private corporate assets? Without much fanfare (or any fanfare at all), Square Enix have decided to stealth drop the awaited demo for the Final Fantasy VII Remake on the digital PlayStation Store.

It's time for another trailer! This one is eventful, offering us a glimpse of the voice acting for a plethora of characters from Red XIII to the Shinra upper management. Prepare to buckle down and let Scarlet use you as a chair and a foot rest, because series veteran composer Nobuo Uematsu is back to work his wonders with a brand new theme song for the FFVII Remake named "Hollow".

Bad news for those of you who have booked days off work to do some eco-terrorism on the 3rd March this year. Your environmental extremism will have to wait until 10 April, because Square Enix have announced that the anticipated Final Fantasy VII Remake is to be delayed for approximately five weeks. The announcement came with a message from the game's producer Yoshinori Kitase:

Having first graced the 3DS with two earlier installment, it is time for another acclaimed Square Enix IP to make the transition over to the Switch. Bravely Default II was announced along with a trailer at The Video Game Awards 2019 and is tentatively slated to release on Nintendo's current system sometime in 2020.

Hey, have you people heard of this bloke called 'Cloud Strife'? Apparently he's this mercenary chap who's also a tad ambivalent about the Planet literally dying. This amateur group of environmental terrorists decided to recruit him into their cause, for crying out loud! I wonder how much they're paying him, because it doesn't even look like they can afford to pay the annual property tax on their headquarters.

Maybe it's called 'ReMIND' because they really want to remind you in advance to reinstall Kingdom Hearts III on your console? You'll probably need it when this piece of meaty downloadable content comes out, especially if you're someone who wasn't too impressed by the conspicuous lack of classic Final Fantasy characters in the base game. Curiously, the DLC release is staggered, with the Xbox One version coming out over a month following its PS4 counterpart.

Hey, did you know that we're reaching ten full years since Final Fantasy XIII was released? Doesn't time fly? Well now that I've thrown you into a state of existential despair, let me remind you that the date of 3rd March 2020 draws ever inexorably near. This means in just over three months' time, you will be able to hand over actual money to the retailer of your choice to get your hands on (part 1 at least of) the Final Fantasy VII Remake. Perhaps not so coincidentally, many of Square Enix's most recognisable senior names and figures from the Lightning trilogy are back for this remake.

Glory to mankind! Four months following the release of Final Fantasy XIV's critically acclaimed Shadowbringers expansion comes Patch 5.1: Vows of Virtue, Deeds of Cruelty, the long-awaited collaboration with NieR Automata. For players of the game who wish to revel in NieR creator Yoko Taro's brand of madness, or desire to knock heads with Alexander Ultimate (the next in the series of hyper-challenging fights for hardcore raiders), there are plenty of machines to pick a fight with come the 29th October.

With six months to go until (this first volume?) of the Final Fantasy VII Remake hits physical and digital store shelves for the PlayStation 4, Square Enix opens this year's Tokyo Games Show with a new trailer for their coveted next big release.

All major conferences for this year's E3 have wrapped up and amidst the dying fervour, the dust begins to quietly settle. Of Square Enix's showings, Final Fantasy VII Remake certainly garnered the brunt of the attention, but we would be remiss to leave out a catalogue of other announcements and games that were showed off over the course of the last couple of days. So let this article be a useful primer of information on everything else from Marvel's Avengers to the anticipated Final Fantasy VIII Remastered.

The Paris Fanfest for Final Fantasy XIV is in town and with it another keynote to outline the content that can be expected for the MMORPG's third expansion, Shadowbringers, not to be confused with Stormblood when abbreviated, because...wait, why have they done that? That just adds unnecessary confusion...

The first key point is the expansion will be available on the 2nd July this year. If you pre-order from the 6th February, you can participate in the expansion's early access period from the 28th June, providing the servers do not buckle the moment everyone attempts to queue in.

It is almost time to close off the Xehanort saga once and for all. As promised, the full Tokyo Game Show trailer for Kingdom Hearts III is available and grants us an expanded look into the world of Big Hero 6 and the film's protagonists you will be fighting with, from Hiro to Go Go to Baymax. Also revealed is the official boxart for the game, which covers the entire ensemble cast of heroes spanning from across the entirety of the franchise thus far.

Square-Enix want to make it up to Nintendo console fans. For too long they've been starved of Final Fantasy releases and with the exploding popularity of the Nintendo Switch and the very recent success of Octopath Traveler, perhaps now is the time to once again bless Nintendo with a considerable catalogue of ports. These range from core mainline entries to a few lesser known spin-off titles.

Does anyone remember The Last Remnant? It released in 2008 exclusively for the Xbox 360 (and PC shortly after) and was one of the very few HD JRPGs actually released by Square Enix during the previous generation. While the game is now no longer available on Steam, a remastered version for PlayStation 4 was announced and is scheduled to release digitally on the 6th of December this year in western territories.