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Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift, the DS sequel to the GBA game Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, will hit the United States on June 24th, 2008. FFTA2 boasts touchscreen mechanics, more character classes than its predecessor, and several tie-ins to the larger Ivalice Alliance spinoff-series. For example, Vaan, Penelo, Al-Cid, and several other characters from Final Fantasy XII will also play a role in this storyline.

FFTA2 stars a hunter named Luso, who players of Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions may have already seen in a playable cameo role. FFTA2 also marks the fourth Square-Enix game as part of the Ivalice Alliance and the third to be released in the United States, after FFT: War of the Lions, FF XII: Revenant Wings, and the Japan-only FF XII International. Set those calendars and charge those DSes for June 24th.

Source: RPGFan

According to Famitsu, the storyline of Final Fantasy XIII will center on the roles of two races within a caste system - the Falsi are an extremely wise people that built the Cocoon protecting the city from the outside, and the Lusi are humans chosen to work for the Falsi. It's unclear where the game's protagonist falls in this cultural hierarchy, but the young woman shown as a friend of the main character is confirmed to be one of the Lusi. Details on the exact nature of the Falsi-Lusi relationship are unclear, but it will take an important role in Final Fantasy XIII's plot.

In addition, summons are revealed to be tools created to assist the Lusi in whatever tasks they need to perform, In addition to Shiva (as in Shiva the motorcycle), traditional Final Fantasy summoned monsters Ifrit, Siren, and Carbuncle are slated to be in the game.

Final Fantasy XIII has no release date in any region thus far, but Famitsu mentioned that FF XIII "begins in earnest" in 2008, whatever that's supposed to mean.

Source: RPGFan
A nifty image
A second nifty image

With the 20th anniversary of the Final Fantasy series just a few weeks behind us, it's high time we had something great to mark the milestone. I'm not talking about a $40 rerelease of the original game--I want something to sum up and celebrate the entire series.

And now, thanks to a PM from Ronin, I have something specific to lust after. Square-Enix has released a 20th anniversary book to collect information and images from the past two decades worth of Final Fantasy games. For about 23 USD + shipping, Amazon will send you 207 pages of images, interviews, and never-before-released content.

Of course, you'd have to be able to read Japanese to fully appreciate the content. This book joins the long list of Square merchandise that is solely, or at least primarily, available to Japanese customers. If you want to feel better about that, go to the product page and make up comments to go with those 2/5 stars reviews.

Thanks again to Ronin for the heads up!

Source: QJ.net

The fourth main-series entry in Tri-Ace's series of RPG space odysseys is in the works, according to a recent article in Famitsu magazine. Evidently SO4 has been in production for quite a long time - the storyboards are already finished and most of the basics of the battle system are already in place. More information will be revealed at the upcoming Tokyo Game Show,

Unfortunately, one object of concern was missing from the Famitsu article - the platform on which Star Ocean 4 will be playable. The source article stated that SO4 will be on a system "capable of displaying beautiful visuals," but this is too vague a statement to make any conclusions.

But console concerns aside, the article reveals some promising details. The battle system is to be made in the Star Ocean tradition and characters and races from earlier games are confirmed to make appearances. Assistant producer Hajime Kojima stated that the previous games never felt like a true star ocean - Star Ocean 4 will feature outer space segments, spaceship battles, and a huge world containing several planets instead of only two or three. The game's protagonist is a blonde boy named Edge Maverick, and the game's principal heroine is his childhood friend Reimi.

There is currently no release date, no platform, and virtually no other information regarding Star Ocean 4 at this time - at least until we learn more at the Tokyo Game Show on the 20th of September.

Source: RPGFan

Last Monday, Square-Enix launched an English-language online store full of merchandise dedicated to various games. Most of the merch seems to be figurines, jewelry, and other accessories. This marks the first time that many of these items are available directly to the US market, if at hilariously high prices.

Source:
RPGFan
The Store

Square-Enix's penchant for remaking their most popular games has been obvious since Final Fantasy III appeared in glorious 3D on the Nintendo DS. In fact, all of the 8- and 16- bit have found their way onto one of Nintendo's handhelds, with a totally new remake of FFIV also on its way. With our favorite series apparently tapped out, what's next?

The answer is SE's other RPG series: Dragon Quest.

According to screenshots from Shonen Jump, remakes are underway for Dragon Quest IV, V, and VI. It appears that graphics will be redone in the vein of FFIII/FFIV.

Will these games make it out of Japan? Square-Enix isn't saying. The series has never been as popular in the United States as it is in Japan, but some of the more obscure series titles have made its way here--Rocket Slime is already available on the DS, with a Wii title and another DS title on the way. Until we have a press release, though, here's hoping!

Source: GameSpot