Players Can Embark on a New Adventure with FINAL FANTASY BRAVE EXVIUS this Summer.

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Square Enix today announced that FINAL FANTASY: BRAVE EXVIUS, a brand-new FINAL FANTASY experience, will launch in Europe and PAL territories, for free, on iOS and Android devices this summer. Having already drawn in five million players in Japan, FINAL FANTASY: BRAVE EXVIUS is an entirely new role-playing adventure for the mobile generation. The title brings classic FINAL FANTASY lore with legendary heroes from the series.

Adventurers will follow two knights of the kingdom of Grandshelt, and a young girl who suddenly appears before them, as they begin their quest to pursue a highly sought after crystal. Players will make their way through various types of dungeons to search for items, collect gil, uncover hidden paths, and venture new routes.

The title features:
· Traditional, turn-based gameplay with streamlined battle mechanics and intuitive touch controls, making it easy to pick up and play for newcomers as well as long-time fans
· Players will be able to move their characters through fields and dungeons to search for items, hidden paths, and new routes.
· High-quality CG animations of FINAL FANTASY summons
· Appearances from new and characters from past titles like the Warrior of Light, Cecil, Vivi, and Terra
· A complete RPG experience in an easy, portable format for mobile phones


Starting today, players can pre-register online at finalfantasyexvius.com to receive special in-game items at launch. This title is being developed as a collaboration between SQUARE ENIX® and gumi Inc. (developer of the hit title Brave Frontier). The game will launch in six languages: English, German, French, Spanish, Chinese (traditional), and Korean.​

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[Foxi4]

The Big Lebowski was 1998.

Anyway I have made it a sort of hobby to see what people think vis a vis phones and gaming on the move. We progression seems to have shifted from "no way, no how" to "maybe some people that just need something to distract their thumbs" to "maybe a good chunk of the potential user base" to "well I still like Mario".
I think I might see about compiling a greatest hits of such a thing.

I personally had two experiences that opened my mind to the potential of mobile gaming, and I know they'll seem flat to most people here, but to me they were eye-opening. The first was the N-gage. Huge commercial flop, the tech wasn't quite there yet, the design didn't account for wide screen, but I bought one anyway - long years past its prime, just because I wanted to have a phone with Symbian and gaming controls. During its original run I had a GBA and loved it, so I had room for comparison. I booted up Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory and... I was gobsmacked. The game looked amazing, and I could play it on the go - I couldn't believe my eyes. There was nothing on the GBA that even came close to it. I thought to myself "this is what I've been missing out on?" - it was easily on-par with what a PSX could churn out, in many ways it surpassed it. Then there was Red Faction, Warhammer 40K: Glory in Death, Tomb Raider - all great games on a terribly marketed and poorly recieved system. The second was my first "true" smartphone - this was before the iPhone ruined the industry and phones had buttons and a d-pad/joystick in addition to a touchscreen. I played many games on it, including Quake 2, Call of Duty 2 (mobile edition made by Aspyr IIRC), Worms World Party and even emulated PSX games, all back in 2005. I played Final Fantasy 7 on the go back when the DS was brand-new, and my phone wasn't cream of the crop. The DS could barely emulate the SNES, the PS1 was far beyond its capabilities. My point is, even all those years back phones far surpassed what handheld consoles could do, and this applies today more than ever. The difference is that back then they lacked a coherent infrastructure and didn't have wide appeal. Things are different now - Android and iOS are well-established, they have integrated stores and we all have one in our pocket at all times. The only thing missing is a vision - a switch in perception. Once big companies realize that with the right handsets and the right content they could make even more money than they're making now, it won't even be a debate in the boardroom - they'll just do it. All those people complaining in this thread? They'll be the first in line for a Nintendo phone, that brand power has so much pull that if they say "jump", people will leap in without a second thought. PlayStation-certified phones are already a thing, so is Remote Play and PSNow, and it'll only get bigger from here. Now, I love consoles and I love dedicated hardware - there's something about the polish and standardization that appeals to me, which is why I collect them, but I'd have to be blind not to see the shift happening - it is happening, and I accept it as a fact of life.

 

[FAST6191]

My line of thought is/was/will be simpler, it doubles as a nice question to induce clarity as well.
Can I emulate a "real game" on said system? If yes then I can damn well see one written for it as well.

Of course seen as the NES has real games and seems to be able to be emulated on everything this side of one of those paper fortune tellers...

I wonder at the coherent infrastructure thing though. The fractured market was by no means good and having a setup as it is now, for as many faults as I can find with it, is good we still saw the fairly pitiful SDKs the GBA and DS had. Maybe it was a case of said unity, and the ease of Java, which overrode any other downsides. Either way it is what it is.

I do also have to stand up for the freaks without a phone or tablet.

 

[Foxi4]

My line of thought is/was/will be simpler, it doubles as a nice question to induce clarity as well.
Can I emulate a "real game" on said system? If yes then I can damn well see one written for it as well.

Of course seen as the NES has real games and seems to be able to be emulated on everything this side of one of those paper fortune tellers...

I wonder at the coherent infrastructure thing though. The fractured market was by no means good and having a setup as it is now, for as many faults as I can find with it, is good we still saw the fairly pitiful SDKs the GBA and DS had. Maybe it was a case of said unity, and the ease of Java, which overrode any other downsides. Either way it is what it is.

I do also have to stand up for the freaks without a phone or tablet.

There are people without phones today? How do they even survive? I don't know how life works on the other side of the pond for said freaks, but in the UK you can't even do any government-related business without talking to a shitty automated hotline prior to arriving at whatever facility wants to scam you this time. I guess they can use a landline, but I found myself puzzled when I was asked if I want one installed. "I have my phone right here, why would I want a phone that's worse?" was a thought that instantly came to mind - needless to say, I don't have a landline. I was lead to believe that linelines are there to provide Internet until fiber takes over - at least they are in my world. If your CV doesn't have a mobile phone on it, the employer will just look at you befuddled - if you can't be contacted 24/7 then your reliability is at best questionable, at worst you'll be considered some kind of an unstable idiot. I can't even imagine the struggle - it must be like owning a typewriter and an abacus instead of a computer.

 

[romeoondaline]

I mean thats the dream right? Nintendo going software only?

Goddamn right! It's something that should of happened since like 2012

 

[FAST6191]

I would say I manage OK without a phone, however I dare say many would find my lifestyle unbearable. That said the extent of my involvement with the government seems to be them sending me (or someone with a similar name as they tend to typo mine) some nice kindling in the form of voting cards and an annual reminder to file a tax return each year (which takes about 10 minutes, 8 if I hurry, and is done online).

That employer thing sounds like an interesting test. I have got a few things lined up I want to try out against recruiters and job agencies and despite probably not having to I am going to do the full covert/realistic thing rather than all from one IP. Maybe I will add mobile or not to the list of things tested for.

On being available 24/7 then I am big enough and ugly enough and theoretically valuable enough (or the rates I charge are low enough to be the same thing) that most seem not to care. I imagine they would like it but dirty deeds is pretty much my business plan and not sprogging means I am free at most points in time with a bit of advance warning.

 

[phalk]

The main problem for me is that I use my phone for social media and voice. I can't stand to use it for gaming unless I really want to be out of battery when I need it for those functions.
Another problem are the controls, but that has been dabated well enough (and can be fixed with dock controllers or hybrid phones with buttons like the xperia play).

However, the MAIN problem is that people expect cheap games on their mobile phones, they would never adapt to retail price.

Because of that, games need to be microtransaction based, which will never work for the majority of game genres we see on handhelds today and also severely cuts possible budget spent on a title.

Also, handheld gaming consoles have not been direct competitors to smartphones for a while. In the gameboy era until the early years of the DS, some casual people (who were not really into gaming) bought handhelds so they could play while they were on the run. However, as soon as the first smartphones arrived, ALL of those people left, because smartphones did what they needed. This already happened more than 6 years ago.

Anyway, handhelds are indeed fated to die. And soon. But phones won't "win", because there isn't really a competition, the audience is not the same as I've said.

However, when that happens don't expect JRPGs, Mario, Pokémon and other games we have today to migrate to smartphones. It will not happen. People would never buy a 40 dollars game for their phones. Don't get your hopes up, lol.
Even if people DID buy it, the amount of investment needed to make an A rated game vs making a simple cash grab is tremenduous. And the returns with microtransactions could be even bigger than a game sold at 30~40 dollars.

Those games we have on handhelds today will probably shift to home consoles (or even the PC) in the future.

 

[Pluupy]

It looks nice. Gameplay reminds me of a game I can't seem to remember but for some reason I'm thinking of Sands of Destruction.

I like touchscreen, but I would totally be on board with a phone with a slideout control pad (a la PSP GO)

Or the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play. Anyone remember that? Neither does Sony.

However, the MAIN problem is that people expect cheap games on their mobile phones, they would never adapt to retail price.

Except there are actually quite a few Square-Enix and Rockstar's $5.00+ games on Google Play's top paid apps charts. So not really.

That's very optimistic of you to say, but you fail to account for the fact that the "target audience for consoles" you speak of is a minority. How do I know that? Because the Wii U sold like crap. It had all the gimmicky boogie woogie Nintendo fans love, all the franchises they revere, the capability to run in Full HD and it fell to the ground like a lead zeppelin. You might ask yourself "why?", but that question was already answered - there just isn't that many "hardcore fans" out there. Most people above the age of 10 don't give a rat's ass which piece of plastic plays their games as long as it does so competently - that's how the NES killed Atari, that's how the PlayStation killed the N64 and that's how the smartphone will kill the handheld console. People have been saying that since 2012 because it's been happening since 2012 - it's a gradual process. You're making the mistake of drawing a parallel between the game and the device it's on, when there rarely is a connection. Mario would be Mario regardless of whether you put him on a console, a phone or a PC - the platform doesn't necessitate the gameplay mechanics. Mobile games are "different" now, but they don't have to be. Mixing the realm of software and hardware together is a bit naive. I have nothing against gaming on smartphones - that just means that my next console will also be a phone, maybe with dedicated controls - who knows? The only thing that's certain is that it's going to happen - the decline is slow, but steady. Chances are that consoles will never be fully retired, just like "paper documents" won't, but guess what? I pay my taxes and bills over the phone or the Internet, I do my banking over the Internet too, and I haven't sent a letter in at least a decade - I can send a text, it's instantaneous. I've never even sent a fax - I wouldn't know where to start. The only checkbooks I've seen were in 80's movies, and apparently they're still a thing. I think I've made my point clear. Just because something's around doesn't mean it's still relevant, it's just vegetation, vestiges of the old world thanks to which dinosaurs don't feel like complete aliens in a world they don't understand.

Jesus christ you're just a wall of text machine.

Please...separate your paragraphs, man.

 

[T-hug]

Um... It saids "for free" in the OP.

My bad, can't believe I missed that!

 

[Foxi4]

Jesus christ you're just a wall of text machine.

Please...separate your paragraphs, man.

When I'm posting from my phone I normally don't care about typing tidy - at the time I was too busy playing Doom to worry about structure. Usually I correct that kind of stuff when I log on a PC next.

 

[phalk]

Except there are actually quite a few Square-Enix and Rockstar's $5.00+ games on Google Play's top paid apps charts. So not really..

$5.00.... Handheld games are sold for $39.90.

Also, most of those square enix games on the Play Store are crap. Total crap ports or crap "original" games. The budget used to make them was minimal.

 

[Nyap]

phones are terrible imo

 

[Zerousen]

It's Brave Frontier with Final Fantasy characters, knew about this since last year, and, people disliked it when they played the Japanese version of it. I was going to play it, but, looked boring.

Yup, as I thought. I'd probably still be playing Brave Frontier right now if I didn't have my facebook account terminated. Pretty much the only reason I had one.

EDIT: Well, whaddaya know?

 

[Foxi4]

$5.00.... Handheld games are sold for $39.90.

Also, most of those square enix games on the Play Store are crap. Total crap ports or crap "original" games. The budget used to make them was minimal.

I remember a certain time in history when that applied to a different platform with different games, can you guess which platform that was? It was PC/micro-computer games (not to be confused with IBM-Compatible definition of "PC" we use today). You could grab a tape with a game cobbled together by one or two guys in their basement for a fiver, often times less than that, and where is PC gaming now? It's still, comparatively, early days on the Android/iOS marketplace and the fact that the platforms even have great AAA games at this stage speaks volumes of what's to come. If you think that smartphones don't have worthwhile content and the store is just filled with $5 garbage, I direct your attention to Mortal Kombat X, X-Com: Enemy Within, Telltale's The Walking Dead, Baldur's Gate 3, NFS: No Limits or Legend of Grimrock, all fully-fledged games that we're still playing on our current gen consoles or PC's. It's also unfair to accuse Square Enix of only releasing "crappy ports" on mobile when they've made a number of games specifically for smartphones, like the Chaos Rings series, Hitman Go, Lara Croft Go, Song Summoner and more. Recently they've released FFXIII, FFXIII-2 and Lightning Returns on mobile, three AAA PS3/XB360 games, in your pocket. Admittedly not my favourite Final Fantasy games (in fact I hate the XIII series), but the scale and the technological brawn is there. What do the 3DS or the Vita have that can even come close to matching that level?

 

[FAST6191]

What does the 3DS or the Vita have that can even come close to matching that level?

Xenoblade?

 

[Foxi4]

Xenoblade?

I would rather break my spine just to chew my balls off than play Xenoblade. Fair point though, if only the Wii wasn't a hardware generation behind from Day 1 (aprox. the specs level of the original Xbox, except the original Xbox could do 720p/1080i while the Wii could not) and even despite that Nintendo had to release a beefed up New 3DS just to pull off the watered down port of this travesty. Also yes, I know you're being facetious.

 

[Aeter]

$5.00.... Handheld games are sold for $39.90.

Also, most of those square enix games on the Play Store are crap. Total crap ports or crap "original" games. The budget used to make them was minimal.

So the final fantasy games are crap? The world ends with you is crap?
Remove that thick plate from your forehead and get with the program.
This is reality and it's happening right now as I'm writing.
Soon you will learn that you were wrong, but I'm hesitant to believe you'll willingly admit to it.

 

[Steena]

I personally had two experiences that opened my mind to the potential of mobile gaming, and I know they'll seem flat to most people here, but to me they were eye-opening. The first was the N-gage. Huge commercial flop, the tech wasn't quite there yet, the design didn't account for wide screen, but I bought one anyway - long years past its prime, just because I wanted to have a phone with Symbian and gaming controls. During its original run I had a GBA and loved it, so I had room for comparison. I booted up Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory and... I was gobsmacked. The game looked amazing, and I could play it on the go - I couldn't believe my eyes. There was nothing on the GBA that even came close to it. I thought to myself "this is what I've been missing out on?" - it was easily on-par with what a PSX could churn out, in many ways it surpassed it. Then there was Red Faction, Warhammer 40K: Glory in Death, Tomb Raider - all great games on a terribly marketed and poorly recieved system. The second was my first "true" smartphone - this was before the iPhone ruined the industry and phones had buttons and a d-pad/joystick in addition to a touchscreen. I played many games on it, including Quake 2, Call of Duty 2 (mobile edition made by Aspyr IIRC), Worms World Party and even emulated PSX games, all back in 2005. I played Final Fantasy 7 on the go back when the DS was brand-new, and my phone wasn't cream of the crop. The DS could barely emulate the SNES, the PS1 was far beyond its capabilities. My point is, even all those years back phones far surpassed what handheld consoles could do, and this applies today more than ever. The difference is that back then they lacked a coherent infrastructure and didn't have wide appeal. Things are different now - Android and iOS are well-established, they have integrated stores and we all have one in our pocket at all times. The only thing missing is a vision - a switch in perception. Once big companies realize that with the right handsets and the right content they could make even more money than they're making now, it won't even be a debate in the boardroom - they'll just do it. All those people complaining in this thread? They'll be the first in line for a Nintendo phone, that brand power has so much pull that if they say "jump", people will leap in without a second thought. PlayStation-certified phones are already a thing, so is Remote Play and PSNow, and it'll only get bigger from here. Now, I love consoles and I love dedicated hardware - there's something about the polish and standardization that appeals to me, which is why I collect them, but I'd have to be blind not to see the shift happening - it is happening, and I accept it as a fact of life.

Clash Royale makes around 100 million dollars a month with little upkeep costs. Several candy crush versions were played by a billion people last I checked.
Any company going mobile is going to make "those kind" of mobile games, give or take minor skinnerbox adjustements. If nintendo or sony made a mobile machine they wouldn't make any classic games on it. They would all have those stupid integrations and limitations with a cash shop embedded into the core gameplay. Because those are widely accepted by the userbase and they print money, those are the rules of the game. To some, they are even features, that's how much they've been exposed to the cancer.
Incidentally, even the review 'scene' of mobile games is so plastered with hordes of paid promotion scammy bullshit that it's completely useless to the end user and it's an advertisement fest (much more than what you think videogame journalism is currently). For a company with the big money and franchises, what's not to love?
The question is are you willing to see handhelds libraries explode in popularity, technology and accessibility at the cost of only being able to play mobile-quality games? Me, I'll keep my irrelevant, outdated machines, so that I can at least play videogames. It's not a fanboy matter (and believe me I wish the 3DS had the specs of a 720/1080p tablet, as I absolutely hate the 240p output), as much as it is a "I WANT TO PLAY VIDEOGAMES" matter.

 

[3DSPoet]

So, I hear they're releasing a full-scale final fantasy game specifically designed for mobile devices...

 

[[^Blark^]]

You mean like the Xperia Play? Phone games are still limited without the controls. We need more big companies Xperia Plays in the world first.

Thats the name I was thinking of when I read that. could not remember the name but remembered an old ass Sony psp type phone with d-pad controls.

 

[Foxi4]

Clash Royale makes around 100 million dollars a month with little upkeep costs. Several candy crush versions were played by a billion people last I checked.
Any company going mobile is going to make "those kind" of mobile games, give or take minor skinnerbox adjustements. If nintendo or sony made a mobile machine they wouldn't make any classic games on it. They would all have those stupid integrations and limitations with a cash shop embedded into the core gameplay. Because those are widely accepted by the userbase and they print money, those are the rules of the game. To some, they are even features, that's how much they've been exposed to the cancer.
Incidentally, even the review 'scene' of mobile games is so plastered with hordes of paid promotion scammy bullshit that it's completely useless to the end user and it's an advertisement fest (much more than what you think videogame journalism is currently). For a company with the big money and franchises, what's not to love?
The question is are you willing to see handhelds libraries explode in popularity, technology and accessibility at the cost of only being able to play mobile-quality games? Me, I'll keep my irrelevant, outdated machines, so that I can at least play videogames. It's not a fanboy matter (and believe me I wish the 3DS had the specs of a 720/1080p tablet, as I absolutely hate the 240p output), as much as it is a "I WANT TO PLAY VIDEOGAMES" matter.

You're thinking in "all or nothing" terms - that's shortsighted. Clash games make an insane amount of money, but there's only one Supercell - it's immensely hard to create a cash cow like that, and thus very few exist. There are different strokes for different folks, not every game has to be "Clash-like", "Saga-like" or "Angry-Bird-like" - different audiences play different games, and the brand-new, freshly-assimilated "post-handheld" target audience just wouldn't be interested in the games above, thus developers would develop diffrrent games to reach them. There is nothing stopling Supercell from releasing Clash on the 3DS or the Vita, but they're not keen to do that - there's just no money in thst avenue. Diversity is key - no console has "just racing games" or "just action games", I don't see why mobile would have to have "just nickle and dime games", and it's not that - look at the marketplace *today*, it already has normal games in addition to the "mobile" ones and it's doing fine. There's room for both.