FINAL FANTASY Mascots Accessory Case
Square Enix Official Online Shop
$24.99

This tokidoki inspired accessory bag would be perfect for the nerd chic gamer in your life. It features the four iconic Final Fantasy mascots; Chocobo, Moogle, Cactuar and PuPu. Would be ideal as a makeup bag, or for school or art supplies.

https://ssl.square-enix-shop.com/SqEx/us/ShowDetail.action?productId=1173

FINAL FANTASY VII ADVENT CHILDREN Folding Fan (Sephiroth)
Square Enix Official Online Shop
$29.99

This lovely fan features the colors and symbol of Final Fantasy VII’s villain, Sephiroth. It would be a lovely piece of wall decor, and a welcome, yet subtle alternative to the wall scrolls most anime and gaming fans find their decor confined to.

https://ssl.square-enix-shop.com/SqEx/us/ShowDetail.action?productId=1127&sid=1323120348946r2cJ6sClcf

FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST Trading Arts vol.2
Square Enix Official Online Shop
$39.99

This lovely, blister boxed set of figures features some of my personal favorite character from the series; Olivier and Alphonse, in addition to fan favorites, Roy Mustang and Envy. Square has gone above and beyond in both their Play Arts and Trading Arts, and this set of figures is no exception.

https://ssl.square-enix-shop.com/SqEx/us/ShowDetail.action?productId=693&sid=1323120886123ScvJB8sYJB

FINAL FANTASY XIV Stuffed Moogle -Kuplu Kopo-
Square Enix Official Online Shop
$24.99

Although Final Fantasy XIV as a game might not be where it should, it does little to diminish the adorableness of this plush Moogle. Little Kuplu Kopo would be a wonderful present to find under the tree for Final Fantasy fans of any age.

https://ssl.square-enix-shop.com/SqEx/us/ShowDetail.action?productId=1041&sid=1323120886123ScvJB8sYJB

Spice and Wolf: Season One [Blu-ray]
Amazon.com
$17.49

Lawrence, a traveling merchant searching for profit, finds girl with the ears and tail of a wolf asleep in his cart. Her name is Holo – a harvest goddess with an untamed beast lurking inside who longs to return to her beloved northern home. These two very different traveling companions begin a journey through the wild countryside. Along their path, the riches of happiness shall be reaped, even as the bankruptcy which dwells in the human heart is exposed.

http://www.amazon.com/Spice-Wolf-Season-One-Blu-ray/dp/B0050UEVNC/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&qid=1323122381&sr=8-13

Game Characters Collection Mini Princess Crown & Odin Sphere Trading Figure
Play-Asia.com
$7.00

These miniature figures feature characters from a little known favorite PS2 game of mine, Odin Sphere. (Which is also available on Playstation Network.) Characters are chosen randomly, and one would certainly hope to get one of the three heroines of Odin Sphere; Gwendolyn, Velvet or Mercedes.

http://www.play-asia.com/Game_Characters_Collection_Mini_Princess_Crown_Odin_Sphere_PrePa/paOS-13-71-92-49-en-70-48oq.html

Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia, Shanoa Messenger Bag
EKnightMedia.com
$27.39

This awesome messenger bag is something I personally own, and would make a fantastic gift for any Castlevania fan. It’s quite large and would be great for a laptop carrying case as well. It features a monochrome of Ecclesia’s bad ass heroine, Shanoa.

http://www.eknightmedia.com/bag-castlevania-order-of-ecclesia-shanoa-messenger.html

Code Geass Wallet – LeLouch
EKnightMedia.com
$15.92

A more practical gift for the anime fan in your life. This dark brown anime wallet features compartments for credit card, cash, etc, with a metal Geass logo insignia, and a chain for your belt as well.

http://www.eknightmedia.com/catalogsearch/result/index/?p=4&q=code+geass

Here at Gaming Angels, we all wish you a happy and healthy Holiday season. And most of all, a frugal yet generous shopping experience for the rest of the month! Try to retain your sanity!

There is something new, however — what basically amounts to very, very pretty Quick Time Events. So, if those are more up your alley, maybe you get to feel a little bit better. Take a look:

First, Chrono Cross, which is releasing on November 8. The Chrono Trigger sequel has you traveling across dimensions to find the Frozen Flame.

After that, it’s time for Final Fantasy V, releasing November 22. Following that release, Final Fantasy VI comes up to bat on December 6. How chronological, right?

While wandering through the city, one of the first things I noticed was the addition of a Moogle sidekick for the party; which were also conspicuously [mostly] absent in the game’s predecessor, despite being a staple of the series. Moogles are the party’s handy little comrades and will help you get through hidden obstacles to find treasure, while offering tips occasionally as well. I also learned that the game would have quite a bit in common Square-Enix legend, Chrono Trigger, in that it would time travel would be a prominent story element, along with multiple endings depending on the decisions you made throughout the game. Some of these choices are dialogue options you’ll have to make when in a situation; these will usually determine your approach to enemies or conversations with other characters. As mentioned above, time travel is a huge plot element in XIII-2. And it’s implemented quite nicely, with the new addition of mini-games as well. (Something else that was a staple in many Final Fantasy games.) At one point during the demo, Noel and Serah fall into a time flux of sorts, and must solve a puzzle to escape and move on. In short, this was an overhead mini-game in which entailed disappearing floor tiles as you moved across them. The objective was to collect all of the crystals on the way to the finish line, in the correct sequence so you wouldn’t cut yourself off from the goal. I was informed there would be a large variety of mini-games available to the player too, most of which would be available to play at any time during a point in the story, much like the Gold Saucer in Final Fantasy VII.

While fighting my way through the city, I was able to recruit monsters to assist me in battle; Apparently hundreds of different monsters can join you, each with their own job for the Paradigm. You’ll know you’ve gained a new monster when a small crystal appears at the end of a fight; you can then add any monster in your arsenal to your party to suit your needs, each with its own unique abilities. Random encounters have also been brought back, though only to an extent. Enemies will spawn randomly, however you have a set amount of time via the Mog Clock to either engage enemies for a pre-emptive strike or escape the encounter entirely. It’s also possible to gain the aid of NPCs, like soldiers in the area to assist you as well.

When it was finally time to face Atlas again, who had begun to attack the city, I was faced with a choice; Attack him head on, or look for another method of defeating him. I went with the latter, and decided explore a bit to activate a device that would weaken him; apparently the game will be enveloped in choices like this that will impact the outcome of the story and characters, while setting you along a branching path for your ending. While fighting Atlas, I also noticed another new feature in combat; Staggering an enemy will not only weaken them for additional damage, but also trigger a “Cinematic Action” sequence. These are similar to quick time events in games like God of War, but more forgiving and strategic in nature. You can trigger one at the correct time to disable one of Atlas’ hands, which cause the most damage to the party. Paradigm shifting will also be more strategic now as well; rather than changing at one point to meet your needs, players will have to watch the enemy and shift accordingly to its actions. Such as, when Atlas is about to smash the party with his fist, it’s important to switch to a more defensive Paradigm to minimize damage taken.

Overall, Final Fantasy XIII-2 is shaping up beautifully; Many issues gamers had with XIII are being addressed, while fans of the previous installment will get a more fleshed out story and expanded universe to enjoy, with a host of new characters and diverse game play experience as well. FFXIII-2 will be released in December for Japan, and in January stateside. Be sure to check back for our review of the game!

A whole year after the initial, catastrophic launch of Square Enix’s Final Fantasy XIV MMO, it looks like it’s time to finally relaunch the title. That means that the free ride is over, compadres. After Version 2.0 launches in November or December, the billing begins. (The PlayStation 3 version of the game is also supposedly back on.)

If you’ve already played the game and have an account, you won’t automatically get billed — the team realized that you may have run far, far away from the game (or you might not see the announcement that version 2.0 is almost ready). You’ll only be billed once you reactivate this feature.

Square Enix has been fairly thorough in outlining everything regarding the relaunch — take a look here.

• Sony’s bringing red and blue PS3s to Japan. That was really the extent of PS3-related anything.
• PlayStation Vita launches in Japan on Dec. 17. Preorders (Japan handles them a little differently — people will line up to preorder something) start Oct. 15. So, we should probably expect a January or February launch.
• NTT DoCoMo is handling the data plans for the 3G model. Rather than buying data amounts, you buy hours, with some very, very odd contract proceedings. No way that’s happening in North America. I foresee something a lot closer to the iPad’s data plan on these shores.
• There will be 26 titles available for the Japanese launch. Most of them are very, very Japanese (so we won’t see a peep of them on these shores), but there are a few familiar faces, like Disgaea 3: Return, Ridge Racer, Hot Shots Golf 6 and Uncharted: Golden Abyss. Sony called this the “largest launch lineup ever,” but we’ll see how much of it holds until December.
• Over 100 titles are currently in development for Vita. Some of these…are things people have wanted to see. A Zone of the Enders HD collection. Metal Gear‘s HD remasters. Yeah, they’re coming out for PS3, but also on PS Vita. (And they use “transfarring,” so you can stop playing on your PS3 and pick back up on your Vita.)
• There is at least one game that I didn’t know I wanted until it was announced: Final Fantasy X‘s 10th anniversary rerelease in HD for PS3 and PS Vita. I miss Blitzball, okay? Square Enix also announced Army Corps of Hell, meaning that they’re on a streak of very interesting game names.
• There will be 500 or 600 PSP games up for download on PSN. Sony is also working on finding some way to make sure UMD owners get to download the games they had previously. That would be nice.
• Also, in one of their slides, Sony spelled “PlayStation” wrong. That was fixed within a minute. Good show, guys. Good show.

Now Square Enix is at PAX, and they’ve brought a brand-new Final Fantasy XIII-2 trailer with them. Take a look below.

Oh, and remember, as Noel says here, “Humans aren’t strong. They die easy.” Well, yeah, maybe in the face of giant hands made of water, kid.

This does spoil the end of the first game (as trailers for sequels tend to do), so watch with care:

Hopefully fans are much more receptive to this title, which promises to bring back a more open world as opposed to the incredibly linear storyline of its predecessor.

Are you willing to return to the series, if you weren’t such a fan of the last title?

Sony announced yesterday via PlayStation.Blog that the long-awaited Final Fantasy VII-themed costume DLC for LittleBigPlanet 2 is arriving later this month! July 13, to be exact.

You’ll have access to four costumes for $1.99 a piece — Aeris, Tifa, Cloud and Sephiroth. However, buy the full bundle for $5.99, and you’ll get Vincent Valentine added to the mix. He’s not available to buy individually, so think of him as a bonus to your party.

I’m trying to think of proper Sacknames for each character. So far I’ve only got Tifa Sackheart, Cloud Strack, Sackiroth (obviously), Aeris Sackborough and Vinsack Valentine. Can you think of any more?

Also, the PlayStation folks also announced an inFAMOUS 2 costume pack, a Killzone 3 set, one for Toy Story that also includes a level pack and some sort of MotorStorm: Apocalypse set.

The PlayStation Move-related level packs are also on the way soon.

Here’s a look at the rest of the FFVII crew: