The latest Bravely Default II trailer introduces us to the country of Rimedahl and the various asterisk holders that inhabit it. Locked away in snow and ice, legend says a dragon saved the kingdom 1000 years ago, leading to the establishment of a new religion led by Domenic, the Oracle asterisk holder. Here, Seth and company will encounter a young dragon named Gwilym. In the trailer below, other asterisk holders are revealed, including: Martha the Dragoon, Helio the Priest, Gladys the Swordmaster, and Glenn the Salve-Maker. If you're itching to get a chance to play Bravely Default II before its February 26th release date, a free "Final" demo is now available on the Nintendo Switch eShop. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KRnnSEy6HU

Once again the Mendicant's Court hums with the sound of artisan craftwork. Final Fantasy XIV 5.41 dropped today, returning players to Ishgard's firmament for a new restoration phase. This time you're tasked with rebuilding the cultural district, and as players gather and craft toward its completion by participating in the restoration effort, new cutscenes and quests will complement its progress. Due to these events involving the Heavensward expansion, you'll need to advance the main scenario insofar as that expansion. If you're new to this endeavor, it's a great way to bust into the crafting and gathering scene. Raw materials can be collected via excursions to The Diadem, evaluated once back at the Firmament, then crafted into special items to donate to the restoration. Doing so will earn you Skybuilders scrips and points. The former can be traded for exclusive goodies such as: mounts, minions, emotes, hairstyles, and glamours and the latter is accumulated in a leaderboard where the top 100 performing players in each profession are rewarded with an exclusive title. The ranking season will end January 22nd. The Disciple of Land or Hand profession that accrues the most points will be immortalized in an in-game statue. Depending on the World you're

Revealed last June, Project Athia is developed by Square Enix studio Luminous Productions and is coming to PlayStation 5 and Windows PC. According to Sony's CES 2021 presentation, the game is planned for a January 2022 release. The sole trailer we've seen thus far features woman in a world “not her own” where her “resolve will be tested” against creatures such as dragons and giant plant-like beasts, and “truths will be questioned.” Luminous Productions formed after the conclusion of Final Fantasy XV and also houses Square Enix's proprietary "Luminous Engine" from which Project Athia will be developed. https://youtu.be/doe3kUqHIcM

Square Enix filed for three trademarks: "Ever Crisis", "The First Soldier", and another for the ShinRa Electric Power Company logo according to a report from Gematsu. It's worth noting that "Ever Crisis" fits within the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII" nomenclature, such as: "Advent Children", "Before Crisis", "Crisis Core", and "Dirge of Cerberus." Before Crisis was a Japan-exclusive mobile phone game that followed the Turks as they track Avalanche in the city of Midgar -- the events directly precede the original Final Fantasy VII. Crisis Core features Zack Fair, a Shinra SOLDIER that Cloud once knew, as he climbs the ranks and uncovers the sinister truths behind the company's endeavors. This game also takes place years before the original game. Advent Children takes place two years Final Fantasy VII, where a mysterious illness wracks the population that has survived Meteorfall, and mysterious Remnants seek to commence another "Reunion" of JENOVA's disparate parts. Dirge of Cerberus takes place last in the timeline, with ex-Turk Vincent Valentine on the trail of the shadowy Deepground para-military unit emerging from the wiped-out depths of Midgar. A bit of speculation: perhaps "Ever Crisis" will have a different scope than the other entries given its distinct title -- rather

Square Enix and developer People Can Fly announced today that Outriders will be delayed until April 1st, and that a free demo will release on February 25th. The class-based looter shooter features four different roles that have unique abilities and a world that scales in difficulty based on how well you perform. Aforementioned demo will include the first few hours of the game where you can try out each of the classes: Devastator, Pyromancer, Technomancer, and Trickster in either single-player or co-op mode. Outriders will come to PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and Stadia. https://twitter.com/Outriders/status/1346856553786167297?s=19

This year's been real one. I spent a lot of time playing games this year to take my mind off real events, not that they weren't important to grapple with, but to give brain a breather. Moments to pause, wipe the slate clean, and regroup. A lavish splash of comfort in what's otherwise been a very hostile landscape to navigate through -- and for that I feel lucky and privileged to enjoy that comfort when I can. Of course, it was a big year for Square Enix. Big hitters like Final Fantasy VII Remake and Marvel's Avengers, as well as plenty of other mid-range titles were peppered throughout the year. It felt important to recap and collect some of my thoughts about the games Square Enix released or announced amidst the everything of everything... Before we move on to what 2021 may bring. So without further ado, here's my look back at 2020... The Final Fantasy VII Remake Becomes Real The run-up to Final Fantasy VII Remake's launch felt like a march through a minefield, due in part to datamined assets from the game's demo that revealed key scenes, including the game's entire script, making the internet a dangerous place for anyone wanting to

2020 has been a rough year but it's also been a year that's been mostly marked with replays of some of my most beloved games. From crowd pleasers like Pokémon Platinum to more niche entries like Mistwalker's The Last Story, I've replayed a lot in an eager attempt to fill in the gaps in my nonexistent backlog. In a year where most publishers released remasters and remakes, it only felt appropriate to look back on some of the series that defined my taste. And what better way to start than one of my personal favorites of all time, Cavia's 2003 cult classic Drakengard. My relationship with the Drakengard (or Drag-on Dragoon as it's known in Asian territories) series is a long one and I'm no stranger to replaying these games in general. Yet this year's replay felt different, somehow more engaging probably due to my knowledge of how far the series has gone since then. While its spin-off series, Nier has found much love in the west with the release of 2017's Nier Automata opening up the rest of the series to the public eye, Drakengard's success was mostly domestic while remaining in cult classic obscurity internationally. An unfortunate fate mostly

The Heavensturn limited-time seasonal event quest returns to Final Fantasy XIV on December 31st and continues through January 18th. During the event you'll be able to collect exclusive headgear marking the Year of the Ox: the Crimson Ushi Kabuto and the Black Ushi Kabuto. You can also get an ox-themed tabletop furnishing: the Handmade Akabeko. In order to participate, you’ll need to be at least Level 15 and unlocked airship travel to each city state. The quest “Steering Clear of Trouble” is available from the ushi bugyo in Limsa Lominsa's Upper Decks. (X:11.5, Y:13.9)"A new year fast approaches, and once more the Twelve convene to decide who amongst them will oversee the coming year. Such divine matters mean little in the Far East, however, and a delegate from those distant lands has come to Eorzea in the hopes of sharing their celebratory customs. Alas, their plans to mark the new year appear to have gone awry, and the Ushi Bugyo seeks assistance to steer their celebration back onto its proper course." -- The Lodestone You can check out previous versions of this event on our YouTube channel, including 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJGesW8sxJA

Photo credit: Miyara Dantes (Ultros) This evening, many around the globe gazed upward to witness the meeting of two heavenly bodies: Jupiter and Saturn. Known as a Great Conjunction, this event occurs once every 800 years and is an astronomical spectacle that wont appear again for many, many generations -- should we be so lucky. A cosmological display for the ages. But... for Final Fantasy XIV players, this evening bade farewell to a phenomenon unlike any other: smooth rock. For you see, unlike the planets of our solar system, fated to meet again in the night sky of some distant, unknowable future -- smooth rock may never again be. They came in droves to witness the otherworldly surface of a cliff face in the Central Shroud, mounted on magical snowmen obtained from recent seasonal festivities in nearby Gridania. Nearby hrothgar performed wild feats of animal husbandry to mark the occasion. Oh, if only Starlight could be graced with such an event every year... The advent of smooth rock is not the only notable rock-related event for the series: it follows the discovery of cool rock back in 2015: https://twitter.com/FFXVEN/status/655096152954572803 While the maintenance to apply a hotfix to the game continues, rendering viewings impossible, smooth rock may

The SaGa series is a special one. It's sometimes inscrutable gameplay mechanics may put off RPG players more used to the comforts that Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest provide, but stalwarts stand by it, beckoning the curious over to give it a taste. At first, there are the bitter notes: character stories that are largely independent of one another, with little that congeals by its final hours. Battle ranks that seem to punish players for grinding to usurp tough encounters. When pared the sweet: the variety of stories that are told that don't always need world-ending stakes, the satisfaction of taking a more active role in how your party's composition fares against different kinds of encounters. It take some getting used to, but if last year's SaGa Scarlet Ambitions was any indication, the SaGa style can prevail and deliver. Final Fantasy II, the precursor to the SaGa series, is often unfairly derided as "the worst one," and while there a few bumps when it comes to difficulty scaling and encounter designs, I feel the game serves as a stronger launch point for the series. Character work, light as it may be, and themes of empire, occupation, and loyalty are strung along in