Final Fantasy XIII-2 players will have a little more afro in their lives come February 28, when Square Enix releases its latest episodic DLC event, "Sazh: Heads or Tails?" Players take on the role of Sazh Katzroy in an adventure that takes place concurrently with FFXIII-2's main story. Once completed, players will be able to add Sazh into their party, as is the way with these things.
The 400 MSP/$4.99 episode also includes two new card games for Serendipity: Chronobind and Serendipity Poker. Noel's "Spacetime Guardian" outfit and Serah's "Beachware" regalia will also be available that day, bundled together for 240 MSP/$2.99 and a silent confession to yourself that it's okay to play dress-up with your JRPG people.
It's Saturday morning. You have a giant bowl of sugar-coated cereal, the comfiest slippers on your feet, and an entire day to spend watching talkative cartoon animals get comically mutilated in some of the most sadistic ways known to man. Quantum Conundrum is kind of like that -- sweet and fun, but with an inherent and surprising darkness, creative director Kim Swift told Joystiq in an exclusive interview.
"It has this very cartoony, dynamic feel to it with the gameplay," Swift said. "Tonality-wise, it came naturally that this game be slightly more lighthearted, slightly more on the slapstick, Looney Toons kind of a feel. But even Looney Toons has a darker element to it -- you're looking at these cartoon characters getting squished and all that stuff, so it's definitely not like we're watching PBS on a Saturday morning. More like Cartoon Network on a Saturday morning."
Swift, known for her work on Portal and its student-project predecessor, Narbacular Drop, has been developing Quantum Conundrum for Airtight Games since 2009. While the title features the same first-person physics puzzle-style of her previous work, Swift said Quantum Conundrum operates in a completely separate universe and has a starkly different feel than anything she's done.
"With Quantum Conundrum, we're a little bit more slapstick and off the wall than Portal," Swift said. "And Narbacular Drop is Narbacular Drop."
Square Enix is starting operations in India and is staffing up. If you speak Japanese and Hindi, and have an awesome hairdo, apply! (That last part is not a staff requirement—just a game character one.) [Square Enix Japan] More »
Square Enix has released another Taito shmup on the App Store, and as with pretty much all Square releases, we can't help but be aghast at the price. Given the source material, however, maybe $11 isn't that bad.
Dariusburst Second Prologue is based on both the PSP Dariusburst and its arcade followup, Another Chronicle -- the two latest iterations of Taito's long-lived shmup series about shooting enormous robot fish. The PSP game content is all here, along with a remixed mode with new enemy patterns and stuff from Another Chronicle. There are also four new tracks by Taito's Zuntata band.
In other words, if it were on PSP, there'd be no question of its value. We admit we're still kind of balking at the App Store price anyway. That's just how the market is on that platform!
Square Enix is holding a sale this week on the Xbox Marketplace, taking half off DLC for Deus Ex: Human Revolution and Just Cause 2, along with discounts on several of Lady Croft's adventures and its associated DLC.
The highlights of the sale are certainly the Deus Ex's Missing Link DLC and co-op adventure Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light for 600 MSP ($7.50). There's also some attempted discounts on full downloads of Battlestations: Pacific, Just Cause 2 and Tomb Raider: Underworld; but chances are you can find better in your local bargain bin.
Another game worth checking out is updated original Tomb Raider: Anniversary, available in two chunks at 400 MSP ($5) apiece. So, try the first two levels before you buy the whole thing. Find the full list of discounts after the break.
Just a reminder for those whose minds have been addled by "Crazy Chocobo:" the first FFXIII-2 DLC, a Coliseum battle with Lightning and Master Sergeant Amodar, is available now on Xbox Live, and will be on PSN when that updates this afternoon.
#speakuponkotaku
Remember back when the Final Fantasy franchise had room for silly jokes and random frivolity? Commenter Balmung certainly does, and he wonders we'll ever go back there in today's Speak Up on Kotaku. More »
#armycorpsofhell
Square Enix's upcoming Vita game puts players in command of a dethroned King of Hell who's commanding a 100-goblin attack squad to get his crown back. This latest video from the strategy game shows that you needn't go it alone. ACoH will support up to four ad-hoc players and you can see what it looks like when multiple nether-generals go at the game's big bosses. Army Corps of Hell will be there on the PlayStation's launch day in two short weeks. More »
Deus Ex is leading the revenue revolution for Square Enix, whose digital entertainment -- games -- department in April-December 2011 grew 6.2 percent from the previous fiscal year, totaling $704.7 million in net sales. Games now comprise 56 percent of Square Enix's total revenue, where in the same period of 2010 they made up just 52 percent.
The company's operating profit rose 11.5 percent to $169.4 million and its net income ended at $65 million, up 175.2 percent from the previous period. Square Enix cited Deus Ex: Human Revolution and its online and social titles as the main factors behind its financial progress.
#finalfantasy
Join me as I take a trip through my favorite new feature of Final Fantasy XIII-2, monster recruitment, snag a couple of rare creatures, and witness the beginning of a legend that will never die. More »
#speakuponkotaku
With this week's release of Final Fantasy XIII-2 reopening the franchise discussion floodgates, commenter deuxhero makes an empassioned plea for the Final Fantasy game he believes is the best, even if nobody else does. Let's Speak Up on Kotaku. More »
#vanquish
Fast-pace shooter Vanquish is being immortalized in resin with two upcoming figures. The game's developer, Platinum Games, is showing off the figures. Have a look. More »
#finalfantasy
Boring. Bland. Linear. Those are three of the kinder things that can be said of Final Fantasy XIII, a game so poor it needed a direct sequel just to salvage some brand integrity. They're also disarmingly simple, and don't really get to the heart of just why the game was so disappointing to so many. More »
Looking to do some time travel on the cheap? Amazon's not quite able to bend time just yet, but it can offer you a $20 credit on a brand new copy of the just-released Final Fantasy XIII-2, not to mention a digitized "mini strategy guide." We're hopeful that the strategies are bigger than the guide itself.
Should you choose to go with Amazon's deal, you could always put the $20 credit towards a flux capacitor or something that might actually facilitate time travel. Maybe hallucinogens? We're not sure if Amazon's in that racket yet, but that's another potential avenue for seeking your desire to float across the pond of time. Maybe a Doors album is a better way to go?
#finalfantasy
Along with the announcement that Final Fantasy XIII-2 is now available for purchase and play, Square Enix laid out plans to supplement the game with downloadable episodes and coliseum battles that could bring classic Final Fantasy foes into your party. More »
#finalfantasy
Tomorrow marks the second time in Final Fantasy history that Square Enix releases a direct console sequel to one of the numbered entries in the fabled series. Considering the first time around we got a trio of pop divas playing dress-up, this one has to be better, right game reviewers? More »
#review
In an epic tale of time-traveling heroism, Square Enix travels two years into the future to rectify the mistakes it made with Final Fantasy XIII. Have they found redemption with Final Fantasy XIII-2, or is history doomed to repeat itself? More »
There was once a time when "Final Fantasy" meant greatness, when seeing Square's brand on a game box meant you were about to play something special. That time has long since passed. In today's gaming landscape, Final Fantasy is more punchline than powerhouse, more quantity than quality. After the mediocre Final Fantasy XIII and the sheer disaster that was Final Fantasy XIV, many fans have lost faith in the RPG titan.
Final Fantasy XIII-2 is the publisher's attempt to mend this relationship. At times, it feels like the development team just went down a laundry list and added everything that fans believed Final Fantasy XIII lacked. Non-linear dungeons? Check. Sidequests? Check. NPCs and towns? Check, check. In other words, the whole game seems like one big apology.
#finalfantasy
Yesterday Square Enix released a video demonstrating all of the nifty things you can do instead of fighting in Final Fantasy XIII-2. Today? Today is all about the battles, which are arguably as entertaining. More »
Hit the play button on this video and have ex-Portal lead Kim Swift walk you through some of her new downloadable game, Quantum Conundrum. If you want a few more details, read through our preview.
Square Enix has joined the ever-growing list of publishers to bring its classic titles to GOG.com. The first two Square-Enix titles to hit the service are Hitman: Codename 47 and Deus Ex: Game of the Year Edition (2000 being the year in question). You can pick up either for $5.99 and $9.99 respectively.
GOG promises more Square Enix games to come. We'd expect most of those to come from Square's library of Eidos titles (Thief, anyone?), though the PC ports of Final Fantasy VII and VIII are a slim possibility. Slim.
Final Fantasy XIII-2 will reportedly include Lightning from Final Fantasy XIII as DLC. According to Famitsu (via Andriasang), Lightning will be a coliseum character that, once defeated, can become a party member.
Square Enix apparently also stated that it will have "secret story episodes" for Lightning, with more characters from FFXIII potentially having similar story DLC.
The publisher also sent out a trailer covering a variety of gameplay found in Final Fantasy XIII-2, such as puzzles, quizzes and gambling on Chocobo races. Never owe a Moogle money. It always ends badly. Always.
#finalfantasy
While Final Fantasy XIII was all about getting the job done in a timely fashion, Final Fantasy XIII-2 gives the player plenty of time to relax between tasks. Check out some of the more entertaining diversions tucked away in next week's sequel. More »
Square Enix has trademarked the name "Sleeping Dogs," which could be a canine-based Final Fantasy title, Hitman with a Scooby-Doo-inspired sidekick, or, most likely, another Kane and Lynch game. Yes, most likely -- we never said most desirably.
The previous Kane and Lynch title was Dog Days, and while it struggled to receive critical and commercial praise, Square Enix has hinted that the series may not be dead after all. Eidos "life president" Ian Livingstone said as much at the end of 2010 in an interview with Eurogamer: "We haven't made any announcements about Kane & Lynch going forward, but we all know that Kane and Lynch are two amazing characters who have a lot of brand equity," Livingstone hinted. "People like those guys, so they're not going to disappear."
Also, developer IO Interactive put out a suspicious job listing for people to work on an unannounced, third-person, AAA action title in September 2011. Again, "Sleeping Dogs" could be Square's answer to Nintendogs, but for now the evidence is piling up like a stack of old laundry against Kane and Lynch.
#armycorpsofhell
In the first of a series of live-action videos promoting Square Enix's PlayStation Vita launch game, Army Corps of Hell, the lord of hell takes a bus to Hell, Michigan. Honest mistake, really. More »
#kingdomhearts
Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance will be out March 29 in Japan. There will be a special Kingdom Hearts 3DS handheld. While I like the monogram, I'm not a fan with the Kingdom Hearts text or the stupid Disney copyright. More »
#deusex
A video turned up on YouTube today saying it was behind-the-scenes footage of a Deus Ex "Live Action Short Film". And it looks way too slick/expensive to be a fan film. More »
We're pretty dubious of any time-travel methods that don't involve police boxes from the 1960s, but Final Fantasy XIII-2's horcrux Historia Crux and time gates look like a fairly stable, albeit significantly less British, way to traverse the annals of history.
#scarygirl
ScaryGirl, a few-years-old flash platformer based on Nathan Jurevicius's graphic novel, has been released on Xbox Live Arcade, with a PSN release scheduled for next week and a "coming soon" release date for PC. More »
