Square Enix have announced that they’ll be releasing Final Fantasy: The Four Heroes of Light in the West this Fall/Autumn in Europe, with a US confirmation to follow later today.

The DS spin-off has had a slight name change for the localization, as it was released in Japan as Final Fantasy Gaiden: Four Warriors of Light.

The title is a back-to-basics Final Fantasy title, with a turn-based battle system, four heroes, crystals and kingdoms. It’s designed to harken back to the NES Final Fantasy titles.

The game’s likely to be at E3 so we’ll bring you our thoughts and impressions from the show. Stick with us for the latest on Final Fantasy: The Four Heroes of Light.

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This dead horse: we’re flogging it. A few days ago Motomu Toriyama, the game director behind FFXIII said he would very much like to remake Final Fantasy VII, a remake fans have been clamouring for ever since the PS3 tech demo of E3 2005.

To add further fuel to the fire that will never die out comes Square Enix CEO Yoichi Wada with a statement that is sure to once again split the fanbase:

“Many fans have requested we remake Final Fantasy VII. We’re going to explore the possibility – whether or not we’re going to do it, if we’re going to do it, and the platform.”

Meaning it might not even be on the PS3. Holy controversial statement, Batman, a Final Fantasy game not on the Sony PlayStation! What is this, the early 90′s? Assuming it happens of course. Which it probably won’t, but hope springs eternal.

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While being interviewed at GDC 2010 regarding Final Fantasy XIII, Motomu Toriyama shared some interesting facts about the future of the Final Fantasy series.

What may be the most interesting piece of the interview was when Toriyama was asked which Final Fantasy game he would like to remake.

“That would be Final Fantasy VII! If we had the manpower and the time to work on a project, if we were to remake Final Fantasy VII with the quality of Final Fantasy XIII it would become a tremendous project. If we can get the number of people we need by all means that would be the one I would really want to remake.”

As if anybody expected any other answer.

Does this mean that we’re going to see a remake of Final Fantasy VII? Not necessarily. Toriyama brings up a good point that many fanboys (and fangirls) miss when they cry for a FFVII remake, which is that it takes a lot of resources to produce a game. It takes a lot of time, money, and energy to produce a game, even if you’re remaking one. You also run the risk of the fans not liking it due to the inevitable changes.

And by inevitable changes, there is no doubt that if Square Enix suddenly dumped a few hundred employees into a FF VII remake project with no fear of financial loss, there will be changes to the game. Final Fantasy VII was a great game… For its time. The game doesn’t own up to today’s standards (and I’m not talking about graphics), so there would obviously be changes to gameplay, possibly some reworking of the overworld to suit the game better, and new dialog (don’t hold your breath on Square Enix leaving Cloud’s “Off course!” in a remake).

Minor rant aside, the interview with Toriyama is really interesting and he sheds some light on some other aspects of Final Fantasy’s series, such as the possibility of utilizing 3D technology for future titles.

Check out the full interview at Silicon Era.

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Well, this is interesting. According to Andriasang, Square Enix’s recruit page has a listing looking for staff for work on a “next generation” gaming engine.

“At Square Enix, in anticipation of the appearance of next generation platforms, we’ve started development on a new generation game engine for competing beyond the level of the strong developers throughout the world, and are presently seeking a lot of talent.”

Square used the image of Cloud from Final Fantasy VII in the listing, but we probably shouldn’t read into that too much – it’s most likely just a picture for the sake of promoting the company’s image. The FFVII remake rumours stopped running their course a long time ago.

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Square Enix has just announced that Final Fantasy XIII has shipped over 5 million units worldwide, with at least 3 million of those accounting for US and Europe figures, as reported by Andriasang,

The game has shipped at least 2 million units in Japan since its launch back in December, and by all accounts it looks like it’s going to easily eclipse that success here in the west.

This figure brings sales of the franchise as a whole to a whopping 96 million units in 20 years. Not too shabby.

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Well, North American sites have joined in on the Final Fantasy XIII review extravaganza, but it seems that Edge has the most scathing review so far, especially since the majority of reviews have been fairly positive.

Full list after the cut:

A snippet of the Edge review makes some dashing remarks to the game’s case:

Some people don’t like numbers, but try this little sum. If you submit 25 hours of your life to a misjudged series of linear battles and cutscenes, Square-Enix lets you play FFXIII, and you’ll get 25 decent hours out of it. It’s an equation that might just balance out – but for who? Well, the fanbase, certainly, will find Lightning to be the Cloud substitute they’ve been yearning for, and in the hunting side-quests the grinding fix they’re after.

For anyone less dedicated – who wouldn’t really care if a Chocobo makes an appearance or not – it’s more troubling. FFXIII is uncommonly beautiful, with a background fiction as rich as its story is poor, and at its beating heart is a battle system that stands among the genre’s finest. Its structural changes are brave, but in minimizing everything that happens outside of that main narrative the baby’s been thrown out with the bathwater, leaving a potentially interesting world that you just don’t care about saving.

Ouch. Lightning and crew wouldn’t be very happy about this.

Final Fantasy XIII drops next week on Tuesday!

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Well, it’s about time that Final Fantasy XIII reviews showed up online after being suppressed for so long. And now, days away from its release, we in North America and Europe can finally know what the big names in games have said.

List of reviews after the cut.

• RPGSite – 85%
• The Lost Gamer – 9
• TheSixthAxis – 8
• Eurogamer – 8
• PushSquare – 3/4
• Digital Spy – 4/5
• Videogamer – 7
• CVG – 9.2
• IGN UK – 8.3
• BritBox – 7
• X360 Achievements – 82%
• HardGame2 – 9.5

So far, everything’s looking pretty good, but Digital Foundry’s Richard Leadbetter had a few words to share about XIII on the 360.

In the latest Eurogamer face-off, the results came as followed:

“The rumours are true. Final Fantasy XIII on Xbox 360 isn’t anywhere near as impressive as it is on PlayStation 3. The real kicker is that it’s a lot worse than it should have been.

“Square Enix’s latest epic – 4.5 years in the making – follows on the basic principles established by all of its PlayStation predecessors in combining an excellent 3D engine along with vast amounts of pre-rendered CG. This presented two very difficult issues for the developers tasked with porting an already mature PS3 work-in-progress over to the Xbox 360.

“So, occasionally fine, sometimes grim: a statement that effectively sums up how much of Final Fantasy XIII looks on Xbox 360 when compared to the PlayStation 3 game, meaning that if you own both consoles, there really is only one choice when it comes to the purchasing decision.”

Ouch. Pretty scathing. Lots more about that through the link.

In case you didn’t know (which is hard at this point), Final Fantasy XIII goes live for the PS3 and 360 next week, March 9th, for North America and Europe.

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MSXbox World has the first ten minutes of Final Fantasy XIII in plain’ ol’ English! Not that Japanese moonspeak you saw before.

Not only that, the Collector’s Editions for the PS3 and 360 have been revealed in fancy CGI fashion. Revel in the majesty (thanks, VG247)!

Final Fantasy XIII is out March 9th. THAT’S TWO WEEKS FROM RIGHT NOW.

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Final Fantasy XIII director Motomu Toriyama issued a statement on the official European FFXIII website about XIII’s linearity and how it will be beneficial to all – fans and newcomers alike.

“In order to allow the player to become absorbed in the drama of the storytelling and the new and exciting world of Cocoon and be drawn to the characters without getting distracted or lost we have deliberately used a linear game design for the introduction sections so they can be enjoyed in the same manner as watching a film,” said Toriyama.

“We are aiming for a vibe while playing that is similar to the experience of an FPS style game, where the player rapidly progresses through a series of dramatic events and experiences one after the other on an imposing and atmospheric battlefield.

“This kind of design is also very beneficial for the player in allowing them to gradually and systematically learn the brand new battle system that this installment brings to the series. It is set up such that the player will experience and try out each character’s possible roles in battle and naturally internalize the intensely tactical nature of the Paradigm Shift system.”

Kind of interesting how an FPS game would influence an RPG game with the idea of quickening the action from one section of the game to the next. Never thought of it that way.

Final Fantasy XIII is out for the PS3 and 360 March 9th in the US and Europe!

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Yoshinori Kitase said to TechDigest that a Final Fantasy VII remake is possible should the right amount of time be invested into it, that is, a year’s time.

“If it were possible that we had all the right facilities and the right environment to be able to make and prepare a Final Fantasy VII remake within a year, we’d very much like a go at it.

“But even Final Fantasy XIII has taken over three and a half years to create. If we were to recreate Final Fantasy VII with the same level of graphical detail as you see in Final Fantasy XIII, we’d imagine that that would take as much as three or four times longer than the three and a half years it has taken to put this Final Fantasy together. So it’s looking pretty unrealistic.

“But if any such situation came about, by any remote chance, then yes, we’d do it”.

Looks like everyone will just have to be content with the PlayStation game for now, but thankfully it’s available for everyone to snag on the PlayStation Network.

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Speaking to GameTrailers recently, Final Fantasy XIII producer Yoshinori Kitase admit that he’s quite interested in seeing a Final Fantasy VII remake come to fruition.

“I’m really interested to see this more complete form of Final Fantasy VII portrayed more realistically with the voice and animation and all the suttle expressions there.

“I’d be interested to see that and to make that, it would be a great experience. I don’t get tired of people asking that question, so I’ll continue to answer my thoughts as long as people keep asking.”

It’s surprising to hear this, considering that Square Enix has gone on the record numerous times stating that its simply not going to happen. Of course, just because he wants to make it, doesn’t necessarily mean it will actually happen.

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Well, the US isn’t the only country that’s going to see the Final Fantasy XIII 360 Bundle, but European gamers who desire a new system will be happy to hear that the boxed set will be upon their shores on March 9th as well.

The special edition bundle comes in two flavors:

-120 GB console, wireless controller and a copy of the game
-250 GB hard drive, two wireless controllers, a copy of the game, two codes for downloadable Avatar items, and the console itself has “Final Fantasy XIII” engraved on it

And check out that box art! Damn yeah!

In addition to the bundle, faceplates designed by Tetsuya Nomura will be going on sale the day the game is released.

Dang, I should’ve waited for this rather than the Modern Warfare 2 console.

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A rumor and pictures have been spreading through the internet the past few days as to a Special Edition (hereafter referred to as SE) for Final Fantasy XIII, Square-Enix’s newest game in the Final Fantasy franchise.

We are unable to see any pictures that aren’t blurry or require a login to member sites to view, but we’ll give you what we have.

The SE bundle is set to include:

- LE 250 GB Black (even though boxart shows white Xbox 360) Xbox 360 (no current branding)

- 2 Black (again, possibly white) wireless controllers

- The basics: AV Cable, Headset, Network Cable

- A copy of FFXIII (obviously)

The SE is set to retail at $399.

We’ve yet to see if there’s any truth to this rumor, but keep your eyes out for further information.

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Well, Team Teamwork has done it again. The creative mind that brought you The Ocarina of Rhyme has graced our ears with Vinyl Fantasy VII.

If you’re unfamiliar with either creation, what Team Teamwork does is take a game’s soundtrack, toss in some ridiculously fresh beats from famous rap and hip-hop artists and make something that’s, at the very least, fun to listen to.

Familiar names like Jay-Z, Outkast, MF DOOM, and Ghostface Killah grace the lineup of rhyme spitters.

Unfortunately, Team Teamwork’s Bandcamp page received a cease and desist notification for using copyrighted material, but you can still keep updated on current projects via the Team Teamwork Tumblr. You can also listen to other mash-ups on the official MySpace page.

Happy listening!

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