Every once in a while, a game comes along that’s called “ahead of its time.” More often than not, this is just flowery, hyperbolic phrasing used by game critics and/or public relations folks to describe a product that has one or two innovative qualities … but otherwise fits perfectly within the current paradigm of the medium. Then there are games like Final Fantasy Xii, which was criminally underrated — and frankly, under-enjoyed — almost entirely because of the period it was released in.
Consider the landscape of gaming in 2006, versus that in 2017: Japanese RPGs were on the decline, but had not yet relented into borrowing some of the better elements of their Western counterparts (as Nioh, Final Fantasy Xv and many more now have); the “single-player Mmorpg” as a concept was almost nonexistent (but later made popular by games like Xenoblade Chronicles, among others); and the Sd era of games...
Consider the landscape of gaming in 2006, versus that in 2017: Japanese RPGs were on the decline, but had not yet relented into borrowing some of the better elements of their Western counterparts (as Nioh, Final Fantasy Xv and many more now have); the “single-player Mmorpg” as a concept was almost nonexistent (but later made popular by games like Xenoblade Chronicles, among others); and the Sd era of games...
- 7/10/2017
- by Jowi Girard-Meli
- We Got This Covered
Square Enix has announced that Stormblood, the latest expansion for Final Fantasy Xiv, will be released on June 20, 2017. The news was just a small part of the excitement and celebration at this weekend’s Final Fantasy Xiv Fan Festival in Japan, which followed up on some of the teasers that happened at the North American version of the event in October.
Among the other bits of new information divulged was the reveal of the “secret class” hinted at during the Las Vegas event, which is officially the Red Mage; as in previous Final Fantasy games, this class will blend black and white magic abilities while also possessing decent melee capabilities. Beyond that, the expansion will also give players the ability to swim in some specific bodies of water, unlock a new beast tribe and a new Primal, and feature a special raid called “Return to Ivalice.”
This latter bit is particularly noteworthy.
Among the other bits of new information divulged was the reveal of the “secret class” hinted at during the Las Vegas event, which is officially the Red Mage; as in previous Final Fantasy games, this class will blend black and white magic abilities while also possessing decent melee capabilities. Beyond that, the expansion will also give players the ability to swim in some specific bodies of water, unlock a new beast tribe and a new Primal, and feature a special raid called “Return to Ivalice.”
This latter bit is particularly noteworthy.
- 12/26/2016
- by Jowi Girard-Meli
- We Got This Covered
As part of the madness that has been the 2016 Tokyo Games Show, Square Enix has dropped a new trailer for Final Fantasy Xii: The Zodiac Age. The remastered port was originally announced just prior to start of E3 2016.
At less than two minutes in length, the Tgs trailer for Final Fantasy Xii: The Zodiac Age isn’t interested in telling a story. Instead, the new trailer is all about showcasing the remastered visuals. The world of Ivalice has been given a fresh coat of paint, while Vaan and company have never looked better. It may not be as visually splendid as Final Fantasy Xv, but for a PlayStation 2 game, this looks pretty damn good.
For the uninformed, Final Fantasy Xii is the child of Square legends Hiroshi Minagawa and Hiroyuki Ito, who took over the project after the original director, Yasumi Matsuno, dropped out. Players take the reigns of a six-person party,...
At less than two minutes in length, the Tgs trailer for Final Fantasy Xii: The Zodiac Age isn’t interested in telling a story. Instead, the new trailer is all about showcasing the remastered visuals. The world of Ivalice has been given a fresh coat of paint, while Vaan and company have never looked better. It may not be as visually splendid as Final Fantasy Xv, but for a PlayStation 2 game, this looks pretty damn good.
For the uninformed, Final Fantasy Xii is the child of Square legends Hiroshi Minagawa and Hiroyuki Ito, who took over the project after the original director, Yasumi Matsuno, dropped out. Players take the reigns of a six-person party,...
- 9/17/2016
- by Eric Hall
- We Got This Covered
Feature Ryan Lambie 3 Dec 2013 - 06:49
With the imminent release of Square Enix's Bravely Default, Ryan provides a profile of its talented artist, Akihiko Yoshida...
Although undoubtedly a collaborative process, a unique fusion of programming, design and music, a strong visual style is vital to the success of any videogame - and the RPG genre in particular. After all, it's an RPG's job to transport us to other realms, whether they're Tolkien-inspired and otherworldly or set on a far-away, distant planet.
It's difficult to imagine, for example, the Dragon Quest series without the artwork of Akira Toriyama behind it - all vivid colours and sharp lines - or the Final Fantasy franchise without the character designs of the legendary Yoshitaka Amano. RPGs create new landscapes and engaging characters, and a distinctive art style is a vital element in their ability to captivate us.
Akihiko Yoshida is among the most talented...
With the imminent release of Square Enix's Bravely Default, Ryan provides a profile of its talented artist, Akihiko Yoshida...
Although undoubtedly a collaborative process, a unique fusion of programming, design and music, a strong visual style is vital to the success of any videogame - and the RPG genre in particular. After all, it's an RPG's job to transport us to other realms, whether they're Tolkien-inspired and otherworldly or set on a far-away, distant planet.
It's difficult to imagine, for example, the Dragon Quest series without the artwork of Akira Toriyama behind it - all vivid colours and sharp lines - or the Final Fantasy franchise without the character designs of the legendary Yoshitaka Amano. RPGs create new landscapes and engaging characters, and a distinctive art style is a vital element in their ability to captivate us.
Akihiko Yoshida is among the most talented...
- 11/29/2013
- by ryanlambie
- Den of Geek
by Joseph Leray
I was musing recently about the concept of backward compatibility. Specifically, it struck me that the PlayStation 2 may still be the finest example of the concept in terms of execution and scope, a feature that Sony promptly dropped when it released the PlayStation 3.
Here's my dirty secret, though: my PlayStation 2 is still hooked up and is used almost exclusively as a "Final Fantasy Xii" machine. (And "Dragon Quest 8," but mostly "Xii.") It's one of my favorite games, which is why it's exciting to hear that Square Enix are considering -- if only vaguely and reticently -- an HD remake of "Final Fantasy Xii" in the vein of the PlayStation 3 and Vita remasters of "Final Fantasy X" and "X-2."
In an interview with "Final Fantasy X|X-2 HD Remaster" producer and Square Enix mainstay Yoshinori Kitase, RPGSite broached the subject by asking if other games in the series...
I was musing recently about the concept of backward compatibility. Specifically, it struck me that the PlayStation 2 may still be the finest example of the concept in terms of execution and scope, a feature that Sony promptly dropped when it released the PlayStation 3.
Here's my dirty secret, though: my PlayStation 2 is still hooked up and is used almost exclusively as a "Final Fantasy Xii" machine. (And "Dragon Quest 8," but mostly "Xii.") It's one of my favorite games, which is why it's exciting to hear that Square Enix are considering -- if only vaguely and reticently -- an HD remake of "Final Fantasy Xii" in the vein of the PlayStation 3 and Vita remasters of "Final Fantasy X" and "X-2."
In an interview with "Final Fantasy X|X-2 HD Remaster" producer and Square Enix mainstay Yoshinori Kitase, RPGSite broached the subject by asking if other games in the series...
- 6/20/2013
- by MTV Video Games
- MTV Multiplayer
This week, Nintendo reminds us that the prequel to Wii U's "Lego City Undercover," cleverly dubbed "Lego City Undercover: The Chase Begins," will launch on 3Ds this Sunday. There also looks to be a 3Ds eShop sale, with "Liberation Maiden," "Crimson Shroud" and more getting the discount treatment. And don't forget about that "Pokémon Mystery Dungeon" Dlc, it's available now!
From Nintendo:
Nintendo eShop on Nintendo 3Ds™
Lego® City Undercover: The Chase Begins – This prequel to Lego® City Undercover on Wii U reveals the origin story of Chase McCain, one of the city's most celebrated crime fighters. Chase McCain is on his first assignment as a police officer, and it's up to the player to help him clean up Lego City. By changing into different disguises, Chase has access to unique abilities, such as putting out fires as a firefighter and breaking open doors as a robber. With multiple areas...
From Nintendo:
Nintendo eShop on Nintendo 3Ds™
Lego® City Undercover: The Chase Begins – This prequel to Lego® City Undercover on Wii U reveals the origin story of Chase McCain, one of the city's most celebrated crime fighters. Chase McCain is on his first assignment as a police officer, and it's up to the player to help him clean up Lego City. By changing into different disguises, Chase has access to unique abilities, such as putting out fires as a firefighter and breaking open doors as a robber. With multiple areas...
- 4/18/2013
- by Don Hatfield
- MTV Multiplayer
Nintendo adds new games and content to the Nintendo eShop for Wii U and 3Ds every week. To make things easier we grab all info and put it right here, so you can stay up to speed on all of Nintendo's digital offerings!
The "Rayman Legends" delay was a big disappointment for Nintendo fans, and the fact that a demo hasn't shown up only made things worse. Thankfully, that demo has finally reared its goofy head and it's available now in the eShop. On top of that, "Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed" has a demo now and the 3Ds is getting all sorts of new downloads. Head past the break for all the details!
From Nintendo:
Nintendo eShop on Nintendo 3Ds™
Crimson Shroud – Level-5 and Yasumi Matsuno brought together the industry's most respected role-playing game creators to lend their support to Crimson Shroud. Follow the tale of a young "Chaser" named Giauque,...
The "Rayman Legends" delay was a big disappointment for Nintendo fans, and the fact that a demo hasn't shown up only made things worse. Thankfully, that demo has finally reared its goofy head and it's available now in the eShop. On top of that, "Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed" has a demo now and the 3Ds is getting all sorts of new downloads. Head past the break for all the details!
From Nintendo:
Nintendo eShop on Nintendo 3Ds™
Crimson Shroud – Level-5 and Yasumi Matsuno brought together the industry's most respected role-playing game creators to lend their support to Crimson Shroud. Follow the tale of a young "Chaser" named Giauque,...
- 12/13/2012
- by Don Hatfield
- MTV Multiplayer
Superbot's massively multi-character brawler has gone gold for the Vita and PS3, and they're celebrating with a new trailer showing off the final boss, Polygon. The Super Smash Brothers-alike hits Sony's platforms (with cross-play) on November 20th.
Every PS3 copy of the game will include a code for the Ps Vita version, showing Sony's desire to really increase the install base for their handheld heading into the holiday season, I guess. You can see the full lineup of 16 fighters over at Sony's official site.
Related posts:
Yasumi Matsuno Departs Level-5
A Thing We Got In Our E-Mail: Deadpool For President
--
Follow @MTVMultiplayer on Twitter and be sure to "like" us on Facebook for the best geek news about comics, toys, gaming and more! And don’t forget to follow our video gaming and TV writer @TheCharlesWebb.
Every PS3 copy of the game will include a code for the Ps Vita version, showing Sony's desire to really increase the install base for their handheld heading into the holiday season, I guess. You can see the full lineup of 16 fighters over at Sony's official site.
Related posts:
Yasumi Matsuno Departs Level-5
A Thing We Got In Our E-Mail: Deadpool For President
--
Follow @MTVMultiplayer on Twitter and be sure to "like" us on Facebook for the best geek news about comics, toys, gaming and more! And don’t forget to follow our video gaming and TV writer @TheCharlesWebb.
- 11/8/2012
- by Charles Webb
- MTV Multiplayer
By Joseph Leray
Veteran role-playing game designer Yasumi Matsuno has announced his retirement from Professor Layton developer Level-5 Inc. He tweeted the following announcement, as spotted by Gematsu:
"I'd like to formally announce my departure from Level-5, effective last month. With my work on the domestic and overseas version of my latest 3DSWare game, it was good timing for me to step down and take a short break in order to recharge for my next project. My deepest thanks to everyone at Level-5 and everyone playing our games for your continued support."
The game he's referring to is Crimson Shroud, a tabletop-style RPG and part of Level-5's Guild01 compilation. Guild01 is a series of downloadable titles designed by some of Japan's most successful and interesting devs, including Goichi Suda (Killer7, No More Heroes), Yoot Saito (Seaman), and Matsuno himself. The compilation was recently released on North American and European 3Ds eShops,...
Veteran role-playing game designer Yasumi Matsuno has announced his retirement from Professor Layton developer Level-5 Inc. He tweeted the following announcement, as spotted by Gematsu:
"I'd like to formally announce my departure from Level-5, effective last month. With my work on the domestic and overseas version of my latest 3DSWare game, it was good timing for me to step down and take a short break in order to recharge for my next project. My deepest thanks to everyone at Level-5 and everyone playing our games for your continued support."
The game he's referring to is Crimson Shroud, a tabletop-style RPG and part of Level-5's Guild01 compilation. Guild01 is a series of downloadable titles designed by some of Japan's most successful and interesting devs, including Goichi Suda (Killer7, No More Heroes), Yoot Saito (Seaman), and Matsuno himself. The compilation was recently released on North American and European 3Ds eShops,...
- 11/8/2012
- by MTV Video Games
- MTV Multiplayer
In the future the presidency will undoubtedly be more challenging… and that's in real life. In the virtual world of Liberation Maiden, the president has to get their hands dirty, and save their country on their own. Enter Shoko Ozora, the newly elected head of New Japan, she must don her flying mech suit, and do whatever it takes to keep her people safe – even if that means doing a Suicide Drive into the core of an attacker's Power Spike. Yeah, it's a lot different than dealing with Super PACs and campaign rallies, but that's what you get when Level-5 and Suda51 are behind things.
Liberation Maiden is an eShop release for the 3Ds that was originally part of a larger compilation release, Guild01, that was released in Japan this past May. It brought together some of the biggest names in Japanese game development, and was given a retail release,...
Liberation Maiden is an eShop release for the 3Ds that was originally part of a larger compilation release, Guild01, that was released in Japan this past May. It brought together some of the biggest names in Japanese game development, and was given a retail release,...
- 11/2/2012
- by Jason Cipriano
- MTV Multiplayer
Nintendo is dropping a ton of new titles in the 3Ds eShop in preparation for the holiday season, including original games, classic games, demos and downloadable versions of select 3Ds hits. Some of the more notable titles making the switch to downloadable format include Ocarina of Time, Star Fox 64 3D and Super Mario 3D Land.
"The Nintendo eShop demonstrates Nintendo's commitment to providing consumers with unique digital content through a combination of creativity and convenience," said Scott Moffitt, Nintendo of America's executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. "The variety and quality of games coming this year is unmatched, from new entries in established franchises to original properties."
Below you can find Nintendo's full list of games and demos hitting the eShop before year's end:
Original Games
NightSky launches Oct. 25. NightSky is an action-puzzle game that offers an ambient game-play experience with cerebral challenges that fill uniquely designed, picturesque worlds.
"The Nintendo eShop demonstrates Nintendo's commitment to providing consumers with unique digital content through a combination of creativity and convenience," said Scott Moffitt, Nintendo of America's executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. "The variety and quality of games coming this year is unmatched, from new entries in established franchises to original properties."
Below you can find Nintendo's full list of games and demos hitting the eShop before year's end:
Original Games
NightSky launches Oct. 25. NightSky is an action-puzzle game that offers an ambient game-play experience with cerebral challenges that fill uniquely designed, picturesque worlds.
- 10/5/2012
- by Don Hatfield
- MTV Multiplayer
(Author’S Note: In the interest of condensing what is an extensive library of games releases, this article focuses on ‘main series’ titles: let’s be frank, they’re the ones we most care about and – honestly – this’ll end up being a ten-part feature if we cover every game which ever had ‘Final Fantasy’ in its title. Sincerest apologies to the half a dozen people who view this as a travesty.)
And so, much like the Final Fantasy games we today honour, we reach ‘Disc 2′ of our epic story.
For those of you who either missed or have gone to great lengths to repress Part 1 of our history lecture, I will try to recap (rolls 8-bit quest Bgm to scrolling text). Our story told of a small-time games developer called Square and how, teetering recklessly close to the pit of bankruptcy, their brave captain – one Hironobu Sakaguchi – helmed the...
And so, much like the Final Fantasy games we today honour, we reach ‘Disc 2′ of our epic story.
For those of you who either missed or have gone to great lengths to repress Part 1 of our history lecture, I will try to recap (rolls 8-bit quest Bgm to scrolling text). Our story told of a small-time games developer called Square and how, teetering recklessly close to the pit of bankruptcy, their brave captain – one Hironobu Sakaguchi – helmed the...
- 3/24/2012
- by Brad Fear
- Obsessed with Film
Square Enix has today announced the forthcoming European release of Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together, a PSP reinvention of the classic Japanese strategy RPG.
The original Tactics Ogre is one of the most beloved strategy RPG titles of all time, with the game being the only one to place in the Japanese gaming magazine Weekly Famitsu’s “Top 20 Games voted by readers” for 14 years running. Sadly, the original version of the game was never officially published in Europe, however, that is about to be rectified in spectacular fashion. From the press release:
Having also worked on such hit titles as Final Fantasy Tactics, Vagrant Story and Final Fantasy Xii, key members of the original Tactics Ogre development team have reformed to deliver the ultimate version of this definitive strategy RPG experience. Hiroshi Minagawa (Director), Akihiko Yoshida (Character Design), Yasumi Matsuno (Game Design), Hitoshi Sakimoto and Masaharu Iwata (Composers) are...
The original Tactics Ogre is one of the most beloved strategy RPG titles of all time, with the game being the only one to place in the Japanese gaming magazine Weekly Famitsu’s “Top 20 Games voted by readers” for 14 years running. Sadly, the original version of the game was never officially published in Europe, however, that is about to be rectified in spectacular fashion. From the press release:
Having also worked on such hit titles as Final Fantasy Tactics, Vagrant Story and Final Fantasy Xii, key members of the original Tactics Ogre development team have reformed to deliver the ultimate version of this definitive strategy RPG experience. Hiroshi Minagawa (Director), Akihiko Yoshida (Character Design), Yasumi Matsuno (Game Design), Hitoshi Sakimoto and Masaharu Iwata (Composers) are...
- 7/26/2010
- by Phil
- Nerdly
Who would have thought that a game so violent, so gory, so wrong, so utterly out there would find its way on to Nintendo’s Granny proof Wii. And exclusively at that too. Welcome to MadWorld, a twisted, warped and razor witted gore fest cum beat-em-up that is guaranteed to send the world’s po-faced into a dribbling, head spinning frenzy the minute they lay eyes on Jack, MadWorld’s Numero Uno, as he drops bad guys ass first on to a rusty spike, before moving on to the next, lamppost in hand ready to ventilate cranium. And that folks is just the tip of this entrails covered iceberg. This writer is almost certain, Fango fiends; he has unearthed a videogame with a violence quota to match that of Tokyo Gore Police.
A sort of Running Man meets Sin City and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre with a dash of National Lampoons humour,...
A sort of Running Man meets Sin City and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre with a dash of National Lampoons humour,...
- 3/14/2009
- Fangoria
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