“FINAL FANTASY: THE 4 HEROES OF LIGHT - Gamasutra” plus 2 more

FINAL FANTASY: THE 4 HEROES OF LIGHT - Gamasutra
Grant: Five possible surprise heroes for Rangers - Dallas Morning News
PS3 Preview - 'Sengoku Basara: Samurai Heroes' - WorthPlaying.com

FINAL FANTASY: THE 4 HEROES OF LIGHT - Gamasutra

Posted: 07 Oct 2010 02:57 AM PDT

[This unedited press release is made available courtesy of Gamasutra and its partnership with notable game PR-related resource GamesPress.]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

London (7 October 2010) – Square Enix Ltd., the publisher of SQUARE ENIX® interactive entertainment products in Europe and other PAL territories, announced today FINAL FANTASY®: THE 4 HEROES OF LIGHT™, for the Nintendo DS system will be on sale from tomorrow.

FINAL FANTASY: THE 4 HEROES OF LIGHT is a brand new FINAL FANTASY game for the Nintendo DS boasting beautiful picture-book visuals and an easy-to-control battle system that will appeal to both old and new fans of the series. Designed with the concept of a traditional RPG brought up-to-date with the best of today's technology, the game goes back to the basics and origins of the FINAL FANTASY series, with a classic story of four young heroes embarking on an unforgettable adventure; a tale of dragons, kings, princesses and witches.

Innovation and tradition are seamlessly blended with a classic turn-based battle system, with players able to set their own battle commands in a way designed to perfectly match the user-friendly Nintendo DS Touch Screen controls. Players can join their friends' adventure, with up to four players able to share the fun and conquer dungeons together. In addition, there are 28 character classes to choose from via the unique "Crown System", where players can change from being a Black Mage, White Mage, Ranger and more at a drop of a hat, or more accurately, a change of a hat.

Larry Sparks, Vice President Brands PAL Regionof Square Enix Ltd. comments, "The FINAL FANTASY series has a rich history of offering unforgettable adventures and exciting new experiences. FINAL FANTASY: THE 4 HEROES OF LIGHT continues this famous tradition, with an adventure that boasts incredibly user-friendly gameplay and a gorgeous art style."

For more information about FINAL FANTASY: THE 4 HEROES OF LIGHT please visit the official website at www.ff4heroes.com

Story:

In the small kingdom of Horne, Brandt awakes on the morning of his fourteenth birthday.

Today is the day he becomes an adult, and the custom of the realm says that he must go to the castle to present himself to the king.

Yet when he arrives at the castle he finds the kind distraught and the youngest princess missing, abducted by the Witch of the North. With no one else to turn to, the king makes a shocking request: will Brandt save the princess?

And thus Brandt's adventure begins…

Eventually he is joined by three other brave young souls. Together they will experience a journey full of joyous meetings and sad partings.

Though at first they don't always see eye-to-eye, these four Heroes of Light will build bonds of trust and affection so strong that, in the end, they may even save the world.

This is the tale of their legendary fantasy.

Features:

A Brand-New FINAL FANTASY For Nintendo DS

Experience an original story set in an all-new world created by the team behind the Nintendo DS versions of FINAL FANTASY III and FINAL FANTASY IV.

Beautiful Picture-Book Visuals

Akihiko Yoshida (FINAL FANTASY III DS, FINAL FANTASY XII) provides world-class art direction, lending the game's cast and environments a charming picture-book style. A simple Touchscreen interface offers easy access to the game's extensive arsenal of physical, magical and summoning abilities, meaning that players can forget about the controls and focus on the enemy.

Near Limitless Customisation

Thanks to the game's Crown System, characters can now switch their class at the drop of a hat or, more accurately, the change of a hat. Simply by changing the crown a character is wearing, players can assign them different abilities, and with 28crowns to discover (including Black Mage, White Mage and Ranger crowns), the strategic options are practically limitless.

Share the Fun with Friends!

Using DS Wireless Play, up to four friends can team up to tackle challenging dungeons. Apart from being a lot of fun, multiplayer mode allows players to collect Battle Points which can be exchanged for rare items, and these can then be used in single-player mode.

About Square Enix Ltd.

Square Enix Ltd., a part of Square Enix Europe business unit, is a London-based wholly-owned subsidiary of Square Enix Holdings Co., Ltd., one of the most influential providers of digital entertainment content in the world. Square Enix Ltd. publishes and distributes entertainment content from the Square Enix Group including Square Enix, Eidos and Taito in Europe and other PAL territories. Square Enix Ltd. also has a global network of leading development studios such as IO Interactive, Crystal Dynamics and Eidos Montréal. The Square Enix Group boasts a valuable portfolio of intellectual property including: FINAL FANTASY, which has sold over 97 million units worldwide, DRAGON QUEST® which has sold over 54 million units worldwide and TOMB RAIDER® which has sold over 35 million units worldwide, together with other well established products.

More information on Square Enix Ltd. can be found on the Internet at http://www.square-enix.com

CHARACTER DESIGN: Akihiko Yoshida

DRAGON QUEST, FINAL FANTASY, SQUARE ENIX and the SQUARE ENIX logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Square Enix Holdings Co., Ltd. in the United Kingdom and/or other countries. THE 4 HEROES OF LIGHT, EIDOS, TOMB RAIDER, IO INTERACTIVE and CRYSTAL DYNAMICS are trademarks or registered trademarks of Square Enix Ltd. in the United Kingdom and/or other countries. NINTENDO DS IS A TRADEMARK OF NINTENDO. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Square Enix Limited is a company registered in England & Wales under the number 3679704 whose registered office is Castle House, 37-45 Paul Street, London EC2A 4LS

###

Contact:

Adam Phillips

UK PR Executive

Square Enix Ltd

+44 (0) 20 8636 3000

adamp@square-enix.com

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Grant: Five possible surprise heroes for Rangers - Dallas Morning News

Posted: 04 Oct 2010 08:54 PM PDT

10:59 PM CDT on Monday, October 4, 2010

COLUMN By EVAN GRANT / The Dallas Morning News
egrant@dallasnews.com

Column by EVAN GRANT / The Dallas Morning News | egrant@dallasnews.com

Since the moment the Rangers clinched a playoff berth, all the conversation about this team's ability to advance has hinged on Josh Hamilton and Cliff Lee and to a lesser extent, pitchers such as C.J. Wilson and NeftaliFeliz.

Sure, all those guys have the ability to make a difference. Come playoff time, in a short five- or seven-game series or some combination of the two, it is often some surprising player who makes all the difference in the world between a team advancing or being eliminated.

As the Rangers prepare for their fourth trip to the playoffs, we try to prepare you to not be surprised if a surprise hero emerges. Here then is our list of the top five guys, in descending order, who could be Rangers playoff heroes.

Mitch Moreland: He's got two things you look for in a playoff hero. He's entering the playoffs hot, and he's got plate discipline. After a long September slump, Moreland emerged in a big way over the final eight days of the season with four homers and six walks in seven games. Given the Rangers' poor production from first base this season, anything the position produces in the playoffs would be a plus. Moreland has the ability to keep the position from being a liability, but also has the ability to make it an asset.
Nelson Cruz: Think of him as a modern day version of Juan Gonzalez, only having other guys in the lineup (Josh Hamilton and Vladimir Guerrero) who are bigger concerns to opposing pitchers. Gonzalez's power nearly helped the Rangers topple the Yankees in 1996, and his lack of plate discipline foiled any chances the club might have had in 1998 and 1999. Cruz could be the same kind of guy: A big hit in a playoff series or a big zero. He has four walkoff hits for the Rangers this year, including three walkoff homers. Don't be surprised to see him deliver in a big situation once again.
Colby Lewis: The Rays are prone to the strikeout, and Lewis had more strikeouts this season than any Rangers pitcher since Nolan Ryan in 1991. Tampa Bay has not faced him this year and the only five to face him ever are a combined 2-for-14 … and that was when Lewis was bad. And if the Rangers can sneak out of Tampa Bay with a split, Lewis' Game 3 start becomes the turning point in the series. He can either put the Rangers on the verge of clinching or on the verge of elimination. No Ranger pitcher has been cooler, more consistent or more reliable this year. That's the kind of guy who could have an impact with just one start in a series.
Michael Young: Yeah, he didn't do much during the second half of this season, but Young will have had most of three days of rest heading into the series opener. The one thing the guy hasn't had was time off this season. Maybe, as he approaches his 34th birthday later this month, the extra time off will rejuvenate his mind and body a bit. It's also worth noting that due to a stiff neck, he played only three at-bats of one game against Tampa Bay when the Rangers visited in August.
Alexi Ogando: As it turns out so often, the closer gets all the glory, but the setup man gets all the pressure. After being barred from entering the U.S. for five years due to a visa fraud scam, Ogando seems oblivious to pressure. With Frank Francisco out for the division series, at least, expect to see Ogando continue to expand his prominence in the Rangers' bullpen. He could be used anywhere from the sixth to the eighth and may draw the toughest assignments of the game. When the Angels won the World Series in 2002, they had a rookie come out of nowhere to be an unhittable late-inning force: Francisco Rodriguez. Ogando has the ability and the stuff to duplicate that performance.

• • •

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PS3 Preview - 'Sengoku Basara: Samurai Heroes' - WorthPlaying.com

Posted: 07 Oct 2010 12:55 AM PDT

In the Dynasty/Samurai Warriors series, ancient China has been routinely split up into legions upon legions of faceless mooks who are mowed down by the thousands by individual warriors who might as well be superheroes. For all the good they do, the rank-and-file soldiers could've just not shown up at all. They exist largely as potential numbers on your KO counter, which makes me wonder how their commanders keep up morale. ("Yes, you are as tender wheat before the terrible, gleaming scythe of Lu Bu, but tonight is pizza night!")

As far as I can tell, Sengoku Basara: Samurai Heroes exists largely to prove that random foot soldiers' lives could actually get even worse. It's set in feudal Japan, sort of, but it's a faithful historical reproduction the same way that Wolfenstein is a World War II documentary. The first character I tried out is carrying approximately 50 sawed-off shotguns, several pistols, a Gatling gun, and an anti-tank rocket. The second punches entire armies to death by himself and has a giant black-armored robot with a pneumatic drill watching his back. So far, I've also seen land mines, bombing runs, and a dude with a jetpack. Further, Nobunaga Oda's up in this somewhere, and if past games are any indication, he will probably turn out to be a five-part, six-story ninja mech called Devil Revolver.

I began this preview by talking about Dynasty Warriors because Sengoku Basara is the same kind of game; it's just turned up to 11 in every possible way. Instead of a faint veneer of historical accuracy, it's basically an ancient Japanese superhero story, where you plow through armies of disposable soldiers. Each stage has different objectives, usually related to reaching and defeating the enemy general, and that typically requires you to reach and capture various heavily guarded enemy fortifications.

The challenge isn't so much in beating the random enemies as it is in keeping a combo string going because the more hits you're able to string together, the more money you can generate. Combos also rapidly refill your Basara gauge, which lets you unleash a powerful and unique multi-hit attack.

When you do reach a boss, the game abruptly switches gears and starts getting a little tricky. For the most part, Samurai Heroes boils down to "pummel soldiers, get Basara, nuke soldiers," and repeat. The bosses, on the other hand, tend to throw extra gimmicks into the mix, like invulnerability frames, projectile attacks, or a Basara gauge of their own.

The better you do in a given stage, the more experience you earn, and the more items and cash you can slap together, which allows you to buy and build upgrades. That boosts your stats, letting you beat up more soldiers faster.

By now, the basic gameplay model here is pretty old hat. It's an enduring and successful model; you'll still have some fun building a body count, seeing what ridiculous tricks you can pull off, and destroying everything in front of you. Sengoku Basara: Samurai Heroes has the additional advantage of being made by Capcom in full-out anime spectacle mode, so it's worth playing just to see the next utterly ridiculous liberty they'll take with history.

More articles about Sengoku Basara: Samurai Heroes

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Thursday, October 7, 2010