Following an article in last week’s issue of Japanese game magazineV Jump, Square Enix have officially announcedFinal Fantasy Legends, a new mobile phone game by theFinal Fantasy IV: The After Yearsteam.
Normally, a Japanese mobile phone game would only be interesting toFinal Fantasy‘smost hardcore fans, but remember thatThe After Yearseventually made its way, fully localized, to North American and European WiiWare.
The new game’s full title,Final Fantasy Legends: Hikari to Yami no Senshi(“Warriors of Light and Darkness”), is enough to evoke the kind of game we’re talking about here: four (probably nameless) characters, some crystals, some light, some darkness, and a Firaga spell. The one wrinkle in the formula is the game’s job system. (Although, hell, Square’s been rocking that mechanic sinceFinal Fantasy IIItwenty years ago, so even new jobs aren’t exactly game changers. Pardon the pun.)
Seems to me, though, that Square Enix might be cannibalizing its own market in ultra-traditionalFinal Fantasygames: the premise ofLegendsis remarkably similar to last year’sFinal Fantasy Gaiden, which came with its own set of crystals and changeable character classes. The two games diverge when it comes to art, though —Gaidensported beautiful impressionistic graphics, whileLegendsis going with a decidedly retro look.
Final Fantasy Legendsgoes on sale for Japanese iMode users in September. The prologue will be free, but subsequent chapters will cost between 315¥ and 525¥.
