The product info of the book, also from Square Enix’s e-shop, translated by Hitoshura, reveals the following:

Reno and Rude. The universally loved Shinra Company is back!

2 years since that fateful day.
Evan and Kyrie are two young people among a group running a detective agency in Edge, a city that has sprung up in the wastelands.
Following these two, Reno and Rude from the Turks as well as the heroes from FFVII such as Cloud and Tifa return in a new story!

(*dialogue by unspecified speaker*)
Well that doesn’t look too safe.
Guys like him die for some real stupid reasons.
Remember when we used to be like that?
Hey, partner?

The young staff of the Mireille Detective Agency advertise their business with a particular gimmick: “We Read the Lifestream”
During a certain case, they come into contact with the Shinra Company’s Investigation Sector of the General Affairs Department, commonly known as the Turks.
A brand-new full-length novel focusing on the Turks, as they aim to restore their company in order to repay a debt to the world, and a group of young people living in a world in ruins.

So this book definitely takes place after the original game. What will this book reveal?! Is the guy on the cover Evan? Stay tuned.

Source:
Square Enix’s Gamebooks Info Site

The product details give us these stats on the book:

Release Date: December 15th, 2011
Cost: 1,470 yen
Page Count: 338
Genre: Novel

It is written by veteran Final Fantasy scenario writer, Kazushige Nojima. Illustrations are done by Shou Tajima, whose previous work related to FFVII seems limited to a drawing of Cloud for Square Enix’s manga magazine, Shonen Gangan.
Source: FF7citadel

What role will this play in the expanded universe of Final Fantasy VII? When will it take place? Expect TLS to analyse the contents of this book once it has been released.

Thanks to forum member Suzaku for bringing this book to our attention!

One of their favorite fansites? D’awwww, tanks Square. :3

Thanks to Arianna for the heads up.

Well, it certainly looks like Square-Enix was indeed holding back at TGS for this, as there is a veritable flood of tiny snippets and bigger trailers and the like. I’m going to make an attempt at consolidating some of this for you. I may not have all the sources as stuff is literally coming in from all over, but pictures and trailers are almost assuredly legitimate. I’ll stuff it all after the break.

For as long as it lasts, there is the Final Fantasy Versus XIII Trailer featuring plenty of gameplay.

Tennyo already posted it, but just for convenience here is the Final Fantasy XIII-2 Trailer.

This is the trailer for the Final Fantasy Type-0 we reported was registered a little while ago. It turns out that this is the new name for Final Fantasy Agito XIII as it has nothing to do with the Fabula Nova Crystallis. It will also apparently be released on two UMDs.

Revenge!

Lastly, Dissida 012. Apparently there is a (purportedly substantial) demo that you must purchase, but it comes with a code to unlock Aerith as an assist only character. Gilgamesh (FFV and others) and Prische (FFXI) have joined Chaos and Cosmos, respectively. The word is that Tidus is on the side of Chaos, interestingly. There has been no word on Cloud’s alignment, but his absence on the cover of the special edition soundtrack has led many to believe he may be in Septhiroth flunky mode.

Forum members DrakeClawFang  and ShikamaruNara (Fighter alt) also provided these images of new alternates:

It has been confirmed: there will be a direct sequel to FFXIII, and we’re not talking the Fabula Nova Crystallis spin-offs like VersusXIII and AgitoXIII.  This appears to be more in the vein of FFX-2 (but hopefully a bit lower on the Charlie’s Angels scale).

Official Logo

In addition to the above logo, a trailer has been released that seems to show Lightning in some very Amano-inspired armor as per the image below.

Lightning's New Armor. A take on that of the summon Odin?

And now, for your viewing pleasure, the trailer.  Better watch it before SE issues a cease and desist!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObiaNbDtF3Y – BEWARE Spoilers for the ending of FFXIII

Thanks to forum members Drakeclawfang, Bex, and ShikamaruNara for the info.

Sources:

Siliconera

Kotaku

Tis the season folks. No, not that silly stuff with the trees and the lights and the what have you, but the season of FF7! Today marks the beginning of the story of Final Fantasy 7. It started on December 9th, and lasted until the sometime near the end of January. Don’t believe me? Check out our FF7 timeline, it’ll set you straight.

So, to commemorate the season, Tennyo, Forcestealer, and myself, Ryushikaze, naturally decided to ignore the game entirely and skip two years into the future for Advent Children Complete!

That’s right, we’ve recorded a full length audio commentary track for Advent Children Complete. This two hour treat is ready and waiting for download. Everything from philosophy, to continuity shout outs to just plain nonsense can be found in this commentary for the low low price of free.

So what are you waiting for? Download the commentary, load it up, and get ready to enjoy Advent Children Complete in a whole new way.

It won’t hurt. We swear.

Download the commentary now!

Remember how I marveled at FFIV’s dungeon? I asked you to remember (or imagine) seeing it from the first time coming off the dungeons of Final Fantasies I-III. It was an impressive leap, it felt solid, it had some depth to it. The first three games almost felt like a board game. Impressive in their own rights, don’t misunderstand, but the SNES era games just added so much to the presentation.

Well as much as a leap as that was – remember or imagine, if you will, coming off the SNES Final Fantasies and coming across a final dungeon that looked like this:

I’ll give you a moment to pick yourselves up off the floor, because if you imagined/remembered properly, that’s exactly where you should be.

…

Ready? Okay.

Sephiroth, your mortal enemy for several reasons, cast his doomsday spell and holed up in the crater made by the asteroid that delivered his ‘mother’ 2000 years ago. Complete with an energy shield around the entrance, he intends to simply wait until the Meteor hits, inflicting the wound that will give him access to all the souls on the Planet. Shinra was kind enough to take down his barrier for you, so all that remains is to climb down to the depths of the planet and release the hold he has on humanity’s only hope.

As we all know, Final Fantasy VII represented a huge change for the series. Apart from the graphics, gone was the medieval high-fantasy setting; gone were the princesses and crystalline dungeons. How did this all translate to the endgame?

While the mish mashing environments of the previous two dungeons are gone, the Northern Crater has some incredibly varied locales. From Lifestream waterfalls to skeletons of giant creatures and even a section with a camera angle reminiscent of a side-scroller, you certainly will not get bored from the scenery. I don’t mean to ramble about the attractiveness of the dungeon, I just want to emphasize that the good graphics were not the only reason it’s so easy on the eyes: its design is very imaginative.

Unfortunately, it also hits several snags as compared to its predecessors. Chief among these is difficulty – or lack thereof. Now, in fairness, if you head directly to the crater after popping in Disc 3, you are likely to be low to mid 50s in level. At this point the dungeon is reasonably tough. King Behemoths can deal heavy damage; dragons will as well with several attacks, gargoyles and Edward Scissorhands cosplayers will hit you with instant death. And as any Final Fantasy player worth his or her salt knows, the Master Tonberries will ruin your day.

Get the %&#$ away from me!!

However, if you undertake any sidequests at all, even very minor leveling or obtaining some ultimate weapons, you will rapidly eclipse the enemies here. They simply do not have the HP counts to stand up to Double Cuts from three ultimate weapons, or even just a party pushing level 65 and up. On top of that, there is no boss gauntlet. Well, not a true one at least. The rocks you have to hop from on your way to the final battle are subject to some powerful monsters (again, only if you came directly here; Go ignored and $200 uncollected), but they lack story relevance that past gauntlets have had.

Kefka’s Tower can still backhand a player across the face at level 80 if the player is not prepared, but overlevelled parties in FFVII can simply steamroll their way through the Northern Crater. This does little to help the dungeon’s already short length. The fact that it is shorter than the past couple would not be a huge deal as a standard playthrough of FFVII is longer than one in FFs V and VI by this point. What is puzzling are the dungeon’s efforts to shorten itself.

Halfway through, the path forks, and you must direct party members to different paths. Like Kefka’s Tower, right? Well, it is until you reach the part that you do not control your other party members. You just meet up with them at the bottom and they give you the items they found along the way. This means that, if you’re playing normally, you only see half the dungeon. This is really a shame because the areas are, as I’ve mentioned, very pretty and you should be able to see them. It was years before I even knew what the other half looked like (which happens to look awesome with the corkscrew and massive skeletons). Furthermore, as I said, the dungeon’s rather short. If you actually had to go through the whole thing, it would probably be a normal length. If, for example, there were no split, or even more reasonably, you just had to control all the groups, this would all be remedied. Even the difficulty would step up as you’d have to use the other characters.

Phew, anyway, to end on a positive note, I deliberately avoided talking about the music. And that is because the song here very nearly makes up for every single one of these misgivings. This song is awesome. In my opinion Final Fantasy VII does not, in fact, have the best overall soundtrack, but “Judgment Day” is the standard to which I hold all other endgame themes. I’ve mentioned liking a rousing score for my march to save the world, and Judgment Day actually doesn’t have that “go forth” quality I mentioned. However, if you could write “determination” in music, this is it. You are pissed at Sephiroth and this is the perfect song to mentally prepare you for the spanking you intend to hand him. Incidentally, ocremix has a fantastic version of this song that captures its feel and manages to make it even more awesome.
The more subdued areas have the Promised Land music, and your ‘final approach’ is heralded by the ever-badass JENOVA theme.

So they missed some major opportunities with the Northern Crater. And they are amplified by my recent journey through the previous ones. However, this dungeon nailed the atmosphere better than any other. Hell was an awesome place to charge through, and the Rift was disconcerting and spooky, but graphically and musically speaking, Final Fantasy VII’s final dungeon hits it out of the park.

With towers and holes and other dimensions, where could we possibly have left to go? Why through time, of course!

I vote yes

I’ve said this many times before, often jokingly, but not without a truth to the matter. Final Fantasy 3 and the Kingdom Hearts series are amazingly similar, and the more of the series I play, the more I am convinced that Kingdom Hearts is Final Fantasy 3 with Disney added, that the two games, when you get right down to it, are telling the same story, not that this is a bad thing. Akira Kurosawa’s Hidden Fortress and George Lucas’s Star Wars: A New Hope are the same story, but each is told in a way that makes each telling unique and worthwhile.

]]> http://thelifestream.net/square-enix/6718/a-legend-retold-final-fantasy-3s-influcence-on-the-kindgom-hearts-series/feed/ 7 http://thelifestream.net/square-enix/6709/the-endgame-final-dungeons-of-the-final-fantasy-series-part-vi/ http://thelifestream.net/square-enix/6709/the-endgame-final-dungeons-of-the-final-fantasy-series-part-vi/#comments Sun, 03 Oct 2010 21:31:25 +0000 ForceStealer http://thelifestream.net/?p=6709 Final Fantasy VI: Kefka’s Tower

Ever since he torched the world, Kefka has been sitting atop his tower blasting cities that show any hint of opposition with the conservatively named “Light of Judgment.” What does he intend to do? Why is he just sitting up there? Why did he stop where he did? Well it is probably not a good idea to just wait and see, so we’re just gonna have to go up and find out.

Which is to say, kick his ass. 

Unlike the last few dungeons, Kefka’s tower hasn’t been built up over the course of the game as a dread or wondrous location. It doesn’t even show up until the last act of the game. All the foreboding created by the tower is how much time you spend trying to find enough friends to even stand a chance of defeating the enemy – who displayed his power in spectacular fashion at the close of the last act.

I know, it’s “another tower.” RPGs love towers. In an interesting little twist, you actually enter this tower from the airship. So you climb down the tower, I think. Honestly, it’s not very clear that you’re in a tower once you enter. You do not appear to make clear progress in any one direction, vertically or horizontally.

Anyway, this is similar to the Rift in that elements of previous dungeons are present throughout the tower, with significantly less variety. It would appear that Kefka fashioned his abode with parts belonging to the old Empire. As I said this does not have quite the same impact, as it feels more like a retread of Vector and the Magitek Factory. It makes sense in-universe though, so what do you want?

The music definitely steps up to the plate here, like the rest of the soundtrack. It returns to that “go forth!” sound to which a badass could walk slowly and determinedly forward. And, though by no means unique to the final dungeon, I just love the boss music so freaking much.

Kefka’s tower is shorter than the moon in FFIV and the boss gauntlet is not quite as extensive as the Rift in V. There are several optional boss monsters to take on, from the last of the dragons you may have started on the outside or Atma, but the true gauntlet comes in the form of the Warring Triad – the three statues which are the creators and source of magic in the world. Whoa. So, here, what the bosses lack in quantity they make up for in gravity.

Did I mention the enemy design for these three is amazing?

I do find this dungeon a bit difficult and it can very easily catch you woefully unprepared, as it did to me. The random encounters here combine many types of enemies in some tricky layouts which seem designed to punish you until you put together effective strategies for each setup. However, all final dungeons do that to an extent, what really can make Kefka’s Tower so difficult is its unique approach. Final Fantasy VI has the biggest cast in the series, so big that even players who like to keep their characters balanced are likely to leave someone to the dogs. If you are a player that tends to focus on your favorite characters (as I did in my first playthrough), then you may as well go home. This dungeon forces you to use every single character in three parties. Having to use your shunned characters against the random encounters here would be bad enough, but each party must take on bosses, the Warring Triad in particular. This means you have to split your best characters up, weakening your position further.

"We don't want Umaro, you pricks!"

Gameplay-wise: a veritable pain in the neck for young ForceStealer. Story-wise: very cool. It makes the most sense; how many characters sit uselessly in the sidelines in RPGs for no logical reason? Furthermore, taking out one of the statues before the others could alert Kefka in enough time to interfere – this way, the entire party wipes out the sources of magic simultaneously. It adds to the grand scale of the whole affair, and makes their reunion just before the final battle that much more awesome than the half-hearted attempt at this the next dungeon will make.

All in all, it is a solid dungeon to conclude a masterpiece of a game. However, other games have done the final dungeon better, and were I to list my favorites in the series, I don’t know how high the Tower would place (remember, the final bosses are not being considered).

Next up, from high into the air to deep underground

.

]]> http://thelifestream.net/square-enix/6709/the-endgame-final-dungeons-of-the-final-fantasy-series-part-vi/feed/ 5 http://thelifestream.net/square-enix/6661/the-endgame-the-final-dungeons-of-the-final-fantasy-series-part-v/ http://thelifestream.net/square-enix/6661/the-endgame-the-final-dungeons-of-the-final-fantasy-series-part-v/#comments Wed, 29 Sep 2010 06:12:55 +0000 ForceStealer http://thelifestream.net/?p=6661 Final Fantasy V: The Interdimensional Rift

Welcome to the planar existence that presumably connects all the Final Fantasy worlds (and perhaps others), the Rift. This is FFV’s rug under which the people swept any problem the couldn’t figure out how to solve. That gives an unfair impression of it, admittedly, but that essentially what it is. It is where Enuo and his powers of the Void were sealed 1000 years ago and where Exdeath was banished to 30 years ago by the Warriors of Dawn. And now its up to the last group of Warriors of Light to take him out again.

With that in mind, going there also has a pretty cool air about it. It’s not quite like Hell in II where we already have ideas about it, but it gets pretty built up over the course of FFV and you also see numerous locales sucked into it, giving it a definite sense of foreboding to follow them.

Speaking of foreboding, that’s exactly what the music is here. I said before that I prefer my final dungeon music to be rousing, but this does fit the Rift very well, for reasons I’ll get to in a second. The final area has different music, which is more triumphant, but its a bit sad too, which fits a certain event that happens there to a favorite character of mine.

The amalgamation of environments and areas that make up your approach to Exdeath has a really cool effect. The next final dungeon in the series has a similar approach but it doesn’t seem to resonate quite like this one. You’re moving through new areas as well as areas you have seen devoured by the void during the game. The ambiguous passage of time in the rift makes you wonder how long these places have been here. (In fact, if you leave right before fighting Exdeath, the towns that were banished are actually back, implying that time had traveled backwards since you entered.) Neat little effects such as entering the library from a door in the ruins to find only books and exit to a completely different area really add to the sense of disjointedness. I remember wondering while I played how the characters had any idea they were going the right direction.

Revisting the Phantom Village was also really spooky and cool. When it emerged when Exdeath merged the worlds, the inhabitants were unaware that any time had passed, and now you can see why. The entire town is frozen as you maneuver around the frozen townspeople, thankful that you are, for some reason, not frozen with them.

Krile: "If you want me to take your pants off, don't say anything."

The dungeon is not as difficult as IV’s, but its another long one with a wide variety of enemies. Many of them are mysteriously susceptible to instant-death. (What happens to you when you die in the Rift, anyway? – Apparently go to the only place worse to exist: Final Fantasy VIII) There also two pretty brutal optional bosses, Omega, and Shinryu. Both are a bit unique for optional bosses in that they actually exist as part of the Rift as real creatures, rather than just “the superboss” that sits somewhere waiting for adventurers to eat. You also have your boss gauntlet. These consist of the creatures of the Rift that Exdeath has persuaded to join him with promises of a new world for them. Many have innocuous appearances and trick the characters, which is a fun little twist on this now-tradition (the final one involving the aforementioned memorable scene). Speaking of developing traditions, what do you suppose the final area is?

Why crystalline of course! Take it in though, this is actually the last crystalline final dungeon we'll see for a little while.

Which is, honestly, a bit disappointing. After how mind bending the rest of the trip was, you kind of expect a bizarre mishmash of dimensional worlds, and instead its just another place made out of crystal. But damn do the enemies dish out AP in this last area. Any jobs you wanna master before taking on Exdeath, here’s where you want to do it. Thanks almost entirely to the atmosphere, and helped by the game’s excellent system, this is definitely high on my list of favorite final dungeons. Not to mention it is my favorite location in Dissidia. So go on and prepare to never look at trees the same way again.

KILL IT! KILL IT WITH FIRE!

Next up, that crazy clown’s high-rise.

]]> http://thelifestream.net/square-enix/6661/the-endgame-the-final-dungeons-of-the-final-fantasy-series-part-v/feed/ 3 http://thelifestream.net/square-enix/6630/the-endgame-final-dungeons-of-the-final-fantasy-series-part-iv/ http://thelifestream.net/square-enix/6630/the-endgame-final-dungeons-of-the-final-fantasy-series-part-iv/#comments Sat, 25 Sep 2010 19:36:05 +0000 ForceStealer http://thelifestream.net/?p=6630 Here comes the moon.

Final Fantasy IV: The Lunar Subterrane

Now we’re gettin’ somewhere. This is a final dungeon. Its almost amazing this followed the World of Darkness in III. Even if you include the Crystal Tower in III’s ending I get the impression that this is much longer, much harder, and much more packed with loot. All things a final dungeon should be.

This dungeon just feels big and complex. The jump to the 16 bits really enhance things here as you can see several layers/floors of the dungeon at once, contributing to the sense of size. Also, there are secret passages everywhere, but they’re done right. There’s a little flaw in the wall when denoting the entrance. Its easy to miss but also makes it feasible for you to find them without a guide. Most of these passages lead to treasures (guarded by bosses) and you’ll want just about all of them. Cecil, Edge and Kain will both come away with their best setups (barring optional side stuff) and the ladies make out pretty well also. Loot should always be aplenty in final dungeons, its half your motivation, honestly.

Can you imagine (or remember) seeing a dungeon like this coming off the NES games?

Did I mention that this was a tough dungeon? The Chaos Shrine was long and the difficulty inconsistent, but the Lunar Subterrane combines length with constant pressure. The final couple floors consist of straight-up bosses as random encounters in addition to the tough creatures guarding the chests. When I played through this dungeon I warped back out a couple times to completely heal up (as it is a bit faster when you beeline after having acquired the treasure).

The music is great. The bombastic opening as the crystals teleport you to the dungeon immediately get you fired up, and determined sound of it keeps you going after that (as well as being long enough to not become grating). The music even changes to increasingly ominous tunes as you start getting to the bottom few, obligatory crystalline, floors. I mentioned that the random encounters in these floors were bosses – the boss music even takes over as the “normal” battle theme around here. I think that’s a nice touch.

It IS a bit of a slog, tempting you to just forego some of those chests though that is against your best interests, and the difficulty can be pretty punishing. If you’re not prepared for the treasure haul IV’s annoying item limit will become an issue, forcing you to warp out. The GBA version, in my opinion, remedies a lot of this. I believe it is a touch easier (though I know purists must not like that), and there is no carrying limit.

Stay tuned as up next is one of my personal favorites: The Interdimensional Rift!

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