News

Over half a decade after the fairly lacklustre Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness, Tri-Ace and Square Enix are back together again to create a new followup sixth title for PlayStations 4 and 5. The surprise announcement of Star Ocean: The Divine Force came at a recent 20-minute long Sony State of Play online stream.

Not content with coming to Super Smash Bros Ultimate as a fighter, Sora is also about to drop in on the Nintendo Switch. The entire series of Kingdom Hearts titles, which spans from the very original to Kingdom Hearts III (which is already available on PS4, Xbox One and PC on the Epic Games Store platform), has been announced for the Switch, albeit as cloud-based versions.

Jack is back and he's still here to kill Chaos. I think. He doesn't utter the name once in this new Tokyo Game Show trailer, so how am I supposed to know what his motivation is? Nevertheless, this collaboration between Square Enix and Tecmo Koei's Team Ninja comes out on the 18th March 2022 for all major platforms except the Switch.

Forspoken, the brand new IP by Luminous Productions (and formerly of Final Fantasy XV fame) is set to launch in spring of 2022. Formerly known as Project Athia, this new title debuting only on PlayStation 5 will see your protagonist, a young woman from our modern world named Frey, be isekai'd off to a dangerous fantasy land replete with dragons and demonic entities arguably as terrifying as anything you'd find at a New York City back alley.

Square Enix and Team Ninja of Dissidia Final Fantasy NT and Nioh fame have teamed up to let us re-experience what video games were tonally like back in the late-2000s. Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin, evidently named by someone who doesn't comprehend the concept of a total mouthful, is said to be a new kind of Final Fantasy title. Instead of a whimsical fantasy adventure, you can reminisce your edgy teenage days with some grim dark action.

Good news! Fans of classic Final Fantasy games can soon look forward to remastered versions of the original six mainline installments in all their wonderful pixel glory. Titled Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster, this will be a series of individually sold upscaled versions of Final Fantasies I through VI, including Final Fantasy III, whose 2D version has never received an official western release.

The next mainline title in the Dragon Quest series is in development and for the time being we have only a teaser trailer for its logo. Neither platforms nor even a tentative release date for Dragon Quest XII: The Flames of Fate were announced, but as with most other announced titles in the 35th anniversary stream, Square Enix hopes to launch this title simultaneously worldwide.

A new spinoff Dragon Quest title is on its way...eventually. Dragon Quest Treasures will star Erik, the blue-haired thief from Dragon Quest XI as well as Mia from the same game, but this time as children. Previously announced as a Dragon Quest Monsters title, the Erik and Mia project has flown the nest and is taking shape as a new spinoff title outright.

One of the most beloved and influential titles in the series (and to the JRPG genre as a whole), Dragon Quest III, is receiving an 'HD-2D' remake treatment in a visual flair very similar to Octopath Traveler and upcoming strategy-RPG game Project Triangle Strategy. While it is coming to consoles, no platforms were specifically given, though a simultaneous worldwide release is on the cards.

An offline version of the venerable Japan-exclusive MMO title in the series is in the works. Dragon Quest X Offline, as the name suggests, will allow player to experience the narrative of the base version of Dragon Quest X without the need of an internet connection.

The May Fanfest is upon us, and so is the latest major keynote for this climactic conclusion to the over decade-long saga of Hydaelyn and Zodiark. With Yoshi-P on stage in his best cosplay yet flanked by localisation head Christopher Koji-Fox, they reveal that Endwalker, the MMO's fourth expansion, will launch on 23 November 2021 for Windows PC, Mac, Steam, PS5 and PS4.

Clearly one remake project for Final Fantasy VII isn't enough, said Square Enix. How about a second one - this time for iOS and Android platforms?

Ever Crisis (because there is never a time without a crisis!) is slated to be a single-player chapter-structured narrative RPG that is technically also a remake of the beloved 1997 original but with a few twists.

You know what's missing from FFVII? What about a firefight in the garden of Aerith's scenic house in the Sector 5 slums?

One of a pair of new mobile games to do with Final Fantasy VII, The First Avenger SOLDIER will be a new action game for iOS and Android where players will scramble to take each other down with a variety of firearms, magic spells and even summons such as Ifrit.

Announced at the February Nintendo Direct stream, Project Triangle Strategy (yes, really. Name is also subject to change) is a brand new "HD-2D" title from Square-Enix, sporting an aesthetic art style very similar to that of 2018's Octopath Traveler. Instead of a regular party turn-based RPG, this new title is a tactical RPG in a similar vein to Final Fantasy Tactics.

Here comes the endgame for a saga that started back in late 2010. Endwalker: Final Fantasy XIV is the MMO's fourth expansion and will be the ultimate climactic culmination of over a decade's worth of story covering the struggle between Hydaelyn and Zodiark. Also, we seem to be heading to the Moon, so get in the Lunar Whale and strap in.

Weiss, you dumbass! Start making sense, you rotten book, or you're gonna be sorry! Maybe I'll rip your pages out one-by-one! Or maybe I'll put you in the goddamn furnace!

NieR released with muted fanfare back in 2010 but proved to be an enduring cult classic. Over a decade later, it's receiving a new coat of paint and is due to come out 23 April 2021 for the PS4, Xbox One and PC.

In E3 of 2006, Square Enix announced Final Fantasies XIII and Versus XIII. For the next fourteen years there have been no announcements of a brand new offline mainline title with a wholly original setting and cast of characters. Over eleven years if you include the original Final Fantasy XIV. That has finally changed when in the latest Sony PlayStation 5 Showcase event, Final Fantasy XVI is finally revealed, and helmed by Creative Division III, with the revered Yoshi-P (Naoki Yoshida) serving as producer in this brand new project.

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.