Produced by Yoshinori Kitase, director of Final Fantasy VI and Chrono Trigger (among others),Final Fantasy Mobius is the next mobile game from the epic Final Fantasy series set to release on iOS. There is no word from Square Enix if there will be a US release, but we're crossing our fingers because the graphics look like they rival most console Final Fantasysand the fight scenes look pretty slick.
You can take a look at Final Fantasy Mobius in the video below.
Final Fantasy fans are you ready? Nexon has been chosen to develop a mobile game based off of the MMORPG Final Fantasy XI! The original game was set in Vana'diel, a high fantasy world, 20 years after the Crystal War. Players had access to 5 different races: Elvaan, Hume, Galka, Mithra, and Tarutaru. Nexon has not revealed much about the upcoming title, but they certainly seem happy about it.
“We are thrilled to partner with SQUARE ENIX to bring this amazing franchise to mobile audiences around the world,” said Owen Mahoney, President and Chief Executive Officer of Nexon, in a press release. “We are excited to strengthen our partnership with SQUARE ENIX by adding one of their most successful titles to our portfolio, as we continue to leverage our game development and global publishing expertise to provide high-quality experiences to gamers around the world.”
This mobile version of Final Fantasy XI is planned to be released in 2016.
Dig this: Would you like to know what we thought of this steampunk strategy game? Check out our Heavenstrike Rivals review!
The Basics
Use Your Captain's Powers: As part of the game, each player's captain gets a special power. This can heal units, damage others, or cast other status effects. These powers refresh after a certain amount of turns. Players that use and time their powers according to a timeframe that aids their overall strategy will go far.
Use All The Lanes: When starting out, you may be tempted to plop units into a lane and then forget about them. However, changing lanes is key to Heavenstrike Rivals's strategy. As long as your units are taunted or blocked by another unit, feel free to switch around units willy nilly to keep opponents guessing. Also, when playing on maps with power up tiles, units can lane change onto the tile to receive the power up, and then can be moved back to their original spot. How cool is that?
Keep Your Units Alive: Even the strongest units in the game can't do much to help you if they don't stay on the battlefield long enough to fulfill their intended purpose. Additionally, some units and unit types get stronger the longer they are in play, so it's worth putting in the effort.
Squad Building
Don't Underestimate Basic Units: When players start out in the game, they may want to start getting as many high powered units as possible in their squads, but this would be a mistake. The beginner units in Heavenstrike Rivals have low mana costs so they can get on the battlefield quickly. Considering the ultimate goal of the game demands players get within striking distance of their opponent, speed can be useful.
Build Squads With Balance and Purpose: As much as it might seem like a good idea to build a squad full of brawlers, defenders, or other units to max out bonuses afforded by special units, doing this is a lot like putting all of your eggs in one basket. For any one viable strategy in Heavenstrike Rivals, there is a super-effective counter strategy. Players that do not take this into account may stomp all over some opponents that are equally unbalanced, but struggle against thoughtful foes.
Build a Deck that Feels Comfortable: I know, this sounds almost overly basic, but it's important. As much as Heavenstrike Rivals doesn't look like a card game, it still operates like one. Putting in crazy new units that you aren't familiar with can cause a lack of synergy or introduce elements of randomness into your strategy, both of which are things you want to avoid.
Field Tactics
Mana Is A Limited Resource. Use It Wisely: All units cost a certain amount of mana, but all players can only have ten mana's worth of units out on the field at any given time. With this being the case, players should be careful about what they summon early on and what foes they decide to defeat. After all, there's no reason to kill a unit if it's handily tied up and you have the upper hand.
Time Summons Carefully: At first blush, it may look like a good idea to send out all of your units at once. However, if you are too careless and lose a lot of quickly summoned units early though, you may find themselves with a hand so empty they can't properly defend themselves.
Shut Down Gimmicks Early: As game that encourages players to incorporate unit synergy, players should be on the lookout for the key units their opponents are using in an attempt to tie their strategy together. For example, there are some units in the game that grant bonuses to every unit in play of a certain type, so taking out that unit as quickly as possible will minimize the impact of your opponent's strategy.
DeNA and Square Enix have announced that FINAL FANTASY: Record Keeper is currently in development. The game is a combination of all of the past Final Fantasy games and allows players to relive their favorite moments from the series. You'll be able to build a team of classic characters such as Tidus, Lightning, and Cloud, and customize them with a ton of iconic gear, powerful spells, summons, and weapons. [Editor's Note: Hopefully it won't be another All the Bravest...]
"FINAL FANTASY: Record Keeper delivers the ultimate FINAL FANTASY experience for the dedicated and passionate fans of this franchise and we are excited to work with SQUARE ENIX to bring it to players worldwide this spring," said Shintaro Asako, CEO of DeNA West, in a press release.
FINAL FANTASY: Record Keeper is set to release in spring, but if you can't wait you can pre-register at FinalFantasyRecordKeeper.com to receive updates about the game and unlock special in-game characters including Tidus from FINAL FANTASY X.
According to Reddit's iOS Gaming Board, Square Enix seems to have mixed opinions on iOS 8 compatibility updates for The World Ends With You: Solo Remix. User 'chupwn' posted a copy of their support ticket, which reads:
"Unfortunately we have been notified that this title will not be receiving an update to be compatible with iOS 8 and forward. For this we and the development team deeply apologize. We can only suggest that you play the game on an iOS 7 or earlier device at this time. If have purchased the game recently and would like a refund or reimbursement you will need to contact Apple Support as they would act as the retailer in this case. Since we are not the retailer and simply the publisher we would be unable to provide a refund under any circumstances. We apologize for the inconvenience."
Afterwards they received another reply from Square Enix correcting their previous email:
"We apologize, the previous response was premature as our teams have reviewed their response and realized that it was a lot more severe than they meant to provide. They have corrected our notification. This title's patch is more complex than expected and it is taking extra time to patch the game, unfortunately they do not have a final ETA as to when this will be complete."
Currently, The World Ends With You: Solo Remix is simply unplayable on iOS 8 - it gets stuck on an "Initializing" screen. Naturally users are in an uproar over the email and have spoken out on the Reddit message board about Square Enix's performance. 148Apps has reached out to Square Enix for clarification but we have yet to hear back.
Lara Croft is coming to you in this very special holiday bundle. Square Enix is offering Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light HD, the original Tomb Raider, and Tomb Raider II for only $4.99. These are some of the classic Tomb Raider games with some extra bonuses including updated controls, new and original cut-scene voice-overs and enhanced original music effects, and some new locations.
This bundle sale is only around for a limited time, so grab yours [download] while you can.
This new update supports iOS 8 as well, and iPhone users will be happy to hear that it now properly supports the iPhone 5 and up. Players will also be able to enjoy searching for the Mirror of Smoke in central America with new high-resolution visuals.
Check out the new and improved Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light on the app store for $4.99.
Over their long history, Square Enix has become synonymous with big, epic, blockbuster Japanese RPGs. But while mobile may be a great place for ports of classics like Chrono Trigger, when crafting a new game the company has to make something a little more modest than Final Fantasy XII 3. Heavenstrike Rivals is that new game, and we see how well it lives up to its pedigree in this edition of It Came From Canada!
While the game was made in collaboration with English studio Mediatonic, it’s hard not to notice the Final Fantasy style all over it. From the exciting but ultimately nonsensical name, to the plot involving brave youths rescuing a quaint and vaguely European world from a rising darkness, it’s pretty obvious where this game comes from. Fortunately it also has production values that rival its AAA cousins. The illustrated artwork is luscious and detailed, battle animations for the chibi characters are a delight, and the jaunty music sets the mood for adventure.
And players will need to be in the mood because Heavenstrike Rivals' strategic gameplay will demand a lot of their time, even if it is broken up into chunks via energy meters. Using units they’ve gathered, players face off against opponents on a board game-like grid. The goal is to have their army reach the end and begin attacking the other player directly. However, this requires fighting through the enemy units coming after them. It’s a straightforward idea, and the compact arena limits more extravagant strategies, but the game does offer depth through its unit variety.
Players gain access to more of their forces over the course of the round, and knowing all their quirks is where the fun begins. From the fighters’ increasing strength, to the scouts’ multiple hits, to the defenders’ shields, to the gunners’ range, effectively combining these abilities is the key to an effective squad. Plus it’s just satisfying to watch an enemy fall for your carefully planned trap. Outside of battle players can improve their squad even more by leveling-up stats, modifying magic users, and recruiting special vanguards to lead the assault.
A few years ago, Square Enix released a little strategy game for DSiWare called Dragon Quest Wars that entertained in a way similar to Heavenstrike Rivals. We’ll see if the larger App Store audience will be as receptive when the new game launches worldwide soon.
We recently got our hands onHeavenstrike Rivals, an intriguing upcoming strategy game from Square Enix and Mediatonic that's currently in a soft launch phase. To learn more about the game and the East/West collaboration that created it, we spoke with Masanori Ichikawa, a game producer at Square Enix, and Paul Croft, Director of Games at Mediatonic.
148Apps: First, could you give a brief overview of Heavenstrike Rivals? Masanori Ichikawa (MI):Heavenstrike Rivals was created as a joint effort between Square Enix and Mediatonic, a studio in England. It’s a brand new tactical RPG. One of the game’s key features is the real-time PvP multiplayer.
148Apps: You described the game as a tactical RPG with PvP combat. What does that mean exactly? What would you compare it to? MI: It means that you can battle in real-time, like if you were playing chess, over the internet with other players.
Paul Croft (PC): I would compare it to many multiplayer games you might find on PC. We have multiple types of leagues and tournaments, similar in structure to those in Starcraft 2 or League of Legends. Players can compete directly with others across the world for the top places and earn promotions into new divisions if they perform well.
Pretty much out of nowhere, Square Enix has just sort of gone and dropped Tomb Raider II onto the App Store.
The (debatably) superior sequel wowed plenty of gamers when it first came out by adding more of just about everything. Plus it's got that training course at Lara's mansion with the old butler who passes gas like clockwork - I'm not kidding, he totally does. Well, I think it's a perk, anyway.
Flatulence aside, the second game takes Lara to all sorts of new locations like Tibet and Italy. More locations also means more types of enemies (yetis and tigers and... wait, yetis??), as well as some new weapons to dispatch them with. Oh, and vehicles. That was sort of a big deal at the time. But perhaps the addition that will interest you most is the new list of achievements.
You can download Tomb Raider II off the App Store now for $1.99.
