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Final Fantasy XIV

Square Enix has announced that Final Fantasy XIV will be available for Xbox Series X/S on 21 March 2024. The Final Fantasy XIV Starter Edition (which includes A Realm Reborn, Heavensward, and Stormblood) will be available for free as an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate perk for a limited time.

Currently an open beta is in progress which is only available for new players who will be playing Final Fantasy XIV for the first time.

Final Fantasy XIV is an MMORPG and was released back in 2010. However the original version was badly received and resulted in a change of development team. In 2013 Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn (first known as Final Fantasy XIV: Version 2.0) was released. Later four major expansion packs have been released: Heavensward (2015), Stormblood (2017), Shadowbringers (2019), and Endwalker (2021). A fifth expansion pack, Dawntrail, is to be released in Summer 2024.

Final Fantasy VII Remake

Almost 4 years after part one of the Final Fantasy VII remake trilogy was released, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is now available worldwide for the PlayStation 5.

In Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, players take on the role of mercenary Cloud Strife and his comrades as they pursue legendary swordsman Sephiroth, a haunting figure from Cloud’s past bent on ruling the planet, across a vast and vibrant world rife with danger, adventure, joy and uncertainty. These unlikely heroes, including beloved, iconic characters Tifa, Barret, Aerith and Red XIII, join forces with new companions like the spirited ninja operative Yuffie and the wisecracking, feline-shaped robot Cait Sith. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth delivers an unforgettable experience to players filled with unexpected twists, memorable characters and jaw-dropping set pieces that longtime fans and newcomers can both enjoy.

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth keyart

“As the director of the original Final Fantasy VII, I feel very proud that we were able to introduce a whole new generation to role-playing games and show so many newcomers a wider world of storytelling. Today, I’m filled with the same sense of pride when I look at what our development team has accomplished with Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. This adventure offers rich rewards to longtime fans while welcoming in newcomers to begin their Final Fantasy adventure here and experience a similar sense of wonder as they would have felt in 1997. I hope that both fans and those who have never played Final Fantasy before will enjoy this game.”

-Yoshinori Kitase, Producer

“Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is a labor of love and our tribute to adventure – a massive world of compelling stories and our most ambitious game to date. Like those who first brought us the original Final Fantasy VII, we’ve reached for something that was never possible before today’s technology: a deeper portrayal of our main cast of friends, comrades and people of the Planet. By combining their powers in battle and strengthening their bonds through your choices, we hope you feel a powerful, connection with these characters and the world they inhabit.”

-Naoki Hamaguchi, Director

“For many years, I wondered what a remake of Final Fantasy VII could look like. Above all else, I felt we would need to do justice to the characters and story that had become so beloved by fans around the world. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth delivers on this vision and vastly expands upon the original title not only in the size of its world, but in the quiet moments shared by party members, where warmth, joy, sorrow and tenderness can be found. As they press on and forge deeper bonds en route to their ultimate fate, I hope you will open your heart to feel these feelings alongside them. As the second title in a trilogy, we’ve enjoyed hearing our fans’ feedback from the previous title and incorporating elements into Final Fantasy VII Rebirth for a truly breathtaking follow-up. Thank you for playing our vision for a remake, in which the past is honored by the possibilities of the present to reimagine a story for future generations.”

-Tetsuya Nomura, Creative Director

You can watch the release trailer below.

Final Fantasy VII Remake

At the end of the special State of Play, dedicated to Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Square Enix has announced that the demo is now available to play.

The demo is split in two parts. Part one, "Fall of a Hero in Nibelheim", which is now available to play, features an extended flashback section of the Nibelheim incident that takes place five years ago prior to the setting of the game.

After players complete "Fall of a Hero in Nibelheim", part two, “Dawn of a New Era in Junon.”, will be released on 21 February. This part let you explore a small area around Junon.

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth will be released on 29 February 2024 on PlayStation 5 as a timed exclusive.

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth demo

Square Enix

Square Enix has revealed a new trailer of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth entitled Destined for Rebirth. In addition to the video several new screenshots and renders for in-game characters and locale were also revealed.

The trailer, which is only one minute long, shows footage from the area's you visit and new gameplay.

Also new key art was released of Cait Sith and Yuffie that are new versions from the original that was released with Final Fantasy VII in 1997.

Yuffie - Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Cait Sith - Final Fantasy VII Rebirth

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth will be released on 29 February 2024 exclusively on PlayStation 5 as a timed exclusive.

Hell and Heaven Net

I want to wish everybody a Merry Christmas and a Happy 2024!

When a look back at the year 2023 it was the year Final Fantasy XVI was released, the 16th main entry in the Final Fantasy series. The game received good reviews, but did not meet Square Enix's expectations in terms of sales figures. The game got several updates and recently the first paid downloadable content was released.

Happy Holidays!Another game that was released this year was Forspoken (titled Project Athia during development). The game did not receive good reviews causing Luminous Productions, the developer, to be disbanded.

Other games that came out this year are Theatrhythm Final Bar Line, Octopath Traveler II, Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai – Infinity Strash, Star Ocean: The Second Story R (the remake to Star Ocean: The Second Story released in 1998) and Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince.

What will 2024 bring us? Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth, the second game (of 3 parts) in the Final Fantasy VII remake project will be up first with the release on 29 February. Other games that will be released are SaGa: Emerald Beyond and the recently announced Visions of Mana. Maybe we'll hear something about Kingdom Hearts IV, Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake and Dragon Quest XII.

What about Hell and Heaven Net in 2024? Drupal, the system Hell and Heaven Net is running on, needs to be upgraded. I didn't had the time for it. If you want to support me, please let me know.

Final Fantasy XVI

During The Game Awards 2023 Square Enix has announced Final Fantasy XVI downloadable content Echoes of the Fallen and The Rising Tide. Echoes of the Fallen is now available for purchase on the PlayStation Store. The Rising Tide will be released in Spring 2024.

Final Fantasy XVI: Echoes of the Fallen

Echoes of the Fallen unlocks new story, battles, weapons, accessories, level cap and more. The adventure begins before the base game’s final battle, as strange, dark crystals begin to circulate on the black market. Players will follow Clive and company during their investigations as they encounter a group of suspicious traders, leading them to a long-abandoned Fallen tower known as the Sagespire and the terrible secrets that await within.

Final Fantasy XVI: The Rising Tide

The Rising Tide will bring new challenges and more, including the confrontation between Clive and the legendary Eikon, Leviathan.

You can watch the announcement trailer on YouTube. Due to the age restriction the video can't be included in this article.

With the announcement of the downloadable content a update, version 1.21, was released which makes a number of changes and improvements to the game.

Version 1.21 patch notes

Additional Features

  • Adds a new Inner Voice option to the Grand Cast menu, which can be viewed upon inquiring with Vivian about the State of the Realm.
    Hover the cursor over a character and press the touchpad to view their inner feelings toward their allies and enemies. See how each character's feelings change as the story progresses.

  • Adds several new orchestrion rolls.
    These can be obtained from in-game vendors after progressing a certain way through the story.

Changes to Arcade Mode

  • Adds a technical bonus feature that increases battle performance scores.
    Attacking enemies and performing a variety of battle techniques fills the technical bonus gauge, which increases your score multiplier each time it crosses a certain threshold. The gauge depletes over time or upon taking damage.

  • Adds new accolades.
    These can be earned by clearing stages within a certain time limit or with a final battle performance score above a certain threshold.

  • Adjusts ranking thresholds over individual legs and stages.
    The changes described above allow players to earn higher battle performance scores than they could previously. The ranking thresholds are adjusted to account for this.

  • Introduces a new leaderboard.
    All scores earned after the update is installed will be recorded to this new leaderboard.

  • Allows you to view leaderboards and rankings from previous versions.

  • Adjusts the difficulty level of Ultimaniac stages.

  • Adds and adjusts explanations of various features.

Changes to Training Mode

  • Adds an Immediate Takedown option.
    With this option turned on, attacks will reduce an enemy's will gauge by 50%, allowing you to partially stagger enemies with a single attack, then fully stagger them with a second attack.

  • Adds a Megaflare Level option.
    This option allows you to fix your Megaflare level to any value.

  • Adds a Zantetsuken Level option.
    This option allows you to fix your Zantetsuken level to any value.

System-related Changes

  • Adds a Photo Mode shortcut option.
    This option, accessible from the Game Settings tab of the System menu, allows you to launch Photo Mode by pressing the touchpad with two fingers.

  • Adds the ability to enter Photo Mode from the pause screen.
    This allows photos to be taken during cutscenes, with certain exceptions.

  • Adds the option to retry from the Game Over screen when Clive is defeated by a notorious mark.
    Retrying will return Clive to the point immediately before the battle with the notorious mark began.

  • Allows you to examine the details of the rewards available from the Patron's Whisper in the hideaway.

  • Adds the option to filter save data in the Load Game tab of the System menu.
    Press □ to cycle between the following filtering options: Show All Saves, Show Auto-saves, and Show Manual Saves.

  • Adds a Credits option to the title menu.
    This option, which allows you to view the credits sequence, becomes available after completing the game.

  • Adds and adjusts various UI elements.

Bug Fixes

Corrects the following issues:

  • Several issues wherein graphical elements did not display correctly during cutscenes.
  • Several issues wherein certain NPC animations were incorrect during certain quests.
  • Several issues wherein certain NPCs became positioned incorrectly under specific conditions during certain quests.
  • Several issues wherein progress became impossible in certain quests under specific conditions.
  • Several issues wherein quest objectives and destination markers did not display correctly in certain quests.
  • Several issues wherein NPC dialogue was incorrect in certain quests.
  • Several issues wherein the reward of ability points was incorrect in certain quests.
  • An issue wherein the demontamer's armguards were impossible to obtain.
  • Several issues wherein enemies did not behave correctly under specific conditions during battle.
  • Several issues wherein collision detection did not behave correctly under specific conditions during battle.
  • Several issues wherein the camera did not behave correctly under specific conditions during battle.
  • Several issues wherein the frame rate dropped significantly during battle.
  • Several issues wherein abilities or limit breaks did not trigger correctly under specific conditions during battle.
  • Several issues wherein accessory effects did not trigger correctly under specific conditions.
  • Several issues wherein the menu did not display or update correctly in Chronolith trials.
  • An issue wherein the conditions to achieve the Mark of the Jongleur accolades were incorrect in Chronolith trials.
  • Several issues wherein the menu did not display or update correctly in Arcade Mode.
  • An issue wherein Clive's clothing did not display correctly under specific conditions in Training Mode.
  • Several issues wherein menu navigation did not behave correctly under specific conditions in Training Mode.
  • Several issues wherein the AI of companion NPCs did not behave correctly.
  • Several issues wherein parkour animations did not trigger correctly under specific conditions.
  • Several issues wherein graphical elements and collision surfaces were set incorrectly in explorable areas and replayable stages.
  • Several issues wherein location names displayed at incorrect points in explorable areas and replayable stages.
  • An issue wherein certain menu screens flickered when the Graphics Settings option was set to Frame Rate.
  • Several issues wherein character animations did not trigger correctly under specific conditions.
  • Several issues wherein Active Time Lore elements did not update at the correct timing.
  • Several issues wherein menu elements did not display or update correctly in Vivian's State of the Realm.
  • Several issues wherein menu elements did not display or update correctly in Harpocrates's Thousand Tomes.
  • Several issues wherein entries in the Thousand Tomes did not update at the correct timing.
  • Several issues wherein Torgal's Animal Instinct did not function correctly under specific conditions.
  • An issue wherein graphical elements did not display correctly in Photo Mode under specific conditions.
  • Several issues wherein areas failed to unlock on the world map under specific conditions.
  • Several issues wherein text and icons did not display correctly on the world map under specific conditions.
  • Several issues wherein the camera did not behave correctly under specific conditions.
  • Several issues wherein the wireless controller vibration and adaptive triggers did not function correctly under specific conditions.
  • An issue wherein progress towards the trophy Here Be Rosfields did not display correctly under specific conditions.
  • Several issues wherein incorrect images and videos appeared in tutorial slides.
  • Several issues wherein important notifications did not display correctly under specific conditions.
  • Several issues wherein audio elements did not trigger under specific conditions.
  • Several issues wherein the game would freeze under specific conditions.
  • Several minor text issues.

Final Fantasy XVI is available for PlayStation 5. A demo is available where you can play the beginning of the game and a later dungeon. The PC version is currently in development.

Final Fantasy XVI

During The Game Awards 2023 Square Enix has revealed Visions of Mana, a new game in the Mana series after 15 years. The Mana series started in 1991 with Seiken Densetsu: Final Fantasy Gaiden (Final Fantasy Adventure in the US and Mystic Quest in Europe).

Visions of Mana artwork

The game take players on a new adventure with protagonist Val, a soul guard assigned to protect his childhood friend, who has been chosen by the Faerie as the Alm of Fire to travel to the Tree of Mana and rejuvenate the mana flow.

Visions of Mana will be released in 2024 on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC and Steam.

Square Enix

Star Ocean: The Second Story R, the remake of the 1998 classic RPG, is now available worldwide both physically and digitally on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch and PC via Steam.

Star Ocean: The Second Story R artwork

In Star Ocean: The Second Story, the story begins with Claude, a Federation officer, who finds himself transported to an undeveloped planet. While searching for a way home, an encounter with a girl named Rena draws them into a quest to save her people, just as an ancient prophecy foretold. Players will begin their adventure with either Claude or Rena, and depending on their choice, the perspectives and the allies' players recruit will change. Players will get to know party members through the unique ‘Private Actions System’, which will allow them to grow relationships and unlock a variety of different endings.

Star Ocean: The Second Story R is a 2.5 remake developed by Gemdrops featuring a rearranged soundtrack, new difficulty settings, numerous quality-of-life improvements and more.

If you never heard of this game, you can try the demo where you can play the first three hours of the game. You can import your save to the full game. Below you can watch the launch trailer.

Final Fantasy VII Remake

At Sony's September 2023 State of Play Square Enix has revealed a new trailer with new footage from Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. At the end of the trailer the release date has been revealed: 29 February 2024!

The trailer, which you watch below, contains footage from locations such as Junon, The Gold Saucer, Cosmo Canyon and the new characters like Cait Sith and Vincent you encounter.

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is the second chapter in the re-imagining of Final Fantasy VII. After escaping from the dystopian city of Midgar, Cloud and his friends set out on a journey across the planet. New adventures await in a vibrant and vast world – sprint across grassy plains on a Chocobo and explore expansive environments.

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth will be released on 29 February 2024 exclusively on PlayStation 5. Most likely it will be a timed exclusive. Final Fantasy VII Remake was later released on PC.


Final Fantasy VII Rebirth artwork

Final Fantasy VII

A few days ago, on 7 September 2023, Square Enix has released Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis on mobile platforms. Over 1.7 million players have pre-registered for the game. A bonus awaits these players when they sign in.

Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis is a chapter-structured RPG experience that will cover key elements of the Final Fantasy VII timeline, including the events of the original game, plus new story elements penned by Final Fantasy VII Remake story and scenario writer Kazushige Nojima surrounding a young hero, Sephiroth.

Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis can now be downloaded in the Apple Store for iOS devices and the Google Play Store for Android devices.

The previous mobile game in the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII series, Final Fantasy VII: The First Solider, was discontinued earlier this year. Will this game commit the same fate? It's not my cup of tea, since this is a gacha game.

Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis now available

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