Dreams

It’s hard to measure the level of fidelity in Media Molecule’s Dreams. The main story mode, Art’s Dream, is stunning with its painting-esque backgrounds, ethereal textures and stellar particle effects. However, the creation tool-set is where things truly become crazy. Players have been creating everything from first person hack and slash titles with realistic graphics to mind-blowing sculptures of a full English breakfast. It’s a lot to take in and this is only just the beginning.

Last week, Resident Evil 2 broke into the top 15 of Famitsu’s weekly charts for the most highly anticipated upcoming games (as decided by votes from their readers), and it’s now moved up in the rankings even more. The upcoming remake of the PS1 classic comes in at #9. Meanwhile, permanent fixtures Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Kingdom Hearts 3 retain their places at number 1 and 2 respectively.

In the last few weeks, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate has also consistently been in third place, and it holds that position this week once more. Meanwhile, riding on a wave of loads of new recent information, Persona Q2 comes in at fifth place, just behind Warriors Orochi 4 at number 4. Pokemon Let’s Go! Pikachu and Eevee follow close behind in 6th place.

Code Vein comes in at number 8, while Switch exclusive Bayonetta 3 comes in at number 10. You can check out the full top 10 below. All votes were cast between July 19 and July 25.

1. [PS4] Final Fantasy VII Remake – 806 votes
2. [PS4] Kingdom Hearts III – 644 votes
3. [NSW] Super Smash Bros. Ultimate – 501 votes
4. [PS4] Warriors Orochi 4 – 334 votes
5. [3DS] Persona Q2 – 331 votes
6. [NSW] Pokemon: Let’s Go, Pikachu / Eevee – 315 votes
7. [PSV] Romancing SaGa 3 – 281 votes
8. [PS4] Code Vein – 279 votes
9. [PS4] Resident Evil 2 – 257 votes
10. [NSW] Bayonetta 3 – 244 votes

Thanks, Nintendo Everything!

Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu has released its latest weekly chart for the most highly anticipated upcoming games, as decided by votes from their readers. Final Fantasy 7 Remake has, unsurprisingly, taken the top spot once more- really, we shouldn’t even be mentioning which game was on top in these weekly reports, because after the 15 millionth week, it just starts becoming repetitive.

Here’s more repetition though, just in case you haven’t had your fill of it yet- Kingdom Hearts 3 is in second place, right behind its fellow Square Enix megaton RPG. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate follows close behind in third place, while fellow Switch exclusives Shin Megami Tensei V and Bayonetta 3 feature at number 6 and number 10 respectively.

Meanwhile, upcoming 3DS RPGs Etrian Odyssey X and Persona Q2 (which is going to receive some new news pretty soon), rank at eighth and ninth place respectively. Shenmue 1 and 2 HD Remaster, which recently received a Japanese release date, also comes in at 12th place. Meanwhile, the upcoming remake of Resident Evil 2 is in as well, at number 13, while Soulcalibur 6 follows right behind at number 14.

You can check out the full top 15 below. All votes were cast between July 12 and July 18.

1. [PS4] Final Fantasy VII Remake – 726 votes
2. [PS4] Kingdom Hearts III – 623 votes
3. [NSW] Super Smash Bros. Ultimate – 601 votes
4. [PS4] Warriors Orochi 4 – 334 votes
5. [PSV] Romancing SaGa 3 – 295 votes
6. [NSW] Shin Megami Tensei V – 274 votes
7. [PS4] God Eater 3 – 272 votes
8. [3DS] Etrian Odyssey X – 264 votes
9. [3DS] Persona Q2 – 262 votes
10. [NSW] Bayonetta 3 – 244 votes
11. [PS4] The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV: The End of Saga – 242 votes
12. [PS4] Shenmue I & II – 209 votes
13. [PS4] Resident Evil 2 – 201 votes
14. [PS4] Soulcalibur VI – 199 votes
15. [PS4] Disaster Report 4 Plus: Summer Memories – 190 votes

Thanks, Nintendo Everything!

The latest weekly Famitsu charts for the most highly anticipated upcoming titles, as decided by votes cast by their readers, are in, and Final Fantasy 7 Remake has once again taken the top spot. That’s like a gazillion weeks in a row now. Kingdom Hearts 3, meanwhile, is in second place- also a permanent fixture in the second spot.

Fellow upcoming Square Enix title, the Nintendo Switch exclusive Octopath Traveler, comes in at sixth place. Meanwhile, a couple of Atlus RPGs have also charted in the top 10, with upcoming 3DS duo Etrian Odyssey X and Persona Q2 claiming the fourth and ninth positions respectively. Meanwhile, the recently announced Super Smash Bros. Ultimate has seen a surge in popularity, and comes in at number five, while Code Vein takes the tenth position, and Warriors Orochi 4 ranks at number eight.

You can view the full top 10 below. All votes were cast between June 14 and June 20.

1. [PS4] Final Fantasy VII Remake – 731 votes
2. [PS4] Kingdom Hearts III – 604 votes
3. [PS4] Zanki Zero – 368 votes
4. [3DS] Etrian Odyssey X – 313 votes
5. [NSW] Super Smash Bros. Ultimate – 310 votes
6. [NSW] Octopath Traveler – 294 votes
7. [PSV] Romancing SaGa 3 – 289 votes
8. [PS4] Warriors Orochi 4 – 273 votes
9. [3DS] Persona Q2 – 265 votes
10. [PS4] Code Vein – 262 votes

Thanks, Nintendo Everything!

Yoshinori Kitase has been heavily involved with some of Square Enix’s games for as long as we can remember, but over the last two decades, he’s moved into more of a production role for projects. He’s also serving as the producer for the upcoming Final Fantasy 7 Remake.

But while a producer’s role doesn’t usually imply a lot of direct involvement with the actual development of a game (producers are more involved in the management side of things), it looks like Kitase might be getting back into things a little bit with Final Fantasy VII Remake. Recently, several attendants of the Final Fantasy 7 brass concert tweeted out that Kitase has stated that he’s going to be involved in designing some areas of the game. More specifically, if these claims are to be believed, Kitase will be in charge of designing and planning of floors 69 and 70 of the Shinra Building in the game, apparently because he has a fondness for the content in question.

If you’re wondering if that tells us anything about how far along into development Final Fantasy 7 Remake is, it really doesn’t. While the Shinra Building is an area that is encountered fairly early in the game, developers don’t really build areas in order. Either way, Final Fantasy 7 Remake is going to be a ways off yet. It doesn’t yet have a release date, and though Square Enix says development is moving along nicely, they recently admitted that they shouldn’t have announced the game as early as they did.

At today's FFVII brass concert Kitase said he is in charge of the construction/planning of FFVII Remake’s Shinra Building floors 69 and 70 despite usually not being involved much with the game contents as he is producer, because he loves Shinra. (Source: tweets from attendants)

— DKHF (@DKHF_) June 23, 2018

Kingdom Hearts 3 and Final Fantasy 7 Remake were both announced quite long ago by Square Enix as an incredible one-two punch, and obviously, people were incredibly excited when that happened. Since then, though, the anticipation has continued to get stronger, while the games themselves constantly seem to be far away from release. Kingdom Hearts 3, thankfully, has been confirmed for a January 2019 release, after multiple years of waiting, but Final Fantasy 7 Remake still seems to be no closer to release than it did years ago.

According to Tetsuya Nomura, who’s directing both these games, the process of deciding when to announce big upcoming games is a complicated one, due to a number of factors, but he admits that both games were indeed announced by Square Enix too early. “Deciding when to announce your game to the public is always difficult,” Nomura said in an interview with Italian magazine Multiplayer (translation via KH Insider). “I understand why some companies wait as long as possible, and I definitely think it’s a good thing for them. But in our case, we receive pressure from the fans even when we do not announce anything. They’re always asking us ‘are you working on this?’ or ‘why don’t you make a sequel for that?’.  Even after the announcement, the situation does not change, because then they’ll move onto asking us ‘when will it release?’ or ‘when will you show a new trailer?'”

“People are waiting for new information regardless of whether the game has been announced or not,” Nomura continued. “It’s great when we manage to keep it secret for as long as possible, but these days, a lot of important projects become victims of rumors and leaks. Honestly, I prefer that we officially reveal our games instead of seeing a leak or a rumor circulating online. Especially when part of the development is outsourced to other companies, there is always the risk that people outside the in-house team will spread information and images online. It is even worse when, during the development, a fake rumor sprouts that people start to believe, and it becomes necessary to decide whether to answer and deny.”

He then went on to speak about Final Fantasy 7 Remake, admitting that the same happened with the announcement of that game as well. “The same thing happened with the remake of Final Fantasy 7. I am well aware of the fact that we announced it too early, but even in the industry, word was beginning to spread that we were working on the game, so we just decided not to keep it more secret and officially reveal it.”

Kingdom Hearts 3 is definitely (we hope) launching on January 25 for the PS4 and Xbox One, as Square confirmed during E3, while Final Fantasy 7 Remake now seems to have moved into the production stage of development– though when it will be out is something neither of us really knows yet. However, Square Enix have said that the development on the game is moving along better than expected. Stay tuned to GamingBolt for more updates on both these games.

The latest Famitsu charts for the most highly anticipated upcoming games are in, and as far as the very top of the pile is concerned, things are no different than they have been over the last few weeks-  or even months, for that matter. Final Fantasy 7 Remake is once again at the very top of the list, while fellow upcoming Square Enix megaton Kingdom Hearts 3 follows close behind in second place.

Dragon Quest Builders 2 is in sixth place, while yet another Square Enix title, the Switch exclusive Octopath Traveller, is placed at number 9. Meanwhile, fellow Switch exclusives Shin Megami Tensei V and Bayonetta 3 are in seventh and eighth place respectively, while Persona Q2 is placed tenth.

You can view the full top 10 below. All votes were cast by Famitsu readers between May 10 and May 16.

1. [PS4] Final Fantasy VII Remake – 583 votes
2. [PS4] Kingdom Hearts III – 352 votes
3. [PSV] Romancing SaGa 3 – 326 votes
4. [PS4] Zanki Zero – 265 votes
5. [PS4] New Gundam Breaker – 225 votes
6. [PS4] Dragon Quest Builders 2 – 220 votes
7. [NSW] Shin Megami Tensei V – 195 votes
8. [NSW] Bayonetta 3 – 193 votes
9. [NSW] Octopath Traveler – 179 votes
10. [3DS] Persona Q2 – 176 votes

Thanks, Nintendo Everything!

Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu has published its latest weekly charts for the most highly anticipated upcoming games, as decided by votes cast by their readers, and as has been the case for the last few months (more than just a few, actually), Square Enix megaton duo Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Kingdom Hearts 3 has taken the lead once again, being placed at first and second place respectively.

They’re not the only Square Enix games in the list either. The upcoming Nintendo Switch exclusive Octopath Traveller is in at number five, while Dragon Quest Builders 2 is placed at number eight. Moving away from Square Enix titles, Persona Q2 is right behind Octopath Traveller, placed at sixth position.

Other notable games in the top 10 include God Eater 3 in ninth place, and Etrian Odyssey X in tenth place. You can check out the full top 10 below. All votes were cast between April 26 and May 9.

1. [PS4] Final Fantasy VII Remake – 1,012 votes
2. [PS4] Kingdom Hearts III – 681 votes
3. [PS4] Zanki Zero – 549 votes
4. [PSV] Romancing SaGa 3 – 493 votes
5. [NSW] Octopath Traveler – 469 votes
6. [3DS] Persona Q2 – 443 votes
7. [PS4] New Gundam Breaker – 392 votes
8. [PS4] Dragon Quest Builders 2 – 365 votes
9. [PS4] God Eater 3 – 361 votes
10. [3DS] Etrian Odyssey X – 350 votes

Thanks, Nintendo Everything!

Square Enix have confirmed that legendary music composer Nobuo Uematsu will be composing the soundtrack for the upcoming Final Fantasy VII Remake. Uematsu has been responsible for the music of Final Fantasy ever since the series’ inception, and though he doesn’t work with Square Enix in official capacity any longer, he is still synonymous with the series’ iconic and beloved soundtracks.

Final Fantasy VII Remakwe producer Yoshinori Kitase recently confirmed this in an interview (as spotted by Twitter user @aibo_ac7). The interview is in Japanese, but a rough translation of the relevant snippet is as follows: “I’ve worked on numerous titles with Uematsu-san, and while I’m currently working on the production of Final Fantasy VII Remake, it’s actually been since Final Fantasy X that I directly worked with Uematsu-san. So when I first went to ask Uematsu-san to come work on the music for the remake, I thought he would give me the cold shoulder since he had already left Square Enix and found success. [laughs]”

Final Fantasy VII Remake is without a release date, and we don’t expect that to change anytime soon. That said, we do expect it to be a present at Square Enix’s E3 press event in a few weeks’ time. Stay tuned to GamingBolt for more coverage.

We’ve begrudgingly come to accept over the last year or so that Final Fantasy VII Remake may be farther away than we’d like. As per details emerging from a new source, Square Enix at least has a release window in mind- though it doesn’t look like even that has narrowed it down much. A user on TheLifestream.net recently uploaded translations of a recording of Square’s Kitase, Hamaguchi, and Nomura having a behind-closed-doors conversation about Final Fantasy VII Remake at January’s Final Fantasy 30th Anniversary celebration event.

Firstly, the conversation seems to confirm earlier rumours that Square Enix have moved all the production for the game completely in-house, after reportedly being unhappy with the work that CyberConnect2 had been doing. We reported on this earlier as well, wherein we discussed how the game might be getting a major showing at E3 this year.

What’s notable here, though, is the matter of the release date. The translation of the conversation, though, gives very little concrete information. Kitase and Hamaguchi mention that they want Final Fantasy VII Remake to have launched before Final Fantasy’s 35th anniversary. Which is all well and good, except that the 35th anniversary would be in 2023. Hamaguchi, thankfully enough, admits that that is too far along, so hopefully, we’ll have the game on our hands much earlier than that. But oh well, at least we have a release window now- we’re getting it before 2023.

Stay tuned to GamingBolt for more coverage.