Tag: square enix

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Demo Now Available, New Gameplay Showcases World Map, Minigames, More

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth received an in-depth look at PlayStation’s latest State of Play showcase, where publisher Square Enix announced that a demo for the game will be made available Wednesday on the PS5. The playable demo, currently available to download on the PlayStation Store, will allow players to take control of both the protagonist Cloud Strife and the antagonist Sephiroth in an early section of the game. Along with the announcement, Square Enix also debuted an 11-minute-long gameplay footage from the upcoming action RPG, showcasing the world map, modes of traversal, minigames and more.

This was Sony’s second State of Play showcase of the year, focussing entirely on Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. The showcase began with a new story trailer for the game, featuring a showdown between Cloud and Sephiroth, along with other party members and characters. The trailer also shows combat from the game and some stunning and diverse environments.

The trailer was followed by a gameplay deep dive that highlighted the expansive world map, which includes dense cities, mountains, grasslands and more, and the ways to traverse the same, including vehicles, mounts and, of course, Chocobos. The gameplay also detailed quests and a wide variety of minigames, including a deckbuilding card game called Queen’s Blood. The footage also showcased detailed visuals and facial animations that aid the narrative of the game. Rebirth will be available to play in both performance mode, that prioritises framerate, and graphics mode, that prioritises 4K resolution.

According to Square Enix, the Final Fantasy VII Rebirth demo will be a flashback section centred around the Nibelheim incident, putting players in the shoes of Sephiroth. The incident take place years before the events of the game, providing additional context about the story and characters.

Additionally, the studio said that it plans to release an update between now and the release of the game later this month that adds the Junun region to the demo, allowing players to explore the area freely.

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, the second game in the remake trilogy for the original game, will tell the tale of Cloud and his friends on the trail of Sephiroth. The demo for the game is now available on the PlayStation Store, with the full game releasing February 29 on the PS5.

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Xbox Developer Direct 2024: Indiana Jones and the Great Circle Unveiled, Senua’s Saga Gets Release Date

Xbox kicked off its 2024 with a jam-packed Developer Direct showcase, bringing reveals and updates on four upcoming releases from four studios, plus a bonus update from Square Enix. The 45-minute presentation, streamed live on YouTube and Xbox’s other social channels late Thursday, took the covers off MachineGames’ upcoming Indiana Jones game, provided a release date for the highly anticipated Senua’s Saga, and revealed a release window for Avowed, Obsidian’s next big fantasy RPG.

While 2023 was a quiet year for Xbox, the news is good this year for players on the platform — all games showcased at the Developer Direct presentation will launch across Xbox Series X/S, PC, Game Pass and/or cloud later in 2024. The four games, which saw deep dives and extended gameplay trailers along with release details, will also arrive as day-one Game Pass titles, Xbox confirmed. There were no surprise shadow releases like Hi-Fi Rush, announced at last year’s Developer Direct on January 25, 2023, and released into the wild the same day, but with concrete information on upcoming titles, Xbox fans should have little to complain. Here’s a handy rundown of everything announced at Xbox’s Developer Direct 2024 presentation:

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle – MachineGames

When: 2024

Where: Xbox Series X/S, PC, Game Pass

Indy is back and he’s on Xbox. After an eternity of speculation, developer MachineGames, the studio behind recent Wolfenstein titles, finally revealed Indiana Jones and the Great Circle at last night’s Developer Direct. First things first: No, it is not a third-person action-adventure title; Indiana Jones will instead play out from the first-person perspective — an interesting choice that perhaps mirrors the initial surprise and disappointment of finding out that Cyberpunk 2077 would not be a third-person title. But on second thought, it seems to be a wise choice, not just from an artistic point of view, but also as a smart way to avoid inevitable comparisons with Uncharted and Tomb Raider games.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, set between Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Last Crusade, will put you in the shoes of the iconic, whip-cracking archeologist and adventurer. And while Indy retains the facial likeness of Harrison Ford, he will be voiced by none other than Troy Baker in the game. The first-person action-adventure title promises arcane mysteries, hidden treasures, puzzle-solving, fist-fighting, whip-combat, first-person shooting, and more. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is arriving sometime later this year on current-gen Xbox consoles and PC.

Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II — Ninja Theory

When: May 21

Where: Xbox Series X/S, PC, Cloud, Game Pass

Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II finally received a release date at the Xbox Developer Direct presentation. The game, announced over four years ago, is coming May 21. We’ve already seen multiple gameplay and cinematic showcases from the game over the years and yesterday’s segment provided a little more insight and details about the game’s story, showing off some more gameplay and stunning visuals. Developers Ninja Theory also detailed some of the enhancements coming to the third-person action-adventure title compared to the first game, Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice.

Avowed — Obsidian

When: Fall 2024

Where: Xbox Series X/S, PC, Cloud, Game Pass

RPG veterans Obsidian provided a first gameplay deep dive into Avowed, first announced at Xbox Games showcase in July 2020. The fantasy RPG is in line with prior Obsidian RPGs, featuring an immersive world, deep questlines and dynamic combat. And of course, the choices you make in the game will leave a mark on the narrative, changing the course of the story later down the road.

The trailer showed off the vibrant world of Living Lands, where players are tasked with stopping a mysterious spiritual plague and uncover a big secret behind it all. It also provided a detailed look at the first-person melee and magic combat, both of which can be quickly swapped out. Avowed is launching sometime in Q3 or Q4 this year.

Ara: History Untold — Oxide Games

When: Fall 2024

Where: PC, Game Pass

The Developer Direct showcase also featured Oxide Games’ upcoming strategy title, Ara: History Untold. The turn-based grand strategy game, made by a team of developers that includes veterans from the Civilization series, will arrive on PC and PC Game Pass later this year.

First announced at the Xbox and Bethesda Showcase in 2022, the game will focus on building up a nation from scratch and leading it through different periods of an alternate history. The trailer showed off expansive strategic combat, design features and other gameplay systems. The developers stressed on the fact that player choices will leave indelible impacts on the game world

Ara: History Untold is launching sometime later this year
Photo Credit: Xbox

Visions of Mana — Square Enix

When: Summer 2024

Where: PS4, PS5, Xbox Series S/X, PC

Amid all Xbox and PC exclusive titles from in-house developers, Square Enix popped in at the Developer Direct presentation to give a detailed glimpse at Visions of Mana, the first new mainline entry in the Mana series in over 15 years. Square Enix showed off cute, cartoony visuals, real-time combat and other gameplay details for the game, in addition to providing a detailed look at the colourful world.

Visions of Mana also showed off its varied monster design, evocative score and giant cat-like companions, the pikuls, which can be used as a mount to ride around the game world. Visions of Mana arrives on Xbox, PlayStation and PC sometime later this year.

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Square Enix’s Foamstars to Arrive as PS Plus Monthly Free Title on February 6, Will Reportedly Include AI Art

Foamstars, Square Enix’s Splatoon-like 4v4 online party shooter announced last year, is coming next month. The PlayStation exclusive will release February 6 as a day-one launch title on PS Plus, Sony and Square Enix confirmed Tuesday. The game will be available to download for free on PS5 and PS4 as part of the PlayStation Plus Monthly Games lineup for next month, starting February 6 through March 4. Foamstars was announced at a PlayStation Showcase in May last year, showing off soapy shooting and colourful characters, both heavily inspired by Nintendo’s Splatoon games. A PS Plus release will likely attract more players to the multiplayer title in its early days.

PlayStation Plus subscribers will be able to redeem, download and play Foamstars at no extra cost. As with all free PS Plus monthly games, the Square Enix shooter, once redeemed, can be accessed beyond February as long as players hold on to their PS Plus membership, the publisher confirmed in its blog announcing the release date. After its PS Plus run, Foamstars will be available to buy on the PlayStation Store for $29.99 (roughly Rs. 2,494), starting March 5. Bear in mind, the multiplayer-only title would still require a PS Plus subscription for online play.

Ahead of Foamstars’ release, Square Enix also confirmed that the party shooter will include some AI-generated art. Foamstars producer Kosuke Okatani told VGC recently that the developers had used Midjourney, a popular generative AI-based image generation tool, to create some art for in-game icons. “AI was used in the creation of the in-game album covers for the music featured in the FOAMSTARS’ soundtrack. As developers, we’re always looking at new technologies to see how they can assist with game development,” Square Enix later clarified to the publication.

Okatani said that major bulk of the game, including its core gameplay elements, was hand-crafted by the developers, adding that AI-generated content in the game amounted for “0.01 percent or even less.” This confirmation follows a company-wide New Year’s letter from Square Enix president Takashi Kiryu, claiming that AI had the potential to reshape video games and the ways they are created. “We also intend to be aggressive in applying AI and other cutting-edge technologies to both our content development and our publishing functions,” the letter went on to say.

Foamstars will launch with three PvP modes — Smash the Star, Happy Bath Survival (both previously released in the Foamstar Open Beta Party), and the newly announced Rubber Duck Party. Smash the Star will require teams to foam up and take down the opposing team and get to their Star Player. Once seven players from a team have been defeated, the highest performer on that team will receive gameplay buffs and will be named the Star Player. Taking down the other team’s Star Player will result in an instant win.

Happy Bath Survival mode splits up the two teams, keeping half inside the play arena and half outside it. Those inside engage in head-on battles, while outside team members provide defensive support. The new Rubber Duck Party mode will require players to take possession of a rubber duck at the centre of the stage. Climbing aboard the duck will make it advance towards the opponent’s goal. The team that crosses the line first wins. Each of these 4v4 modes include three maps, which will be randomized during matchmaking.

Additionally, Foamstars will also include a single-player PvE mode called Missions, which will include both solo and four-player co-op experiences. The Missions mode will dole out more information on Foamstars characters, allow players to experiment with their abilities, and take on waves of enemies with friends.

Sqaure Enix confirmed that Foamstars will receive free themed seasonal updates over the span of one year. These would include cosmetics, playable characters, maps, and additional game modes. Additionally, each new season will include an optional Premium Season Pass priced at $5.99 (roughly Rs. 498).

Foamstars will arrive as a PS Plus launch title on February 6 across PS4 and PS5.

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Final Fantasy VII Rebirth to Offer ‘High Degree of Freedom,’ on Track to Release This Winter: Naoki Hamaguchi

The world of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth will offer a “high degree of freedom,” according to game director Naoki Hamaguchi, who addressed questions fans might have had about the second entry in the Final Fantasy 7 Remake project, which picks up right after Cloud and his gang left the walls of Midgar, arriving at the quaint village of Kalm, home to miners. While his comments don’t directly confirm an open-world format, we could still expect larger areas to explore, in addition to more flexibility in dealing with side content. In a separate tweet, producer Yoshinori Kitase confirmed that development on the game was ‘progressing smoothly and according to plan,’ suggesting that it’s still on track to release this winter.

While Square Enix is yet to confirm the rumoured 26th-anniversary celebration for Final Fantasy VII, it could possibly be revealed during the upcoming Summer Game Fest event, where the publisher is listed as a key partner. Of course, some final details of the high-octane action-driven Final Fantasy XVI is also expected, ahead of its release on June 22, exclusively on PS5. A PC version will also be released in time, though it could take longer than six months for optimisation. Circling back to Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, the developers are working on setting a concrete release date, which producer Kitase confirmed last year, would be ‘released next winter,’ pointing toward a late 2023 or early 2024 launch window.

“Players will witness a chain of narrative developments that lie at the very heart of the Final Fantasy VII story while discovering each character’s destiny,” writer Kazushige Nojima revealed in a separate tweet. The promotion simply states that it will have a story, with threads that would reveal each character’s arc. In a press release from Final Fantasy VII Rebirth’s announcement, producer Kitase claimed that the sequel is being developed in a way that new players could directly jump in without worrying about previous context.

“Making the middle part of a trilogy has its own challenges, but there are plenty of classic second instalments in the world of film that are defined by stunning story twists and deeper explorations of their characters. Often these second instalments become a favourite amongst the fans,” he added, hoping to make Final Fantasy VII Rebirth more gripping than 2020’s Final Fantasy VII Remake. The Remake project essentially reimagines the original 1997 PlayStation game for a new audience, tossing players into the dystopian cyberpunk metropolis of Midgar and dividing the chapters into three standalone experiences. Yes, it’s a trilogy, with some work on the final part already in progress.

The plot centres around Cloud Strife, an ex-SOLDIER operative, who joins a ragtag group of idealists called Avalanche to help destroy the Mako Reactor 1, whose bombing plunges the city into fiery chaos and brings visions of a bitter enemy long believed to be dead. Ditching the turn-based combat system of the original, Final Fantasy VII Remake employed a real-time battle system that has you switch between party members/ characters on the fly. Part one of the trilogy was released for the PS4 in 2020, before eventually making its way to PC and PS5 in the following year. The aforementioned sequel FF7 Rebirth, however, will not release on the previous-generation PS4.

Based on the current development timeline, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is expected to release this winter on the PS5.

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Final Fantasy XVI Extended Gameplay Revealed at PlayStation’s State of Play Event

Final Fantasy XVI just got an extended gameplay reveal at PlayStation’s State of Play event, held early Friday. The 25-minute-long footage touched upon the game’s summonable Eikons and combat, as producer Naoki Yoshida stressed that there’s no requirement for one to have played the previous games. In fact, Final Fantasy 16 functions as an entirely separate entry — even mechanics-wise, incorporating real-time action and RPG features akin to Devil May Cry. It’s the first in the long-running franchise to get rid of its turn-based combat system, and will feature a hideout for the lead character Clive Rosfield, First Shield of Rosaria. FFXVI will is set to drop June 22, exclusively on the PS5.

In the presentation, Yoshida compared Final Fantasy XVI’s gameplay experience to that of a ‘high-speed rollercoaster ride.’ You’ll only ever play as Clive in the fantastical realm of Valisthea, as his story unfolds across three pivotal and distinct periods of his life — his teenage years, his twenties, and his thirties. Additionally, the game will incorporate flashback events that take you back even further to help better understand his plight and journey to becoming a sworn warrior. Navigation mainly relies on a world map, which gets updated with new locations and objective markers as players progress in the narrative. For the record, the main narrative will probably take you 35 hours to clear and may extend to 70–80 hours to fully complete the game.

A fast travel mechanic was also shown during the presentation, followed by a montage of stellar locations, ranging from dungeons, lakesides, sprawling bazaars, warzones, and more as Torgal, our trusty wolf companion, sticks by our side. (You can give him commands as well.) Combat is flashy and takes place in real-time, with Clive mixing and matching skills he learnt by defeating Eikons (magical beasts). Elemental attacks such as creating a path of piercing icicles, infusing weapons with fire, and breathing out blue flames using a dragon Eikon’s power — similar to Elden Ring’s Grafted Dragon — can be seen in the Final Fantasy XVI gameplay footage. Ability points collected upon defeating enemies can be used to unlock any equipped Eikon abilities or upgrade the existing ones — pretty straightforward.

To ease the experience for players who aren’t well-versed in action games, Final Fantasy 16 includes ‘timely accessories.’ The demo showed a combination of the Ring of Timely Focus and the Ring of Timely Strikes, which slows down time so you can unleash a heavy combo attack with just the press of a single button. There’s also an item that fully automates evasion. Yoshida also mentioned that any party members who accompany Clive on his journey will be fully AI-driven, offering support during combat.

All roads lead back to a hideaway, which is populated with shops to purchase weapons and consumables, and a blacksmith who helps with upgrading armaments. You can then access the Arete Stone to open a different realm — a virtual training area to refine attacks and other skill moves. An Arcade mode is also included so you can compete for scores with others online.

Expect clashes with tons of Dominants in the overworld, who wield the powers of the Eikons, colossal beasts, and mechanised monsters of an ancient civilisation. But developer Square Enix claims that the highlight is the Eikon v Eikon battles, which might occasionally feature QTE (quick-time events) due to its cinematic scale. “These battles differ depending on the Eikon encountered and every showdown is unique, right down to gameplay,” Yoshida said. “Players will experience everything from a 3D scrolling shooter to a heavyweight wrestling match with devastating attacks that encompass the entire battlefield.”

Final Fantasy XVI releases June 22, exclusively on the PS5. A PC version was initially planned for release six months later, but Yoshida claimed that it might take longer to fully optimise the port.

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Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Is Second Game in Remake Trilogy, Coming to PS5 Next Winter

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is the name of the second game in the Final Fantasy VII Remake trilogy and it will launch “next winter” on PlayStation 5. Developer and publisher Square Enix also shared the first look trailer during its 25th Anniversary event for the original Final Fantasy VII. Among other major announcements, the developer also said that Crisis Core Final Fantasy VII Reunion will be launched later this year. It will make its debut on PS5, PS4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and Steam (PC).

As per a blog shared by Square Enix, the Final Fantasy VII Rebirth will continue the story of Final Fantasy VII Remake “taking Cloud and the party out of Midgar into the wider world.” The first look trailer shows Cloud and Sephiroth. As per the developer, the game’s standalone experience reimagines Final Fantasy VII for the modern era.

As per Tetsuya Nomura, creative director of the game of the Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, the game is designed in a way so that new players can enjoy the game regardless of whether they know the original game or not. He also pointed out that the development has already begun on the third title. Meanwhile, producer Yoshinori Kitase said that the game will have “stunning story twists” and deeper character explorations.

In related development, Square Enix also announced Crisis Core Final Fantasy VII Reunion, a prequel to original Final Fantasy VII launched in 2007, is coming on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Steam, and Switch later this winter. The game is said to follow the original narrative wherein Zack Fair is on a mission to find the missing soldier Genesis Rhapsodos. The game will come with multiple improvements in terms of graphics and dialogue delivery which is now fully voice-acted.

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iOS 16 Carries Built-In Unit Conversion in Messages, Notes, Calendar, More



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