Category: Gaming

  • [The Jukebox] #73 – Takeharu Ishimoto – Twister

    [The Jukebox] #73 – Takeharu Ishimoto – Twister

    In a much simpler time, 2007, Square-Enix released a new IP on the Nintendo DS, called The World Ends With You (TWEWY). An RPG utilising the DS’ bottom touch screen to move your character and using badges to unleash attacks such as fire, ice and other elements.

    The game was set in Tokyo’s suburb Shibuya, and while most of the landmarks were duplicated into the video game, some names of businesses being modified, like the infamous department store 109 becoming “104” and Starbucks becoming “Outback Cafe”.

    In the 2021 sequel, NEO: TWEWY, the game is once again set in Shibuya and this time it kept the names of Tower Records and Parco in the game. 104 and Outback retain their names from the first game.

    (Sidenote: While they share the names, Tower Records in Japan and Tower Records in Ireland operate independently from each other, but it would be so so SO nice if I could get some Japanese only music in the Irish stores. They have some Anime movies (Mainly Studio Ghibli titles) but it would be cool to get some pop/dance/OST)

    Twister while not the main theme, became synonymous with the franchise as it has been remixed many many times (25 times in fact) for battles, boss battles and final battles for the iOS Release, the Final Mix release, NEO: TWEWY release and the anime intro!

    Original 2007 Version
    2018 “Final Remix” Version
    2021 “NEO: TWEWY” Version
    2021 TWEWY Anime Intro Version 

    Lyrics:

    “Brain wave, main wave”
    Psycho got a high kick
    Collect and select
    Show me your best set
    “Crystals, blisters”
    It’s all over now
    Psycho cane
    You’re so keen
    I need more candy canes
    “Cold cake, cold break”
    Freak got a high kick
    Mr. Twister
    Moist with roistering
    Stick it up
    Take it up
    Step aside and see the world
    Effect has defects
    “Take a bow to the moon (Bow-wow to the moon)”
    “Brain wave, main wave”
    Psycho got a high kick
    Collect and select
    Show me your best set
    “Crystals, blisters”
    It’s all over now
    Psycho cane
    You’re so keen
    I need more candy canes
    “Cold cake, cold break”
    Freak got a high kick
    Mr. Twister
    Moist with roistering
    Stick it up
    Take it up
    Step aside and see the world
    Effect has defects
    “Take a bow to the moon (Bow-wow to the moon)”
    “Morning rays, hairspray Queens”
    “Get on their way to their nests, the west”
    “Honest, they once had a dream”
    “Belles of society, in the shells of their unity”
    Cornet ‘n spinet
    “The sound flows, follows till they’re home”
    Dragged by the power of dreams
    That power is yet unknown
    “Morning rays, hairspray Queens”
    “Get on their way to their nests, the west”
    “Honest, they once had a dream”
    “Belles of society, in the shells of their unity”
    Cornet ‘n spinet
    “The sound flows, follows till they’re home”
    Dragged by the power of dreams
    That power is yet unknown

  • New World

    New World

    Back on Tuesday, Amazon Games launched its new MMO, New World to the public.

    The game was met with a lot of negative reviews on social media and even a review-bomb on Steam (Which seems to be fixing itself at time of writing) due to the server capacity and lack of servers in general.

    Amazon did address this by adding well over 100+ servers for the game. A updating thread on their forum shows that they are working on adding new servers.

    I was very reluctant in getting New World. I thought there was glaring issues with the combat and questing and a sense of questioning as to what is to be done at End Game.

    I even tweeted out that I was going to give it a miss for a ‘year or two’

    Try, a day or two. This evening, I bought New World. πŸ˜…

    I started a character this evening on one of the newest EU servers, Ursa Dry Tree (Server merged back in February 2022).

    My character, Crakila, on Ursa server in New World

    I don’t know how much of this game I am going to play considering that my main game, Final Fantasy XIV, has it’s expansion releasing this November, so New World is filling that void in the meantime.

    I will not be giving a detailed review of the game, but I figure an update as to how I get on and how I enjoy the game, may come in the future.

  • Final Fantasy XIV Endwalker Benchmark Released

    Final Fantasy XIV Endwalker Benchmark Released

    This past Sunday, Square Enix released the benchmark for the upcoming Final Fantasy XIV expansion, Endwalker.

    The benchmark contains the character creator which allows you to create characters which can be used in the main game when the expansion launches on November 23rd including the new Male Viera race.

    The benchmark can be downloaded for free from here: https://eu.finalfantasyxiv.com/benchmark/ (Windows only)

    Square Enix also published the video of the benchmark which shows landmarks, characters, spells, and more which feature in the expansion.

    My result. This would be a couple of hundred points of the ‘Maximum’ tier of 15000+. I could probably improve this with a better hardware and optimisation but I am not going to worry about it.
  • Final Fantasy XIV Fan Festival 2021 – Around the World – Opening Keynote

    Final Fantasy XIV Fan Festival 2021 – Around the World – Opening Keynote

    Naoki Yoshida, Director and Producer of Final Fantasy XIV, took to stage in a closed location and revealed information regarding the new Final Fantasy XIV expansion, Endwalker.

    • Opening with Trailer
    • Scythes confirmed!
      • Fall 2021 release
    • Yoshida is dressed as the new job wielding a Scythe

    New Jobs

    • Zenos has changed jobs to the new job
    • New Job: Reaper
    • New Job original to FFXIV

    • Showing a trailer demonstrating job abilities

    About Reaper

    • Role: Melee DPS
    • Shares gear with DRG
    • Weapon: Scythe (Two-handed)
    • No required class
    • Must have Endwalker and have 1 job at Level 70.
    • Starting: Level 70

    Concept

    • Welds a scythe for dynamic close-quarter combat
    • Calls upon an avatar from the void to join the battle
    • Can serve as a host for their avatar
    • Job Quests are planned to start in Ul’dah
      • More information about Reaper RPR(?) at a later date

    Story

    • The story will wrap up in Patch 6.0
    • There is a LOT of content in Patch 6.0
    • 6.1 will start a brand new story

    • We will be going to the Moon… but before that, we will be going to Old Sharlayan
      • This will serve as the ‘Hub city’ simialar Crystarium, Idyllshire, Rhalgr’s Reach.
      • They show a trailer of Old Sharlayan

    • This city has VERY important since the early days of Final Fantasy XIV developement
    • There was supposed to be 6 starting cities in FFXIV 1.0 – (The other 3 were Ishgard, Ala Mhigo and Sharlayan)
    • This was cut to 3 and the ARR rebuild retained this.
    • Very important to the story.

    Main theme for Endwalker

    • About 3 to 4 days to come up with the lyrics for the Endwalker theme.

    • Sophia theme (Containment Bay P1T6) was created in 2 hours.

    • Amanda Achen also sang the ‘Tomorrow & Tomorrow’ song

    • The main vocals were by Sam Carter from Architects

    • Song contains elements from the Stormblood theme and the Heavensward theme

    • The trailer is already available on YouTube.

    Characters from the trailer

    Estinen

    • He will appear in the Main Story and can be used as a Trust in dunegons.

    Vydra

    Name Unknown

    • Very important role in the Endwalker story
    • You will find out more about him in Patch 5.5 – Death Until Dawn – Part 2
      • Readers of the Encycolopedia Eorzea books may know who he knows.

    Massive New Areas

    • Same amount of areas being added as previous expansions

    • Shows trailer

    Labyrinthos

    • It’s an underground area with a domain lit by an artifical light.
    • Why you need to go there will be uncovered in the expansion.

    Thavnair area & Radz-at-Han city

    • Shows trailer of Thavnair
    • Very colourful
    • Showing trailer of Radz-at-Han city
    • The sky may not be blue in-game
    • New area – No information about it at this time

    Garlemald


    The Moon – Mare Lamentorum

    • Will not say how you will get to the Moon.
    • Music is very simialar to The Tempest
    • Air and gravity present (This will be explained in the story)
    • Mare Lamentorum is just one area of The Moon, not the entire Moon itself.
    • Find out more when Endwalker is released.

    New Encounetrs

    The Magus Sisters

    Loporrits

    • You will find Loporrits on The Moon

    Also Coming in Version 6.0

    (Most of this info was announced at the Announcement Showcase )

    • New Healer: Sage
    • A Higher Level Cap – Level 80 -> 90
    • 5 New Role Questlines
    • Trust System Update
    • Downscaled Values in Battle Calculations
    • No More Belts
    • New Small-scale PvP Mode
    • New Raid – PandΓ¦monium
    • Island Sanctuary (Mostly solo content and will be updated throughout 6.x)
      • Not locked to DoH/DoL
    • New Residental District: Ishgard
    • Viewing only in 6.0
    • Plots available in 6.1
      • Making adjustments to housing to prevent ‘house cheaters’ and RMT
      • Investing in new servers for the housing.
      • Looking into a ‘Lot System’
    • Data Center Travel System
      • Releasing before 6.0 Patch
    • Challenging New Dungeons
      • Video showing new dungeons – No names or anything

    • New Alliance Raid

    • Name: Myths of the Realm

    • New original story to FFXIV. No cross-over.
    • Collectors Edition


    • In-game items
    • Arion mount


    • No discs included

    • 85% of players bought a digital version of FFXIV: Shadowbringers hence the decision to switch to digital only

    • FFXIV Endwalker: Collectors Edition for PC / Mac Only [This includes the game]

    • FFXIV Endwalker: Collectors Box for PS4/PS5/Steam Only [This does not contain the game]

    • FFXIV Endwalker: Digital Collectors Edition for all platforms.

    • FFXIV Endwalker: Standard Edition for all platforms.

    • Pre-order Bonuses – "Wind-up Palon Minion" & "Menphina Earring"

    • EXP earring like ShB

    • Pre-order also grants "Early Access"

    The release date:

    November 23rd 2021!

    • (Approx 6 months from 5.5 release which is at the end of the month.)~

    One more thing

    • Male Viera
    • Lore about Male Viera will come at a later time!




    • Female Hrothgar

      • "It’s coming, but not right now"

    • One more announcement

    • Players from over 200 countries

    • NEW Oceania Data Center

      • "Multi-million investment"
      • Opens in 6.1

    November 23rd 2021 – On Sale

    November 19th 2021 – Early Access

    PLEASE LOOK FORWARD TO IT!

    Mr Square-Enix CEO (Yosuka Matsuda) is on stage.

    • He thanks the player for the last 10 yars of Support of FFXIV

  • Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker Announced

    Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker Announced

    On a closed theatre set in Tokyo, FFXIV Director Naoki Yoshida, Lead Translator Michael Christopher Koji-Fox brings to us a “Final Fantasy XIV Announcement Showcase”

    This was supposed to take place at the Final Fantasy Fan Festivals but due to the pandemic, this didn’t happen. An online-only Fan Fest will be taking place on May 15th & May 16th with more information about the upcoming expansion to the game.

    The following are my notes from the event:

    (more…)

  • [The Jukebox] #63 – Masayoshi Soken – What Angel Wakes Me

    [The Jukebox] #63 – Masayoshi Soken – What Angel Wakes Me

    This is the 4th song from Final Fantasy XIV that I have written. The other 3 can be viewed here.

    At the start of Final Fantasy XIV’s 3rd expansion, ShadowBringers, it brought a truck load of new content including dungeons and trials.

    One of the first trials that you encounter is at Level 73, Titania. Titania is not a name, but rather the title of “The King of Pixies” – The pixies are small fairies who fly around and play with their friends and enemies.

    Did I say play? I mean, play tricks on them because they are evil little things!

    READ MORE (STORY SPOILER AHEAD)