Square Enix tried hard to define what a modern Final Fantasy game should be. They had their own definition and if your’s didn’t align with their’s, you may not be so receptive of Final Fantasy XIII. Fortunately for them, our definitions were very similar.

The worries about the lack of towns — where I can frolic and converse with townsfolk with — would have been an area of concern if Square Enix created worthwhile characters to converse with in the past. I treated their towns like a dungeon which housed walking treasure chests. I walk up to them press the X button a few times and hope for some morsel of valuable info — most of the time it was useless junk like that 100 HP potion I’d never use.

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I’m enjoying Final Fantasy XIII very much, but it’s a big game. I’m 40 hours into it and I have yet to finish. And to thoroughly complete it? I’m told that could take another 40 hours.

To the credit of Square Enix, most of the content I would like to see and complete. The side missions/hunts are my to do list, but the other “completionist content”  – such as maxing out all the characters and obtaining all the equipment in the game — is on the maybe list.

The reason why I’m even mentioning all of this is because of Alan Wake, Heavy Rain, Super Street Fighter IV and any other game not called Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (Really easy to drop in and out of this one). These are significant games which I really want to get into, but can’t due to Square Enix’ epic RPG. It almost makes me wish for the days where I would get one game or so every six months.

I’d normally hold something like this for the review, but I’d just like to declare that Final Fantasy XIII has one of the best battle systems of any RPG. For the majority of the battles, any time I lost, it wasn’t because I didn’t invest enough time grinding out experience points. I lost because of my approach to those battles and that’s something many role playing games struggled with in the past. Especially JRPGs.

It’s so refreshing not having to worry about grinding and only have to worry about allotting enough genuine play time.

Announcements

• Google Apps drops beta moniker (via Cnet)
  • Gmail, Google Docs, Google Calendar and Google Talk out of beta phase
  • Gmail has been in beta for five years
• Eidos becomes Square Enix Europe (via Edge)
  • Eidos name will live on as a developer, but not as a developer
• Fight Night Round 4 patch to re-add button punches (via GiantBomb)
  • Button based punching will return as an option
  • Patch slated for an early September release
  • A content patch with new gym, accessories, and gameplay sliders will be released in August
  • Xbox 360 version of the August patch will sport an alternate version of Sugar Ray Leonard

Rumors

• PSP2 to feature quad core GPU? (via Digital Foundry)
  • PSP2 to feature quad core iteration of Imagination Technologies PowerVR “Hydra” (SGX543MP) GPU
  • It will be an enhanced version of the same GPU found in the iPhone 3GS
  • As a result, the approximated power of the device will rival the original Xbox
  • The “Hydra” is also a GP-GPU meaning it can function as a CPU and GPU
• Two “Mechwarrior” teasers surface
  • Being developed by Piranha Games
  • Evidence of it being a Mechwarrior game can be found here. (Davion emblem)

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Tomb Raider, Hitman and Deus Ex publisher Eidos were in talks with Square Enix about an acquisition for quite some time. It sounds a bit crazy, but Square Enix is very interested in acquiring some western developers to help broaden their library. Well they got their wish. In announcement made today, Eidos will be under the big Japanese RPG publisher’s umbrella starting May 2009.

“Eidos maintains a strong reputation for high quality development and proven expertise in creating characters and storylines that appeal to consumers. Eidos’ products are highly complementary to our business and will accelerate our aggressive expansion into Western markets. We believe that wide range of both companies’ quality products encompassing major genres will enable us to meet diversified customers’ expectations upon a global basis.”

We will finally be able to see who would win a match: FFX-2′s Yuna or Lara Croft.

Announcements

King of Fighters XII Debuting Worldwide in Summer 2009

It may only show the PlayStation 3 logo at the end, however Shane Bettenhausen (Former 1UP/EGM editor) of Ignition Entertainment clarified a few things via the following press release:

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Update: Added link to subtitled version. You can also get the 720p version off the U.S. PSN store or the 1080p version off the Euro PSN store.

Follow these simple steps.

1. Visit the official FFXIII Japanese website.
2. Click on “Trailers”.
3. Click on 720p.
4. Bask in the glory of beautiful CGI and gameplay segments.

OR

1. Visit GameTrailers for the subtitled version.

Some random thoughts after viewing the trailer:

• Square Enix is an amazing company when it comes to production values. Even if you’re not a fan of their games, you have to give them that.
• After so much time, we finally get some lengthy footage and you could tell they’re pushing that PlayStation 3 hardware.
• I hope Lightning remains the strong woman that she appears to be. We need more of this in videogames.
• Snow seems like your typical nice guy.
• That battle system is genuinely intriguing. I have so many questions about how it works.
• The sample soundtracks are phenomenal.
• Damn Square Enix for delaying the North American release until the Xbox 360 version is finished.
• Curse Japan and their early demo with the Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete (Trailer) Blu-ray bundle.

The Fabula Nova Crystallis umbrella of games include Final Fantasy XIII (PS3, X360), Final Fantasy Versus XIII (PS3) and Final Fantasy Agito XIII (PSP). We still don’t have any official dates as of yet, but we do get a pretty site with some new screenshots and music samples! It’s in Japanese, but if you know how to navigate menus and click on stuff, you’ll be fine.

Oh so very pretty.