Disclaimer: Review code for Star Ocean The Second Story R was provided to Nova Crystallis by the publisher Square Enix before launch. Star Ocean 2 is a game that’s sort of in an interesting situation. It certainly feels like the one game that Square Enix likes to bring back around now and again – what with the PSP remaster in 2007 and now a brand-new release in the way of Star Ocean The Second Story R. The R of course, stands for remake and is not to be confused with the former release. Certainly, at first I was somewhat perplexed as to why this game needed another redo, but here we are with a proper remake all the way down to its very core. Because Star Ocean The Second Story R not only has a visual overhaul well beyond that of a simple remaster, it’s got some new systems too and they stack up in a way that adds a lot of contemporary design to its gameplay. As someone who never really dabbled in the original PlayStation release or the PSP remaster, suffice to say that the streamlined nature of Star Ocean The Second Story R surprised me. In some ways I feel

One of the first news stories I ever covered as a gaming journalist was Square Enix’s September 2020 announcement of Final Fantasy XVI. I still remember typing so quickly that I had to go back and edit every other sentence. This was it - Final Fantasy XVI. It was the first mainline single-player entry not tied to E3 2006’s Fabula Nova Crystallis unveiling since PS2 swansong FFXII. Naoki Yoshida was producing, alongside a talented team at Creative Business Unit III, the same studio who had brought FFXIV to life, and kept making it better by the year. Pinch me, you know? I must be dreaming. With each passing trailer, the dream continued. It wasn’t until the press previews began to roll in early this year that the world of Valisthea began to feel real to me. A flurry of late-stage marketing, including a fantastic demo, solidified that realness. I was ready to play this landmark entry in what is far and away my favorite franchise. Almost from the start, it was obvious to me how much effort has been poured into this game. The creators had a vision for Final Fantasy XVI, and they stuck to it. They wanted the story front-and-center.

Patch 6.4 brought an abundance of good things to Final Fantasy XIV, as patches are wont to do. But while some players are off to the raids as soon as possible, and others will jump right into the new main story quests or tend to their islands, me? I'm checking out the Immerse Gamepack FFXIV Edition's big patch 6.4 add-on — it's now been upgraded to 2.0 status. You've probably at least heard of the Immerse Gamepack. Square's not been shy in marketing its partnership with developer Embody, nor the fact that Creative Business Unit 3 (AKA the folks who make Final Fantasy XIV) worked side-by-side with the good folks at Embody to deliver a strong 3D audio experience on PC. I wish I could tell you how 2.0 compares to 1.0. Alas, I'm a recent adopter. I've heard pretty decent things about the first version, though, so my expectations were high going in. I hadn't done my due diligence in reading up on the program ahead of time, so I was kind of surprised when I had to grab my phone and record a quick video of my ears, but that's the name of the game when it comes to

I’ve always been a big fan of full-motion video (FMV) and visual novel-type games. I love being able to influence a story based on the kind of choices I’m allowed to make in the game, and watching the story unfold based on those decisions. For some games these decisions lead to massive divergences in the plot, but in others it is just an illusion of choice. It doesn’t matter how much control I have over the narrative—what is most important to me is feeling like I am experiencing the story alongside the characters present in the game. The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story absolutely made me feel like I was right there in the story, solving a grand mystery spanning 100 years.  Originally published on Nintendo Switch, Playstation 4, Playstation 5, and Steam back in 2022 by Square Enix, The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story is now available on iOS and Android devices, allowing more people the chance to experience the twist and turns of its mystery plot presented through a well-shot, well-acted live-action FMV.  The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story has players follow the story of Haruka Kagami, a popular mystery novelist, as she’s invited to the Shijima family compound by

There is a slight blurriness to the Nintendo Switch debut version of last year's Live A Live remake. The image quality just isn't the greatest, but it's hardly a dealbreaker. At the time, my thought was that while the game's gorgeous utilization of Square Enix's HD-2D engine would flourish on stronger hardware, it was hardly enough of an issue to tell folks to wait on potential ports. Oops, right? Here we are, less than a year later, and you can now check out this bold and unexpected remake of a previously Japan-only JRPG on not just Switch, but PC and PlayStation consoles as well. What we have been given with these ports is the best-looking and smoothest-running version(s). I booted up Live A Live on my Switch on one of my two TVs, and my PS5 on the other, and the difference was bigger than I would have expected. I'm not talking in technical terms here - I'm no Digital Foundry! - but from a purely amateur perspective, I can safely say Live A Live on PlayStation 5 is crisp enough by comparison that you'll likely be impressed, too. But then I got to thinking, well, Live A Live may look

When I played through Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin on console last year, all I could keep thinking was that the script felt like someone found my seventh-grade fan fiction, tidied up the grammar, and embarrassed me personally by sending it out into the modern world.  The gameplay, while fun, struck me as overly repetitive. The dated visuals didn’t help matters. I’m not saying I disliked my time with the game, because all things considered, I was glad to have played it, but I would not go so far as to say I was thrilled. As the DLCs dropped, and discourse slowly but surely shifted from focusing on Jack’s cheesy lines to the game as a whole, I started to feel like maybe I had missed the forest for the trees. Perhaps there’s more to like about Stranger of Paradise than I had realized. It warranted a second chance. Naturally, I jumped at the chance to give it another test drive on Steam. This time, it clicked, but my newfound appreciation has nothing to do with the reason I presume you’re reading this, which is to ascertain the technical state of the port. Not helpful, I know, but hear me out -

In the most recent string of Square Enix’s already-packed release lineup, PARANORMASIGHT: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo is an exciting project to release in the current era. Visual novels are far from the once-popular medium they were years ago but as a huge fan of visual novels in general and given Square Enix’s history with the medium I was intrigued nonetheless. Excitingly enough, I was given early access to Paranormasight and after finishing the main story as well as its side content, I’m glad to say not only is it among the best of Square Enix’s recent releases but also a fresh and satisfying visual novel experience that both fans and newcomers to the genre can enjoy. Paranormasight is helmed by veteran director-writer Takanari Ishiyama, whose work on smaller projects such as Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings overshadows his long history of developing and writing a multitude of visual novels for the mobile medium. Needless to say, even if that has a negative connotation for you given the reputation of mobile entertainment in the modern era, fear not. What’s presented here is an incredibly tightly written visual novel paced excellently even with all its supernatural mystery trappings.  The story follows an ensemble

The original Theatrhythm Final Fantasy is a game that’s always been near and dear to my heart. Upon release I was captivated by the charming character design and the breadth of songs available that spanned the length of the Final Fantasy series available at the time. Then came Curtain Call and I got to experience the whimsical formula all over again, albeit with even more tracks to choose from including Final Fantasy XIV, which was just finding its feet at the time. Then came Theatrhythm Dragon Quest and even an arcade version of the Final Fantasy one. It seemed like Square Enix was keen on carving out their own little niche in this genre - even if those titles never left Japan. The latter came out in 2016 and after that? Well, there really was nothing. The Kingdom Hearts-themed Melody of Memory doesn’t really count as it’s a different format for the most part. The question then remained – was there till a place for the Theatrhythm series? Nearly a decade after the release of Curtain Call, the last proper “Theatrhythm Final Fantasy” title, we finally have our answer. Square Enix returned to the stage with an announcement last year heralding the

The ideal crossover draws fans from opposite ends of a two-game aisle toward a single experience that honors each individual title whilst serving as a free sample for the one folks aren't familiar with. I've got a friend, she knows who she is, who is obsessed with PowerWash Simulator. Lives and breathes it. Not so much Final Fantasy. Meanwhile, I'm the opposite. Naturally, this makes the free Midgar Special Pack DLC perfect for us both; my friend gets her first taste of FF7 Remake, and I get to clean a bar. When I put it that way, I can't help but feel like my friend has the better part of this deal. Honestly, though? I get it. There's a certain zen-like experience to be found in PowerWash Simulator. I can't speak to the core game, as I'm only giving this all a shake via the DLC, but I can see through this Midgar-centric perspective why millions of people enjoy cleaning up filthy environments at their leisure with a washing apparatus that can blast watery payloads into grime-caked surfaces with ample might. The gameplay loop is rhythmic. It's nice to see a pretty thing slowly emerge from its cocoon of filth. It's nifty

When I ask people for their thoughts on the original Octopath Traveler, opinions are varied, but seem to flow in a broadly positive direction. Gorgeous visuals, breathtaking music, engaging battles, and an overarching charm — that's what folks tell me. And I concur. Yet even as this praise is heaped, it's often followed with a rather damning caveat: that Octopath Traveler overstays its welcome, and players seldom seem to stick with it the whole way through. There are several reasons for this, but they share a common thread. I'm told that its charm can't hold it together, that the magic of the HD-2D engine flickers and fades. All the more frequently, there are gripes galore toward the tedium of its repetitive storytelling structure. Eight characters. Four chapters apiece. And that's a wrap. It's too dull an approach to hold one's attention for dozens of hours, and worst of all, the sense of repetition is heightened exponentially because the protagonists of Octopath Traveler almost never speak with each other in any capacity. There's no growth between them, only on their lonesome, and none of the supporting NPCs in their respective stories remotely covered the bill for that costly creative decision. While I nevertheless adore