Square Enix is no stranger to rhythm games. Over the years they’ve come out with the Theatrhythm series which carried on its back the likes of both Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest. These unusual entries in their storied franchises were met with a chorus of resounding success and so fans began to wonder: would Kingdom Hearts or other games get the same treatment? Fast forward to the present and the answer is clear, though it’s arriving in a far expanded package. While the Theatrhythm games were created for the Nintendo 3DS’s mobile experience, Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory graces the current generation of home consoles on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and for the first time on Nintendo Switch. Despite this evolution, the game is absolutely a rhythm game to its core. But how does it all work? And how does it fit into the rest of the often complex and increasingly convoluted Kingdom Hearts series. Right from the jump, Melody of Memory opens with visual recap of the series along with a number of tutorials that help you ease into the game. Don’t be fooled: if you’re not used to rhythm games things can be deceptively difficult – the 3D presentation can be

Square Enix has gone live with the official website for Final Fantasy XVI, revealing brand new details about the game's world, nations and some of the main characters featured from the announcement trailer. Alongside this, game producer Naoki Yoshida shared his own words via the PlayStation Blog about the new information for the game. We've gathered and compiled everything relevant from both the official website and blog post for you folks to check out here. View it all below: The World: Valisthea The land of Valisthea is studded with Mothercrystals—glittering mountains of crystal that tower over the realms around them, blessing them with aether. For generations, people have flocked to these beacons to take advantage of their blessing, using the aether to conjure magicks that let them live lives of comfort and plenty. Countless wars have been fought over the Mothercrystals all around the land, leading to the rise of nations such as the Grand Duchy of Rosaria, the Holy Empire of Sanbreque, the Kingdom of Waloed, the Dhalmekian Republic, and the Iron Kingdom, each with their own culture and ideology. Ongoing skirmishes have forged an uneasy peace between these nations, but with the emergence of the ruinous Blight, that fragile peace is starting to deteriorate. Eikons

The Dragon Quest series is no stranger to the mobile game realm, having released other titles including ports of its own numbered series to the platform in the past. Now, Square Enix is stepping up with a new, standalone spin-off titled Dragon Quest Tact. As the name might suggest, Dragon Quest Tact is a tactics-based free to play role-playing game. Which means it has all of the typical mobile/gasha game-style bones but coated with its own strategy RPG and monster catching paint. Recently we were allowed access to an early version of the game in English ahead of its Western launch in 2021. If you’ve dabbled in any sort of free-to-play game, the setup and structure of Dragon Quest Tact will feel very familiar - or at least it did to me as someone who frequently plays the Dragon Ball mobile titles. The game leads with a base tutorial of sorts before dropping you into its menu where you’ll be able to get a start on the story content. Enter the realm of Orchesterra – a place where a dormant evil threatens all. Well it wouldn’t be Dragon Quest without that element, and it’s up to you as the hero to keep peace among

With the arrival of Patch 5.35 this week, Final Fantasy XIV players can take on the second chapter of the Save the Queen scenario, written by Final Fantasy Tactics and Final Fantasy XII creator Yasumi Matsuno. The overarching story picks up where the Return to Ivalice series left off -- so to understand what's at play, the game requires you complete that scenario first. Once that's complete, you'll need to finish the first chapter released back in Patch 5.25 -- the quest-giver is in Kugane. Without spoiling, the Bozjan Resistance has drafted the Warrior of Light to win back Alermuc Fortress (now Castrum Lacus Litore) from the Garlean Empire's IVth Legion. When you accept the quest and depart from Gangos, you'll be taken to resistance camp in the Southern Bozjan Front. Bozja is built similarly to the Forbidden Land Eureka series that released in the Stormblood expansion. You enter a large zone and take on varying objectives that employ the use of an independent levelling system. Story beats are gated based on your level, and the experience needed to raise it can be lost should you fall afield then use the Return function. (Be sure to call for help first!) This makes

In the 60th Letter from the Producer Live broadcast, Final Fantasy XIV director/producer Naoki Yoshida and global community manager Toshio Murouchi revealed the fourth major update to follow the Shadowbringers expansion set to release early in December.Titled "Futures Rewritten," the main scenario will continue, along with updates to the Eden raid series, the Sorrow of Werlyt scenario, and more. Special guest Kei Odagiri joined the broadcast to share how developing the game's many UI functions works. We've summarized the major information below -- check it out! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PESPdDLQ2Y4 Patch 5.35 Content & Features Patch 5.35 will release on Tuesday, October 13th.The Bozjan Southern Front will be added. This is a new, large-scale encounter. Band together with up to 72 players and assist the Bozjan Resistance in their mission to rout the IVth Imperial Legion. Focus only on story quests or take on extra challenges, it's up to you.Do battle with the IVth Imperial Legion to raise your "mettle." With sufficient mettle, raise your Resistance rank to help the front line push forward. Then, you'll storm Castrum Lacus Litore.Players can increase their mettle by joining special encounters in the southern front, such as Skirmishes and Critical Engagements. Mettle can't be gained from killing enemies outside of

During Sony's PlayStation 5 Showcase event that took place just recently, Square Enix has come out of the shadows to announce the 16th title in the mainline Final Fantasy series. That's right, Final Fantasy XVI is official and is in development for the PlayStation 5 as a console exclusive. The single player action-RPG is developed by Creative Business Unit III, with Naoki Yoshida (Final Fantasy XIV, Dragon Quest X) serving as its producer, and Hiroshi Takai (Final Fantasy XIV, The Last Remnant) serving as its director. Viewers were treated with a meaty trailer featuring an in-game look of the upcoming title packed with story bits, real-time combat action, the game's logo by Yoshitaka Amano and plenty more. Following its unveiling, Square Enix went live with the official English and Japanese Twitter accounts for the game, as well as put out a press release featuring high-quality screenshots from the announcement trailer and some comments from the developer. Square Enix will reveal even more information on Final Fantasy XVI sometime in 2021. Feast the trailer and more down below: English Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tBnBAkHv9M Japanese Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUY9beBLIKM Final Fantasy XVI Director Hiroshi Takai and Producer Naoki Yoshida shared a few words regarding the upcoming title: Final Fantasy XVI producer (that’s right, just producer) Naoki Yoshida here. How did you

Back in 2004, I had the perfect setup to play Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: three friends, four Gameboy Advances, four link cables, one Gamecube, and one sprawling weekend afternoon after a long week of high school. Looking back 17 years later, it seems like a wonder that any such confluence of events could transpire. They're fun memories. In previous years, I sequestered myself while playing through the single-player mainline entries on PlayStation, so the prospect of playing a Final Fantasy title with others was well worth checking out. Crystal Chronicles would dole out different roles to each player during each dungeon -- one might be navigating the map for the party, another on the lookout for treasure chests, and so on. You would constantly be communicating and cooperating, whether you were plumbing dungeons, wandering around your village trading items to craft, or sharing what kind of build you were thinking up. So much of the game was built around couch co-op, that it's disappointing to report that the online co-op that's replaced it feels ill-thought out and barely resembles the spirit of the original game. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdt2og-xXlc In recent weeks, we learned that the Remastered Edition wouldn't have offline co-op, opting to move the

It’s been one year since Final Fantasy XIV celebrated the successful launch of its third expansion, Shadowbringers. With the finale in the form of Patch 5.3: Reflections in Crystal only a day away from emotionally crushing the community while simultaneously providing us adorable stickers for our screenshots in Group Pose, I had taken this time to fondly look back and reflect on what made Shadowbringers such a fantastic expansion compared to those that came before. I found myself asking: Why was it so good? What was done differently this time around? What made Shadowbringers rival previous Final Fantasy games, matching them in greatness and nostalgia? As I thought about these questions, I realized it was because the development team hit five major story-crafting elements that ultimately led to the game’s success. In this piece, I will be going over those five subjects in hopes that it not only puts my thoughts about the expansion into words, but also help others see what I believe made the story so incredible, and why Shadowbringers was, and is, an incredible work of art that will be remembered for years to come. A warning for those still new to the game: There are going to be some

Romancing SaGa Re;univerSe is the latest entry in the storied SaGa series dating back to the GameBoy in 1990. Some will likely remember the first title as The Final Fantasy Legend, but it's spanned several generations of console and handheld devices before arriving on smartphones as a free-to-play game. Based on the Romancing SaGa series that released on the Super Famicom in the '90s (which were recently remade and localized on many platforms) Re;universe makes it's international debut after an initial release in Japan back in 2018. SaGa series producer Masanori Ichikawa was kind enough to take our questions below: We've seen several SaGa series games release overseas recently including Romancing SaGa Re;univerSe. What factors led to this? Thank you for interviewing me, Nova Crystallis. This is Masanori Ichikawa, the producer of the SaGa series. Three titles—Romancing SaGa 2, Romancing SaGa 3, and SaGa SCARLET GRACE: AMBITIONS—were recently released overseas were met with very enthusiastic responses from hardcore fans. In Japan, we are celebrating the Saga series’ 30th anniversary this year. I believe the SaGa brand awareness is still low outside of Japan, so we’ve decided to release this title with the hope that more people will play SaGa games.  What challenges were there in adapting SaGa

Kingdom Hearts Dark Road is out now for iOS, Android, and Amazon-powered devices. Available from the updated title screen of Kingdom Hearts Union χ app, Dark Road follows a young Xehanort along a path that will see him become the "Dark Seeker". The game is free-to-play but includes optional in-app purchases with real money. Dark Road begins by introducing us to Xehanort entering a portal of darkness created by a mysterious robed figure. On the other side, he finds himself in Scala ad Caelum, a world where keyblade wielders train to become keyblade masters. They do so to fight Heartless that threaten the many worlds outside its borders. Xehanort's classmates: Eraqus, Hermod, Bragi, Urd, and Vor are tasked with a special mission when seven upperclassmen suddenly vanish during their Mark of Mastery exam. They are to venture out into the various worlds to find them and bring them home. You'll make a party of three, two of which will be Xehanort and Eraqus, while the third slot can be rotated between the four remaining students. In combat, five cards from a deck are drawn belonging to three different colors. Flicking or tapping three of them will trigger an action like attacking or