The second major patch to follow Final Fantasy XIV's Endwalker expansion goes live Tuesday, August 23rd. Patch 6.2 Buried Memory features new content and features that we've summarized below — including where to unlock them. Note that some items are marked for Patch 6.25, which is planned to release roughly two months after 6.2. Check it out — and while you're here, we've got details on the return of The Rising seasonal event set to go live August 27th. The Moonfire Faire seasonal event is set to end on August 28th, so don't miss out! Main Scenario Quests: Buried Memory Unlock:In Search of Azdaja— Speak to Varshahn @ Radz-at-Han (X: 4.4, Y: 9.8)— Players must first complete the main scenario quest "A Satrap's Duty."— Level 90 Required Five millennia ago, the great wyrm Azdaja vanished into the void, and for long years Vrtra had despaired of being reunited with his dear sister. With the encouragement of his people, however, he has found the resolve to search for her, and sets forth with the Warrior of Light for a world engulfed in Darkness... Raid Dungeon: Pandæmonium: Abyssos Unlock:An Unwelcome Visitor— Speak to Claudien @ Labyrinthos (X: 8.6, Y: 27.5)— Chronicles of A New Era "Who Wards the Warders" Completion

This past week, Square Enix released a demo version of its upcoming simulation RPG The DioField Chronicle on Steam, PlayStation Store, Xbox Games Store, and the Nintendo eShop. Elapsing over the game's first several hours, the demo includes around eight combat missions. Your progress can be saved and carried over into the full retail game. The game is built by a team of “skilled and experienced” developers including character designs by Taiki (Lord of Vermilion III, IV), concept art by Isamu Kamikokuryo (Final Fantasy X, XII, XIII, XV) and composed by Ramin Djawadi and Brandon Campbell of Game of Thrones fame. Diving in, DioField takes place in the embattled DioField Island, rife with factional conflicts between nobles, and a greater invasion looming from an Empire situated on the continent vying to power it's magic technology with the island's abundant Jade. The setting isn't entirely dissimilar from a World War II analogue, but with all the fantastical trappings of Final Fantasy Tactics. Think swords and sorcery, magic summoned beasts, enemies rising from the dead, and so on. You assume the role of Andrias, a young man skilled in subterfuge and weilds daggers in combat. Alongside him is Fredret, a mounted unit that has higher mobility

If you had your pick, what kind of movie would you want to see? It has to be something exciting or adventurous or thrilling. Would you pick the Spaghetti Western? A kung-fu classic? Horror in deep space? Dinosaur... comedy? These are the kind of settings you’ll find in Live A Live, a unique RPG developed by Square and released for the Super Famicom in 1994. Their previous offerings in the genre, such as Final Fantasy, hadn’t strayed too far from conventional fantasy settings. Knights, mages, dragons… you get the idea. However, with Final Fantasy II, which leaned into its scenario taking heavy inspiration from the Star Wars trilogy, you caught a whiff of desire. To bring filmic elements to RPGs — to ponder: “wouldn’t it be cool if this film was like a console RPG?” To take that further: “What about A Fistful of Dollars? Enter the Dragon? Alien? Ultraman? What would that even look like!?” Developing games inspired by films, not merely to make films — but to make them games is a Rosetta stone for much of Square’s storied history. Live A Live is very much the next step in that lineage that bridges us to Final Fantasy VII integrating

Something very special happened between last week's portion of this feature and today. Namely, a round of media interviews with Naoki Yoshida dropped, effectively doubling our understanding of Final Fantasy XVI. I'm as grateful as any other fan — in fact, my interest levels have risen even higher, and I literally committed to writing thousands of words on this game beforehand — but it puts this, the final installment in the Casting Libra on Final Fantasy XVI miniseries, in sort of a strange position. Consider what I said about this two weeks back. We here at Nova Crystalis wanted someone to cover June 2022's new trailer, and ideally, that someone would be thorough. That's been the goal. Hopefully, I've been adequate in that regard! It's just that, and this is a happy challenge to be sure, we now have so much more to chew on regarding FFXVI's gameplay that taking a tremendously detailed look at what the trailer showed us could come at the expense of highlighting all the new information from interviews. To that end, I'll once again recommend our sister site's fantastic article on the matter. So, what's the game plan, then? I'll be shining a light on all the

Last week, Square Enix announced Crisis Core Final Fantasy VII Reunion, a “high-quality remaster” that liberates the 15-year old prequel from the PlayStation Portable and brings it to modern platforms. The game was originally part of the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII multimedia project that sought to expand the universe of the original PlayStation game into console games, mobile games, anime, and CG film. Crisis Core features Zack Fair and his rise through the ranks of SOLDIER, a corporate military force that is given supernatural strength by imbuing their bodies with mako stolen from the planet which it uses to sustain all life. With that strength, the Shinra corporation uses it to wage war against its enemies as it seeks to expand and exploit any mako-rich resource it can find to power its central nervous system in Midgar. As they wage these wars, “heroes” emerge — manufactured in more ways than one. Zack befriends its most elite members but finds himself entangled in their struggles. As he seeks to join their ranks, he learns there is a steep price to pay for power. A minor character in the original game, Zack’s story is heavily intertwined with its main character — Cloud Strife,

Welcome back to whatever this is. Last week, we banded together as I rambled for several pages over Final Fantasy XVI's lead development team and then turned an eye toward what we've seen of the game's world — the vast, dual-continent landmass called Valisthea. We all had lots of fun, which is why you've clicked on this week's article, and why I didn't flake on writing it. Our focus now shifts toward a more thorough look at the recent State of Play trailer that inspired all this discourse in the first place. But it isn't enough to just look at the thing in totality; there's a heavy enough mixture of cutscenes and gameplay stuffed into those three-odd minutes to warrant separate glances. We'll talk more about the gameplay side of the equation next week, except as it constitutes the story, characters, and societies of Valisthea — because those are our focal points for today. Benedikta? I Hardly Know Her I'd like to begin by giving some attention to a pair of pivotal characters whose identities have only just been revealed to us. There's Benedikta Harman, a woman who was technically introduced in 2020's announcement trailer but lacked a name at the time, and

Welcome to the first chapter of a three-part weekly series starring Final Fantasy XVI. Co-stars include whatever brand of coffee I’m drinking as I write these articles. Every week, I’ll be taking an extended look at specific aspects of FFXVI as we presently know it. Future parts will spend more time checking out that gorgeous recent State of Play trailer, first from a narrative and thematic perspective and later through a bunch of scribbled thoughts on combat and other potential gameplay features. For now, however, I will tilt my Dominant gaze toward some thoughts on the development team behind Square Enix’s next Final Fantasy’s next big thing. I’ll also spend some time musing over the shape of XVI’s world and how its designers may have gone about transforming such scale into something feasible to program in this modern age of RPGs. We’re decades removed from simple world maps; players today demand far more detailed settings. That’s enough pre-show chatter. Let’s mosey. Hail to the Queen. Awakening Fabula Nova Crystallis is dead. No, not this website. Nova Crystallis is fabulous. But the fal’Cie, the l’Cie, you see, they’re done and dusted, one and all. The Lightning saga lived long enough to directly influence Final Fantasy XV, itself a

Final Fantasy VII The First Soldier enters its third season with the introduction of a new batch of content titled "Highway Star". Running now through August 31, 2022, the mobile battle royale continues to grow and prove Square Enix is dedicated toward its long-term success. Previous updates have added new classes, weapons and events, so what makes Season 3 special? Well there's actually quite a bit to work with here. Going hands-on with Season 3 the first thing you'll notice is an all-new map set plateside in the sprawling city of Midgar. It's a drastic change from the previous under city and slums locations. A new class has also been added by way of the Machinery type - a combat type that wields a hammer and can put together gadgets that interfere with enemies and give you a mobility increase. The Machinery type is unique because it comes packed with abilities and skills that allow for higher levels of customization over previous classes. Of course, a new Season wouldn't be complete without new items to be had. Players can obtain the new Water materia that's good for tossing something at opponents behind cover. You can grab this materia through treasure chests or

The Mana series has seen a boon as of late with a number of titles either being remade or remastered for various platforms through various means. There's even a new console game in development, which was announced during anniversary celebrations last year. Square Enix seems keen on continuing the series with further developments to come, the first of which has culminated in the upcoming mobile action RPG Echoes of Mana – a smartphone game that promises to be a love letter to the series for both existing fans and newcomers alike. We had a go with the pre-release version of the game ahead of the game’s pre-registration announcement. Echoes of Mana starts you off innocently enough. You’ll select between a male or female player character that will serve as your avatar, give them a name and into the tutorial you’ll go. It’s a short trip through some of the game’s basic mechanics – the likes of which encompass traditional RPG setups. Attack by selecting the appropriate action tapped on the screen including basic attacks and special abilities triggered after building enough Magic Gauge to do so. You can move your character along the screen in a side-scrolling fashion by swiping left

Nova Crystallis had the chance to participate in the recent Media Tour hosted by Square Enix allowing us to get a hands on preview of the new Final Fantasy XIV expansion Endwalker. If you haven't seen our impressions of the media tour, you should check them out over here. With every new expansion comes an increase in level cap, this time to level 90, and with that means new changes to the jobs including tweaks to old abilities and the addition of new abilities. I'll be outlining all the major changes that you can expect to find once Endwalker releases. Keep in mind this is not a completely extensive list of all changes coming to Endwalker, just the main ones that I noticed. Disclaimer: This article is based on play of an in-development build of FINAL FANTASY XIV: Endwalker, and content in the final version is subject to change. Tanks Paladin The new poster-job for Endwalker. Just how does their cape move on the moon when there's no atmosphere? Magic? Probably. Paladins get some pretty cool changes as well as the ability to summon down countless number of swords... perhaps you might say... an unlimited number of them. Requiescat (Level 68) Requiescat has changed to now grant 5