Final Fantasy Shaping Up For Big Things In '09
(Posted: 05/01/2009) by Ronin90
As far as things go, 2008 was actually quite a busy year for Final Fantasy, but the majority of the coverage took place on the handheld consoles. While this is great, Final Fantasy (especially the main series) has always been known for pushing the graphical boundaries, and while the PSP and DS are fine pieces of hardware, they can't really compete with the might of the PS3 and Xbox 360.
That's where 2009 comes in. It's time for the big boys to flex their muscles and hopefully they will be given licence to do that this year. That still remains to seen though, as the 360 might not get its chance to shine dependant on release dates, but here's hoping anyway.
We've outlined the Final Fantasy games you should be looking forward to this year, so check out the list after the jump.
Tags:
Weekly Musings, Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy XIII, Final Fantasy Versus XIII, Final Fantasy Agito XIII, Fabula Nova Crystallis, Crystal Chronicles Echoes of Time
Weekly Musings
Hand Helds Dominate 2008's Final Fantasy Line-Up
(Posted: 28/12/2008) by Ronin90
As Square Enix has grown to become more dependant on its successful franchises, more and more Final Fantasy games have come to the fore-front and 2008 was no exception. This year we saw some big releases on the handhelds, as well as some successful remakes.
The year kicked off with a major release, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII. It hit American shores on the 25th of March and then found its way over to Europe on the 20th of June. Although it was released in 2007 in Japan, it didn't lag at all with sales and Crisis Core quickly became one of the biggest selling PSP titles of all time in all regions. It also helped restore some of Final Fantasy VII's reputation, as the other spin-offs were less than well received, but Crisis Core was received well and ended up being a solid product.
Click the jump to find out more information about Final Fantasy titles released in 2008.
Tags:
Weekly Musings, Final Fantasy 2008, Final Fantasy Dissidia, Final Fantasy IV
Weekly Musings
Final Fantasy XIV To Follow Dragon Quest's Lead?
(Posted: 14/12/2008) by Ronin90
Incase you are unaware, Dragon Quest X was announced for the Nintendo Wii earlier this week at a Dragon Quest press conference. Although Dragon Quest IX being on the Nintendo DS caused a bigger stir, this is still quite a statement of intent for Square Enix.
This move shows that Square Enix obviously believe that they will gain more profit from the next installment being on the Wii as opposed to the DS and it also means that they don't see the Playstation 3, nor the Xbox 360 in the same light as either of the aformentioned consoles.
Dragon Quest is a franchise which has little penetration anywhere outside of the Japan and even though Dragon Question VIII did a respectable job in attempting to change that, its popularity is nowhere near that of Final Fantasy on Western Shores. While this is quite obvious, what isn't so obvious is that Final Fantasy games still ship more copies in Japan than they do in North America or Europe despite having much fewer consoles in the region.
Tags:
Weekly Musings, Final Fantasy XIV, Dragon Quest X, Dragon Quest IX
Weekly Musings
Square Enix's Sales Down 63%? Just Wait Until Dissidia Hits
(Posted: 08/12/2008) by Ronin90
In a recent study, it was unveiled that this year Square Enix's sales were down by 63%. This was partly because the bulk of Crisis Core's Japanese sales came in 2007, but it still performed well when it was released in other regions earlier this year. The main reason for Square Enix's lacklustre sales this year is the absence of any other strong titles, which is where Dissidia: Final Fantasy comes in.
Since it was initially announced, Dissidia has intrigued nearly all fans of Final Fantasy. This is because Dissidia is a celebration of 20 years of Final Fantasy and it will include characters from all twelve of the games which make up the main series. So, even if you only liked one game in the franchise, it will still be featured. The other reason is because it's not an RPG, but a fighting game. Ehrgeiz was released some years ago and only featured characters from Final Fantasy, but now players will get the chance to see who really is the best protagonist in Final Fantasy history.
Click the jump to read more about how Dissidia will save Square Enix's year.
Tags:
Weekly Musings, Final Fantasy Dissidia, Square Enix, Crisis Core, Monster Hunter PSP
Weekly Musings
Cloud Message: New Information Highly Unlikely
(Posted: 30/11/2008) by Ronin90
Final Fantasy XIII news has been slow recently and even though speculation about the famed 'Cloud Message' was initially centered around Final Fantasy VII, it hasn't taken long for fansites to attempt to capitalise on it by regurgitating news and claiming that this book will provide great things. The question is, should we actually care?
The short answer is no. Unlike the newly announced Re: DVD, Cloud Message is purely a book. This means there will be no new trailers and no new news. What will probably be in the book? Artwork, which we've more than likely already seen. Why is it likely that we've seen it anyway? Because the book features ten other topics (nine of which are games) and there is no real need for Square Enix to include something new when they have so much content that they can fill the book up with.
More after the jump.
Tags:
Weekly Musings, Final Fantasy XIII, FFVII Compilation, Cloud Book
Weekly Musings
Multi-Disc Final Fantasy XIII On 360 Looking Likely
(Posted: 23/11/2008) by Ronin90
Anyone who bought The Last Remnant on Thursday will have noticed one blatantly obvious thing, it comes on two discs. Now, this might not be that concerning to too many people, but it could hint that this could be the way things will be done in the future.
As everyone is now aware, Final Fantasy XIII is being released on the Xbox 360, as part of Square Enix's new "let's make money" strategy. It's more than likely that Final Fantasy XIII will dwarf The Last Remnant in size, and if they couldn't compress that game down, it is likely that they will struggle for Final Fantasy XIII as well. The only thing that might discount this, is that The Last Remnant was developed using an external engine (Unreal 3), whereas Final Fantasy XIII is being developed using Square Enix's own Crystal Tools.
More after the jump...
Tags:
Weekly Musings, The Last Remnant, Final Fantasy XIII
Weekly Musings
Dissidia's Missing Characters: Spinoffs
(Posted: 17/11/2008) by Ronin90
While probably not as potent as last week's list, there are still some big hitters that have appeared in Final Fantasy Spinoffs who many may feel they would like to see in Dissidia: Final Fantasy.
Unlike last week though, this list will only contain 5 characters, as well, there just haven't been as many original characters in spinoffs as there have been in the main Final Fantasy series.
As these characters don't appear in the main iterations of the Final Fantasy franchise, their inclusion would definitely have to be as bonus material, as they wouldn't be able to replace anyone from the other games.
Anyway, we hope you enjoy the list; hit the jump to view it!
Tags:
Weekly Musings, Final Fantasy Dissidia, Dissidia Characters
Weekly Musings
Dissidia's Missing Characters: Main Series
(Posted: 09/11/2008) by Ronin90
It's been heavily promoted that Dissidia: Final Fantasy is a celebration of 20 years of Final Fantasy and for that reason, it features the two characters from the first ten iterations of Final Fantasy's main series.
The inclusion of some and exclusion of others has been a definite talking point amongst fans of the series, as some will sorely be missed in the line-up. Others could really stake a claim too, but were excluded anyway, sometimes for not straight-forward reasons.
We've compiled a bit of a wish list of characters we'd like to have seen included from the main franchise, and who knows, they may even appear at some point as downloadable content. It's important to remember that this list also breaks the rules of one antagonist and one protagonist per game.
Hit the jump to see the list.
Tags:
Weekly Musings, Final Fantasy Dissidia, Dissidia Characters
Weekly Musings
Final Fantasy Agito XIII Deserves Your Attention
(Posted: 26/10/2008) by Ronin90
Up until June this year, nobody was really all that concerned with Final Fantasy Agito XIII, primarily because they thought they'd never even get to play it. Production on the game only started because Before Crisis was so successful, so Agito was definitely an afterthought with regards to the Fabula Nova Crystallis franchise and Square Enix hoped to repeat the success in Japan gain.
However, when Square Enix announced that they would in fact be releasing Agito on the PSP, interest was suddenly gained and since then it has increased considerably. So much so, that Final Fantasy Agito XIII could be a massive title for the PSP in 2009 and it's no longer just an afterthought, it's arguably on par with its sister titles.
More after the jump...
Tags:
Final Fantasy Agito XIII, Fabula Nova Crystallis, Weekly Musings
Weekly Musings
Remember, These Final Fantasy XIII Character Names Are Just Aliases
(Posted: 19/10/2008) by Ronin90
A few days ago a Shonen Jump Magazine scan revealed that Lightning wasn't the only character to have a codename for the upcoming Final Fantasy XIII, as the previously named Mr. 33cm (due to his shoe size) has also been given a codename.
However, while fans completely accepted Lightning's name, the reaction hasn't been overly positive with regards to the new name for our Blonde protagonist.
After reading some forums, the general concensus that that Mr. 33cm's new codename - Snow - is just really weak and it doesn't suit his looks or stature at all. The only possible link is that he rides Shiva, who is of course the Summon which represents the element of Ice, but even with that, it's still very underwhelming. I think it could only really have been worse if they'd have called him Sleet, which they may still do and if that happens, I definitely coined it here.
Tags:
Final Fantasy XIII, Final Fantasy XIII Characters, Weekly Musings
Weekly Musings
FFXII & FFXIII Characters In Dissidia? Why Not?
(Posted: 13/10/2008) by Ronin90
Although the official cast list for Dissidia has now been confirmed and games ranging from Final Fantasy I to Final Fantasy X will be the only ones to have featured characters, that doesn't mean there isn't scope for characters from other games to appear.
Square Enix has never been shy about having characters appear as cameos and/or unlockables and there is a strong possibility that they could do the same with Dissidia: Final Fantasy.
The most obvious example of this would be Kingdom Hearts; a game developed by Square Enix which has a completely unique cast, Disney characters and Final Fantasy characters too. Throughout the franchise, a multitude of characters have appeared in cameo roles and even characters from Final Fantasy X-2 have featured.
Tags:
Final Fantasy Dissidia, Dissidia Characters, Weekly Musings
Weekly Musings
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