FF7 Rebirth, the middle chapter of Square Enix’s Final Fantasy 7 remake trilogy, is set to be released on Leap Year Day of next year. Ordinarily they tend to avoid spoilers, but since this game’s storyline has been out there for 25 years, there’s not much to worry about. EXCEPT in the case of any “revisions” they might have done.
Curiously absent from yesterday’s Nintendo Direct was the announcement of a free demo for Star Ocean: The Second Story R. The demo was released a short time after the Direct, clearly timed to ride hype from it, yet….no mention. You had to follow the official Star Ocean Twitter account (or Wario64’s) to be notified this was a thing.
As of today, we know when we’re getting the middle chapter of Square Enix’s Final Fantasy 7 remake trilogy! Square Enix says it should hit Playstation 5 consoles everywhere February 29, 2024. It will be a very joyous Leap Year Day — watch Cloud bounce.
One of the most open secrets of Final Fantasy 16 is that there will eventually be a PC version. Not only have the last few titles in the series hit PC, Square accidentally put a “PC” logo among the symbols in the original trailer announcing the game in 2020. Of course, their exclusivity deal with Sony prevented them from confirming any ports, so we’ve just had to wait.
Imagine co-creating one of the most iconic video game characters of all time and then, thirty years later, being sentenced to jail. Those are the highs and lows of Yuji Naka’s life — the man responsible for developing Sonic the Hedgehog for Sega, and then caught participating in insider trading while at Square Enix.
Way before Mario went flat as paper, he embarked on his very first RPG adventure as a fully rendered 3D sprite (it was “in” at the time). The Mario universe had never been used for an RPG before 1996, but Nintendo had a secret weapon to make sure they didn’t screw up their first try: a partnership with Squaresoft, the kings of the RPG genre. Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars was released on the Super NES that May.
Someone at Square Enix’s official support site goofed up this morning and uploaded a logo to the site they weren’t supposed to: something that says “Star Ocean: The Second Story R.” Immediately, millions of RPG fans everywhere rejoiced. Here’s why.
The first day of Summer Game Fest 2023 wrapped itself with what we were all waiting for: our first serious look at the second chapter of Square Enix’s planned three- game remake of Final Fantasy 7. Called Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth, this installment should cover everything from Cloud and Co’s escape from Midgar to [25-YEAR-OLD SPOILER REDACTED THAT YOU PROBABLY KNEW ALREADY].
Zelda wasn’t the only fantasy-based game to get a special preview today. A 20-minute Sony State of Play was beamed out this afternoon that focused entirely on Square Enix’s Final Fantasy 16.
With the release of Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin for consoles in late 2021, Square Enix took their most popular franchise where it had never gone before — Soulslike action combat. Instead of turn-based or active-time battling via a menu, your character must attack vicious, powerful enemies in real time, delivering violent blows while dodging their own. Like Dark Souls, Stranger of Paradise is incredibly difficult — but that’s what fans of the genre like.
Call me crazy but I don’t think Square Enix’s recent obsession with NFTs and crypto is going to work out for them. With Forspoken failing to set the world on fire, and their recent president stepping down in disgrace, they need something new to rely on beyond Final Fantasy games. Maybe they can enter the manga market. Oh wait — they’re already doing that.
Kingdom Hearts has some great music, and Curaga Records has made it their latest project with The Oceans Between, a new cover album that re-renders ten of the most popular tracks in the series, including the iconic “Simple and Clean” from the original game and “cavern Of Remembrance” from Kingdom Hearts II.