It was already known that Square's upcoming shooter, Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerberus, would show what happens to the game's protagonist, Vincent Valentine, after the events of Final Fantasy VII and Advent Children.  However, Square has recently stated that the game will also unravel the mysteries of Vincent's past.  Dirge of Cerberus's tutorial mode, in fact, will allow players to control a young Vincent, still a member of the Turks.

Also, Square revealed that some of Vincent's enemies in the Deepground Soldier ranks will be quite a handful, boasting bazookas, machine guns, swords, and more.  And, of course, the'yre all protected by heavy body armor.

Lastly, a new character has been unveiled; Nero, a mysterious Deepground soldier with a bandaged face, radiates a dark aura.  His role in Dirge of Cerberus is still largely unknown.

Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerberus will hit the Japanese market on January 26th, 2006.

[Source: RPGFan]

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Square Enix has recently revealed details on it's newest Seiken Densetsu title, tentatively referred to as Seiken Densetsu 4 in Shounen JUMP Magazine.  As opposed to the upcoming RPG for the DS, Seiken Densetsu DS: Children of Mana, Kouichi Ishii has revealed that this title is bound for a Playstation 2 release. 

It's gameplay will rely heavily on action elements and situation changes.  Three characters have been unveiled so far: Eldi, the 16 year old male protagonist whose past is shrouded in mystery; Lichia, the 16 year old female who lives in the same village as Eldi and is his childhood friend; and Puck, Lichia's pet who was separated from his family.  The story begins after an invasion by a foreign army.  Seiken Densetsu 4 should be available in Japan sometime in 2006.  No North American release has been planned yet.


[Source: RPG Fan] ...

Eyes on Final Fantasy is pleased to announce that we're going to begin covering Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi's new game company, Mistwalker, and their upcoming RPG projects.

Mistwalker is developing two titles exclusively for Microsoft's Xbox 360.  One is Blue Dragon, which will likely be the first game released by the studio.  It features character designs by famed Artist Akira Toriyama (Dragon Ball, Dragon Quest, and more), and already impressive graphical effects such as shadow mapping and motion blurs.  The game stars a young boy named Shu and his "shadow," a Blue Dragon; a young woman named Zora is the second of an expected five playable characters.  Blue Dragon is shaping up to be a next-gen take on the classic Japanese RPG formula; with dragons, airships, and a unique, cartoony cast of characters and monsters, the game looks extremely promising.

The second title Mistwalker is creating for the Xbox 360 is the far more mature looking Lost Odyssey.  While Blue Dragon's graphics ...

After purchasing a 93.70% stake earlier in the year, Square-Enix officials have announced that Taito is to become a wholly owned unit of it's company from March 31st 2006.

Existing amusement arcade operator and wholly owned Square Enix subsidiary SQEX Inc. will take over the company through an equity swap, but the resulting entity will retain the Taito name. As a result, Taito will be delisted from the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange on March 7th, according to an AFX News report.

Taito is most well known for it's arcade franchises, Space Invaders, Qix, Arkanoid, Bubble Bobble and Chase H.Q.

[Source: Gamasutra]
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A Final Fantasy XI beta will come bundled with the next issue of the Official Xbox 360 magazine, allowing Xbox Live Gold members to test the game before its release.

Due on sale from January 5, 2006, the UK's Official Xbox 360 magazine will come with a cover mounted beta of Square Enix's Final Fantasy XI. Although nothing groundbreaking or a game that will push the power of the Xbox 360, it's still a significant game for the console, being the first taste of MMO gameplay for many console owners, and will be free to play for as long as the beta servers are alive.

All that's required to play is a game disc from the magazine, an Xbox Live Gold account and a 360 hard drive. You should then be able to get online and take part in the beta.

[Source: Pro-G ] ...

Square-Enix has introduced new changes to it's online game, Final Fantasy XI, in order to stop players from 'Monster Player Killing', or 'MPK' each other. An MPK involves a player getting the attention of one or several high level monsters and then 'pulling' them onto another player so they get killed.

Square Enix acknowledges that a good MMORPG will have both positive and negative experiences with other players, but that the MPK form of harassment is excessive and harmful to gameplay. Therefore, in the next version update, two changes to the game will be introduced.

The first change causes monsters to disappear under certain conditions. A monster will normally wander around a set area when it is not attacking a player. Under the new conditions, when a player is defeated by a monster outside of that area, or if the player being chased leaves the area, the monster will disappear. This means that the normal method of MPK can't be completed on any player outside of a monster's normal range. As soon as the attacker leaves the area, the threat is neutralized.

The second change affects monsters ...

While Kingdom Hearts II has promised a lot in the way of Final Fantasy cameos, all of the characters pleasing fanboys everywhere had at least one thing in common; they were all from the more recent entries in the series.  But now that's all changed.  Out of all the colorful characters to come to life in 2D in the previous generation of the Final Fantasy saga, one has been revealed to make a guest appearance in Kingdom Hearts II; the gambling, charming, airship pilot Setzer from Final Fantasy VI's all-star cast.  Are more pre-FFVII characters in Kingdom Hearts II, or does Setzer claim that distinctive honor for himself?  Only time will tell.

[Source: GamesAreFun] ...

With the impending release of the enhanced Final Fantasy IV for the Gameboy Advance, Square has updated the Japanese FFIV site with a pair of commercials and two new wallpapers.  The English site is not up at this time, but should be open in the near future.

Official Final Fantasy IV Advance sites: Japanese | English

Final Fantasy IV Advance will be released in the United States on December 12th, 2005.  Its Japanese release will come three days later on December 15th.

[Source: RPGamer] ...

European gamers are in for an unexpected treat in the early days of 2006, thanks to Square Enix.  The company's popular MMORPG, Final Fantasy XI, will soon be coming to Microsoft's Xbox 360.  The UK's Official Xbox Magazine will feature a beta disc of FFXI in January, allowing British citizens to get a crack at XI on the 360 before their American cousins do.

[Source: Joystiq] ...

Continuing their trend of spouting out loads of details about  their upcoming titles, Square Enix has released two new pieces of information concerning Final Fantasy XII.  The first is a bit unusual; in a joint effort between Square Enix and  the Japanese brewery Suntory, an herb-flavored drink named after the Final Fantasy series' "Potion" will go on sale in March 2006 to coincide with XII's release.  In addition to the regular Potion, a Premium Box set will also go on sale, including a premium bottle and a Final Fantasy XII Art Musem trading card.

The second piece of information was featured on Final Fantasy XII's new official website.  Two new characters have been introduced.  The first is Vayne Carudas Solidor, the twenty-seven year old son of Gramis (the 11th emperor of Arcadia) and heir to the throne.  The second is Larsa, Vayne's twelve year old younger brother, who strives to gain respect from his father and surviving brother.  The two are the youngest of Gramis' four sons; however, the eldest sons died in battle, supposedly in the cover-up ...

Square Enix has just launched the American Kingdom Hearts II site!  The website contains some information about the game's story, characters, and worlds.  A few wallpapers are also available for download.

Kingdom Hearts II is slated for a "Spring 2006" release in the United States.  Check out the official website here. ...

Square Enix has released another interesting morsel to the eager gaming public on the subject of the next installment in the Final Fantasy series.  In FFXII, players will be able to join different clans, which will allow them to take on quests, gather information, and shop in clan-exclusive stores.

Final Fantasy XII will be released on March 16, 2006 in Japan.  Further release dates have not yet been announced.

[Source: RPG Fan] ...

It looks like Tetsuya Nomura is wrapping up a monster sequel in Kingdom Hearts II, and we've got a monster update to prove it.  According to Japanese publication Dengeki, a near finalized version of the game, which was presented to a Square Enix higher-up recently, garnered the response: "There's four games' worth in there."

The Tron-based world will be the last surprise area, Nomura stated, and will be titled "World of Space Paranoids."  And, in a move that's sure to please eager fanboys: yes, it will have light cycle battles.

Next on his list of surprise revelations, Nomura stated that Atlantis, the world from Disney's classic The Little Mermaid, won't be quite normal.  Instead of being a stage to explore and fight through, Atlantis will play like a timing-based musical, with particular scenes playing due to gamer's performance.

The Steamboat Willy state, titled "Timeless River," will likely incorporate some important plot developments, and will play just as any other normal stage.  Pride Land, the Lion King world, has Sora completely transformed into an animal because, unlike many Disney films, there are no ...

Japanese gamers who pre-order the upcoming Compilation of FFVII title, Dirge of Cerberus, will receive an unexpected set of goodies.  A bonus DVD will ship with the game including a number of trailers: DoC's own trailer, FFFVII: Crisis Core, Before Crisis, and Advent Children.  But the icing on the cake is the inclusion of the tech demo of Final Fantasy VII with Playstation 3 graphics which was showcased at this year's Electronics Entertianment Expo.

Square Enix has yet to state whether or not this bonus DVD will be available to gamers outside of Japan.

[Source: RPGamer] ...