Healing Wind

Final Fantasy XIII Release Date and New Drink Announced

omar — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 18:08:57 +0000

Square Enix held a special event called Final Fantasy XIII Premiere Party in Tokyo today. At the event, the company revealed that the highly-anticipated game will hit Japanese retail store shelves on December 17th. Final Fantasy XIII will carry a suggested retail price tag of 9,240 yen ($99.30 USD). Alongside the standalone release, Square Enix and Sony Computer Entertainment are preparing a PlayStation 3 bundle, even though no details have been decided on yet.

Fans of Final Fantasy-branded beverages will be delighted to hear that Square Enix is again teaming up with Suntory to bring fans a beverage called “Elixir” come December. One Elixir will contain three times the royal jelly and caffeine found in a usual drink. A can will spot one of 16 different character illustrations. Suntory is also preparing a set containing all 16 variations and figurine bundles.

19-year old songstress Sayuri Sagawara will perform the game’s main theme “Kimi ga iru kara” (Because you are there).

Unlike in North America and Europe, Final Fantasy XIII is a PlayStation 3-exclusive in Japan. The game’s PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions are set to go on sale in the two Western markets sometime next year.

Source: RPGFan

Square Enix, Sega and Acquire Announce TGS Line-Ups

omar — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 04:33:39 +0000

Square Enix, Sega and Acquire announced their preliminary line-ups for this month’s Tokyo Game Show 2009. Visitors will be able to get hands-on with Final Fantasy XIII, the original DS title Hikari no 4 Senshi (Four Warriors of Light): Final Fantasy Gaiden and the PlayStation Portable debut of the Kingdom Hearts series, Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep at Square Enix’s booth. Notable absentees from Square Enix’s list include Final Fantasy Versus XIII and Parasite Eve The 3rd Birthday.

Meanwhile, Sega is going to show off the high-profile trio of Phantasy Star Portable 2, the new Valkyria Chronicles and the tri-Ace-developed End of Eternity at its booth.

The availablity of the titles listed below refers to Japanese release dates only.

Square Enix

Hikari no 4 Senshi (Four Warriors of Light): Final Fantasy Gaiden, DS, playable, October 29th
Dissidia Final Fantasy Universal Tuning, PlayStation Portable, trailer-only, November 1st
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Crystal Bearers, Wii, playable, November 26th
Final Fantasy XIII, PlayStation 3, playable, winter 2009
Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, PlayStation Portable, playable, winter 2009
Final Fantasy IV: The After Years, Wii, trailer-only, available
Final Fantasy XIV, PlayStation 3/PC, trailer-only, 2010
Final Fantasy XI, PlayStation 2/Xbox 360/PC, trailer-only, available
Seiken Densetsu 2, mobile phone, playable, available
Kingdom Hearts Coded, mobile phone, trailer-only, available

Sega

End of Eternity, PlayStation 3/Xbox 360, winter 2009
Phantasy Star Portable 2, PlayStation Portable, December 3rd
Senjou no Valkyria (Valkyria Chronicles): Gallia Oui Shikan Gakkou, PlayStation Portable, winter 2009

Acquire

Fragoria, browser-based, fall 2009
Wizardry Norowareshi Tamashii no Meikyuu, DS, fall 2009
Ken to Mahou to Gakuen Mono 2 (Class of Heroes 2), PlayStation Portable, available

This year’s edition of Japan’s largest videogame event will run from September 24th through 27th. As always, the venue is the Makuhari Messe convention center in Chiba prefecture.

Source: RPGFan

Square Enix Talks Final Fantasy XIII

omar — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 13:00:24 +0000

Dengeki Online has published an interview with Final Fantasy XIII producer Yoshinori Kitase and director Akira Toriyama. The duo confirmed that the game’s development was 90% complete and has entered the final adjustment phase. Square Enix is aiming to offer fans the opportunity to play the highly anticipated title at the upcoming Tokyo Game Show. While the official release date has yet to be announced, the developers believe the Japanese release is closer from now than fans might expect. During the lengthy interview, Toriyama also revealed a new sub-system called “paradigm shift”. Thanks to this new system, it will be possible to change the “role”, i.e the behavioral pattern assigned to a certain AI-controlled party member in battle. The game will feature a significant number of these “roles”. As the player progresses through the game, more and more roles will become accessible. Toriyama likened this new system to Final Fantasy XII’s gambit system, with the difference that Final Fantasy XIII allows multiple role changes during battle. The developers hope that the paradigm shift system will add an important strategic dimension to Final Fantasy XIII’s battle system.

The driving mode during which summons such as Shiva and Odin transform into rideable vehicles, will have a time limit attached to it in order to counterbalance the advantages in power offered by it. The length of a driving mode session is apparently determined by the number of chains achieved in normal mode.

What still remains under wraps is Final Fantasy XIII’s growth system. Kitase once again stated that users should imagine something along the lines of Final Fantasy X’s sphere grid or Final Fantasy XII’s license board, though. Toriyama also reiterated that the game’s level of difficulty won’t be as low as in previous installments. This was no big deal, though, because players won’t have to start again from the nearest save point this time around. Instead, the game allows users to immediately take on the same enemy again.

The game’s main theme is determination. For instance, how should the player characters use the power given to them by the Crystal. Last but not least, the cast will include one more yet to be announced character. This cute miniskirt-wearing girl is set to play a very important role in Final Fantasy XIII’s story.

Final Fantasy XIII will be available for PlayStation 3 in Japan sometime this winter. American and European multiplatform releases will follow in early 2010.

Source: RPGFan