News

Square has shipped 1.8 million copies to japanese retail stores.
Over 200 fans were waiting outside of Shibuya Tsutaya's ( A retail store in Tokyo ) at 7 a. m. to get their copies.

Square's President Mr. Wada Youichi, Enix's president Keiji Honda and Koda Kumi, the singer of the main theme, were on hand to greet the assembled fans.

Source :  Square Insider

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Wow, 200+ is a  good bit of people to be waiting outside a single store for one game..
Geesh, I wonder how fast this game will sell out it's first shipment.

I wonder if I could get my hands on an import soon.

According to RPGFan and the Japanese site Quiter, Kingdom Hearts 2 has been confirmed by Square to be in devolpement.

No other details have been released yet, except for the KH ending teaser, and the Deep Dive FMV in KH : Final Mix, though you can't get much out of them.

Source : RPGfan Article

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Ok, raise your hand if you didn't think this game would get a sequel? :-P

I'm really looking forward to this. From the rumors that have been circulating from the two hidden FMVs, this one will have square's complete control. A darker world, with darker characters. Who doesn't want to see a Dark Mickey?

Popular Japanese gaming magazine recently reviewed the upcoming Final Fantasy X sequel:

http://www.gamesarefun.com/cgi-bin....,33794,

The game was given scores of 9, 9, 8 and 8 by the magazine's four reviewers for a very respectable 34/40 and a Gold Award.  In comparison, the original FFX received a three scores of 10 and one 9 when it was reviewed.  

Games Are Fun also has some new screenshots of the game HERE


Source:Games Are Fun

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I don't think one can't base if he or she will enjoy a game solely based on how a magazine reviews a particular game. It is a good initial sign at least.  There are still those who are not even willing to even give this game a chance.  Hopefully, the review will help lighten some of these people up (specifically you 19 who voted "I think it'll be terrible" here: http://www.cavesofnarshe.com/polling/index.php?dispid=9&vo=9)

Pop Idol Yuna aside, I'm willing to give the game a chance.  Another one of the Final Fantasy games might have led to a better sequel in my opinion, *coughFF7cough* but I'll at least rent it.  I enjoyed FFX's story.  Plus they are bringing back the job system.  I think that just might be interesting.  We'll just have to wait and see how the game will end up turning out.  There isn't any reason (even if it is an "Oh my God" Final Fantasy sequel) to not give a game a chance before it has even been released to the public.

And a question for those among the "19" mentioned earlier:  Why will this game be so terrible? I have complete respect for your opinions, but I'm just trying to feel out the reasoning behind your feelings.  Discussions are always nice and encouraged. :-)

In a recent issue of VJump, There are two pages dedicated to FF: Crystal Chronicles. They show new artwork of the main characters and a moogle carrying a letter.

Here are the Scans :

Scan 1
Scan 2
Source: Square Insider

Apparently Mog Central has returned to the Final Fantasy world, with Moogles in Multi-Colored trousers and no arms.

Also, the skills / magic system seems to be based on the FF7 Materia System. You will be able to add various crystals to gain new magic and skills, and also to increase your stats.
Source 2: Square Insider

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The moogles in these scans scare me. They look like some kinda pieced together genetic creature or something.

The Materia-esque gameplay will make this game really interesting, IMO. Giving it a depth to the character customization and allowing everyone to have a differnt type of character if they wanted. I wonder if they will have to have a Phoenix-Final Attack combo. heh.

Shareholders of Square and Enix met in Tokyo yesterday to vote on the merger agreement between the two companies. As expected, it was approved.

http://www.rpgamer.com/news/Q1-2003/021303a.html

The companies will each publish one more game under their separate titles (Final Fantasy X-2 from Square and Dragon Quest Monsters III: Caravan Heart from Enix)  Their companies will officially start their operations together on April 1st under the title of the Square Enix Corporation.  The first title published under their new name will be Vision of Ziraat, the Final Fantasy XI expansion set.  

The merger will help reduce costs by allowing Square to no longer be force to publish games through Sony Computer Entertainment. Instead, they can just do it through means already in existence at Enix.

Source: RPGamer


While this merger should be good because saves the two companies money, I think it will be even more important because of the creative infusion it should provide to each company.  In many's opinion, the Final Fantasy series has become stagnant in its recent releases.  Final Fantasy IX was a good game [especially after FFVIII (keep in mind that this is entirely my opinion )], but it was not great by any means.  It was just not all that memorable of a game especially after many of the previous incarnations of the series.  FFX had a very good plot, but it lacked in the area of gameplay.  There was not much you could not get by without just pressing the X button.  Hopefully, the best of both companies will shine in Final Fantasy XII when it is released.

On Enix's end, hopefully with the "Square" part added to their name, their games (which are usually of high quality) will be a bit more successful in the North American market.

From http://www.rpgamer.com/...

http://www.rpgamer.com/news/Q1-2003/021203b.html

Hey, I know for a fact that we have at least one forumgoer from Australia, so this is valid.    Australians will now have the opportunity to pick up a Playstation 2 unless they previously imported one, and there's a specific little package available that will give them a free game upon purchase.  The most notable of the five available games is Square's recent release, Kingdom Hearts.

I think that a package like this is going to attract many Australians to the deal and will just help to broaden Square and Sony's hold on the video game market.  Though Gamecube and XBox are putting up a fight, Sony is still the leader in the market and hey, getting another continent will only add to the mix.  When their first taste is of a certain company, in this case possibly Square, they may just follow that company and its games for quite awhile.  I know the first RPGs I played were all from Square and I followed the company for quite awhile before discovering some third party companies, so this is a good, smart move by the companies.