Operation Backlog Completion 2026

Final Fantasy XVI Website, No More Heroes Ports, and More!

 Video games  6 Responses »  Tagged with: , ,
Nov 022020
 

November is here! Celebrating All Things Spooky is over and the winners are being contacted, NaNoWriMo has begun and I’m 4600 words into a new novel, and it’s time to catch up on the exciting news we skipped over during October.

One of the most notable ones is the official opening of the Final Fantasy XVI website.

As expected, the website doesn’t provide a huge amount of information, but it does shed more light on the characters and world. The Final Fantasy XVI protagonist has a name now, Clive Rosfield. It also confirmed that he is literally Joshua’s older brother, which fans had been debating about.

(Although we still don’t know for sure if they’re full brothers or half-brothers, since it’s a popular theory that Clive is the duke’s illegitimate son.)

The girl seen briefly in the trailer alongside them has also been officially revealed as Jill Warrick, a ward of the Archduke who was taken from her own country to bring peace between the two nations.

Speaking of which, the website’s world section not only includes the concept art we first looked at almost a year ago now, but it also gives more information about the world of Valisthea, Eikons and the Dominants who can call upon them, and the six realms of Valisthea.

Even from the few details provided about the six different realms, I’m already excited about the potential this world holds for an exciting story.

Moving on from Final Fantasy, remember the possibility of a No More Heroes Switch port? Yep, that happened. No More Heroes and No More Heroes 2 have both been released on the Switch.

If a physical edition isn’t announced soon, I’ll probably pick up the first No More Heroes since I’ve been curious about giving the series a try.

Those are probably the biggest announcements I want to bring up from October, but it’s also worth mentioning that the Crossbell games are getting Switch ports in Asia. Still no English localization, but every time Falcom does anything with Zero no Kiseki and Ao no Kiseki, it feels like our chances of seeing an official Crossbell translation get a little better.

That’s all for now. How do you feel about the new Final Fantasy XVI details, the No More Heroes Switch ports, and more Trails games coming to the Switch? Let me know in the comments!

Final Fantasy XVI Possibly Rated M, Website Coming Soon

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Sep 282020
 

Final Fantasy XVI wasn’t featured at TGS, but we did get a tiny handful of new details.

First, there is reason to believe Final Fantasy XVI might be rated M.

Emails sent out by Square Enix about Final Fantasy XVI in PAL regions display an age rating of PEGI 18.

(The email sent in North America just says “rating pending,” but a PEGI 18 rating would most likely mean an M rating from the ESRB.)

This is a provisional rating, so it doesn’t necessarily mean the final game will be rated M. If it is, though, it would be the only M-rated Final Fantasy game besides Type-0.

Now some people are jumping in joy that we’re “finally” getting an M-rated Final Fantasy, as if a higher rating is a sign of higher quality, which I disagree with. Other people are already mad that it will be edgy for the sake of edginess, which I don’t agree with either. People did wonder if certain parts of the Final Fantasy VII Remake (such as the trail of blood scene) were changed because the original couldn’t be done in realistic graphics while still keeping a T rating, so that might explain that.

Personally, I have mixed feelings. I’d certainly play it if it’s rated M, but it doesn’t feel necessary (and the number of people praising it as meaning the series has finally grown up is off-putting). On the other hand, we know from games like Dual Destinies that sometimes an M rating comes from unclear reasons.

Moving on from the provisional rating, there was a Final Fantasy XIV panel at TGS during which Yoshi-P commented briefly on Final Fantasy XVI.

He didn’t say much, but explained that the trailer used in-game footage rather than prerendered scenes to avoid “See you in 2035!” jokes from America (which they got anyway, by the way) and that the graphics aren’t finalized yet. He also confirmed that a Final Fantasy XVI teaser website will open up in October.

The website will only feature information about the world and characters, while the big information reveal is coming in 2021, but that still means we’ll know more about Final Fantasy XVI next month!

How do you feel about Final Fantasy XVI’s potential M rating, and what do you hope to learn from the teaser website?

Highlights from the PlayStation 5 Showcase and Nintendo Direct Mini

 Video games  7 Responses »  Tagged with: , , ,
Sep 172020
 

Yesterday’s PlayStation 5 showcase immediately began with the announcement of Final Fantasy XVI.

That’s right, it’s really happening!

Final Fantasy XVI has been officially revealed for the PlayStation 5. It’s currently unknown if it will come to other platforms or not. It’s also been confirmed that this is the mysterious new game from Business Division 3.

Naoki Yoshida (Yoshi-P) is the producer, Hiroshi Takai is the director, and while it hasn’t been confirmed, fans believe Masayoshi Soken is the composer. There’s also reason to believe Ryota Suzuki, who worked on Devil May Cry 5, might be in charge of the combat, since he joined Square Enix earlier this year to work on an unknown action game.

Whether that’s true or not, it’s definitely an action RPG. Now, I’d have been ecstatic if Final Fantasy XVI was turn-based, but I figured the chances of that were pretty much zero. So with that said, I’m excited for Final Fantasy XVI!

Let’s take a look at our very first Final Fantasy XVI trailer.

The bits of story we get in the trailer have me intrigued, and I can’t wait to learn more about it. (I hope it’s not open world, though.) People have jumped to all sorts of conclusions from this trailer, but I think it’s too early to make any definite judgments.

The next game from the showcase that caught my attention was Hogwarts Legacy. Back when rumors started coming out about it, I wasn’t too interested, mainly because it’s open world.

So… I’m still not sure I’d enjoy it. All the same, the trailer actually does make it look pretty interesting. Going with a setting in the 1800s is also an interesting choice, making it far enough removed from the existing series to allow for more freedom. For now, I’m cautiously intrigued by it.

I’m still not sure what to think about Resident Evil Village. I want to be excited for it, but I’m not convinced yet. I’ll need to see more gameplay from it.

Demon’s Souls, on the other hand, looks beautiful. And I suppose Devil May Cry 5 Special Edition is the version I should play if and when I get that far in the series, since it has new content.

Those were the last of the highlights of the showcase for me until the very end (not counting the split second at the start of the FNAF trailer when I thought it might be Silent Hill because it showed something that looks way too similar to the Halo of the Sun symbol), when they teased the next God of War!

And I do mean teased, because it was basically just a logo.

Anyway, the showcase left me with similar feelings as before. I’m definitely getting a PlayStation 5 eventually, but I feel no need to have it at launch. Not enough launch titles interest me.

That was it for the PlayStation 5 showcase, but this morning featured another Nintendo Direct Mini: Partner Showcase… and a surprise announcement of Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin.

I don’t care at all for the new main Monster Hunter game, but I’m so excited for this! Monster Hunter Stories was a lot of fun, and I was hoping it would get a sequel someday. I didn’t think chances of that were too good, but it’s happening!

There’s still a lot I want to know about Monster Hunter Stories 2, like whether or not it’s still a turn-based RPG, so I can’t wait to see more.

They also announced Disgaea 6: Defiance of Destiny and finally showed more of Rune Factory 5, both of which I’m curious about even though I haven’t played anything from their series. There was a new trailer for Balan Wonderworld, too. Ori and the Will of the Wisps is also coming to the Switch… today.

All in all, it was one of the better partner showcases we’ve had.

Final Fantasy XVI and Monster Hunter Stories 2 stand out as the games I’m most excited for from the recent showcases. The only thing that could make me happier would be if NIS America’s localization announcement today is Crossbell, but I probably won’t have that much luck.

What did you think of the PlayStation 5 Showcase and the Nintendo Direct Mini?

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