So maybe the press and industry insiders lucky enough to see special footage of the Fabula Nova Crystalis Final Fantasy games behind closed doors have a true sense of their scope and grandeur, but as for the rest of us, it's been slim pickings. 

Thanksfully, a DVD recently released in Japan titled "CLOUD" (Figures, huh?) featured two extended trailers with footage few of us have seen before.  They may well be outdated now and not feature some scenes from the 2007 Tokyo Game Show trailers, but at least it's something.

The combat in the Final Fantasy XIII trailer appears to be incredibly slick, and the cutscenes are, of course, as technically impressive and gorgeous as always.

As for Final Fantasy Versus XIII, the trailer gives no impression of how the game will actually play.  But that's not so important, really, since we get a new look at a frenetic battle scene that comes off being considerably darker than FFXIII.  My favorite moment--our mysterious hero breaks an assailant's neck with his legs.  Now that's classy. ...

So Tetsuya Nomura says--in a recent interview with Japan's Dengeki magazine, the Square Enix developer says that Final Fantasy XIII may be the first game to make full use of the Playstation 3's abilities.

In addition, Nomura stated that the whopping 50 gigabytes of storage available on Blu-Ray, when combined with the technical horsepower of the console, will allow for the technical advancement from the last entry in the series, FFXII, to be as great as the jump from Final Fantasy VI on the SNES to Final Fantasy VII on the Playstation.

Is Nomura full of hot air, or will Final Fantasy XIII really be cinematic enough to rival the degree of change between 2D and 3D graphics from a decade ago?  Only time will tell--and judging by how slowly the XIII games seem to be progressing, it could be more time than some of us want to wait.

On the Versus XIII front, Nomura added that airships will be playing a slightly more active role in his upcoming game, allowing players to fly the ships around the world map and use them to launch assaults on...things.  Details may be scarce, but blowing stuff up with an airship has to be fun, right?

And, finally, to dispel rumors that ...

Final Fantasy IV's remake for the Nintendo DS continues to impress, with delicious graphics and voice-acted cutscenes that bring the game to life in a totally new way.

Final Fantasy IV's Official Japanese Site has recently been updated to include new video clips of Cecil, Kain, and Rosa in action.  To top it off, there area  few new gorgeous wallpapers in the Downloads section.

Check it out. ...

What does the lack of recent news updates at EoFF mean?  Well, it could mean a lot of things.  I'm lazy, no news has been appealing, or big changes are on the horizon.  Turns out those are all pretty true, but the last one is the most important!

As of a few days ago, our massive Kingdom Hearts II section, which has been in the works for a long, long time (since the game came out!) has finally been made live.  It's frighteningly huge--check it out.

And be sure to check back soon, because that's just the tip of the iceberg. ...

To promote their showing at TGS this year, Square Enix's official Japanese website hosted a collection of special-edition wallpapers, and yours truly has collected them for easy access.  Check them out below.


...

Alas, Eyes on Final Fantasy didn't have the opportunity to travel halfway around the world for Japan's premiere gaming show, which means we haven't had any first-hand experience with any of the exciting new titles Square Enix is showing off behind closed doors.

Our misfortunes aside, though, there's still plenty of news to report on, especially two brand new trailers for Final Fantasy XIII and Versus XIII, Square's Playstation 3 double-whammy.  While we haven't seen either of the new trailers due to the exclusive nature of Square Enix's presence at TGS, gaming blog Joystiq has.  Check out their impressions of both Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy Versus XIII.

Nothing new about either game is especially shocking: they're both still gorgeous, though the trailers were comprised mostly of CG footage and may not be 100% indicative of how the final product will look.

Final Fantasy XIII's trailer showed off two new characters, a mysterious gunman with magical abilities and a female character who will play some part (large or small, totally unknown at this point) in the game.  There were also ...

The least exciting of Square Enix's new Kingdom Hearts titles is the mobile game, Kingdom Hearts: Coded.

The content looks interesting enough--a digitized version of the original Kingdom Hearts adventure in which Sora can take control of how he interacts with his surroundings, thereby allowing him to do unusual things like pass through objects or manipulate his environment.

The chances of gamers outside of Japan actually getting to play Kingdom Hearts: Coded are none too good, given the number of mobile games that have made their way stateside.  If only the average US phone could compete with Japan's superior technology  Still, Dirge of Cerberus: Lost Episode found its way across the Pacific, so maybe Coded will, too.

Stay tuned for more information on everything Kingdom Hearts--we'll have screens of Coded as soon as they become available.

[Source: Joystiq] ...

As we briefly reported yesterday, Square Enix has unveiled three brand new Kingdom Hearts titles at the Tokyo Game Show.  And while nothing new has been made public on the video/screenshot front, there's a bit more to say in regards to these new Kingdom Hearts games.

Those of you who completed Kingdom Hearts II and Kingdom Hearts II: Final Mix+ may have been treated to the special video that hinted at Birth By Sleep's existence months ago.  If you didn't, no worries--check it out right here.  It was speculated that the trailer pertained to what would eventually turn into Kingdom Hearts III, but we now know that it is the first of Square Enix's offshoots, the PSP exclusive Birth By Sleep.

Birth By Sleep is apparently a prequel to the original Kingdom Hearts titles that starred Sora, Donald, and Goofy; and, judging by its trailer, times were not so good.  The more mature characters, ominous battle and stark setting all contribute to a much darker Kingdom Hearts than we've seen before. 

With little to go on but the teasers, Birth By Sleep appears to be an intense, action-based game that will follow closely in the ...

Those of you who are fanboys (and fangirls) of Final Fantasy VIII's brooding hero Squall Leonheart will be happy to know that he has been spotted in the TGS trailer for Final Fantasy Dissidia, the PSP brawler.

Squall will likely be slashing or shooting (hooray for gunblades) his way to victory over the likes of Sephiroth and company.  He's done it in Kingdom Hearts--why not do it again in another cameo role?

[Source: Joystiq] ...

Square Enix has revealed some new screenshots of their PSP fighters, Final Fantasy Dissidia.  If you're a Final Fantasy IX fanboy like me, you've got to check them out at Jeux France: they're crystal clear, vibrant, and feature more Zidane than any other game published since FFIX (or any other game period, for that matter).

[Source: Jeux France] ...

While nothing big has hit the web as of yet, a forum poster at NeoGAF is reporting that Square Enix is showing off a slew of new Kingdom Hearts titles (already rumored to be making an appearance at this year's Tokyo Game Show).

Square Enix is reportedly giving us three new Kingdom Hearts games, though none of them actually seem to be Kingdom Hearts III, which will probably eventually show up on the Playstation 3.  Here's a short description of the new Kingdom Hearts spin-offs, complete with questionably wacky translations and few details.

Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep (PSP) - Apparently similar to the original Playstation adventures, but with a new, unknown protagonist.  Judging by how impressive Crisis Core looks, Birth By Sleep will probably be a solid actioner with some PS2-quality graphics.

Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days (DS) - A new spin-off that may star Roxas and support four player multiplayer, similarly to the upcoming Crystal Chronicles DS game.  Might feature full 3D graphics, which is unsurprising given how far Square Enix has pushed the DS already.

Kingdom Hearts: Coded (mobile) - Purportedly set between Kingdom ...

So soon, you ask?  Yes indeed.  It looks like FFIV DS will slip onto shelves at the tail end of 2007, according to a new magazine scan from Japan's V-Jump magazine.  The second scan also show off more in-game battles and some gorgeous, though not entirely new, CG renders of a few of the game's main characters.

There are also a few new characters that appear to be a disturbing hybrid of the beloved Final Fantasy mainstays, the Moogles, and the Pillsbury Dough Boy, and seem to have some sort of limited integration into the battle system.  What's their purpose?  Bringing Cecil and company refreshments or pocky, perhaps?

With a late December release in Japan, US gamers can hopefully look forward to getting their hands on Final Fantasy IV yet again sometime in early 2008.

[Source: DS Fanboy] ...

In an extremely uncommon move, Square Enix has announced a European release date that is not only not months or years after the Japanese and North American releases, it's a full four days earlier than the planned US street date.

Square Enix announced today that Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions for the PSP will be released in Europe on October 5th, four days before the October 9th NA release.  Rejoice, Europeans.  Judgement day is surely close at hand.

[Source: Gamershell] ...

The 3D version of Square's classic Final Fantasy IV for the Nintendo DS just got a little more interesting, as the official site has been updated with some tasty new morsels.  The introductory animation features a few gorgeous bits of art and a brief snippet of CG Crystal goodness.

The main draw of the newly updated site is the character page, complete with artistic CG renditions of Cecil, Kain, and Rosa, complemented by their DS counterparts, which don't look too shabby for the limited 3D capabilities of the DS.

There's also the Square Enix Party 2007 trailer and an official blog that's not of much use to those of us who can't read Japanese.  But with the Tokyo Game show coming soon, we should be seeing a lot more of Final Fantasy IV and its sexy new logo.

[Source: Nintendo DS Fanboy] ...