Square Enix, the company behind the much heralded and condemned (depending on who you ask) Final Fantasy series of games, has recently announced a new entry in the series, entitled Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light, due to hit store shelves October 5, 2010. Like many of the Crystal Chronicles offshoots, such as Crystal Bearers and Echoes of Time, Heroes of Light will allow jRPG enthusiasts to team up to fight the evil hordes. There aren't too many details just yet about what kind of co-op this will be, e.g., local only, wireless, how the co-op system works, but it's a promising start, at least. The press release and some in-game screenshots can be found after the break.
WRITE YOURSELF INTO THE STORYBOOK WORLD OF
FINAL FANTASY: THE 4 HEROES OF LIGHT ON OCTOBER 5, 2010
Square Enix Announces North American Launch of the
First Original FINAL FANTASY Game for Nintendo DSLOS ANGELES (May 27, 2010) – Square Enix, Inc., the publisher of SQUARE ENIX® interactive entertainment products in North America, announced today that it is releasing FINAL FANTASY®: THE 4 HEROES OF LIGHT™ in North America on October 5, 2010. Developed exclusively for Nintendo DS™, this role-playing game is the first original FINAL FANTASY title for the platform.
With FINAL FANTASY: THE 4 HEROES OF LIGHT, the FINAL FANTASY series is rendered anew as an epic storybook adventure by the creators of the FINAL FANTASY III and FINAL FANTASY IV Nintendo DS remakes. Players will enter a beautiful fairy-tale world featuring illustrations and character designs by acclaimed character designer Akihiko Yoshida (FINAL FANTASY III for DS, FINAL FANTASY XII).
In addition to the vibrant artwork, this title introduces several all-new features to the franchise, including an Action Point Combat System that allows players to unleash their most powerful attacks by saving up their action points during battle. Players will also have over 20 jobs to choose from and dozens of abilities to master with the Crown Job System – a system that also changes the appearance of characters as they are equipped with new weapons and armor.
Story:
In the small kingdom of Horne, Brandt awakes on the morning of his 14th 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 king 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...
Features:
- The first original FINAL FANTASY title for Nintendo DS brought to life by the development team behind the Nintendo DS remakes of FINAL FANTASY III and FINAL FANTASY IV.
- Charming storybook visuals crafted under the guidance of art director and character designer Akihiko Yoshida (FINAL FANTASY III for DS, FINAL FANTASY XII).
- Combat is fun and intuitive with a battle system that operates on Action Points. Requiring nothing more than a simple selection of commands, players can dive right into a classic turn-based RPG battle experience.
- The Crown Job System offers a selection of over two dozen jobs to choose from. Players can freely customize a character’s abilities and magic skills no matter which crown they have equipped. The possibilities are endless!
- Help friends advance in their adventure, or join forces to conquer tough dungeons. The multiplayer mode enables cooperative play for up to four players.
FINAL FANTASY: THE 4 HEROES OF LIGHT is rated E10 (Everyone 10 and older). Please visit the Entertainment Software Rating Board website at www.esrb.org for more information about ratings. FINAL FANTASY: THE 4 HEROES OF LIGHT will be available at North American retailers for the suggested retail price of $34.99. The official website can be found at http://ff4heroes.com.
I'm looking forward to the implementation of the job system, and hopefully it will be more like Final Fantasy 5's job system than the one used in Final Fantasy 3. Recent jRPGs release that have a co-op mode have been rather hit-or-miss, mostly miss, in terms of their co-op experience, so let's hope that Heroes of Light's co-op mode fares better. As more details about the game emerge, we'll certainly let you know. If we're lucky, Square will be bring a playable demo of the game to this year's E3 and we'll provide some hands-on impressions of the co-op in action.
