First revealed at this summer's E3 show, World of Final Fantasy was arguably one of the most interesting games Square Enix showed - particularly if, like us, you have a love of all things cute and colourful. An adorable-looking role-playing adventure from the folks behind some of the biggest RPGs ever (Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts, Dragon Quest), its unusual battle system, where you essentially stack characters on top of each other to attack, definitely drew us in. Still, outside of the cute characters and initial battle details, quite what the game actually involved wasn't really all that clear - and as quickly as it appeared, World of Final Fantasy vanished again, with nary a whisper about the title for months. Until now, that is.
Who DOESN'T love Moogles?!
While E3 tends to be all about the testosterone-fuelled, bro-tastic, bigger is better shooters and such, it's far from the only show in the world, and this week's Tokyo Game Show is THE place to get your Japanese game fix for the rest of the year (whilst trying not to get too depressed about all the amazing stuff that most likely won't be localised). As part of this morning's Sony press conference, we've been treated to a brand new trailer for the upcoming Final Fantasy game - and with it comes plenty of new details.
For starters, it looks like the as-yet unnamed dual protagonists are a brother and sister team, and appear to be suffering from the scourge of role-playing games everywhere, amnesia. Finding themselves in a world full of 'mirages' - essentially all your favourite Final Fantasy enemies, from the cutesy Chocobos, Cactuars and Black Mages to the god-like summons Shiva, Ifrit and Ramuh - they're on a quest to recover their memories in the land of Grymoire. By befriending said mirages, you'll travel across the land, collecting, raising and battling with your monster collection, in a way that sounds kind of like a Final Fantasy take on Pokemon. Precisely how a journey across a land is connected to restoring their memories is as yet unclear, but it's probably fairly safe to assume it'll involve saving the world from certain destruction at some point. It always does.
How do they keep their hair looking so pristine, even when being trampled by mirages?
On the battle front, the trailer reveals a few more precious details, too. From the looks of it, it seems characters have two different 'forms' they can switch between - the cutesy, bobble-headed 'chibi' form, which is perfect for climbing atop your friendly Cactuar without squashing him, and a larger, more human-proportioned form that instead makes you the perfect stacking place for a couple of your miniature companions. By combining their powers via these stacks, you'll work together with your collection of mirages in the game's take-it-in-turn battles, with the order in which you pile up your party playing into your strategies. A couple of familiar faces from previous games make appearances too, including Final Fantasy XIII's pink-haired Lightning and the original game's Warrior of Light protagonist, as well as the previously-revealed Cloud from Final Fantasy VII, complete with his rather large sword.
Intended to appeal to both the "young and the young at heart", it's a game which Square Enix hope will help draw a whole new generation of people into the world of Final Fantasy, when it launches sometime in 2016 for the Playstation 4 and PS Vita. We don't know about you, but we seriously can't wait!
