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We haven't heard much about the Seiken Densetsu games since the recent remake of Seiken Densetsu 2, known in the west as Secret of Mana, was released a little over a year ago. Before that, it was nearly two years ago that the collection of the first three games in the series was released for Switch, only in Japan. However, it seems like there might be life in the series again as Square Enix Japan have now filed for trademarks in Japan for "Collection of Mana" and "Secret of Mana," which is a little bit odd given that the "Mana" names were never actually used in Japan until now.

"Collection of Mana" specifically seems to echo the Japanese name for the Switch release, "Seiken Densetsu Collection." Could that mean that an official release in English of Seiken Densetsu 3 might finally be on the cards? Or are Square Enix merely looking to protect their IP more globally? We don't yet know, of course, and Square Enix are certainly not yet saying. Given that other Mana-series trademarks have recently been filed in North America and Europe, it could go either way.

Source: Gematsu

Kingdom Hearts 3 is finally released, and as a followup Square Enix has announced a new Kingdom Hearts Orchestra tour in a number of worldwide locations starting in May. We've talked about the orchestra on the forums before during their previous tour last year, but now there are a lot of new dates for 2019:

• Singapore, May 18
• Chicago, June 1
• Orlando, June 22
• New York, June 28 and 29
• Atlanta, September 14
• Paris, September 28
• Sydney, October 19
• Dallas, October 26
• London, November 17

Tickets look pretty pricey for the American shows; a spotcheck says that the lowest cost available is around $80 for a couple cities, and closer to $90 for others. If you're interested, though, tickets for all dates are on sale now.

On the subject of Square Enix music, though, while we're here - A New World announced recently one new date in Seattle on April 27th.

Source: Kingdom Hearts Orchestra Tickets, A New World

This is unexpected and kind of neat; Square Enix announced today a new CG-animated feature-length movie from the Dragon Quest universe, title "Dragon Quest: Your Story." The movie will be based upon Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride, a game first released on the Super Famicom over 25 years ago. Yuji Horii, creator of the Dragon Quest franchise, will be a consulting supervisor on the movie's production. It will be released on August 2 in Japan, but no indications yet of subtitled or dubbed releases outside of Japan.

Source: Gematsu

The last update we had for Distant Worlds shows centered around a lot of dates outside the United States, mostly in Europe. Many of those shows are still to come, so if you are one of our European readers don't forget to look back.

Now, though, a big chunk of 2019 is being filled with dates in the States. The show in Nashville is still coming up next week, but in addition the concert series is coming to:

• Minneapolis, March 1
• Boston, April 5
• Denver, May 2 and 3
• Columbus, Ohio, May 31
• Phoenix, September 7
• Chicago, September 14

Tickets for all of these shows are already on sale! There were no new dates for A New World announced in this round, but I'm certain some will show up in the near future.

Source: Distant Worlds

We reported yesterday that Square Enix had registered trademarks for a Final Fantasy digital card game, and we thought that maybe it would be an online version of the physical card game that was released a couple years back. It appears now that it's not - but don't blame EvilEye, as much as you might like to.

Announced today in Japan, the actual product appears to be a different card game entirely with more RPG elements but still a reliance upon the thirty years of Final Fantasy IP. The announcement website is only in Japanese, and Google Translate does not have a good time with it, but upon comparing the field of play in screenshots with my own physical cards, it definitely seems like a different game.

The game must be releasing very soon, at least in Japan, as applications are being accepted now for a closed beta to be run between the 18th and 25th of this month. It will be available for Windows, iOS, and Android.

Source: Gematsu

Are there any Final Fantasy: TCG players here? If so, you might be delighted to hear that Square Enix has trademarked "Final Fantasy Digital Card Game" in Japan. Since the card game has no online presence as of yet, this could be very big, very telling news of their future plans for the game to expand and reach new players.

As a former card game player that dislikes amassing piles and piles of cards that sit on shelves, I would certainly embrace this additional option to make decks easier to build and test, and an easier time finding other players! If this happens, it will be interesting to see how their online market will work, and if it will be a replication of their physical presence or an opportunity to do something new.

Source: Gematsu

I'm behind in posting this news, of course, but it worked out for the best because just today the consequences of the original news came to light. Last month, long-time Square Enix bigshot (and, most recently, head of the Luminous Productions studio) Hajime Tabata announced that he was leaving the company, after nearly fifteen years working on Square Enix projects. Today, Square Enix announced that Takesi Aramaki will be the new head of Luminous. Aramaki was the programming lead for Final Fantasy XV.

Simultaneous to Tabata's announcement, Square Enix confirmed that all planned Final Fantasy XV DLC after Episode Ardyn was cancelled; the three episodes that took the axe were likely the most eagerly-awaited, being for Lunafreya, Aranea, and Noctis. Episode Ardyn will continue development and be released in early 2019.

Meanwhile, Luminous Productions appears to have shifted gears before the cancellations were announced, with a LinkedIn post by the graphics director of Final Fantasy XV implying that he is currently working on a "New AAA Title for PS5." That post has been edited to remove that reference now, but we might look back on this as the first inkling that the Final Fantasy series will continue.

As for Tabata, he was apparently waiting for the announcement of Aramaki as new Luminous head to announce his own new initiative: today he posted to Facebook that he is starting his own company called JP Games, with the company's official launch planned for January of 2019. Naturally, no further information is available.

One hopes that this does not indicate a real mess over at the Squenix mothership, but this level of transition does seem at least a little ominous.

Source: Siliconera, Gematsu

We're winding down this year, so it's a good time for the folks behind Distant Worlds to add a lot of new shows for 2019. Good news if you're one of our international readers, as most of the new shows being added are outside of North America this time. I'm sure more here in the States and possibly Canada will be coming soon, and there's still one new domestic date that I hadn't seen before, but for now here's a big list of mostly European show additions.

• Bangkok: December 1 and 2
• Nashville: January 22, 2019
• Hamburg: Valentine's Day! Adorable Date Night Opportunity!
• Berlin: February 15
• Dusseldorf: February 16
• Geneva: March 22
• Milan: March 23
• Rome: March 24

The shows in Hamburg, Geneva, and Rome are new cities for the tour. In Bangkok, Yoko Shimomura is scheduled to attend (remember, Nobuo Uematsu is still recuperating his health). Tickets for all of these shows are on sale now!

A New World has added even more dates than Distant Worlds, in other far-flung locales, particularly in the South Pacific:

• Christchurch, New Zealand: November 9
• Auckland: November 10
• Singapore: November 17
• Sydney: November 23
• Brisbane: November 24
• Adelaide: November 27
• Canberra: November 29
• Melbourne: November 30
• Perth: December 1
• Los Angeles: February 23, 2019
  (with two shows on the date)
• Atlanta: May 26

Tickets for all of these shows are on sale as well; the Atlanta show is included with registration for MomoCon.

Source: Distant Worlds, A New World

Nintendo did a new Nintendo Direct late last night (America time, that is). And if you have a Switch and are a classic Square Enix fan, you are 100% in luck - there are now a ton of Final Fantasy games coming your way. First, five games from the late 90's/early 2000's: Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy IX, Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy X-2, and Final Fantasy XII were all announced for 2019 releases on the Nintendo system. One would have to assume that for these games, they will be ports of the most recent Windows releases, and in the case of X/X-2, will be purchased as a single unit as they have been previously for PS4 and PC.

The cute and simple version of Final Fantasy XV, called Pocket Edition, was released on mobile in February of this year, and for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One just last Friday. The Switch version was likely also ready for that release day, but as Nintendo Direct was delayed a week due to hurricanes in the Pacific Ocean, the announcement lost a bit of momentum and fell behind the other consoles. It's priced at $29.99 on Switch, but currently you can get it for 40% off as a release celebration.

World of Final Fantasy is also coming to Switch, on November 6. The Switch edition will be called "Maxima," will add in a new feature called "Avatar Change" in which the player characters Reynn and Lann will be able to change their appearance to that of classic Final Fantasy characters when in their non-Jiant modes. Cloud, Lightning, Yuna, and Noctis all appeared in the short video snippet as Avatar Change options, though it's likely that many more will be available.

Finally for new news, a remaster of Chocobo's Mystery Dungeon was also announced for release sometime this winter. This game was originally released a decade ago for Wii, and the new version is subtitled "Every Buddy" because in the new release, every monster is available as a friend option (and because two people can play by splitting the Joy-Cons).

If you don't have a Switch, though, you won't be left out. Xbox One and PlayStation 4 will be getting a number of these games as well. Microsoft gamers get the biggest lift, as most of the games were not previously available there: World of Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy IX, Final Fantasy X/X-2 and Final Fantasy XII will all be arriving on the XBO; WoFF will arrive on November 6 just as for Switch, with the others coming next year. PlayStation 4 gamers will also get Every Buddy, and can upgrade their WoFF to Maxima with paid DLC. WoFF will also be coming to PC!

Source: Siliconera

Distant Worlds and A New World have updated their schedules again, adding a few new events coming soon. For Distant Worlds, a show has been added in Miami on November 4 (a day after the Boca Raton show, for Floridians who couldn't make that date), as well as Nashville on January 22, 2019. This will be the first visit to either city in five years; Susan Calloway is confirmed for Miami but no major announcements for Nashville as yet. Both shows are on sale now.

A New World has added just one new date, at Zipper Hall in Los Angeles on February 23, 2019. Tickets for this event are also on sale now.

For folks looking to see or meet Nobuo Uematsu at their preferred show, some potentially unfortunate news; Kotaku reported yesterday that Uematsu has cancelled an upcoming performance in Japan for health reasons; our hopes are that he recovers soon!


Source: Distant Worlds, A New World, Kotaku