Final Fantasy Insight News Feed

Final Fantasy Remix - Previews

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 07:16:11 -0400

The official website for the upcoming arrangement album Final Fantasy Remix has updated and now contains previews for every single track of the album (twelve tracks in total). As we already knew, the album is directed by Nobuo Uematsu, and has been remixed by Ante (Ian Hartley & mattb), and here's the full track listing for it:

01 - Prelude (Final Fantasy II)
02 - Eternal Wind (Final Fantasy III)
03 - Terra's Theme (Piano Collections Final Fantasy VI)
04 - Opening ~ Bombing Mission (Final Fantasy VII)
05 - JENOVA (Final Fantasy VII)
06 - Liberi Fatali (Final Fantasy VIII)
07 - Blue Fields (Final Fantasy VIII)
08 - The Final Battle (Final Fantasy IX)
09 - To Zanarkand (Final Fantasy X)
10 - Ronfaure (Final Fantasy XI)
11 - Maybe I'm a Lion (Final Fantasy VIII / The Black Mages II: The Skies Above)
12 - Mambo de Chocobo (Final Fantasy V Mambo de Chocobo Arranged Single - Incorrectly labelled on Final Fantasy Remix as having been taken directly from the Final Fantasy V Original Soundtrack)

After the initial uber-trancedanceness of the preview for Liberi Fatali last month, this whole set of previews brings to light that the album isn't just focused on that, and I have to say, I really like the sound of it.

A quick look-over the tracks will make you notice an overabundance of tracks taken from Final Fantasy VIII in particular, whilst the original game and Final Fantasy IV have been left out. Also I'm very much in favour of the total lack of One Winged Angel, it seems people are allowed to forget about it sometimes.

The soundtrack's website was updated, as previously mentioned, and you can check out all the previews there (be warned for effects that kill the eyes).

>> http://www.square-enix.co.jp/music/sem/page/ff_remix/

The album is due for release in Japan on August 6th, and at the moment you can buy the Final Fantasy Remix EP on iTunes, which consists of Prelude, Liberi Fatali, and Blue Fields (Music > Soundtrack > Ante > Final Fantasy Remix - EP).

Source: Square Enix

[UPDATE] Square Enix hammers a nail into the PlayStation 3's coffin

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 15:41:57 -0400

Call me a fanboy, a Microsoft hater, or whatever you want, but at the moment I really don't care. Square Enix president Yoichi Wada has shown that all he really does care about is the money these days as one of Microsoft's famous lucrative cheques has made him cave in and decide to release Final Fantasy XIII on the Xbox 360 as well as the PlayStation 3.

Other than being in utter uproar at the fact that after nearly a year of repeatedly affirming a PlayStation 3 exclusivity, I will admit that I basically hope that Square Enix will take advantage of the higher specs available by Sony in order to make a game that at least feels better on their console.

Never before have Square Enix managed to prove what a band of money-grubbing *censored expletives* they are. Goodbye PlayStation 3 exclusive, goodbye the last of my faith in Square Enix's morals, hello hell.

Update:

The following passage is an update to the article above. It seems that at least the PlayStation 3 version of the game will still maintain a degree of overlording over the Xbox 360 version. The game will be released in Japan for the PlayStation 3, after which the localisation process will begin for North America and Europe, for which they're hoping that it can be released as close together as possible. Following this localisation, the game will then begin the porting process for the Xbox 360. On top of this, the Xbox 360 edition will not contain anything different to the PlayStation 3 edition, and no information has been announced as to how many discs the Xbox 360 version will span. Final Fantasy Versus XIII is still a PlayStation 3 exclusive however.

Important Note: It seems that Japan are not getting an Xbox 360 version (presumably due to crappy sales), and that version of the game will be "exclusive" to America and PAL Territories. Yay us <_<.

The game's new trailer is now available, I'm in the process of downloading and YouTubing it, so I'll make it available via that soon. You can, however, see it directly from the Square Enix website by checking the following link.

Video: Square Enix (Flash) / YouTube

We can finally reveal exactly what the writing was during the trailers shown at the Tokyo Game Show and Jump Festa last year, so we finally get some real concrete terminology and facts.

Cocoon.
A paradise crafted by the inscrutable fal'Cie some thirteen centuries past.

Pulse.
A vast world stretching out beneath the floating shell of Cocoon, and the source of lurking menace.

The summoned.
Salvation of the ill-fated l'Cie.

l'Cie.
Those marked by the fal'Cie for a greater destiny.

The future belongs not to those who wait...

Star Ocean: The Last Hope - due for a Spring 2009 release

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 15:37:15 -0400

Actually it seems a total waste of space of me typing here when the news post title sums it up incredibly succinctly.

Square Enix have used the Microsoft E3 Conference to announce that Star Ocean: The Last Hope, the fourth title in the series and currently slated for release on the Xbox 360, will be released in Spring 2009. I'm unsure as to whether this is a Japanese release, or a world-wide release, but at the moment I'm guessing they mean world wide.

The Last Remnant: World-wide date [360], PC port announced

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 15:33:42 -0400

A busy day of announcements for Square Enix and The Last Remnant during the Microsoft E3 Conference today.

Yoichi Wada has stated that the Xbox 360 version of the game will be ready for world-wide shipment on November 20th, with the PlayStation 3 version of the game following at some point in 2009.

More interestingly, Square Enix are revealing themselves to be even bigger money-grabbers than any of us could have expected over the last few years with the announcement of a Windows-based port of the game, of which details are currently scarce.

Stay tuned for more E3 coverage, as well as a declining love for my favourite company.

[Song Summoner] Media Update

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 10:32:42 -0400

A post with very little text today, just a quick series of media (logo and screenshots) along with a promotional image showing Song Summoner: The Unsung Heroes on various iProducts.

Aaaaand thats it.

Advent Children Complete is getting nearer

Sat, 12 Jul 2008 10:26:34 -0400

We've had a surprisingly long silence regarding the upcoming Blu-ray edition of Final Fantasy VII Advent Children (known as Final Fantasy VII Advent Children Complete), but director and character designer Tetsuya Nomura finally broke his silence in an interview with the latest issue of Dengeki PlayStation to make a couple of comments.

He explained that several new pieces of scenario have been added to the film, and scenes from the "old" version of the film have been edited as well. This has led to a film which is now longer and denser (or fuller, but I like the word dense), which should hopefully appease us fans wanting something meaty from the movie. A release date has also been decided, and Nomura explained that we just have to wait a little bit longer to find out. And speaking of announcements, it seems that Square Enix are planning a big announcement at the same time. Start speculating!

Nomura also did a bit of talking about the Fabula Nova Crystallis -Final Fantasy XIII-, and we're left again wondering who the hell is telling the truth. He's admitted that the Final Fantasy Versus XIII visual team is currently busy working on Advent Children Complete, and that a large portion of his programming team is working on Final Fantasy XIII, which means that progress is very slow on Versus XIII. Whatever happened to the recent statement that his team were simply moonlighting? Seems that someone at Square Enix is intent on lying to us.

Source: Final Fantasy World

Aha lol somehow I forgot to include the scan that this interview was taken from, sorry about that.

[International] Confirmed!

Sat, 12 Jul 2008 10:18:22 -0400

A relatively small piece of news here, but Square Enix have confirmed that they are indeed releasing Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII- International, due for release on September 4th at 2,940 yen (roughly $28 US, and £14) and will automatically be a part of Square Enix's Ultimate Hits collection (hence the small price tag, a shock considering the infamous "Square Enix tax", a joking way of referring to their habit of overcharging).

This release (which many of us expected two years ago) makes us wonder whether Square Enix has something up its sleeves, especially from a recent statement by Tetsuya Nomura (look out for our upcoming Advent Children post to see what I mean!).

Source: Square Enix

Star Ocean remakes head for America

Sat, 12 Jul 2008 08:31:14 -0400

Although I've already technically revealed this with the E3 lineup post yesterday, here's the official Final Fantasy Insight newspost to cover it. SENA have created a portal for the Star Ocean games, which includes links to the already existing website for Star Ocean: Till the End of Time (which is Star Ocean 3 for those who didn't already know), and newly created (and incredibly basic) sections for the PlayStation Portable remakes Star Ocean: First Departure and Star Ocean: Second Evolution (their game numbers should be easily worked-out from their names), and the upcoming fourth episode Star Ocean: The Last Hope.

Whilst not really much, the website did confirm that Star Ocean: First Departure would be released in North America on October 21st, whilst Star Ocean: Second Departure marks my first forray into a confirmed date for 2009, being slated for a release on January 6th.

>> http://na.square-enix.com/starocean/

Both of these games have already been released in Japan, and the Square Enix E3 press release confirmed that these games are also due for an undetermined release in Europe and PAL territories.

Source: Square Enix

First trailer!

Sat, 12 Jul 2008 08:03:25 -0400

So the Japanese website for Sigma Harmonics updated on thursday to include our first ever trailer for the game, which clocks in at an impressive 4:25, and provides plenty of variety in terms of combining anime sequences, in-game chats, and battle sequence footage, the whole thing accompanied to what is presumably the game's vocal theme "Harmonia Vita", performed by 20 year old Japanese singer Aya Hirano, sung in a very clever minor key which jarrs slightly against the rest of the music, whilst still being easy to listen to. At the moment its not known whether the song was composed by Masashi Hamauzu (who has written the soundtrack to the game), or, like with his Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII- soundtrack, the piece was written by Hirano herself.

Not much to say really other than to let you check out the trailer, either by clicking onto the website, or by taking our direct link to YouTube where I've uploaded it for your viewing pleasure.

Video: YouTube (Japanese Trailer)

Sigma Harmonics is due for a Japanese release of August 21st, no news as to whether it is even planned for a release in the rest of the world.

Source: Square Enix

Chrono Trigger DS - Website info and new scans

Sat, 12 Jul 2008 07:38:12 -0400

It's now Famitsu's turn to give us a look at the upcoming Nintendo DS port of Squaresoft's much-celebrated Super Nintendo RPG - Chrono Trigger. The four-page spread mostly gives insight into the game's various eras and talks a bit about what goes on, as well as general overview of what it was all about 13 years ago.

The last page, however, features an interview with the original game's composer Yasunori Mitsuda, who explains that he's actually a major member of the port team, being the port's Sound Director. For those who didn't already know, Chrono Trigger was the first time that young Mitsuda had been allowed to compose at Square, following a stint as sound programmer and synthesiser, and was responsible for creating the game's soundtrack under the watchful eyes of veteran Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu (who was actually the person to get Mitsuda a job at Square in the first place).

The soundtrack ended up being a huge hassle for Mitsuda, as he was hampered by several problems, first of all not being able to find the inspiration to compose anything, then losing roughly fourty tracks during a hard drive malfunction, and finally ending up in hospital several times due to developing stomach ulcers. In the end, nine of the soundtrack's sixty-four pieces were composed by Nobuo Uematsu, and one track was written by Noriki Matsueda (quite conveniantly, the Final Fantasy Insight Radio currently has those tracks on it).

Yasunori Mitsuda has explained that what he's trying to do with Chrono Trigger DS is stay as faithful as he can to the original game. This is fine by me, although I would really prefer him to take advantage of the capabilities of the DS, even if the instrumentation is exactly as it was, simply convert it from SNES soundchip to something less, well I would use the word synthetic but even the DS makes things sound like that, but you get my drift...right?

Finally, I'm a few days behind here I know, but still, I'll explain. On the 7th of July, the Japanese and North American websites updated to stop counting down to that particular date, and have a trailer for the upcoming game for viewing. Don't get too excited, as the trailer seems to be very similar to the promotional trailers used for Chrono Trigger on its SNES release way back when in the mists of time. It doesn't show any footage of the dual screens, focusing entirely on one screen and artwork presentation. There's still no news as to what the new features of the game are, but hopefully we'll find out at E3, or failing that at DKΣ3713, since by the time of the Tokyo Game Show in october I'm sure it'll be slightly too late. Since I'm nice and friendly like that, I've provided both the Japanese and North American trailers on my YouTube account, so you don't have to go to the hassle of watching the Flash versions shouldn't you want to.

Video Link: Japanese / English

And I think that covers everything!

Chrono Trigger DS is planned for a winter release in both Japan and North America, and whilst a European release has been "confirmed" by the company's E3 press-release, there's no news yet as to when it might arrive to our little corner of the world.

Source: Square Enix, Final Fantasy World