News

It's true. See the screenshots for yourself:

Arc Rise Hearts / Kingdom Fantasia

Not that bearing a resemblance to Kingdom Hearts is a bad thing. (Or is it? I've never played the series) The main character DOES look a lot like Sora, though. Maybe it's his long lost brother. Maybe I should stop wondering before the developers take my idea and make it into a crossover game. Just like Kingdom He-OH MY GOD.

Seriously, though. Battle gameplay seems similar to The Last Remnant, at least from what I can gather in one sentence. "The characters in your party share an AP meter, allowing you to strategically queue up your attacks to suit every encounter." Graphics seem nicer in the cutscenes than in-game, but that might be due to the compression. Character artwork looks nice until one of the voice actors tries to draw their own character.

It seems like a cool game, and it's on the Wii! RPG fans and owners of Wiis rejoice! Oh, but since it's on Nintendo, large amounts of cleavage have been censored. Poor you. :(

Source: Kotaku

So we're coming up to the middle of September,
And I know what you're thinking - it's hard to remember
All the stories of every Final Fantasy game so far
(Even when some of them are completely sub-par)

So I bring to you some enjoyable news
And now the information even your brain can't lose
For the end of this month brings a story to you
Which'll tell you what is what and who is who

Presenting Final Fantasy XIII: Episode Zero
Start praising me here - I'm like a true hero
"But what does this contain?" - from you I hear
A novelization of the story before the world premiere

"But what's the point - I want the game for that!"
Well, sure - but what about before the fact?
Didn't the War of the Magi leave many mysteries?
And all that stuff about Zack - come on, please.

The story takes place before the game begins,
And hopefully it'll be better than the one from Skins
You'll learn about the characters and why they are where they are
But as of yet we don't know whether from near or afar

And now we'll need some help from the Shiva Indis
Because here's the final drawback - you are gonna hate this
The novelization you're now excited about
Will only be in Japanese - let's hear you scream and shout.
________________________________________________________________________

Yeah, I know, i'm awesome.

Source: IGN, Final Fantasy XIII Official Site

New or old?

Admittedly, not a whole lot to see, but it's a start! Oh, and they're revamping all the race names again. So, what was Human and then Hume, is now Hyuran. So, based on this formula, Final Fantasy XXVII online will have so many vowels in the name of the human race it'll be pronouncable only by those who have no tongue.

Sarcasm aside, i'm sure these announcements are very important to fans of Final Fantasy XI. And they can tell us just how different things seem so far. As a pure observer of both, they look pretty similar. I'm personally more interested in XIII - it seems prettier. And cheaper. And single player.

Source: Kotaku

Well, what have we here. A number of assorted snippets from this week, some interesting, some annoying, and some just silly. Let's looking!

Number One
Final Fantasy Anedote Release Date
The Anecdote will be released in Japan on October 29th, so it will reach international shores in 2010. If we're lucky.

Number II
0807
Remember how countdown clocks were used for Final Fantasy Anecdote, and everyone groaned because it's the most boring way to announce a new game? Square Enix are NOT LEARNING! We have about VI days and XXII hours before we know what this, so be sure to throw a brick or II through their official building's windows before that time.

Number Three
Final Fantasy XIII Screenshots
And there are many of them. They look cool; and by cool, I mean totally sweet.

Number Four
Star Ocean 3 != PS3?
Star Ocean 3 being listed as a PS3 game temporarily was confirmed as a database error. All seventeen PS3 owners that play Star Ocean can hang their heads in disappointment.

Well, that's all, folks. Isn't there more important event today you should be reading about?

Source: Kotaku

Edit: Josh can take his news system and put it where the sun don't shine.

Earlier this year, Final Fantasy Legend II, also known as SaGa II, was announced as being the next in a series of remakes on the Nintendo DS. What with the upcoming 20th anniversary of the series, Square Enix decided to put the SaGa names all over a shiny new DSi. All of the names. Unfortunately no word on a Stateside release, but the official SaGa II site is up, running, and pretty. If anyone who speaks Japanese can point out where it says "This is our game, and it will never ever be released internationally, HA!", please let the rest of us know.

OFFICIAL SITE

Source: Kotaku

It's only 2 months until Dissidia: Final Fantasy is released in Europe, so put September 4th in your calendar. Also, only for us glorious Europeans (at least, those who own the PSP), a limited edition will be available with all sorts of extras, which include a unique packaging, a book of the game's artwork, the strategy guide, an OST, and more. Standard copy is £25, and supposedly the limited edition is the same price, but we've yet to see an official difference in pre-order anywhere.

In addition, for anyone who still hasn't a clue what Dissidia is or is about (and where have you been?), the official site is now open.

Dissidia: Final Fantasy

Source: RPGamer