In today’s remake and nostalgia-driven market, there’s no franchise too big or small to be trotted out in the town to help bolster fiscal earnings. Some, like Capcom’s Resident Evil or Square Enix’s Final Fantasy manage to go the extra mile, churning out high-quality remakes and new sequels in tandem …
Read More »Can 'Visions of Mana' Ever Catch Up to Its Rivals?
Living in your siblings’ shadow is tough, and if Square Enix’s Visions of Mana were a person, it’d likely agree. Its bigger, more famous brethren like the Dragon Quest series keep iterating on traditional RPG designs from the Nineties, while Final Fantasy is always evolving and experimenting with what the …
Read More »'Dawntrail' Brings 'Final Fantasy XIV' Into a New Era
After saving the fabric of reality from being erased, even the stoutest of heroes need a vacation. For the last decade, Final Fantasy XIV has been all about building your legend, becoming the mythical Warrior of Light. The world revolves around you. Following up on a lengthy and beloved story …
Read More »'Final Fantasy XVI' Is a Cinematic Peak for a Never-Ending Franchise
Final Fantasy XVI works because of its desire to push the series in a new direction, influenced by all kinds of western media, while still celebrating its own quirky spirit. It doesn’t reinvent or subvert its original concepts — there are still crystals, chocobos, and scenery chewing villains — but …
Read More »'Final Fantasy XVI' Aims to Thrive Where 'Game of Thrones' Failed
It’s been a long time since I truly loved a Final Fantasy game. Final Fantasy XII, which came out in 2006, was a somewhat forgettable distraction that mostly left me longing for another Vagrant Story. Unfairly maligned Final Fantasy XIII (2009) had a little je ne sais quoi but didn’t …
Read More »'Octopath Traveler II' Shows the Unlimited Potential of JRPGs
Octopath Traveler II is a mesmerizing free fall into why traditional JRPGs are an irreplaceable art form. The sequel from Square Enix and Acquire hits every note that the 2018 original so carefully illustrated – the eight co-protagonists, the hyper-stylized turn-based battle systems, and “HD-2D” visuals that make Final Fantasy …
Read More »'Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion' Is a (Slightly) Updated Time Capsule From the Mid-2000s
In 1997, Japanese developer Square released a juggernaut with Final Fantasy VII, a game generally considered one of the greatest ever made. Ten years later, they’d expand that world with a prequel, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, released for the PlayStation Portable. Relatively well-received at the time, that title would …
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