First Look at World of Final Fantasy
By Evan Hopkins 26 December 2015
Square Enix offers gamers their first look at the kid-centric World of Final Fantasy, highlighting the game’s chibi interpretations of famous Final Fantasy characters.
When Square Enix took to E3 2015, the company brought with it several hot titles, including the surprise sequel to NieR, the Final Fantasy VII remake, and Kingdom Hearts III. Tucked among these big name titles was World of Final Fantasy, which seemed to be an odd mish-mash of monster collecting, cutesy graphics, and, naturally, the world of Final Fantasy. A brief glimpse of the title was offered, but the title remained relatively mysterious, with gamers not entirely sure what to make of the spin-off of the mega popular Final Fantasy series.
But a new World of Final Fantasy trailer posted on YouTube by Square Enix has helped to shine more light on the kid-centric title. The trailer, originally revealed at the annual Shonen Jump sponsored gaming convention Jump Festa before being posted online on December 18th, features no English dialogue, but the gameplay shown off speaks volumes. Like the initial reveal trailer, the trailer highlights a world that mashes up the big head/spiky hair Kingdom Hearts-esque character designs with squat, chibi characters, making the game seem geared more towards younger gamers or fans of cute redesigns.
Square Enix previously revealed that the game will follow a pair of twins that are magically transported to a fantasy realm, where they will be recruited to save the world in peril. To do this, the pair learn to enlist the help of monsters that hail from the various Final Fantasy entries, including chocobos, Ifrit (appearing in his Final Fantasy VIII interpretation), and the goofy Cactuar. This gives the game a Pokemon vibe, tasking gamers with leveling up the monsters they capture in the field to utilize them in battle.
But it isn’t just the series iconic monsters that will aid our heroes in their journey; the trailer gives gamers a good look at the chibi-fied versions of beloved Final Fantasy heroes that will appear in the game. The trailer includes a veritable who’s-who of the FF franchise, featuring Yuna from Final Fantasy X, Cloud from Final Fantasy VII, Lighting from Final Fantasy XIII, and Faris from Final Fantasy V. The trailer shows the twins interacting with these iconic characters, and also utilizing them in the games’ turn-based battle system, with Cloud being summoned to deliver a mighty slash with his Buster Sword.
Seemingly filled to bursting with nods and odes to Final Fantasy’s extensive history, World of Final Fantasy is shaping up to be the ultimate love letter to the beloved franchise. With the game set for release in 2016, fans of the series won’t have to wait too much longer to enlist the aid of cute, bigheaded versions of their favorite characters in their fight to save the World of Final Fantasy.
World of Final Fantasy releases in 2016 for PS4 and PS Vita
Source: Kotaku
