‘Final Fantasy Explorers’ Gets January 2016 Release Date


Final Fantasy fans in the west, rejoice. Square Enix has officially announced the Nintendo 3DS exclusive title, Final Fantasy Explorers, is coming stateside on January 26, 2015, and to Europe on January 29, 2015. Originally released in Japan in December, 2014, fans in North America and Europe have had to wait quite a bit to experience the brand new Final Fantasy adventure.

As can be seen in the announcement trailer, although this is a new Final Fantasy game with its own world and storyline, longtime fans will get to enjoy battling familiar monsters and transforming into heroes from previous franchise titles. Confirmed character transformations include Lightning from Final Fantasy XIII, Cloud from Final Fantasy VII, Squall from Final Fantasy VIII, Bartz from Final Fantasy V, and Yuna from Final Fantasy X, to name a few.

Yuna in Final Fantasy Explorers - Image courtesy Square Enix

Fandom aside, the four player co-op handheld RPG gaming experience appears impressive enough to warrant the attention of general RPG fans and Nintendo 3DS owners alike. Although Final Fantasy Explorers does follow the action RPG franchise trend of titles like Final Fantasy Type-0 HD and Final Fantasy XV, some of the first gameplay aspects touted in the trailer are the job classes and character customization options. Over 20 job classes are included in the game, and include familiar roles like Knight, Monk, and Black Mage. As players defeat monsters in the game, they become draftable for battle. According to a Siliconera report on the Japanese release, Final Fantasy Explorers is comparable to a small scale, handheld MMORPG.

“… while Final Fantasy Explorers may look like another Monster Hunter-inspired, 4-player co-op experience, Japanese websites and magazines have been emphasizing that the game actually feels more like a portable MMORPG. Given that a game of this kind hasn’t been attempted using the Final Fantasy brand before, the closest comparison one could draw is to the Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles games on Nintendo DS, both of which focused on co-op multiplayer as well, and shared a somewhat similar graphical style.”

Final Fantasy Explorers joins a growing list of third-party Nintendo 3DS exclusive RPGs that have fared well with Nintendo 3DS owners across the globe. Titles like Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate, Bravely Default, and Fire Emblem Awakening have seen successful global sales on the platform. For many of these titles, consumers have reported physical copies selling out in their local stores, and even with some online retailers, at launch. Fans wanting to lock down a physical edition might want to consider pre-ordering when available.

[Images courtesy of Square Enix]

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