Square Enix Considering Fan Feedback Over Final Fantasy XIV Online’s Controversial New Races

One of the biggest announcements at Final Fantasy Fan Fest this weekend in Tokyo was a new race, Hrothgar, for Final Fantasy XIV Online‘s upcoming Shadowbringers expansion.

The announcement was met with some amount of criticism, as it was revealed that Hrothgar is locked to male characters while the other new race, Viera, is locked to female characters.

Game director Naoki Yoshida responded to the drama in an interview with GameSpot today. He said the team hasn’t had enough time yet to consider all the feedback considering the announcement of Hothgar is so recent.

“We have to identify what they’re coming from, so we can respond correctly,” Yoshida said about concerned fans. “We want to review all the feedback that players gave. The bottom line is that the addition of a race takes quite a lot of cost; it’s really quite an undertaking.”

Yoshida added that in Final Fantasy XII, which is where Viera is from, the male Viera do not show themselves in public, so Final Fantasy XIV Online is staying loyal to the lore with only offering a female option. Yoshida explained that the male-only Hrothgar is Square Enix’s effort to offer a new male-only race in response to Viera being female-only.

I asked Yoshida if Square Enix would considering allowing more gender options for Hrothgar and Viera in the future, but it appears the studio wants to consider feedback first before making any announcements. Yoshida also said to GameSpot that, due in part to the high complexity and challenge of creating new races and balancing them, Hrothgar might be the final new race added to Final Fantasy XIV Online.

The new Shadowbringers expansion launches on July 2. Final Fantasy XIV is available for PS4 and PC, but Yoshida also recently teased that it could launch on Xbox and Nintendo platforms.

We sat down with Yoshida as part of the Final Fantasy Fan Fest. For more, check out GameSpot’s recent stories linked below.

Disclosure: Square Enix paid for GameSpot’s flight to Tokyo and accomodation.

Top New Game Releases For Switch, PS4, Xbox One, And PC This Week — March 24-30 2019

This week’s episode of New Releases is all about the numbers, from the baseball diamonds of MLB The Show 19 to the empty neighborhoods of Generation Zero. Meanwhile, the Nintendo Switch also gets its own port of Final Fantasy 7 and a new dino adventure with Yoshi’s Crafted World. For those who missed out on Connor’s original adventure, there’s Assassin’s Creed 3 Remastered too.

Final Fantasy VII — March 26

Available on: Switch

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It’s hard to say anything new about this beloved RPG starring Cloud, Aerith, Sephiroth, and more fan-favorite characters. At least you can take the grand adventure on the go. This particular port includes a 3x speed mode, the ability to turn off random encounters, and something Square Enix calls a “battle enhancement mode.”

Further Reading:

MLB The Show 19 — March 26

Available on: PS4

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The annual baseball series is back for another inning, this time with the Philadelphia Phillies’ Bryce Harper on the cover. New to this year’s entry are Moments, iconic events from MLB history. These can be experienced both offline and alongside the popular Diamond Dynasty mode.

Further Reading:

Generation Zero — March 26

Available on: PS4, Xbox One, PC

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You’re in Sweden, everyone has disappeared, and there are giant robots roaming the country. It’s quite a setup, and fortunately you can solve the mystery of what happened with friends in four-player co-op. Expect a lot of resistance in this open world.

Yoshi’s Crafted World — March 29

Available on: Switch

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Kirby’s world is spun from yarn, and Yoshi’s is crafted out of cardboard. You can replay a level backwards to find secrets in what was once the stage’s backdrop, and you can play the entire adventure with a friend by sharing a pair Joy-Cons. Yoshi himself can dress up in various cardboard costumes as he rides atop cars, planes, and other hand-crafted vehicles.

Further Reading:

Assassin’s Creed III Remastered — March 29

Available on: PS4, Xbox One, PC

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Assassin’s Creed 3 received mixed reviews when it first launched, but now you can relive Connor’s story with improved game mechanics and more polished graphics. What’s more, it includes all the previously released DLC and a second game, Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation. Even better, Assassin’s Creed Odyssey season pass holders get the whole package for free.

Further Reading:

March is coming to a close, but the next episode of New Releases will take a look at what the month of April has to offer. Next month is home to some long-awaited titles like Mortal Kombat 11 and Days Gone.

The Walking Dead Just Mercilessly Thinned the Herd

Warning: Full spoilers for the episode follow…

Well now… that was certainly something!

Ten people dead, some of whom were kind of important. But I’ll get to that in a moment.

This series doesn’t always follow the comic books exactly, but… it does more than it doesn’t. And if it needs to tweak things, it usually just switches characters around. It has different people die in place of others. A notable change-up here in the back half of Season 9 is that Daryl and Henry filled in for Rick and Carl in the Whisperers arc. Story elements tend to remain while “who does the actual doing” is what tends to change.

Those who read the comics knew something bad was about to go down at the Kingdom’s fair. But even if you hadn’t read up, the show signaled ahead a few episodes back. If you pick up on things, there were definitely things to pick up. Anyhow, I wrongly had this moment – the ten zombie heads on spikes – pegged for the season finale. I thought this would be the brutal mic drop that takes us out of the season. But it was used here in the penultimate episode. Nicely done, show! Also, the move pairs really well with last week’s wickedly harsh episode. I’m enjoying all the ghoulish gloom.

Continue reading…

Rainbow Six Siege in 2019: What’s Over The Burnt Horizon

Rainbow Six Siege had something of a rocky start, but Ubisoft’s dedication to its multiplayer-only competitive shooter has seen it go from strength to strength. With the launch of Burnt Horizon, Siege embarks on its fourth year of constant improvements — beginning with the addition of Australia (finally).

Here’s a look at the year ahead.

A Sunburnt Country

The year kicks off with two new operators and a new map. The map, Outback — or Servo, as the locals call it — is a tightly built two storey arena with an emphasis on destructibility. Hanley’s Roadhouse — named for Timothy Hanley, the sole Australian Operator in the original Rainbow Six — demonstrates remarkable growth from the Siege dev team from its outset.

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Us Tops Box Office With Second-Best Opening Weekend of 2019

Jordan Peele’s horror film Us opened in first place at the domestic box office, becoming the second-best opening weekend of 2019 after Captain Marvel, which dropped to second place at the box office this weekend.

The over $70 million opening makes Peele’s new film the third-best horror opening of all time, and the best opening for an original horror film, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The only horror films with bigger openings are It ($123.4 million) and the 2018 Halloween sequel ($76.2 million).

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New My Hero Academia Movie Coming This Winter

A new My Hero Academia film is in the works.

According to Crunchyroll, the new film will hit theaters this winter in Japan and series creator, Kohei Horikoshi, will oversee production. The film will feature an original story, and no western release date has been announced.

Toho announced the upcoming film at the 2019 Plus Ultra Stage at AnimeJapan. This marks the second full-length My Hero Academia feature film to be produced.