News

The schedule for panel discussions at PAX East 2015 was recently announced, and a couple of them this year are of particular interest to CoN readers. On Saturday at lunchtime, Naoki Yoshida, producer and director of Final Fantasy XIV, will spend an hour discussing the first expansion pack to A Realm Reborn, titled "Heavensward." As described on the official site:

"Join FINAL FANTASY XIV Producer/Director Naoki Yoshida as he takes the stage to discuss details on the first expansion - Heavensward. Also, Yoshida has a habit of announcing things he shouldn't, so you won't want to miss this! (We'll keep the PR team distracted so they won't interfere.)"

Later in the day, a second panel will feature Square Enix personnel, this time "Behind the Game Designs of Final Fantasy XV." The two lead game designers of the upcoming flagship title will discuss the process of designing the latest game in the core Final Fantasy series; again, from the official PAX site:

"Join two of FINAL FANTASY XV's lead game designers, Wan Hazmer and Prasert Prasertvithyakarn, as they share their experiences working on one of the most anticipated games of all time. Hazmer and Prasertvithyakarn are attending PAX EAST from SQUARE ENIX's Tokyo Studios where they work in tandem to bring FINAL FANTASY XV to life. Fans will also be in for a treat with additional information revealed on the upcoming title, FINAL FANTASY TYPE-0 HD!"

Of particular interest to readers here, by the way: yours truly will be in attendance that day, and I plan to visit both these panels as well as the Square Enix booth, where I plan to collect both photos and experiences around Squenix games (to share with you) and hopefully swag (which I won't). If you have requests of things to look for, or just want to see a bit of the show floor, let me know.

Source: PAX East Schedule

Later this week, Square Enix Japan will be running a live stream to present real, live gameplay from the Final Fantasy XV demo, which will be released next month with Type-0. Game director Hajime Tabata will host the stream, which is said to show both gameplay and the "systems" comprising XV, which likely means the combat style and user interfaces both inside and outside of combat.

The demo will begin at 6am Eastern time on Friday, February 20, and will be shown on the streaming services NicoNico and YouTube Live. There's no indication as to whether the stream will be geoblocked, so if you're an early riser or a night owl, it'll be worth seeking out in a few days.

On a similar note, Square Enix also released the "release trailer" for Final Fantasy Type-0 HD last night. The trailer remains in Japanese, but the company is quick to point out that the release version will allow the gamer to switch between languages. I would presume this trailer to be the last we'll see, as the game now releases in exactly one month and counting in the United States - the Japanese and European releases come a few days later.

Source: Siliconera, Square Enix Youtube

The popular-for-a-Sony-handheld franchise Dissidia: Final Fantasy is now taking a new turn in Japan, the announcement of a new arcade game. As is customary for the company nowadays, the announcement came in the form of a video trailer debuting several characters and a battle scene set in what appears to be a backdrop emulating the Warriors of Light leaving Cornelia in Final Fantasy I. Siliconera reports that unlike prior games, battles in this game will be 3v3; whether that will take the form of a Marvel vs. Capcom-style tag-team setup, or player-plus-AI battles is yet unclear.

Characters revealed in the trailer include:

• Warrior of Light (I)
• Onion Knight (III)
• Terra (VI)
• Cloud (VII)
• Lightning (XIII, specifically the original of the sub-series)
• Y'shtola (XIV)

More information is expected April 10th, in a planned presentation. Naturally, there is no indication yet of a Western release, but given the state of arcades here, it would seem more prudent to hope for a console/Windows port worldwide.

One must admit, though, between this and the new Star Wars game... well, it would be pretty cool if arcades were still a real thing.


Source: Siliconera

The past few days have seen several small bits of news, so we've bundled them up for your reading pleasure!

First off, Bravely Second. This week's issue of Jump magazine shows the new Guardian job; while we don't really have any specifics, the image provided involves some heavy armor, leading one to suspect it will be a tank job. Additionally, the Jump reveals that Tiz will be returning from Bravely Default. Taken with most recent news, we now know 13 Bravely Second jobs and that all four main protagonists from the original game will appear in some form or another.

A teaser site has been launched for the newest Million Arthur game, Million Arthur Extasis, which rather surprisingly has been listed as for players 18+ only. If you haven't heard of the series, you've good reason: it's only available in southeast Asia, where it has been quite successful, even spawning a live action TV show. One iteration, Magnificent Million Arthur, has an official English translation available for iOS and Android but remains locked to English-speaking regions.

Finally, some news from Eorzea (Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn). The MMO's celebration of Valentine's Day began on February 3 and will continue to February 16, during which time one can pursue a seasonal quest or obtain some special holiday items, including a costume for chocobos that looks inspired by Mad Moxxi.

We also have a release date (February 24) for Patch 2.5, which will bring the Gold Saucer from Final Fantasy VII to Eorzea. Several minigames with minor rewards will be available - Monster Toss, The Moogle’s Paw, Cuff-a-Cur, Crystal Tower Striker, and a Cactuar lottery system called the "Cactpot" - as well as the iconic Chocobo Racing. In addition to these, FFXIV will be implementing a form of the Triple Triad card game from Final Fantasy VIII. As in that game, the FFXIV version will include multiple rule sets, and you can play against various NPCs and fellow adventurers across the world. Additional references to Final Fantasies of past times abound. One of the Gold Saucer rewards shown was a Setzer costume, inspired by the notorious gambler of Final Fantasy VI; a Cloud Advent Children costume will also be added as a new Veteran Reward.

Source: Siliconera, Siliconera, The Lodestone

Life is Strange, an episodic game published by Square Enix and developed by Dontnod Entertainment that we announced last summer, released its first episode yesterday. Subtitled "Chrysalis," it can be gotten digitally on PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Steam for $4.99. The game will ultimately consist of five episodes: the second of these is expected in March, while release dates remain TBA for the third, fourth, and final episodes.

Life is Strange has received generally positive though critiquing reviews thus far. Polygon gives the game an 8/10, with reviewers praising its artistry, its originality, and its world while criticizing some of the dialogue and mishandled moments of seriousness. PCWorld's reviewer agreed on both counts, saying that while much of the game's dialogue is successful it can occasionally turn "cringe-worthy" and that the schoolkids setting isn't quite integrated with the intended gravity of the game's plot. Both reviews, however, conclude by emphasizing how attractive and compelling the game's environment is. Game Informer was even more optimistic, praising the its realism as well as its decision-making engine, and asserting that the episode successfully engages the player's interest.

Are you playing Life is Strange? Are you thinking about grabbing it? Let us know!

Source: Polygon, PCWorld, Game Informer

We've covered it in CoN news for quite some time, but Square Enix has been making inroads for quite a while in the Windows space both as a developer and as a massive company who own lots of smaller fish also publishing for PC gamers.

For a long time, the company treated the PC as a bit of a wasteland, at least in terms of the flagship Final Fantasy franchise, with no games released for Windows for many years; now, though, the company is experiencing a renaissance on the platform with the two rereleases of Final Fantasy VII followed closely on by iOS 3D ports and the Final Fantasy XIII trilogy.

So, in this installment, the CoNcast team hits the highs and the lows of Square Enix gaming on the Windows platform as well as what might be coming in the near future. Get your Steam wishlists ready for the Final Fantasy games we'll talk about today!

Source: The CoNcast Subscription Feed, The CoNcast on iTunes, This Episode