The character countdown is almost over now, people. With the confirmation of Cecil and Golbez as Final Fantasy IV's respective light and darkness ambassadors, we now know the identities of most Dissidia alumni. Final Fantasies I through IV and VIII through X are now complete, while villains for VI and VII have also been revealed.
All that's really left is to figure out who the heroes of VII (no-brainer really ... unless a Caith Sith surprise is in store) and VI (more difficult to gauge considering characters shared the spotlight equally) are. That, and what's the fate of V -- in or not? Lots of conflicting reports on that one so we'll wait and see. Maybe TGS is the time to get those last inkling details before the big release this December.
2008 looks to be yet another excellent year for Tokyo Game Show. There's a lot of excitement over the potential surprises at the show. Square Enix has posted its lineup for this year's show, and we're a little saddened to see Final Fantasy XIII (PS3) still not playable. At the very least, we'll be getting some one-on-one time with Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep (PSP). Check out the full PlayStation list here:
We're expecting many of these trailers will be shown behind closed doors. Fear not, though. We'll provide detailed impressions of the trailers live from Tokyo next month.
With Dissidia, Square Enix's upcoming PSP-exclusive brawler, coming by year's end in Japan, the company has been quick to release tons of new videos for Final Fantasy fans everywhere. This new trailer shows a lot more CG, a lot more action, and even highlights Final Fantasy VI's Kefka -- a favorite character for many fans of the franchise.
While we're glad to see Final Fantasy Agito XIII head to PSP, we're saddened to hear that this online-enabled RPG may only arrive in the distant future. According to an interview with Tetsuya Nomura (translated by FinalFantasyXIII.net), the PSP addition to the Final Fantasy XIII universe will arrive after the two other PS3 games: Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy Versus XIII. The reason for this? According to Nomura, there's simply too much content in the game. The "lengthy story" and "large amount of characters" makes it one of PSP's most ambitious titles yet.
Final Fantasy XIII will not debut until 2009 -- and who knows when Versus XIII will release? It looks like for the time being, Agito won't be on our radar until well beyond 2009, into at least 2010. Ouch.
SCEJ just dropped a ton of information concerning several major PSP titles for the remainder of 2008. Three huge games are now officially slated for this holiday season in Japan, and two of them are certainly games you probably won't want to miss importing. Dissidia: Final Fantasy is now set for a December 18 release, while Patapon 2 Donchaka and Mobile Suit Gundam: Gundam vs. Gundam will both be out November 27 and 20, respectively.
All three games will be sold alongside bundled packs that include the new bright-screened PSP-3000. Patapon 2 Donchaka not only dons a new subtitle, but will also be available as a PS Store download for those who want to save a couple of bucks over the UMD version. This is a similar strategy as seen by Yuusha no Kuse ni Namaikida or2 and Bleach Soul Carnival. Tax-inclusive prices for games and bundles are after the break ... just in case you wanted to know how much money will be leaving your wallet this holiday season.
The last Dissidia: Final Fantasy video showcase featured a set of not so beloved Final Fantasy characters -- a punk onion dude and the ultra sexy Cloud of Darkness. Yet, despite that fact, the gameplay footage was still awe-inspiring and kept you drooling for more. This time around, we've got more of the same; however, we're sure you're going enjoy watching these characters a whole lot more.
Final Fantasy X's daddy issues duo, Jecht and Tidus, show us how it's done in this here video clip. Not only are they dishing out mad skills as usual, they're taking the fight all around the fighting arena, giving us a sense of how large and dynamic the stages can get. It seems that every little glimpse of Dissidia that we get, it gets harder and harder to look away. Keep an eye on this one folks. This is looking to be the game to have for this year (in Japan anyway).
We don't know much about the upcoming PSP version of Final Fantasy Agito XIII. We know that it'll support Infrastructure in some way, will have a Crisis Core-inspired battle system, and we know that it's based on cards. Other than that, we're just going to have to stare at these screenshots at Famitsu and remark on how Square Enix is able to make such impressive character models on the PSP yet again.
We're mostly used to seeing an amalgamation of different cut scenes in our Dissidia: Final Fantasy trailers; however, this time we're treated to over two minutes of pure gameplay. The battle you'll be witnessing is between Final Fantasy III light and dark reps, Onion Kid and The Cloud of Darkness.
One thing this blogger particularly took notice of was the short pause for the Onion Kid during his break status; he does a class change and then has to choose an ability from a drop down menu. It's interesting to see that while the game is a fast and fluid fisticuff, the developers could still incorporate some of the traditional turn-based Final Fantasy elements into the game. Are you not grasping that thought fully? Well, you will once you see the trailer.
Wowzers! So there is a lot more information out there on Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep than we anticipated. First we got some translated hands-on impressions gathered from various Japanese sites over at KHInsider, along with a trailer summary. Some of this information we know about already, so here are highlights of the new stuff:
Ven's level is the Castle of Dreams, Cinderella's world. Ven cooperates with Jaq the mouse to collect materials to make Cinderella's dress. After going through a maze and finding the necessary items, a boss fight ensues with Lucifer. No, not Lucifer the demon, but rather the cat from Cinderella.
Secondly, we have 3 pages of Famitsu scans courtesy of PSPHyper. Reading the hands-on impressions while looking at these scans, you can almost pretend you were playing the demo. Lastly, IGN has a few seconds of video footage of both Birth by Sleep and Dissidia from their Game Scoop show. Look for that after the jump.
Posted Aug 2nd 2008 11:55PM by Alan Tsang
Filed under: News
Those who were lucky enough to get invited to Square Enix's DKΣ3713 Private Party had a chance to play a demo version of Dissidia: Final Fantasy. A release date of December 2008 was again confirmed for Japan, as well as a limited edition PSP bundle similar to the Crisis Core bundle released earlier in Japan and Europe. And like other Final Fantasy games released recently, Dissidia will also have its own Potion soft drink.
Even though 1UP reports that only 9 Final Fantasy games will be part of Dissidia, PSPHyper, NeoGAF and several Japanese blogs are reporting that in addition to Kefka of FFVI, Golbez of FFIV and Exdeath of FFV were also spotted in the trailer show at DKΣ3713. Meaning now there is at least one character from Final Fantasy I to X, resulting in a grand total of 10 titles. Unfortunately, the trailer was shown in a closed theater, making this difficult to verify. For your consideration: back in March we reported on the above poster which allegedly revealed all the villains for Dissidia -- so far the poster has been right about Cloud of Darkness of FFIII, Kefka of FFVI and Jecht of FFX. Could it be right about Golbez and Exdeath as well?
One of the most highly anticipated titles for the PSP is the FF mash-em-up brawler, Dissidia: Final Fantasy. We've previously known that one main hero and one villain will represent each game between FF's I through X; however, according to a preview from 1UP, there will only be nine Final Fantasy titles getting representatives.
With FFI, II, III, VIII, IX, and X's rosters fully confirmed, there's only room for three more games. FFVII's Sephiroth has been teased in trailers for the longest time, and 1UP's preview also mentions that FFVI's Kefka had been spotted in a new trailer at the recent Square Enix party. This basically points to both VI and VII being confirmed for two of the final three slots. That leaves either IV or V to be cut from the game. Seeing as V is the worst title in the series (feel free to send us your hate mail), most likely it'll be the one to be cut.
Was this the "major announcement" Square Enix referred to? NeoGAF tells us that earlier today in the private press event DKΣ3713, it was unveiled that Final Fantasy Agito XIII will be heading to the PSP in addition to cell phones. The title is part of Fabula Nova Crystallis Final Fantasy XIII which also includes Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy Versus XIII. No release date has been announced.
After reading that tricky tricky headline, you might be thinking to yourself: "ZOMG, it's Cloud! It's Cloud! It's Cloud! It's Cloud" Then proceed to run around the room overjoyed, plotting out your latest FFVII Yaoi fanfics. As much as we would enjoy allowing you such revelry, we unfortunately will have to break your heart, tear it in two, and then cast Ultima on it. You see, as the picture above suggests, the "cloudy" reference refers to The Cloud of Darkness, the final boss of Final Fantasy III and not our self-loathing, blond hero.
Lady Cloud of Darkness is a great choice over Xande (another FFIII final boss) as there is a serious need of more femininity injected in the sausagefest known as Dissidia: Final Fantasy. Hopefully, when FFVI gets added, we'll be seeing Terra with complementary morph skills. Anyway, aside from Cloud of Darkness, a generic Onion Knight will be representing FFIII's heroes. While none of the four Onion Kids are specifically mentioned, the character design, however, looks very similar to the DS remake's Ingus. Now all that's left is to see who's coming from FFs IV, V, and VI.
PSP had a number of excellent SRPG games to choose from during last year's holiday season. Final Fantasy Tacticsc: The War of the Lions was one of them. The quintessential PS1 game got a makeover when it moved to PSP, with beautiful new cutscenes and a whole bevvy of new quests. The game is now available for a 50% discount on amazon.com -- $20. If you missed out on this title last year, this may be a good time to jump.
Not much of an update, but since we are going to have to wait till at least the end of the year for Dissidia: Final Fantasy, assuming the Japanese version and no delays, we are going to take what we can get.
The update adds the characters of Final Fantasy X, the father and son duo Jecht and Tidus, into the game. With them comes new screenshots, as well a wallpaper of the Warrior of Light. Final Fantasy VII is still missing, though Sephiroth is confirmed to be in the game. No word yet on who the hero is, but it is most likely Cloud, or possibly Zack Fair. Or Vincent. Or Lucrecia. Or ...
