Category Archives: square enix

Square Enix Debuts Chaos Rings for iPad, Announces App Store Catalog Sale

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Square Enix Debuts Chaos Rings for iPad, Announces App Store Catalog Sale is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website

Square Enix has released an iPad version of its iOS-exclusive role-playing game Chaos Rings, and has dropped the price of every other game in its App Store catalog to mark the occasion.

Chaos Rings for iPad ($15.99) supports the device’s 1024×768 HD resolution, and features richer graphics and more detailed textures than the previous release for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

FingerGaming’s Tucker Dean gave the iPhone version of Chaos Rings 4.5 out of 5 stars in his review, describing it as an experience that “delivers the classic gameplay of your favorite JRPGs in pocket form, and makes very few sacrifices in the process.”

To promote Chaos Rings’ iPad debut, Square Enix is holding a catalog-wide sale, making many of its most popular apps — including Song Summoner and Final Fantasy — a few dollars cheaper. During the two-week sale, the publisher’s accelerometer-controlled action title Sliding Heroes will be available as a free download.

A full list of sale prices follows:


New on iPad: Crystal Defenders, Samurai: Way of the Warrior

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New on iPad: Crystal Defenders, Samurai: Way of the Warrior is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website

Two more iPhone standouts have been upgraded and rereleased for the iPad. Owners of Apple’s tablet device may now enjoy native versions of Square Enix’s Crystal Defenders ($7.99) and Madfinger’s Samurai: Way of the Warrior ($4.99).

Crystal Defenders is a Final Fantasy Tactics-themed tower defense title in which players must deploy an army of soldiers, archers, mages, and other specialized character types to ward off waves of attacking enemies.

The iPad version of Crystal Defenders features redrawn graphics to fill the iPad’s full 1024×768 resolution, and boasts most precise controls thanks to the bigger screen size.

Samurai: Way of the Warrior prides itself as being “developed specifically to leverage the iPad touch screen.” The game is controlled entirely through touch screen gestures, with taps and swipes initiating character movement and combat maneuvers.

Samurai: Way of the Warrior HD features an iPad-exclusive “Deadly Dojo” mode, along with online leaderboards, friends lists, and Twitter and Facebook integration.


Secret of Mana, Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions Announced for iPhone

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Secret of Mana, Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions Announced for iPhone is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website

Square Enix announced at E3 that it will bring its 16-bit action-RPG Secret of Mana and genre-defining strategy-RPG Final Fantasy Tactics to the App Store later this year.

Secret of Mana, originally released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1993, put players in control of a ragtag group of heroes out to save the world-balancing Mana Tree from destruction.

Secret of Mana was unique among action-RPGs in that it allowed up to three players to play simultaneously. Square Enix has issued no word as to whether multiplayer will feature in the upcoming iPhone version, or if the game is indeed a straight port, remake, or all-new entry in the Mana series.

Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions features complex strategic gameplay and a character class system that allows players to build and customize troops to take on enemy armies.

The iPhone version of Final Fantasy Tactics carries the “War of the Lions” subtitle introduced in the 2007 PSP remake of the game, and is likely to include the PSP edition’s added features and reworked localization.

Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions will premiere in the App Store on September 15th, 2010. Secret of Mana is expected to arrive in “2010.”


Chocobo Panic: Square Enix’s iPad Debut

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Chocobo Panic: Square Enix’s iPad Debut is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website

Square Enix has entered the iPad gaming arena with Chocobo Panic ($3.99), a dexterity-testing puzzle title starring Final Fantasy’s chicken-like chocobo characters.

In Chocobo Panic, players must grab and hold a specified number of differently-colored chocobos. Once the proper number of chocobos are held in place, players are told to release a specific creature. Succeed, and the game continues.

Chocobo Panic detects up to six screen presses simultaneously, making the experience something like a game of Twister for your fingers. A two-player, single-device cooperative mode is also included, in which the first player to make a mistake loses the match.


Review: Chaos Rings

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Review: Chaos Rings is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Chaos Rings delivers the classic gameplay of your favorite JRPGs in pocket form, and makes very few sacrifices in the process. The game offers a complex story, some interesting characters, and many hours of gameplay spread over multiple playthroughs of the game.

If you haven’t already, check out my impressions of the game when it first launched for more details about its “look and feel.” To summarize, Chaos Rings captures the aesthetic of Square’s late 90’s RPGs like Final Fantasy VII, VIII, and IX, and Chrono Cross. Graphically, it’s on par with a PlayStation Portable title, and while the frame rate does stutter sometimes (at least on my 3G iPhone), Chaos Rings is one of the best-looking iPhone games on the market.

In Chaos Rings, players take control of one of four guy/girl couples who awake in an unknown place and are told they must fight to the death for a chance to win immortality. There is no opting out of this contest. Players must take their chosen pair through four dungeons and defeat two other couples, all while trying to unravel the mystery of where they are, who brought them there, and why.

The battle system reflects the couple’s bond, allowing the player to choose to attack solo or as a more powerful pair. Pairs hit harder, but also take damage together, so each hit affects both characters. Solo, they are weaker, but safer. It’s a powerful and well-implemented battle system that requires some tactical savvy, and it’s a lot of fun, too.

Chaos Rings is not perfect, though. The game features an item system that will be familiar to any JRPG player, with items to heal, revive dead characters, and duplicate the effects of most magic types.

I used an item all of once during my playthrough. The way the game is balanced, items are almost completely unnecessary.  While this doesn’t detract from the overall experience, it seems like a waste.

Also, particularly at lower levels, new weapons and armor are all purchased from a vendor, which robs the player of the excitement of finding new gear in the field. Even after equipping the purchased gear, your characters and their weapons do not change in appearance, which lessens the impact of having gear at all, other than for stat boosts.

My only serious gripe is with the game’s structure. There is a significant chunk of post-game material for each couple that is very easy to miss. After beating the game and watching the credits, you’ll need to load up your couple again to discover a whole new dungeon and a lot of important story information. Be sure not to miss this.

These are minor complaints about a title that is otherwise very worthy of your attention. Chaos Rings is fun and a visual treat; it’s both very polished and a good value. My first playthrough took a little more than nine hours, and there are three more couples to play with afterward.

Completion is encouraged by revealing more and more of the story through each pair of characters. The final encounter can’t be played until you have played through the full game with all four couples.

At $12.99, this is probably the most expensive app you’ll have on your iPhone…unless you’re a medical school student or something, in which case you should probably pass this up and get back to studying. Otherwise, rest assured that while Chaos Rings is a little high-priced for the App Store, it’s also a fairly-priced game that delivers what it promises: classic RPG action that you can take with you anywhere.


Impressions: Square Enix’s Chaos Rings

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Impressions: Square Enix’s Chaos Rings is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website

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Square Enix’s Chaos Rings ($12.99) has arrived in the App Store, and it’s something of a first. The game resembles a PlayStation-era RPG in the vein of Final Fantasy VII, VII, and IX, and sets the bar pretty high for the quality of 3D graphics on the iPhone.

While the full review won’t be ready until I’ve spent some more time with it, here are my impressions after playing the first five hours.

Chaos Rings is a Japanese role-playing game in which pairs of warriors compete in a tournament for the prize of eternal life. The catch is that no one seems to have volunteered for this opportunity, and nobody knows who exactly is behind the whole thing. Now prisoners until the end of the competition, the warriors must venture into dungeons, level up, and eventually kill each other.

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Chaos Rings boasts high production values. It very much feels like a PS1-era role-playing game, but with higher-poly models, higher-resolution textures, and better animation. The soundtrack, while not too varied so far, is excellent. The menus are slick, and the character art that pops up during dialogue sequences looks great.

Chaos Rings evokes the feel of those older games, but it also features a new battle system in which characters may fight solo or as a pair. This adds a unique element of strategy. The magic system is based around “gene plates” won from defeated monsters, which gradually unlock up to six spells. Each character can have three plates equipped at a time, plus a permanent plate determined by their class.

While the game captures the feel of the PS1 classics, the limited soundtrack is not the only element that has been obviously scaled down for the iPhone. Rather than featuring a sprawling world map common to JRPGs, Chaos Rings is noticeably contained to a simple starting area and the various dungeons. These dungeons feel large, but are split into very small sections, with load times awaiting you in between each.

While the battles are fully 3D, the world is not. The art is great, but the maps are static — natural elements like rivers lie motionless. Additionally, while the enemy models are varied and well-designed, I have already seen re-skins of many of them, and I expect that this will continue throughout the rest of the game.

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There are also noticeable drops in framerate during battles, mostly when spell effects come into play. While it isn’t pretty, the slowdown doesn’t affect gameplay, since it’s entirely turn-based, and I haven’t had any problems running around on the map. It’s worth noting that I’m playing on a regular 3G iPhone, so the 3GS experience may differ somewhat.

One of my biggest concerns in approaching Chaos Rings was with how the controls would handle. I’m glad to say that they work great. The game features a touch-anywhere virtual control stick that appears wherever you place your thumb. It’s never in the way, since you can always move it yourself. The character and battle menus are all touch-controlled — it’s here that the interface shines.

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Chaos Rings is a JRPG to the core, so if you aren’t  a fan of this type of game, it’s not going to change your mind. If you are, Chaos Rings can offer a visual treat and an interesting gameplay twist with a battle system that (so far) really works. To put it simply, I’m having a whole lot of fun with this game.

My biggest unanswered question regards content. I can’t tell you yet how long the game is, or how much it will rely on playing through the same areas multiple times. While the $12.99 price tag is a steal for a full-length RPG, it’s quite steep by App Store standards, so value will really come down to just how long the game lasts and remains fresh.

Will the fun-factor wear thin, or does Chaos Rings have the stamina to stand beside the old classics? Be sure to check back soon for my full review.


Square Enix Releases First Chaos Rings Screenshots, Trailer

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Square Enix Releases First Chaos Rings Screenshots, Trailer is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website

Square Enix has followed up on yesterday’s big announcement with screenshots and video footage of the upcoming iPhone RPG Chaos Rings.

Developed by Media Vision, Chaos Rings will be Square Enix’s first RPG developed specifically for the iPhone and iPod Touch. The trailer above shows off Chaos Rings’ exploration elements and team-based battle system.

Producer Takehiro Ando claims in a Facebook update that the game is “almost fully developed,” pending final testing and bugfixes. The trailer notes that an App Store release will arrive “soon.”







Square Enix Announces iPhone-Exclusive RPG Chaos Rings

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Square Enix Announces iPhone-Exclusive RPG Chaos Rings is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website

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1UP.com reports that Final Fantasy series publisher Square Enix is readying an exclusive RPG for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

Developed in cooperation with Wild Arms creator Media Vision, the upcoming Chaos Rings puts players in the middle of a team-based battle tournament to the death. The game features five selectable teams of two characters each, with each team boasting a unique storyline that ties into the main narrative.

In combat, players will choose between “solo” and “pair” attacks. Combined attacks are more powerful, but will leave both team members open to enemy counters. Battles require strategy and planning, and are said to be more intense than the genre’s typical encounters.

The game’s staff includes Yusuke Naora, art director for Final Fantasy VII, VIII, and X, and graphic designer for Final Fantasy VI and Chrono Trigger. No release date for Chaos Rings has been announced.


Hills and Rivers Remain

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Hills and Rivers Remain is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website

Developer: Square Enix
Price: $6.99
Version Reviewed: 1.1.0

Graphics / Sound Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Game Controls Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Gameplay Rating: 3.75 out of 5 stars

iPhone Integration Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
User Interface Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Re-use / Replay Value Rating: 3.75 out of 5 stars

Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

IMG_0420Unlike Square Enix’s recent ports of Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy II, Hills and Rivers Remain is far from a flagship franchise. Unfortunately, it shows. Hills and Rivers is a solid real-time strategy game, but its good foundations are undermined by lengthy battles, limited content, and unfriendliness towards newbies. This one will be enjoyed by hardcore fans of RTS games, but few others.

The game is a set to a feudal military theme, in which you control the Julius armies as you conquer enemy lands and defend your own. Naturally, your goal is to crush all of the enemy’s forces. The battle maps are dotted with towns, which are connected by angular roads. To conquer a town, you’ll have to send enough troops towards it in order to crush those stationed there. Each turn, your headquarters—you pick which town this is—generates more troops. And that’s all there is to it. Spread out your troops, fortify your towns, and chase your enemy from the map…it all sounds so simple on the surface, doesn’t it? There aren’t even any unit types or other variations; troops are simply troops.

Hills and Rivers Remain isn’t what I’d call simple, though. When you start a map, the enemy troops are massed at their spot, and you start at your own. However, the existing towns won’t go down without a fight, either, so while they won’t attack you, you have to be careful about where you spread your troops. When you reach multi-enemy maps, it quickly becomes a desperate juggling act between offense and defense that should provide a good challenge even to hardcore RTS fans. Key nuances of gameplay—where to place your headquarters, when to use items like attack boosters, which towns to attack first—must be mastered in order to succeed. Some “towns” have special attributes: capturing a stable improves your troops’ speed, while a castle is harder to overcome.

The controls are a bit on the rough side. Though there are only two functions—moving your headquarters and directing your troops—it’s harder than I expected. Managing to send the right number of troops in the right direction is harder than it should be, especially since this is a real-time game and therefore you can’t cancel your orders. They’re functional, certainly, but just not as precise as I would like. At least relocating headquarters is easy; you just tap and hold on the intended base. The camera is also a bit on the rough side; it’s hard, and sometimes impossible, to get a view of the entire map, so figuring out where to send your troops can be an aggravating experience.

As for the graphics and sound, they’re nothing special, but it works. The colors aren’t the bright cartoony hues that seem to populate the App Store, which is a nice change, and the pixel art definitely screams “old-school games!” Sound effects are unimpressive, but at least you can turn them off when they become monotonous. Compared to Square Enix’s full capabilities, it’s clear that this was designed with a mobile platform in mind.

My biggest gripe with the game? Its brevity. There are only ten main missions, in addition to a free-play mode, and that just doesn’t feel like enough for a premium-priced game. Because the thing is, Hills and Rivers Remain is actually fun, if you like the blend of strategy and stress that defines a real-time strategy title. It’s a simple premise, but with a solid mechanic and an often-ruthless AI. But at $6.99, with somewhat finicky controls and only ten campaign missions, Hills and Rivers Remain will only be worth it to true genre fans.


Review: Final Fantasy

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Review: Final Fantasy is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website

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Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

I have fond memories of finishing the original NES version of Final Fantasy. I played through the Dawn of Souls remake for the Game Boy Advance as recently as last year. Suffice to say, I enjoy the game a lot.

The source material holds up surprisingly well, I’ve found. Despite being more than 20 years old, the original Final Fantasy remains very playable. It’s very well-paced, it keeps up a satisfying sense of progression throughout, and it contains very few points where the player is left wondering what to do, especially when compared to other games of its vintage.

In terms of visuals and content, the iPhone and iPod Touch version of Final Fantasy is largely identical to the Anniversary Edition remake released for the PlayStation Portable. This particular version has its quirks — the challenge level has taken a significant hit, and the shift in graphic style is questionable — but it otherwise remains a solid recreation of the original Final Fantasy experience.

Unfortunately, Final Fantasy arrives in the App Store with all the grace and splendor of a bad mobile phone port. The controls are inconsistent. The framerate jerks and stutters unpredictably. Worst of all, a major oversight in the overhauled battle interface destroys the game’s key sense of pacing.

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I’ve railed against the virtual d-pad approach to iPhone control interfaces before, and it’s as flaky as ever in Final Fantasy. Many of your presses on the pad will not register, and you’ll spend a lot of time tapping non-responsive parts of the ornate design before you get a feel for which portions actually make your character move.

Menus have their own unique share of problems. Square Enix has redesigned every menu screen in Final Fantasy to use the iPhone’s touch screen, but the result is actually much less accurate and convenient than the original cursor-based system.

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In any menu, there’s always a slight, irritating delay between touching an option and the game recognizing your input. It’s especially noticeable in the new shop interface, which no longer allows players to see which characters benefit from available weapons and armor at a glance, without individually selecting each item.

The new battle interface is what hurts Final Fantasy the most, however. In theory, the new system should be more convenient — players can now tap the “Fight” command and then tap directly on the targeted enemy, rather than guide a cursor to complete both actions.

While this comes in handy for the occasional fights that require strategy, your characters often square off against much weaker creatures. You’ll want to get the vast majority of battles over with as quickly as possible, in other words, especially since a large chunk of your playtime will be spent grinding for experience.

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In earlier remakes of Final Fantasy — including the PSP version — players could simply hold down the “confirm” button to automatically tell each party member to attack in rapid succession.

In the iPhone version, this is not possible. Even when your level 50 party members are confronting a gang of weakling imps, you’ll need to issue individual fight commands — a minimum of eight screen taps per turn. Factor in a split-second input delay for each command, and you end up with a lot of wasted time over the course of the game.

I still enjoy Final Fantasy’s core content a lot. The storyline is classic stuff, the dialog is well-translated, and the process of leveling up your characters and outfitting them with more powerful equipment will always be fun. Ultimately, though, the iPhone version’s flaws just make the experience more frustrating than it should be.


Weekend App Sales: Square Enix’s Catalog Gets Cheaper

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Weekend App Sales: Square Enix’s Catalog Gets Cheaper is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website

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To promote the release of Final Fantasy I and II, Square Enix has discounted every other title in its App Store catalog. Recent releases like Hills and Rivers Remain and Song Summoner get a little cheaper, and the company’s accelerometer-controlled Sliding Heroes is now available for only 99 cents.

Other discounts for this weekend include the classic platformer Giana Sisters, FMV action game Cobra Command, and Gamevil’s action-RPG Vanquish.

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