Category: Video Gaming

I confess, after reading the comments on yesterday’s Endless Legend 2 early access impressions, I am mortally afeared that I’m one of those accursed “positive outliers” I keep reading about in the Gamer Witchfinder Almanac. Seemingly, a fair portion of you were turned off by the recent Steam demo. You may be interested, then, to read specifics about how Amplitude have changed the game in response to demo feedback.

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There was really only one way to enhance the prospect of an Antarctic open world game with a choice of playable penguins that’s actually a fractious retelling of Lovecraft’s Mountains of Madness, created by the developers of Umurangi Generation. And that one way was to hire Lenval Brown, narrator for Disco Elysium‘s special edition, to voice the first proper trailer. And also, make the trailer look a lot like John Carpenter’s The Thing. No further words from me are needed or desired. Find the footage below.

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I have been informed by management that being a website editor, I am contractually obliged to provide further words. So be it! Announced in June, Penguin Colony is a short narrative adventure in which an explorer thrown outside Time by the Old Ones seeks aid by possessing or manipulating the local penguins. You will slide and slip around the surface of the bergs and also, travel deep beneath the ice, which is generally not a great place to be in anything Lovecraftian.

This being a game from the people behind Umurangi Generation, a brilliant political artwork which deals in themes of decolonization from the perspective of a Māori shutterbug, I imagine there will be some critique of Lovecraft’s notions about foreign parts and people. I don’t have the linguistic knowledge to confirm this, but based on some quick online research, part of the trailer also appears to be voiced in Māori.

The last penguin game I had the pleasure of was Faaast Penguin, which Brendy (RPS in peace) summarised as “that Super Mario 64 level where you race a penguin except now the penguin is 39 other players”. There are no Old Ones in Faaast Penguin, but it did launch almost exactly a year ago to the day – a temporal alignment that surely reflects the dire intervention of some cosmic Cthulhuin or Penghulu, tracing cryptic sentences with its immense pygostyle (tail bone) upon the snows of unreality.

While researching penguin anatomy in order to construct that stupid skit about the penguin god, I discovered that a “penguin diagram” is also some kind of quantum field McGuffin referring to the “flavours” of “quarks”. Coincidence? None of this is coincidence, foolish child! The universe is ending and Lenval Brown is here to preside over the collapse. Let’s see if we can distil any further cortex-flensing insight from the Steam page.

“Unlock different penguins to replay the game as,” it comments. “Different penguins have different abilities and challenges. For example playing as a baby penguin means you can fit in smaller gaps but you cannot swim.”

Well, that seems harmless enough. Please try to distract yourself from the coming doom by telling me which is your favourite penguin. If you wrote anything other than Rockhopper then sorry, you are wrong. Alternatively, exacerbate your awareness of the coming doom by rewatching Thingu.

We’re very much on the road to the next The Sims 4 expansion, Adventure Awaits, and Maxis has rolled out a cool new update to hold you over until the big day next month. The new patch is available now on PC, and will arrive on consoles on September 23.

The update has a couple of features worth discussing, and you can see how they lay some groundwork in anticipation of the game’s next, very much on-theme expansion.

The big new feature in the new update is the Playground Venue, which is a place where sims kids can hang out and play. Because it’s mainly designed for children, it’s a good place to find new friends for your own.

You can create custom playground venues, and share them with other players. Separately, you’ll find an updated UI for Event Planning. You’re now able to filter out the specific venue type you want (libraries only, nightclubs only, and so on), thanks to the new filters.

Another big addition for child Sims is the ability for the little ones to Play Pretend with themselves, or with another child Sim. This new interaction can be found under Friendly > Activities Pie Menu. There are a couple of common – and expected – options to play with, such as Play Fairy Tale Castle, Play House, and Play Pirate Adventure. This being The Sims, of course, all of them have unique VFX.

Elsewhere in the update, there’s a new colour variant of the Ecru Slouch Beanie in Create a Sim. Maxis has also tweaked the Soul’s Journey gains and added Satisfaction Point rewards for each tier you complete.

The update’s console release next week will coincide with the launch of a new beta feature that you can opt into if you like. It’s called Memory Boost, and it essentially attempts to improve the game’s performance by optimising memory usage. You’ll find it under the Other tab in Game Options.

Adventure Awaits itself won’t arrive until October 2, but a big reason why this update is out now and not a little closer to that date is that it allows mod creators to update their work so it’s ready for when the expansion drops.

Speaking of which, EA have also created a series of brochures for Gibbi Point, the new world which arrives with Adventure Awaits. It’s a clever idea that lets you see some of the possible getaways you’ll be able to create, and encourages you to check back daily for more inspiration.

Fortnite maker Epic Games will allow creators to sell in-game items through its platform — and earn a better cut of sales than via Roblox.

The announcement comes at an interesting time for Fortnite as a whole, which has seen lower than average player numbers for its core battle royale modes over the summer. At the same time, Roblox’s player count has spiked thanks to trending hits like Grow a Garden and Steal a Brainrot.

Now, Epic Games is doubling down on encouraging creators to its platform, after several weekends where a Fortnite version of Steal a Brainrot soared in popularity. Next up for Fortnite’s third-party offerings will be the ability to sell items directly, with a better cut of the sales than in Roblox handed over to creators.

In a blog post on the announcement, Epic Games highlighted that it will hand over 50% of the V-Bucks value of purchases made in third-party experiences after store/platform fees, raised to 100% through the program’s first year (until December 31, 2026). Taking those store/platform fees into account, that translates to creators earning 37% of in-game sales, doubled to 74% for the first year. In comparison, as Epic Games itself points out, Roblox offers 25%.

The message here is clear: come launch your game on Fortnite’s platform and you’ll earn more money per dollar spent — and considerably more to start off with. It’s a similar tactic to one Epic Games has used before, to encourage developers onto its Epic Game Store rather than Steam. But it’s worth remembering that, while a better percentage, Fortnite’s player numbers are far below those of Roblox — meaning that while creators might earn less per dollar spent, they may still see far more money made.

Alongside this announcement, Epic Games has also announced a tweak to its creator payouts for engagement in third-party experiences, with better rewards for those who are detected as bringing in new or lapsed players. Here, it feels like Epic Games is clearly pushing creator content as a way to widen its audience further, rather than something that simply offers current players new things to do (another challenge it has faced over the past few months, with new additions in various battle royale offerings feeling like they’re just shuffling existing players around modes).

The push to highlight creator-made content will continue with the introduction of a “sponsored” block on Fortnite’s main screen, Discover, where creators will be able to pay Epic Games for placement. Long-term, Epic says it will use 50% of this revenue for its creator engagment payouts, though this will be boosted to 100% of the revenue for the first year. After that, Epic Games will keep the other 50%, for use covering server costs, safety and moderation tools, and R&D. “In recent years, Epic has been investing and operating the business at a loss,” the company noted.

Another change that better angles Fortnite towards its creator-made experiences will be the long-awaited launch of the game’s “thin client”. Beginning on mobile and PC, players will be able to download a smaller version of Fortnite with just its popular Blitz Royale mode included, along with the ability to play creator-made games. Other modes — even including Fortnite’s main battle royale — will then require additional downloads, if desired. It’s a smart way to get people playing trending hits like Steal a Brainrot without requiring a larger download than necessary. But it’s also feels like an eye-opening shift in priority for the company, and an acknowledgement Fortnite’s core Epic-made modes may no longer be the game’s hottest draw.

Fortnite has changed repeatedly over the years, from PVE zombie experience to battle royale, to a metaverse-y platform full of other genres. And while Fortnite’s next transformation isn’t wholly unexpected — the percentage of players in creator-made modes has been rising for years — it feels like it may be its most dramatic yet. There’s no suggestion that Fortnite battle royale is going away, of course, and there’s good reason to think its lucrative battle passes and live events will stick around for a long time yet as a differentiator to other platforms, as well as a way to introduce more IP crossovers. But with the growing focus on creator-made content — and the sheer number of players now engaged with it across Fortnite and Roblox — the game’s next era looks clear.

Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social

After several years of being a PlayStation console exclusive, Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade is headed to Xbox Series X|S and Switch 2 in early 2026. Depending on how confident you feel, the game can be fairly challenging with its blend of real-time combat and action-RPG elements. But if you’re looking to cruise through each battle and just focus on the story, then you can choose to play the game with the “Streamlined Progression” options enabled.

This makes Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade even easier than the old-school combat mode that slows the action to a crawl with menu-based commands, giving you an extended window to choose your tactics. Streamlined Progression gives you unlimited MP and HP at all times, unlimited limit and ATB gauges during battles, and every attack will deal a whopping 9,999 points of damage.

Additionally, you’ll gain a faster weapon ability charge, and with some exceptions, you’ll always possess the maximum number of items at all times. This mode can be toggled on and off at any given time from the main menu.

Square Enix has also revealed several of the preorder bonuses for the launch of Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade on new platforms. Players who preorder the digital edition will receive the original Final Fantasy 7 game to download and play–this offer expires on January 31, 2026–and if you preorder the physical edition, you’ll get a Magic: The Gathering Final Fantasy Play Booster pack of 15 cards with it.

While it doesn’t have a release date yet, Square Enix has confirmed that Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth will also be headed to Switch 2 and Xbox Series X|S in the future. As for the final chapter in the remake trilogy, producer Tetsuya Nomura recently said that Square Enix knows exactly when it will officially reveal the game.

It’ll still be a while before it arrives, but in the meantime, you can scratch your JRPG itch with upcoming games like Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles, Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake, and Octopath Traveler 0.

Every week at least a couple of metroidvanias release on Steam, and most remain obscure. Adventure of Samsara, which released on September 4, was more fated to obscurity than most, despite being published by an ascendant Atari. Because September 4 was also the day Silksong released. Few were going to make time for a handsome but orthodox pixel art metroidvania when the joys and indignities of Pharloom beckon.

Except me: I needed a break from Silksong earlier this week, mostly because I was getting my ass kicked, but also because a small detail on the Adventure of Samsara Steam page piqued my interest. This is actually a spiritual sequel of sorts to the 1980 game Adventure, which was probably the most cryptic and sprawling Atari 2600 cart on the market.

For over 35 years, the Final Fantasy franchise has captivated fans with its anthology storytelling, keeping things fresh in its magical fantasy world by continuously introducing new characters and stories. The Final Fantasy games are mostly standalone, meaning you can jump into them in any order because they each have a fresh story. In general, Final Fantasy games tend to be set somewhere between the past and the future, staying connected with the same overarching, universal themes: a group of young heroes gathering to fight a great evil threatening their world while exploring their internal struggles and relationships with each other.

If you’re new and want to get into the Final Fantasy series, there are technically 16 numbered games, a few direct sequels, and a prequel to the first game. Each numbered game has its own stories, characters, and world to dive into, though a number of remakes and remasters can make things confusing at a glance. It sounds like a lot, but we’re here to help you make the journey a little smoother.

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Which Final Fantasy Game Should You Play First?

Looking at the Final Fantasy franchise as a whole can be overwhelming as most of them have hundreds of hours of content to play through. If you want to ease yourself into the franchise, we recommend starting with Final Fantasy VII. This game left an indelible mark on the game industry for having the easiest gameplay and combat systems to get the hang of, especially with the Limit Break system, and giving us the most memorable characters, like Cloud, Tifa, Aerith, and Sephiroth. Its popularity inspired Square to create Kingdom Hearts in collaboration with Disney so that some of its characters could interact with Disney characters. If you want the OG experience, FFVII is available on Steam and has been re-released for most consoles, including Nintendo Switch.

Square Enix is in the process of remastering Final Fantasy VII in three separate parts: Final Fantasy VII Remake hit consoles back in 2020, while Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth just launched on PC following its console release in 2024. A third and final part to the remastered trilogy is currently in development. Gorgeous graphics, endless minigames, and awe-inspiring motion capture performances make these Game of the Year-nominated remakes our recommendation of where to start with Final Fantasy in 2025.

How to Play Final Fantasy Games in Chronological Order

If you want to do a deep dive into the Final Fantasy franchise and play all of them in chronological order, here’s the full list. That said, there is no direct continuity between the Final Fantasy games, so I’d recommend trying out the game with the story that seems most interesting to you.

1. Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin

Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin takes place in the kingdom of Cornelia, a dark fantasy world version of the setting of the original Final Fantasy game. Jack Garland and his companions and fellow Warriors of Light, Ash, Jed, Neon and Sophia — each carrying a darkened crystal representing earth, wind, fire and water — set out to find Chaos and destroy him, restoring light to the world. Despite what the prophecy foretold about the heroes, each Warrior grows skeptical about their role.

You can change characters’ jobs on the fly, but with Jack as the player character you can only switch between two positions. No matter his job title, Jack has a decisive finishing move that crystallizes enemies and shatters them to restore a portion of his magic meter once the enemy’s break gauge is depleted.

Read our review of Strangers of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin.

2. Final Fantasy

Centuries after the events of Stranger of Paradise, Final Fantasy introduces four new young Warriors of Light, each of them carrying an orb representing the four elements that have been darkened by the four Elemental Fiends. At first, they’re tasked by the King of Cornelia to rescue Princess Sarah from the evil knight Garland, but their journey expands to defeating the fiends and restoring the orbs to their former glory, thus saving the world from eternal darkness.

Final Fantasy gets its name from series creator Hironobu Sakaguchi’s threat to leave the games industry and go back to university if it didn’t sell well, and Square Enix dealing with the notion of the game being its very last due to the threat of bankruptcy. Ultimately, the game sold over 1.3 million copies worldwide and grossed over $21 million, saving both the company and Sakaguchi’s career.

Read our review of Final Fantasy.

3. Final Fantasy II

In Final Fantasy II, Firion, Guy, Maria, and Leon become orphans after the Palamecian Empire destroys their hometown and kills their parents, rendering them orphans. They join the Wild Rose Rebellion and, under the guidance of Princess Hilda, who initially deemed them too young to join the army, journey to stop Emperor Mateus’ plans to take over the world with his hellspawn.

Unlike the first Final Fantasy, the sequel had no character creation or job system because Square wanted the game to be more story-driven rather than filled with heavy gameplay mechanics. This game is notable for introducing a couple of staples that would forever define the series: chocobos and the recurring inventor character Cid.

Read our review of Final Fantasy II.

4. Final Fantasy III

Another group of four orphaned teens — Arc, Refia, Luneth, and Ingus — are drawn to a crystal of light in the Altar Cave after an earthquake hits the village of Ur. The crystals grants the youth a portion of its power, their first set of jobs, and instructs them to restore balance to the world.

Final Fantasy III is the first numbered game in the series to feature the job-change system, allowing players to change how the characters would battle monsters throughout the game. Instead of staying in one job or class, they could explore other job options and see which one suits each character. The 2006 Nintendo DS remake retained the elements of the original game, but gave the characters more well-rounded personalities.

Read our review of Final Fantasy III.

5. Final Fantasy IV

Final Fantasy IV centers on Red Wings captain Cecil Harvey, who questions the King of Baron’s motives after he and his knights steal the Water Crystal in a raid on Mysidia. After the king strips him of his title as punishment for disloyalty, Cecil sets out on a quest with Kain Highwind and the allies they meet along the way to stop the sorcerer Golbez from seizing the other crystals in order to save the world.

This game introduced the Active Time Battle (ATB) system, which allows characters to perform a move when their gauge is full. Whereas a party is limited to four people in the previous games, Final Fantasy IV allowed a party of five characters.

Read our review of Final Fantasy IV.

6. Final Fantasy V

Adventurer Bartz Klauser comes across a fallen meteor and finds four strangers, including King Tycoon’s daughter Lenna, and set off on an adventure to save the Crystals from falling apart, a phenomenon caused by Exdeath, an entity trying to free himself from imprisonment and gain the power of the Void. The group becomes Warriors of Light and focuses their attention on defeating Exdeath and stopping the Void’s energies from plunging their world into darkness.

Final Fantasy V expanded on the job system, giving players more than 21 jobs to choose from. To make the job system even more interesting, you can combine a skill you learn from a certain job with a different skill from another job in order to defeat challenging dungeons and bosses.

Read our review of Final Fantasy V.

7. Final Fantasy VI

Set in a steampunk-style world filled with technology resembling that of the Second Industrial Revolution, Final Fantasy VI centers on a rebel faction known as the Returners fighting the Gesthalian Empire, which gained the power to take over the world by experimenting on magical creatures known as Espers. The Returners, including amnesiac former imperial soldier Terra Branford, work to free the regions under Gesthalian control using the magic they seek out and put a stop to the empire’s reign.

Final Fantasy VI, which was released as Final Fantasy III in North America and heavily censored due to Nintendo of America’s policies at the time, has 14 playable characters to choose from throughout the story, making it the largest cast in the series’ history. It also deals with mature themes of immoral military dictatorship, use of chemical weapons in warfare, the pursuit of a magical arms race, personal redemption, and the renewal of hope and life. This is also the first Final Fantasy game to not be directed by Sakaguchi, who handed the reins over to Yoshinori Kitase.

Read our review of Final Fantasy VI.

8. Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII

Set in Midgar seven years before the events of Final Fantasy VII, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII centers on fresh-faced SOLDIER Zack Fair, who is assigned to look for missing SOLDIER and defector Genesis Rhapsodos, who went off on a rampage for reasons unknown. During his search, he discovers Genesis’ origin, Project G (or the Jenova project) and how it’s connected to the two aforementioned high-ranking SOLDIERs, and eventually battles him and other products of the project, which involves injecting Jenova DNA into them.

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII was notable for exploring the sensitive side of Sephiroth, the most successful SOLDIER beloved by everyone before he went insane after discovering the unnatural circumstances of his creation and quickly fell from grace, as well as some of Cloud Strife’s life as a SOLDIER before leaving Shinra Electric Power Company. It was originally a PSP-exclusive title, but managed to get remastered as Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion for PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch in honor of the 25th anniversary of Final Fantasy VII.

Read our review of Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII.

9. Final Fantasy VII

In one of the most iconic games of the series, ex-SOLDIER turned mercenary Cloud Strife joins Avalance (led by Barett Wallace) in the fight to stop Shinra from lining the company’s pockets by mining all the mako from the planet to use as an energy source. Cloud initially fought for personal gain and to keep a promise he made to Tifa Lockhart when they were kids, but eventually developed friendships with other members of Avalanche, including Aerith Gainsborough, and works with them to save Midgar from both Shinra and Sephiroth, who was hellbent on destroying the planet in order to be reborn as a demigod.

Afters its original release in 1997, Final Fantasy VII grew so popular that most of its characters appeared in the Kingdom Hearts series and spawned the CGI sequel film, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. It also spawned the full-blown and critically reclaimed remaster, Final Fantasy VII Remake, which will be released in three parts. The first Final Fantasy VII Remake was released in 2020, while Final Fantasy VII Rebirth came out on Leap Day 2024. Little is known about when we can expect the third and final game in the trilogy.

Read our review our reviews of the original Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII Remake, and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth

10. Final Fantasy VIII

In this contentious follow-up to Final Fantasy VII, a group of young SeeD mercenaries led by Squall Leonhart (or Leon, as he’s known in the Kingdom Hearts series) help out a group known as the Forest Owls, an endeavor that escalates into a conflict by Sorceress Edea, who has seized control of a powerful military state and intend to destroy time itself. As they fight to stop Edea, Squall struggles with his role and falls in love with Forest Owls leader Rinoa Heartilly.

Final Fantasy VIII still incorporates ATB as part of its gameplay, but it overhauled the character leveling system. As far as spell-casting goes, the game threw out the Magic Points-based system, making characters collect, draw, and create magic from items to power themselves up using the junction system instead. This is also the first game to incorporate a vocal theme into its soundtrack with “Eyes On Me” by Hong Kong pop star Faye Wong.

Read our review of Final Fantasy VII.

11. Final Fantasy IX

In the first Final Fantasy game of the millennium, a thief named Zidane Tribal is tasked with kidnapping the Princess of Alexandria, Garnet Til Alexandros XVII, as a part of a war wage against the neighboring nation of Lindblum. His thief troupe ends up becoming the princess’ guardians, and Zidane teams up with Garnet to defeat her mother, Queen Brahne, who started the war.

Despite Final Fantasy IX being released in 2000, when most game franchises transitioned from 2D to 3D graphics by then, Square Enix designed the game to look like a retro-style RPG. However, it still managed to render CGI graphics for the characters and everything else in the world of Gaia.

Read our review of Final Fantasy IX.

12. Final Fantasy X

Final Fantasy X is one of the most beloved games in the series next to Final Fantasy VII — and we’re not just saying that because it’s the first Final Fantasy game for the PS2. The story revolves around star blitzball player named Tidus, who is taken to Spira — a world inspired by the South Pacific, Thailand, and Japan — by Auron after his hometown of Zanarkand is destroyed by a colossal monster named Sin. He joins summoner Yuna and her guardians on a quest to defeat Sin and bring about the Calm after learning its true identity is Tidus’ missing father Jecht.

This game replaced ATB with the Conditional Turned-Based Battle system that uses an Act List in which characters’ turns are determined by their stats. It also introduced a new leveling system called the Sphere Grid, which sets characters down a specific path with stats and abilities and allows them to unlock all their abilities once it opens up.

Read our review of Final Fantasy X HD Remasters.

13. Final Fantasy X-2

In the follow-up to Final Fantasy X, Yuna becomes a sphere hunter and a member of the Gullwings, comprising Rikku and Paine. She sets out to find Tidus — or at least, a mysterious man who looks like Tidus — but gets caught in a political conflict that the Gullwings must resolve before it escalates to a war involving a secret weapon that was built to destroy Spira.

In addition to being the first game in the series to be an official game sequel, Final Fantasy X is also the first to feature an all-female cast and have multiple possible endings. It brought back ATB, but enhanced it to allow characters to interrupt enemies while preparing to attack. It also introduced dresspheres and the Garment Grid, which allow characters to change their character class mid-battle to alter the course of the battle.

14. Final Fantasy XI

Square Enix took a page out of World of Warcraft and made Final Fantasy XI an MMORPG instead of a regular console game. Players could customize their characters and make it into one of many races of being roaming the land of Vana’diel — Humes, Elvaan, Tarutaru, Mithra, Galka, etc. The plot revolves around defeating a demonic leader called the Shadow Lord, who rose from the ashes of the Crystal War and sent his beastmen armies off to terrorize the land, albeit in a less organized fashion.

Support for the PS2 and Xbox 360 versions of Final Fantasy XI ended in 2016, but fans can still play it on PC. Rumors circulated last year that the game would shut down, given that it’s over 20 years old, but director Yuji Fujito stated that that was not the case. In other words, it’s still alive and well and beloved by many retro Final Fantasy fans.

Read our review of Final Fantasy XI.

15. Final Fantasy XII

Final Fantasy XII is set in the kingdom of Ivalice, where the Archadia and Rozarria empires are fighting an endless war with each other. When Dalmasca is annexed by the former nation, Princess Ashe forms a resistance movement and meets Vaan, who dreams of becoming a sky pirate, teaming up with him to rally against the tyranny of the Archadian Empire.

Final Fantasy XII took three years for Square Enix to develop after Final Fantasy X-2 was released, and it paid off. It won several Game of the Year awards and spawned the Nintendo DS sequel, Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings, in 2007. Over a decade later, the remastered version of the game, Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age, released on PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and Windows.

Read our review of Final Fantasy XII.

16. Final Fantasy XIII

Lightning, the series’s first female protagonist aside from Yuna in Final Fantasy X-2, is a former soldier living in the floating world of Cocoon whose sister Serah goes missing after she’s branded an enemy of Cocoon by the government, Sanctum, for coming in contact with a god-like creature from Pulse. As Lightning searches for her sister, she’s joined by a band of allies to rally against Sanctum for authorizing a purge on citizens who also came into contact with Pulse, leaving the fate of the world at risk.

This game wasn’t received well not because it had a female lead, but rather because it had confusing battle systems — Command Synergy Battle and Paradigm Shift — and linear maps. Even so, it was well-received and spawned two more direct sequels.

Read our review of Final Fantasy XIII.

17. Final Fantasy XIII-2

Three years after the events of Final Fantasy XIII, Serah takes the lead and teams up with Noel Kreiss, a young man from the distant future, to travel across time and space to find Lightning. Meanwhile, Lightning finds herself in Valhalla, a realm between death and chaos at the edge of time in the distant future, ruled by the goddess Etro, who she protects as a knight during a war with Caius.

Final Fantasy XIII-2 retained the Command Synergy Battle and Paradigm Shift systems, but they were improved upon to make battles flow better. Mog Clock was added to the mix, which prompts players to attack monsters on the field before time runs out to gain the upper hand in battle.

Read our review of Final Fantasy XIII-2.

18. Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII

In the last installment of the Final Fantasy XIII trilogy, Lightning awakens from her 500-year hibernation to discover that the world is about to end in 13 days. She is chosen by the god Bhunivelze to save everyone, but along the way she learns the truth about the world’s fate and Bhunivelze’s real motives.

Players slammed this game because it featured a ticking clock that signifies how long you had until the game was over, putting a strict time limit on missions and side quests. Its saving grace was the heavily modified version of the Command Synergy Battle system, which employed real-time features, like freely taking control of Lightning’s movements and attacks.

Read our review of Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII.

19. Final Fantasy XIV

Final Fantasy XIV has several storylines, but the main one involves the player character traveling five years into the future to escape the destruction of Eorzea at the hands of the primal dragon Bahamut. They enter Eorzea in the Age of Calm and work to rebuild the land, but must deal with the threat of invasion by the Garlean Empire.

The circumstances surrounding Final Fantasy XIV’s development were pretty complicated — especially since it’s the second MMORPG title in the series. The original 2010 game was embroiled in controversy because it was released in an unfinished state, although its servers remained active until November 2012. The next year, Square Enix released Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn with favorable acclaim.

Of course, Square Enix hasn’t forgotten about its MMORPG. Dawntrail, the fifth expansion for Final Fantasy: XIV Online, launched this past July, and more expansions and updates are sure to come in the future.

Read our review of Final Fantasy XIV.

20. Final Fantasy XV

The previous installment revolves around Noctis, a prince from the kingdom of Lucis is set to marry his childhood friend Lunafreya when he goes on a quest to rescue the Crystal from Niflheim, who stole it during an attack on the Lucian capital of Insomnia, killing his father in the process, on the eve of peace negotiations between the two empires. During his journey, he learns of his destiny to use the Crystal’s powers to save the realm of Eos from eternal darkness.

Final Fantasy XV received critical acclaim for its stunning visuals, gameplay — like driving around the world in the Regalia and the Active Cross Battle system — and its visceral soundtrack, including a rendition of “Stand By Me” by Florence + The Machine used as the game’s theme song as well as a few contributions from Afrojack. The game spawned a few spin-off games, the anime series called Brotherhood: Final Fantasy XV, and a feature film Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV.

Read our review of Final Fantasy XV.

21. Final Fantasy 16

The latest Final Fantasy game in the franchise has arrived, and it has essentially redefined the series. With a third-person action style and fast, reflexive combat, there are a lot of new things to love about Final Fantasy 16.

If you’re wondering whether or not you can hop right into the series with this game, the answer is a definitive yes. While the gameplay may be quite different than previous titles, the characters and story fulfill that core Final Fantasy feeling.

Read our review of Final Fantasy 16.

How To Play The Final Fantasy Games By Release Date

If you want to play the Final Fantasy games in the order in which they came out, here’s the list of games by release date. Keep in mind that most titles were released in Japan first, followed by the U.S. at a later date. The first six games are remastered for the Nintendo Switch in Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster.

1. Final Fantasy – December 18, 1987 (JP) / May 1990 (NA) – Famicom/NES
2. Final Fantasy II – December 17, 1988 (JP) / April 8, 2003 (NA) – Famicom, PlayStation
3. Final Fantasy III – April 27, 1990 (JP) / August 24, 2006 (NA) – Famicom, Nintendo DS (remake)
4. Final Fantasy IV – July 19, 1991 (JP) / November 23, 1991 (NA) – Super NES
5. Final Fantasy V – December 6, 1992 (JP) / October 5, 1999 (NA) – Super Famicom, PlayStation
6. Final Fantasy VI – April 2, 1994 (JP) / October 11, 1994 (NA) – Super NES
7. Final Fantasy VII – January 31, 1997 (JP) / September 7, 1997 (NA) – PlayStation
8. Final Fantasy VIII – February 11, 1999 (JP) / September 7, 1999 (NA) – PlayStation
9. Final Fantasy IX – July 7, 2000 (JP) / November 14, 2000 (NA) – PlayStation
10. Final Fantasy X – July 19, 2001 (JP) / December 18, 2001 (NA) – PS2
11. Final Fantasy XI – May 16, 2002 (JP) / March 23, 2004 (NA) – PS2
12. Final Fantasy X-2 – March 13, 2003 (JP) / November 18, 2003 (NA) – PS2
13. Final Fantasy XII – March 16, 2006 (JP) / October 31, 2006 (NA) – PS2
14. Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII – September 13, 2007 (JP) / March 28, 2008 (NA) – PSP
15. Final Fantasy XIII – December 17, 2009 (JP) / March 9, 2010 (NA) – PS3, Xbox 360, PC
16. Final Fantasy XIII-2 – December 15, 2011 (JP) / January 31, 2012 (NA) – PS3, Xbox 360, PC
17. Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII – November 21, 2013 (JP) / February 11, 2014 (NA) – PS3, Xbox 360, PC
18. Final Fantasy XIV – August 27, 2013 – PS3, PS4, PS5, PC
19. Final Fantasy XV – November 29, 2016 – PS4, Xbox One, PC
20. Final Fantasy VII Remake – April 7, 2020 (PS4) / June 10, 2021 (PS5) / January 22, 2026 (Xbox, Switch 2)
21. Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion – December 13, 2022 – PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC
22. Final Fantasy XVI – June 22, 2023 – PS5 / September 17, 2024 (PC)
23. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth – February 29, 2024 – PS5 / January 23, 2024 (PC)

Upcoming Final Fantasy Games

While this longstanding saga isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, we’ll probably have to wait a couple more years for word on Final Fantasy 17. Square Enix has admitted that FFXVI and FFVII Rebirth both underperformed in terms of sales, though Part 3 of the remake is still in the works and tentatively targeting a 2027 release window.

Going forward, it’s pretty likely we’ll see more remakes, especially as Square Enix pushes for a multiplatform strategy. The most recent Nintendo Direct confirmed that Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade will be making its way to Switch 2 and Xbox on January 22, 2026.

We’re also getting a new remake from the Tactics sub-series, titled Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles. The remake comes with new content in addition to a number of enhancements, including full voice acting, for the original PS1 game. The Ivalice Chronicles is set to release on Switch 2, Xbox, PS5, and PC on September 30.

Back in the ’90s, Todd McFarlane’s Spawn was one of the hottest comic books on shelves. The flagship series for Image Comics, Spawn’s popularity spilled into mainstream pop culture with its own line of toys, an animated HBO series, and –perhaps most notably–a feature film adaptation in 1997 starring Michael Jai White as the titular antihero. Now, almost 18 years later, the grim superhero film is getting a limited-edition 4K release from Arrow Video, which is on a roll with 4K restorations of cult classics.

Spawn Limited Edition includes theatrical and director’s cuts as well as premium packaging, new artwork, and a few collectibles. Preorders opened at $50 in late July, but Amazon and Walmart are now offering a substantial discount that drops the price to $32 ahead of its October 7 release.

Spawn Limited Edition 4K Blu-ray Bonus Features

• Native 4K restorations of Theatrical and Director’s Cuts
• HDR: Dolby Vision and HDR10
• Sound: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 / Lossless Stereo
• New reversible cover and sleeve art
• Double-sided poster
• Illustrated booklet with commentary by John Torrani

Disc 1: Director’s Cut (Rated R)

• 4K resolution (2160p)
• HDR: Dolby Vision and HDR10
• Sound: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 / Lossless Stereo
• Audio commentary with comic book expert and podcast host Dave Baxter (new)
• Audio commentary with Todd McFarlane, Mark A.Z. Dippé, Clint Goldman, and Steve Williams
• Hell’s Perfect Son: An interview with actor Michael Jai White (new)
• Spawn Support: An interview with actors Melinda Clarke and D.B. Sweeney (new)
• The Devil’s in the Details: An interview with animatronic creature and special makeup effects artists Howard Berger and Greg Nicotero (new)
• The Devil’s Music: An interview with music supervisor Happy Walters (new)
• Order Out of Chaos: An interview with editor Michael Knue (new)
• Todd McFarlane: Chapter & Verse featurette
• The Making of Spawn featurette
• Preview: Todd McFarlane’s Spawn – The Animated Movie
• Theatrical trailer
• Scene-to-storyboard comparisons
• Original Todd McFarlane sketches
• Spawn concept and sketch gallery
• English subtitles

Disc 2: Theatrical Cut (Rated PG-13)

• 4K resolution (2160p)
• HDR: Dolby Vision and HDR10
• Sound: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 / Lossless Stereo
• English subtitles

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Spawn tells the story of ruthlessly efficient black ops soldier Al Simmons. Betrayed and murdered by his commanding officer, Jason Wynn (Martin Sheen), Simmons is sent to hell for his sins, but he is resurrected on Earth by the devil Malebolgia as part of a grand scheme to kickstart the apocalypse. Empowered with the might of Hell, Simmons finds himself torn between his quest for revenge, dark forces, and salvation.

While it’s not on the same level as Blade–which arrived a year later and is credited for modernizing superhero movies–there’s still a lot to love about Spawn. It’s not afraid to be a comic book movie, and it mixed impressive practical effects with groundbreaking CGI at the time to bring the character to life. With Michael Jai White as the tortured antihero, the movie had a terrific leading man opposed by John Leguizamo’s character of Clown, who could transform into the monstrous Violator when backed into a corner.

A movie night with Spawn followed up by Blade would make for a great double feature. Blade is already available on 4K Blu-ray for only $21.41 (was $35). Alternatively, you can grab Blade Trilogy for just $12 on 1080p Blu-ray.

Spawn Compendiums: Color Editions (Paperback)

If you want to check out the comic books that turned Spawn into a household name, the Compendium Collection paperbacks are a nice budget-friendly option. Image Comics has been releasing updated, full-color editions over the past few years. Seven massive volumes are available now. Volume 7 was just published September 9. Fair warning: All of the Compendiums eclipse 1,000 pages, so these take up considerable shelf space. Each one retails for $60, but you can save some cash at Amazon right now. Volume 1, for instance, is discounted to only $34.

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Spawn: Origins Deluxe Editions (Hardcover)

The Deluxe Editions are printed on larger, higher-quality paper and are hardbound rather than paperback. Each Deluxe Edition comes with a fancy slipcase. But while these are large books in their own right, each one contains about half as many comics as the Compendium Editions.

Gearbox have released another Borderlands 4 update for technical problems on PC, with a particular focus on game stability and crashes, though they’ve also fixed a progression blocker or two in the process. Unlike that other Borderlands 4 patch from earlier this week, this one has an actual changelog. Gosh, wait till Mark hears of this! Oh nuts, he’s already gone on holiday, presumably in sheer consternation over the shortage of bullet points. Look what you did, Randy Pitchford. Look what you did.

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The advantages of a laptop goes without saying, but lets say it anyway. It’s portable. It’s a portable computer you can take anywhere with you. But I’m here to tell you, “Big whoop.” a lot of us end up just doing our work from the same spot anyway and if you don’t need that portability, you can save some cash by just going with a tower instead. Take a look at Dell’s Vostro 3030 PC tower. This is the kind of computer that does what’s expected of it and nothing more. A capital P, capital C PC. It normally goes for $899, but Amazon happens to have it right now for 33% off. Right now, you’ll save $299, bringing the price down to just $600 for a limited time.

Diving into the specs, what we have here is a 13-inch by 6-inch by 12inch PC tower powered by a 14th generation Intel Core i3-14100 processor and an integrated Intel UHD 730 graphics card. It’s loaded with 32GB of RAM which while make your performance-intensive apps run fast and react snappy. As far as storage is concerned, the Dell Vostro 3030 is equipped with a PCIe SSD with a capacity of 1TB. You can expect fast load times from anything off this solid state drive.

See at Amazon

Compatibility Options

One big bonus PC towers have over laptops—the ports. With a newer laptop you might have to suffice with just one, maybe two USB slots along the side. That’s not the case here. This Dell tower comes with three USB-A ports and one USB-C, and that’s just on the front. Turn it around and you’ll be greeted with four more USB Type-A ports. That makes eight USB ports in total.

Other connections you’ll find are an HDMI and DisplayPort so you can set yourself up with two monitors side by side. You also have an Ethernet port on the back and a combination headphone/microphone audio jack conveniently on the front. The Dell tower supports Bluetooth so you can pair wirelessly to headphones or other accessories like your mouse or gaming controller. Wi-Fi 6 support enables you to take advantage of fast download and upload speeds.

The Dell PC tower comes pre-installed with Windows 11 Pro. That comes with support for OneDrive and more.

For a limited time, Dell’s Vostro 3030 PC tower is heavily discounted at Amazon. Get it right now for $299 off. That brings the price all the way down from $899 to just $600.

See at Amazon

Never work with children or animals, so goes the famous advice for stage performers, entertainers, and anyone having to present something live in front of an audience. Perhaps smart glasses should be added to that list, if yesterday’s Meta Connect 2025 livestream is anything to go by—as the new Ray-Ban Meta glasses took the opportunity to misbehave at almost ever turn.

Unveiled to great fanfare and a rapt audience by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, the second-generation smart glasses were promised to be capable of “empowering people with new abilities” and said to allow users to “make themselves smarter” thanks to the newly-polished AI functionality. Cool stuff, but when it came to the demos, things didn’t exactly go to plan.

I’m Baiyon, the director of Dreams of Another and a multimedia artist. The release date for the game, October 10, is fast approaching.

In this post, I’d like to share the inspiration behind the themes of the game, the ideas behind the object dialogues, which is one of the aspects that makes the game special, and my personal dedication to the soundtrack I created. 

How did the theme “no creation without destruction” come about?

Dreams of Another is built around the philosophical theme of “no creation without destruction.” Rather than destroying objects by shooting, as in traditional shooting games, here, your shots materialize and create the world around you.

I have a memory about “destruction and creation” that has stayed with me. It happened during my middle school cultural festival. According to the school rules, everyone had to prepare some kind of exhibit, and my friend and I collected cardboard to make and display a cardboard sculpture.

When the chime signaling the end of the one-day festival rang and cleanup began, I lightly started punching and breaking the sculpture. Since it was going to be thrown away anyway, perhaps it was a lighthearted thought born of youth: “If it’s going to be cleaned up anyway, let’s have some fun.”

At first, my friend laughed as he watched, but after a while, I felt a pain in my back. When I turned around, I saw my friend, with an angry face, kicking my back. From there, it escalated into a full-on fight, and a teacher, noticing, came into the classroom and shouted at me, “Are you making something to destroy it?!”

Those words stayed with me in a way different from the teacher’s original intent. I think I understood that the teacher meant I should take care of what I create, but I kept thinking, “It’s going to be thrown away anyway…” Yet I found this human contradiction somehow interesting.

That feeling has always run deep in my approach to creating things, and this game allowed it to take shape.

Unique dialogue with objects like trees and doors

In this game, you can not only interact with people in the dream world but also talk with objects such as trees and doors. One of the game’s major charms is being able to hear their sentiments and experience their emotions.

For example, when I am thinking about ideas for this door’s dialogue, I first realized that even when we say “door,” there are many kinds and positions. Doors in public places, such as buildings, schools, or shopping malls, doors in one’s home, doors of the living room or bedrooms of children and teens, the door of the family home lived in for decades, or the door of a grandmother’s house after losing her husband… Each door is connected to human life, and I imagined that, like us, they might feel pride or even envy other doors.

If I were a door, I would want to be a door that is there for an individual’s personal space, rather than merely a being that separates spaces. At the same time, some doors might actually feel comfortable being roughly used by a large family in a living room, while others might feel suited to existing for strangers in a public facility. 

Imagine doors having a variety of preferences and ways of thinking. In the dialogues, nothing is imposed as “right” or a conclusion. I wanted players to reflect on their own environment, access past memories, and have a moment of reflection. 

In this way, the dialogues are not just flat and one-dimensional—they can be experienced in a multi-layered way, from various perspectives, and connected to one’s own memories.

Of course, it’s perfectly fine to enjoy it simply as a door saying something a little strange. That playfulness and unexpectedness of the dialogues are part of the unique charm of this dream world.

A unique approach to composing the soundtrack

I have worked on various game soundtracks alongside my own projects over the years, but this time, I felt especially the sense of “I made the music for a game.”

I wanted to create music that resonated with the scenarios and dialogues I wrote myself, as well as the situations and atmosphere of each scene, which made me approach the music in a way different from before. For each scene, I composed music with the intention of evoking certain feelings in the player and expressing particular emotions myself.

Additionally, a key theme was to convey the instability and ambiguity of the dream world with music. One thing I consciously tried to avoid was being “too polished.” As a musician, this approach is somewhat challenging, but instead of creating compositions that are overly tight or densely structured, I aimed for music that flows.

Also, for example, For a particular river scene inspired by my own memories and experiences, I actually spent a long time traveling to the location for field recordings to compose the music for the scene, capturing sounds such as flowing water and stones being rubbed together—the latter of which I then incorporated as rhythmic elements. These particular touches may go unnoticed by anyone, but for me, the focus was on keeping things genuine. By incorporating elements drawn from the source of inspiration as much as possible, I believe it could enrich the experience.

I think there are many sounds that aren’t often heard during gameplay. While playing, I hope you take a moment to listen closely to these subtle details—they might lead to small discoveries or interesting experiences.

Dreams of Another will launch on October 10 for PS5 and PS VR2. A special bundle is also available for pre-order, which includes the previous game I directed, PixelJunk Eden 2.

If you’re interested, please check out the store page. I truly look forward to you enjoying this special experience.