News

I hate to burden all of you with two news updates in a single morning, but this news tidbit was too juicy to ignore. 1up.com has released a final preview of Final Fantasy IV Advance, detailing the new dungeons and returning characters. I'll cover their preview to the best of my ability, saving you all the trouble of reading the 1up article yourselves.

To refresh your memory, FF IV Advance provides improved graphical textures, new menu portraits, and a refined translation compared to any previous version of the game, plus adds two new optional dungeons and a means for replacing characters in and out of your party. The game's difficulty is the same as it was in the original Japanese "Hardtype." For better or for worse, several spell names have changed, using the ara and aga suffixes rather than the oldschool numerals and changing Meteo to Meteor (I personally find that last edit disgraceful).

After defeating the Giant of Babil, you can replace Kain, Rosa, Rydia, or Edge with Palom, Porom, Cid, Edward, or Yang, each of whom was in your party sometime earlier in the story. Each of the five returning characters have had adjusted stats to make them useful in the new lategame. Cid "is a total hoss", featuring superior HP and Defense compared to other characters and Edward, while as frail as ever, is adept at inflicting status effects with his harps (far more so now than on the SNES). After re-recruiting these five characters, your party can return to Mount Ordeals for a short but intense 8-floor dungeon whose end features five new powerful weapons, one for each of your returning characters. Yang's weapon is the holy-elemental Hand of the Gods, Cid's is the randomly-Thundaga-casting Thor's Hammer, Edward's is called Apollo's Harp, Palom's the Triton's Dagger, and Porom's the Seraphim Mace.

If that wasn't enough for you, there is still another optional endgame dungeon, The Lunar Ruins found on the Moon. Once you've beaten the game, this new dungeon is unlocked, featuring nine special sealed gates, one corresponding to each character, with Palom and Porom sharing the same gate. In each gate, you'll first need to endure a brutal dungeon that makes the Path to the Core "look like a cakewalk." The early levels of the Lunar Ruins feature monsters that we're already familliar with, like Behemoths, Minds, and Wicked Faces from the final dungeon, but the lower levels include new monsters that are more difficult than any random encounter in the game. At the end of each of the sealed gate dungeons, you'll need to take the associated character along for a special trial - these trials range from Yang taking on dozens of powerful Monks to an airship-flying minigame for Cid. At the end of each set of trials we fight a beefed-up Lunar version of one of Rydia's summons, with HP ranging from 90,000 to more than 120,000. Beating each Lunar Summon will net you a new powerful piece of equipment and a special item called a Grimoire. Getting all nine Grimoires will unlock the game's ultimate challenge - "an unbelievably difficult fight that should make aficionados of FFIV trivia particularly happy."

So that's the game. This seems to be very similar and at the same time very different from the Dawn of Souls remake - there are a great deal of new features but instead of dumbing down the gameplay experience, it's more hardcore than ever. All of the information I've provided is derived from Gamespot's screenshots archive and 1up's detailed preview linked in the first paragraph. Final Fantasy IV Advance is released December 12th, 2005 in the US.

Last May, Nintendo revealed a few minor features relating to the company's newest console, code-named Revolution, at its pre-E3 press conference. One of the most fascinating moments was when Nintendo announced the console would be able to play past games, via download, from systems such as the Nintendo Entertainment System, the Super Nintendo, the Nintendo 64, and the GameCube. Many fans, however, were disappointed overall to learn they were denied a full viewing and demonstration of the very promising machine and hoped more information would surface within the coming months.

And it did, beginning with the prototype controller that both intrigued many gamers and made others shun away from a system they had yet to see. The slender design combined with the semblance of a television remote indicated many possibilities but also lead to skepticism over whether or not it would function properly and comfortably. Information was coming in slow, and gamers began to conjecture that Nintendo might not unveil the Revolution for another few years.

But now, stated inside an email sent out by the Mario Factory, Nintendo has finally set a specified date for a public showing. With only "a mere 165 days to go (give or take)" the former game king will show off "all the incredible details about Nintendo's upcoming games and hardware, including our next home console, code-named Revolution."

If you did the math, you'll discover that lands around the second week of May. Sure enough, the associated press conference is scheduled for May 9th, 2006 during Nintendo's pre-E3 event. The venue will be Hollywood's Kodak Theatre - which is also the home of the Academy Awards - in California. Nintendo has ensured before that the Revolution will redefine the routine of playing video games, and come next spring thousands of fans will lay witness to just how.

Source: GameSpot

According to rpgfan.com, Famitsu magazine stated earlier this week that Final Fantasy XII will implement a clan system, not unlike the clan system from FF Tactics Advance. The clan system will allow the player to partake in specific quests provided by the clan and shop in clan-exclusive shops, plus possibly more unrevealed featues.

It seems unlikely to me that the clan system will feature prominently in the game's plot, as it would be make plot advancement seem somewhat awkward. I'm inclined to think that the clan system will allow the player to join one of multiple clans and have the clan serve as the means for taking part in sidequests, rather than drive the action as the clan/mission system did in Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. Still, love or hate this new clan system, a great deal of FF XII is a mystery as of now, so all we can do is speculate and hope that this next big title in our favorite RPG series lives up to its predecessors.

Final Fantasy XII, masterminded by Vagrant Story and Final Fantasy Tactics director Yasumi Matsuno, will be released in Japan on March 16th, 2006 and in the US on August 1st, 2006, barring future delays.

Phantasy Star Universe, the highly anticipated PlayStation 2 and PC installment to Sega's Phantasy Star series and the sequel to the critically acclaimed Dreamcast online RPG, is no doubt gaining more and more hype as its release date slowly but surely approaches. Sonic Team has thrown fans yet another bone this week by way of an update to the game's website which features some brand spanking new movies and gameplay screenshots. But that's not all; a bit of tidings involving a next-gen version of the large multiplayer title has been bouncing about the rumor mill lately, stirring up information on a possible XBox 360 release. Sega has not yet commented on the legitimacy of these reports.

As far as pre-launch preparations go, Sega Link ID registration - necessary for accessing the title's online mode - is now open to gamers in Japan. Fans who register between the dates of November 25th and January 31st will also be given an in-game item, free of charge. As an added bonus, anyone who preorders Phantasy Star Universe will receive an artbook full of the series' concept works and a CD soundtrack. However, both offers are currently exclusive only to Japanese gamers.

Phantasy Star Universe is set to arrive in Japan on February 16th, 2006, followed by a May release in North America. Europe has not been given a concrete launch date as of yet, but the game is expected to reach its shores at some point within spring of next year.

Sources:
CVG
RPGFan

Square-Enix has announced that Nobuo Uematsu's "More Friends" concert performed at E3 earlier this year with a subsequent tour, a follow-up to his "Dear Friends" tour, will be recorded on to a CD and released in Japan. The CD will be entitled "More Friends music from FINAL FANTASY ~Los Angeles Performance 2005~." The concert was primarily orchestral-styled renditions of the classic Final Fantasy music, but it featured guest vocalists RIKKI (for FF X's Suteki Da Ne) and Emiko Shiratori (for FF IX's Melodies of Life) as well as Uematsu's rock band, The Black Mages (joining the orchestra for a rendition of the first of FF VII's final battle themes, One-Winged Angel).

Surprisingly, there is no word on a US release thus far despite the concert taking place in the US and the good reception of "Dear Friends" in the US. Future US and European releases are probable, but there's no information regarding that yet.

The track list from the concert (and presumably on the CD), is as follows: Swing De Chocobo (an arrangement of The Chocobo song by guest conductor Arnie Roth), Final Fantasy Main Theme (from multiple FF games, notably I and IV), The Rocking Grounds (IIIj), Terra's Theme (VI), Draco and Maria Overture (VI), Aria Di Mezzo Carattere (VI), Wedding Walz and Duel (VI), Bombing Mission (VII), Aerith's Theme (VII), One-Winged Angel (VII), Liberi Fatali (VIII), Maybe I'm a Lion (VIII), Melodies of Life (IX), A Place to Call Home (IX), To Zanarkand (X), and Suteki Da Ne (X).

Other songs that were confirmed to have been played during the tour but not in Los Angeles were Theme of Love (IV), Dear Friends (V), Love Grows (VIII, an instrumental rendition of "Eyes on Me"), Vamo' Alla Flamenco (IX, the Chocobo H&C song), and Ronfaure (XI). It isn't out of the question for Square-Enix to add some of these, but the fact that the CD is of the LA concert makes it unlikely.

A new update, brought to you by none other than Del S and myself, this time focusing on two games.

Added to our Final Fantasy Tactics section are two pieces. One is from L. Cully , an already notorious writer here at the Caves of Narshe for her previous work on Final Fantasy 6, and the other comes from a newcomer, Damien Valar, whom we hope you'll appreciate the style.

Damien Valar also helps build up our Final Fantasy 7 section, with the addition of his serious and original piece, while Del S himself proposes a 4 chapters piece, filled with his usual british style and personal interests in armed forces.

Enjoy your reading, and don't hesitate to share your opinions on these new pieces here.