News

I'd completely forgotten that a Final Fantasy-themed CCG existed. It's been around for quite a while in Japan, but never any inkling that it would make inroads here; that's a product that seems like it might have had trouble making the leap.

Well, no longer! Starting on October 28, people who like CCGs in Europe and North America are going to get these cards in English. The initial set will have 216 cards, which doubles to 432 when you factor in the fact that each will also have a foil-stamped variant (which may or may not be a more powerful version of the card). The cards will be offered in randomized packs of a yet-unknown quantity of cards, as well as pre-built starter packs that are also not yet confirmed.

Pricing and availability are unknown, but we'll find out in just under a month. I've reached out to a friend with extensive CCG experience, and he tells me that the rulebook for this game looks like it might be pretty overcomplicated, which sounds pretty par for the course for something Square Enix has cooked up lately, right? Let us know if you're planning to pick up some cards just for fun or in an effort to play the game!

Source: Kotaku

More TGS news on which to catch up, this time for fans of the Kingdom Hearts series. We've known for a while that 2.8 (Final Chapter Prologue!) will contain the first console release of Dream Drop Distance, plus some new content from Birth By Sleep and Chi. At the Tokyo Game Show this year, though, we got another new trailer, the final box art for Japan, and the release dates for PlayStation 4: January 12 in Japan, and January 24 for the West. The trailer has some surprisingly catchy music from Utada Hikaru, though it kinda pains me to say it!

Source: Gematsu

SaGa Scarlet Grace was part of this year's Tokyo Game Show for Square Enix, as it was last year. This is the game that was announced about two years ago as the next step forward for the long-running series, and it's now within a couple months of release, specifically December 15 of this year in Japan.

As usual, this means a new trailer. It includes new in-battle scenes showing off some characters, as well as a lot of pretty art.

The SaGa series has a decent record of being released in the West, but there hasn't been an all-new game in the series outside of the browser or mobile phone sphere in almost a decade and a half. This one's coming for Vita, as well, which might hurt its localization chances, but there's no news at all on that front yet.

Source: Siliconera

2017 will mark the thirtieth anniversary of the Final Fantasy franchise, with the original game having been released on 18 December, 1987. It seems like it was just yesterday that I was writing about the game turning 25, so it seems very strange indeed that I could already be writing about 30 - and in some ways, it is strange, because the actual anniversary is still more than a year away and it's easy to forget that North America waited almost two years after its initial Japanese launch before it came ashore here.

So, even though the real anniversary is more than a year away, Square Enix are ready to celebrate. Or, at least, they're ready to tell us that they're ready to celebrate via their old standby - a trailer video released at TGS. There's also a website, which is pretty neat as such things go even though it's fairly bereft of content at the moment, with just video clips from each game and an announcement of Final Fantasy XIV events at Zepp music halls in Japan starting in February.

There's no current indication as to what other events might mark the anniversary year, or whether any locales outside of Japan will be included.

Source: Gematsu, Final Fantasy 30th Anniversary

Are you still down from Final Fantasy XV being delayed until November? Have you been hoping that Square Enix’s delay might lead to some interesting FF-related merchandise or bundles in the meantime? If you have wanted exactly that, you might be in luck.

Over at the Tokyo Game Show expo, Square Enix premiered a flashy, brand new FFXV trailer to keep tantalizing you every step of the way to its release date with that flying car and gorgeous locales. I would talk more about it here, but why? See for yourself!

Square Enix also took this TGS opportunity to announce a new Final Fantasy XV-themed PlayStation 4 bundle, promising to be the definitive one-stop shop for all things FFXV related, and just in time for the holidays.

Here is what you get:

• Final Fantasy XV (of course) with an exclusive SteelBook
• A Blu-Ray copy of Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV
• Downloadable Content: Royal Raiment Outfit, Masamune Weapon & Leviathan Regalia Skin
• DualShock 4 Controller
• 1TB Hard Drive
• A super fancy box with FFXV Luna imagery!
• Said FFXV imagery also on the PS4 front! Can you say collector material?
• Bragging rights that your PlayStation 4 is the greatest, better than that loser neighbor of yours down the street who thought he was so cool with his Uncharted 4 bundle

But wow, look at that price tag! It is available for $449 USD, and only at GameStop. Well let’s see, the game has been in development for nine years, so if you were prudent and decided to save as soon as you heard the announcement to the tune of $4.16 a month give or take, your patience will have paid the price of this bundle! You would even have some money left over for energy drinks needed to pull the all-nighters that follow.

The Luna Edition launch will coincide with the release of Final Fantasy XV, with an expected date of November 29th. We are getting closer and closer!


Source: Gematsu, Gematsu, Gematsu PS4 Luna Picture Gallery

It is our great pleasure to announce the release of Caves of Narshe's comprehensive Final Fantasy 9 section. The development process was a bit elongated, as is our style, but not as much as some of our other additions have been! That counts for something, right?

Our most recent "new" coverage, as some may recall, was the the fully-remade FFVI section in 2013 (and before that, the fully-remade FFV section in 2012). This means that FFIX marks the first time in quite a while that we've expanded site coverage into new ground - something which made the development process really exciting. There were a bit fewer hands on deck this time around, but those of us involved came away with renewed appreciation for the game.

As with every guide we produce, we aimed to deliver not just complete coverage but the best coverage anywhere. We're confident you'll agree that we've achieved that here. As always, the essential first step is an excellent walkthrough, written by longtime member Shotgunnova with thoroughness and character (and edited by EvilEye and myself with equal amounts of the same!) that make it a pleasure to read. The next step is to augment that foundation with additional written, image, and video content provided by Neal and Rangers51. And finally, we enrich it all with our usual HTML touches that make for easy-to-read tables and site organization, comprehensive links that make navigating content references easy and instant, and other useful tools (check out that chocobo map) that improve clarity and ease of use with flair. Whether you're looking for a tip on a pesky boss battle, information about that sidequest was just discovered a few years ago, a laugh about how silly Tetra Master was, or or a guide to accompany you on your first playthrough, we've got you covered for every release this game has ever had, including the newest version released for mobile and Steam!

Final Fantasy IX is a game that has proven it can stick around - something that CoN and its members are particularly qualified to appreciate. One has several different audiences in mind when making something like this, but the first is, as always, the people who will see this post: site members, old friends, facebook followers, and persistent lurkers. We're all active in different ways now, but it's your continued support - in posts, in traffic, in "likes" - that keep new content coming.

We hope you'll take a couple minutes to explore this section, talk about it, send it to a friend, or maybe even revisit FFIX itself.

Tokyo Game Show is next week, and to build anticipation, Square Enix have announced an announcement: there will be a new "action game" revealed at the show on September 15. Yes, that's pretty much all the detail, though they did mention that the announcement will take place at 11pm Eastern time (on the 14th, here in the US). There's no news currently whether it's a new IP or a sequel or sideline to existing IP, but once the game has been announced, it will be shown live at TGS and on stream via YouTube and Niconico. Here are the other games you will see via the TGS streams, with various demos, panel discussions, and gaming events:

• World of Final Fantasy
• NieR: Automata
• Final Fantasy XIV
• Dragon Quest X
• Akashic Re:cords
• Rise of the Tomb Raider
• Brave Exvius
• Fantasy Earth Zero
• Dragon Quest Monsters Joker 3
• Final Fantasy XV
• Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age
• SaGa: Scarlet Grace
• Mobius Final Fantasy
• Final Fantasy: Record Keeper
• Dissidia Final Fantasy: Opera Omnia

Gematsu has the entire schedule. Watch this space for more information both before and during TGS as we can swing it.

Source: Gematsu

Want to see some live Final Fantasy XV music performed? Easy, just be at a video-playing device tomorrow, and you can see the London Philharmonic play at the legendary Abbey Road Studios in London. The show will feature selected tracks from the upcoming game over the course of an hour, as well as an appearance by the game's composer, Yoko Shimomura.

The stream will begin at 2pm Eastern tomorrow, September 7, and will be streamed live over both the Final Fantasy XV YouTube channel and the official Squenix Twitch channel as well. Or, hey, embedded right here when it starts!