PlayStation 5

During the Voices from Valisthea, a Final Fantasy XVI panel at PAX West 2023 Naoki Yoshida, the producer of Final Fantasy XVI, has announced in a video message that a new update is now available. Also he announced that the development team is working on two installments of paid downloadable content and the PC version.

The new update, version 1.001.000 (on the title screen version 1.10), contains the feature to change the outfit for Clive, Jill, Joshua, Torgal and Ambrosia and the feature to change the weapon skin.

Here are the patch notes:

Makes the following changes to Arcade Mode:

• Adds a time limit to each stage.
  • This change is intended to correct an issue wherein certain abilities could be used to continually amass points over time, allowing for scores greater than envisioned.
  • You can continue to play as normal after the time limit is exceeded, but any further actions will not add to your score.
• Reduces the scores awarded by the abilities Rime and Gouge.
  • Please note that in this and future updates, we plan to adjust the scoring system in order to reward the creative chaining of multiple abilities. We will continue to assess how scores in Arcade Mode are calculated in order to maintain its challenge.
• Introduces a new leaderboard for players who have this update installed. Players who do not install the update can continue to view and record their high scores to the old leaderboard.
  • After installing this update, you will no longer be able to view or record high scores to the old leaderboard. However, scores recorded to the previous leaderboard will not be deleted. We plan to make previous leaderboards visible to all players in a future update.

Makes the following changes to the System menu:

• Adds an Adaptive Triggers option to the Game Settings menu, which allows you to turn the wireless controller's trigger effect function on or off.
• Adds a Target Cycle option to the Game Settings menu, which allows you to choose one of four different methods of changing targets while locked on to an enemy.
• Adjusts the functionality of the Player Follow (Attack) option in the Camera Settings menu, in order to correct an issue wherein the camera position would reset after some attacks even when this option was turned off.
• Adds a Controller Volume option to the Sound Settings menu, which allows you to adjust the volume of sound effects played through the wireless controller's speaker. - Adjusts the functionality of the Visual Alerts option in the Sound Settings menu, so that a preview of the alerts is displayed when the setting is turned on, and a confirmation dialog appears when the setting is changed.
• Fixes some text issues.

Fixes the following issues:

• An issue wherein enemies' actions did not trigger correctly in boss encounters under certain conditions.
• An issue wherein the collision detection threshold could be crossed in boss encounters under certain conditions.
• An issue wherein certain characters' actions did not trigger correctly.
• An issue wherein notorious marks did not appear under certain conditions.
• An issue wherein notorious marks appeared in different locations to that indicated on the hunt board.
• An issue wherein holding down the touch pad button would display the local map when the Wireless Controller Layout option was set to Type F.
•  An issue wherein certain weapons could not be crafted in Final Fantasy mode, as the materials required to craft them were not available in that mode.
• A multi-language issue wherein certain entries in The Thousand Tomes could not be found using the Search by Name function.
• An issue wherein game progress was not correctly carried over when transferring save data from the demo version to the full version.
• Several minor text issues.

Recently Square Enix has released the first after launch patch for Final Fantasy XVI, version 1.03. This patch fixes some issues and adds some new functionality.

Below you can find the patch notes:

This update fixes some issues and adds some new functionality. We recommend that you install this update before playing the game.

This update:

• Adds the following items to the System tab of the Main Menu:
  • Motion Blur Strength – Allows the player to adjust the strength of the motion blur effect when the character or camera is in motion. The default setting is the maximum of 5. This can be lowered to reduce the strength of the motion blur effect, or set to 0 to turn it off completely.
  • Player Follow (Movement)
  • Player Follow (Attack) – Turning these settings off prevents the camera from automatically following the player while moving and attacking respectively.
• Changes the maximum setting of the Camera Sensitivity (Horizontal) and Camera Sensitivity (Vertical) items from 10 to 20.
• Adds three new controller layouts: types D, E, and F.
• Corrects an issue that affected the stability of some menus.
• Corrects some text issues.
• Adds the hashtag #FF16 when sharing screenshots or video clips on Twitter or YouTube.

Recenlty Square Enix also announced that Final Fantasy XVI has sold over 3 million copies.

During the latest Nintendo Direct Square Enix has announced that Star Ocean: The Second Story will be getting a remake titled Star Ocean: The Second Story R. This will be a 2.5D remake.

Star Ocean: The Second Story was originally released in 1998 on the PlayStation. In 2009 an enhanced remaster titled Star Ocean: Second Evolution was released on the PlayStation Portable. The story begins with Claude, a Federation officer, who finds himself transported to an undeveloped planet. While searching for a way home, an encounter with a girl named Rena draws them into a quest to save her people, just as an ancient prophecy foretold. Players will begin their adventure with either Claude or Rena, and depending on their choice, the perspectives and the allies' players recruit will change. Players will get to know party members through the unique ‘Private Actions System’, which will allow them to grow relationships and unlock a variety of different endings.

The remake will feature new difficulty modes, new battle mechanics, full Japanese and English voice overs, original and re-arranged music and fast-travel.

Star Ocean: The Second Story R will be released on 2 November 2023 on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch and PC via Steam. You can now pre-order the game and the collector's edition. You can watch the trailer below.

During the Final Fantasy XVI Pre-Launch Celebration event Naoki Yoshida, the producer of Final Fantasy XVI, has announced that the Final Fantasy XVI demo will be available on Monday 12 June. That's today! The demo can now be downloaded from the PlayStation Store.

The demo will give fans interested in starting the adventure early access to the opening prologue, with saved progress carrying over to the full game after its release. In the demo, take control of Clive Rosfield at the start of his epic tale and learn about his ambitions and goals, as he endures a tragic event sending him on a dark and dangerous path of revenge. Completing the prologue allows players to experience a special battle demo which has numerous abilities unlocked, giving them the opportunity to jump into exhilarating battles and test out a wide array of devastating attacks and combos.

You can download the demo from the PlayStation Store. Final Fantasy XVI will be released on 22 June 2023 exclusively on PlayStation 5.