Square Enix Announces New Classic Final Fantasy Game

[Tom Goldman]

Square Enix Announces New Classic Final Fantasy Game

Final Fantasy Legends: Warriors of Light and Darkness is a brand new entry in the Final Fantasy series even if it doesn't look like it.

Though the mixed reaction to unsure [http://www.amazon.com/Final-Fantasy-XIII-Xbox-360/dp/B001CMIUYS/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1279733335&sr=8-2] about where to take Final Fantasy, the company hasn't forgotten about the series' past. The latest next-gen installment of the series may have felt uncharacteristic to some, but the creators of the sequel to Final Fantasy IV are back with a brand new Final Fantasy game that will make classic RPG fans feel right at home.

Square Enix's Final Fantasy IV: The After Years was a follow-up to Final Fantasy IV that kept the original game's style in both visuals and gameplay. The team that developed it is now working on Final Fantasy Legends: Warriors of Light and Darkness (name translated by Andriasang [http://www.andriasang.com/e/blog/2010/07/21/ff_legends_announced/]), which is a brand new Final Fantasy game for Japanese cellphones created in the same style as The After Years.

Turn-based battles with up to five characters and 2D sprite-based visuals will be featured in Legends, along with other classic Final Fantasy elements. The story will be brand new, though not much on it has been revealed yet. It'll involve a struggle over the world's crystals, which will no doubt be sought after by an evil force for a nefarious purpose. The job system returns as usual, which gives players the ability to swap characters' abilities. Jobs will apparently be highlighted through Final Fantasy Legends' episodic distribution model, though exactly how has not been provided.

Don't let the fact that Final Fantasy Legends is a cellphone game in Japan for now get you down. Final Fantasy IV: The After Years was first released on cellphones but made it to in North America as a WiiWare title [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/91370-Final-Fantasy-IV-Sequel-Coming-To-WiiWare]. It wouldn't be surprising to see Legends make it over here too, but we'll probably have to wait until all of its episodes are released in Japan first, and then a bit longer.

The game's first episode will be out in Japan in September. Square Enix also has a Nintendo DS [http://www.square-enix.co.jp/mobile/ff/ffl/].

Via: Andriasang [<a href=]

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[the_pleasure_is_mine]

I saw this announced a couple of days ago.

Very awesome Still play FF3 on my DS. I'll most likely get this.

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

How big is the cell phone gaming market in Japan?

I noticed you specified CELL PHONE, and not iPhone.

Must be pretty big for SE to have invested a whole development team into it for two FF titles.

 

[Woodsey]

I would have thought that after 13 main-series iterations and with no real idea on where to take the series they'd have just left it alone - at least for the time being.

 

[SalamanderJoe]

Cellphone?! God again! There's a part of the Final Fantasy VII series on cellphone as well that I wanted. Anyway OT, Square-Enix have obviously got to the end of Final Fantasy if they're basically going back to the old games. Versus XIII better be a decent swan-song...and on 360.

 

[Con Carne]

As long as they stop making DS ports. That shits getting annoying. Thankfully most of the strictly Nintendo titles as of late, have sucked.

 

[tomtom94]

If this fails to revitalise the Final Fantasy brand can it finally die? The numbered sequels may be convenient but they are getting ridiculous now.
That said, they have given me an idea for a marathon. How much do you think it would cost to get every Final Fantasy game, a NES and a SNES? Yeah, maybe a little expensive...

 

[megs1120]

Yay! Finally!

 

[mariofan1000]

Interesting...not a fan of FF though.

 

[Korten12]

How big is the cell phone gaming market in Japan?

I noticed you specified CELL PHONE, and not iPhone.

Must be pretty big for SE to have invested a whole development team into it for two FF titles.

big...

the company Nexon has a whole site dedicated to cell phone games... Some even are almost MMO's on the phone. its suprisingly quite cool but none releases outside of japan...

 

[JediMB]

How big is the cell phone gaming market in Japan?

I noticed you specified CELL PHONE, and not iPhone.

Must be pretty big for SE to have invested a whole development team into it for two FF titles.

They've had fairly big games developed for their cellphones for the better part of this last decade.

"Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII" and "Kindom Hearts coded", anyone?

*sighs*

Wish the Android Market would open up for commercial use over here, so it could start competing with Apple's equivalent.

 

[Jared]

Liking how its going back to old...I like it. Ill keep tabs on it, might actually be intresting~

 

[BillyShakes]

Square Enix is making a Final Fantasy game based on Nuke? Does he know about this?

 

[ultimasupersaiyan]

And they say they don't know where to take Final Fantasy! There's the path Square-Enix and never leave it again!! Final Fantasy was great until they gave up on what makes the games good for experimentation. All they need to do is keep it turn based with every character not just 1, actual write a good story with characters we can care about and keep the Black/White/Summon magic in the game with the summons and spells they've already made. No more tweeks or experimenting with Final Fantasy Square-Enix! It worked fine until 2004 and you screwed up for 6 years!

On topic I do look forward to this game because it's the way I like Final Fantasy. I didn't like the 3D Final Fantasy remakes of games that started in this style and I liked the original format because it was more of an interactive novel instead of an interactive movie with too much effort on the fricken graphics and not on the story and characters. Now all they have to do is release them on the Wii and they'll probably make back all the money they missed out on over the last 6 years. If they keep it with 2D turn based combat and heavy well written stories then Square Enix will be redeemed in my eyes. Why can't Square-Enix make Final Fantasy XV like Unlimited Saga for the visuals in battle and have anime cutscenes? It would save them boat loads of cash and I bet the real fans would shower them in money for it. God I wish I could sit down and talk with the guys at Square-Enix and convince them of this because they already are trying to make the games like an anime for the most part, why not go all the way.

 

[Gamegodtre]

And they say they don't know where to take Final Fantasy! There's the path Square-Enix and never leave it again!! Final Fantasy was great until they gave up on what makes the games good for experimentation. All they need to do is keep it turn based with every character not just 1, actual write a good story with characters we can care about and keep the Black/White/Summon magic in the game with the summons and spells they've already made. No more tweeks or experimenting with Final Fantasy Square-Enix! It worked fine until 2004 and you screwed up for 6 years!

On topic I do look forward to this game because it's the way I like Final Fantasy. I didn't like the 3D Final Fantasy remakes of games that started in this style and I liked the original format because it was more of an interactive novel instead of an interactive movie with too much effort on the fricken graphics and not on the story and characters. Now all they have to do is release them on the Wii and they'll probably make back all the money they missed out on over the last 6 years. If they keep it with 2D turn based combat and heavy well written stories then Square Enix will be redeemed in my eyes. Why can't Square-Enix make Final Fantasy XV like Unlimited Saga for the visuals in battle and have anime cutscenes? It would save them boat loads of cash and I bet the real fans would shower them in money for it. God I wish I could sit down and talk with the guys at Square-Enix and convince them of this because they already are trying to make the games like an anime for the most part, why not go all the way.

actually a little change can be good.......
just not the change they have given, how about more new summons i'm personally sick of using the same ones every game.

 

[Hiphophippo]

Really? Are you kidding me? I hoped against hope for this very thing the last couple years. With this news post Tom Goldman has proven that I do in fact possess psychic powers. For my next trick, a delicious hamburger!

 

[TheBaron87]

Square Enix also has a Japanese teaser site [http://www.square-enix.co.jp/mobile/ff/ffl/] up for Final Fantasy Legends that plays the classic Final Fantasy theme.

That's the Prelude, not the theme

This is theme [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsNOMqNzRmA].

 

[BlueHighwind]

I hate to say this: but this looks cheap. It looks like Square Enix has thrown together a game on the cheap that doesn't follow the tropes of their SNES games because of any actual interest in gameplay, but only because making games like that are easy. Heck, the graphic engine is just stolen from FFIV-2, a single modder with enough time could make this game with less than a 1000 dollars worth of equipment. Yeah, they could do something more complex and endearing in the vein of games like FFVI or Chrono Trigger, but that would cost too much, so instead we have this game.

How much you wanna bet the storyline will be bare-bones or worse? Once upon a time games had to have limited storylines because of technological limitations - they made the most of what they had. Today they do it because studios don't feel like hiring a writer or making cutscenes - making the absolute LEAST of what they have. Everybody complains that Zelda and Mario never evolve, well games like this make me wonder if Final Fantasy is any better. Nostalgia is the ONLY reason any one will ever buy this.

At the very least it should have 3D visuals, like FFIV and FFIII, or even 4 Warriors of Light. Say what you want about 4 Warriors of Light - how its just a rehash of RPG cliches from twenty years ago - what at least it has a unique visual style. This is just second-rate schlock. And its BORING worst of all.

 

[Tom Goldman]

Square Enix also has a Japanese teaser site [http://www.square-enix.co.jp/mobile/ff/ffl/] up for Final Fantasy Legends that plays the classic Final Fantasy theme.

That's the Prelude, not the theme

This is theme [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsNOMqNzRmA].

Well... it's the theme to me I guess. I used to sit in front of my SNES and listen to it for hours.