Echoes of Time is a fun hack n’ slash multiplayer game. The game improves upon its Ring of Fates predecessor with a greater emphasis on multiplayer combat and teamwork. Though the Wii version leaves much to be desired, the game is still a solid title on the DS to be enjoyed with friends. Square Enix’s efforts to allow both DS and Wii players to connect and play together are admirable, but one that definitely needs to be tweaked concerning the Wii’s control scheme. Echoes of Time should keep fans happy for some time until the arrival of the upcoming Wii title, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers.

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Ring of Fates was Square Enix’s follow-up to their Gamecube title: Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles. After receiving fairly positive reviews, Square has returned to tweak the multiplayer features with a greater emphasis on combat in Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time. Though the gameplay is similar, the ability to play with your friends over a Wi-Fi connection on both the DS and Wii versions is a welcome addition to the series. Echoes of Time combines the best of Ring of Fates and its Crystal Chronicles Gamecube brethren into a fun, light-hearted RPG for both casual and experienced players.

The story tells the tale of a young hero who reaches his or her sixteenth birthday. According to village customs, every young villager participates in a special ceremony by defeating hordes of monsters in the dark forest that surrounds the village. The victorious are crowned with a glowing crystal found in a forest clearing guarded by Sherlotta, a fellow villager. However, a village girl falls gravely ill on the brink of the village’s celebration that sends the hero on a mission to acquire the items needed for a cure.

Combat in Echoes of Time is similar to the earlier Ring of Fates DS title. You can attack, pick up and drop and jump in the open field in battle. There are four tribes are available: Clavats, Yukes, Selkies and the Lilties. You can engage the enemy with standard attacks, charge attacks (powerful attack that leaves you temporarily vulnerable) or magic attacks by acquiring various spells. This time around, you can either grab your friends or partner up with the A.I. to form a party. At the start, you can customize your party with as many warriors, mages or tribe kinsmen and kinswomen as you like. Towns  and villages hold save crystals with most locations situated around a trotted path on the world map. A diary is kept by the main character that contains the chronology of events and adventures throughout the game.

You can assign different tactics for your A.I. party members in battle that includes Protect Yourself, Do Your Best, Just Follow Me and Go Nuts With Magic. You can add and drop party members at the Adventurers’ Guild in town prior to your quest. For multiplayer coop, you can team up with your friends via Nintendo’s Wi-Fi connection. You can easily communicate with your party members with a communication panel that features phrases like “Attack Together”, “I’ll take this one” and “Hit it”. Phrases are customizable with a total of twelve phrases available for you to create your own unique message.

Echoes of Time allows you, just like its predecessors, to pick up and drop items, barrels and enemies at will. This is necessary on various quests to solve puzzles and unlock doors. Fighting enemies helps not only to gain experience but also helps you to acquire materials to place custom orders in town. By doing this, you save lots of money that would otherwise be spent on scrolls and materials at Custom Fabrications.

Visually, the game has polished character designs and detailed environments. After a short run, the Wii version is essentially a ported DS game. The graphics are only slightly improved with a rather mediocre control scheme using the Wii remote. Between the Wii and DS version, the latter is preferable as Echoes of Time was originally designed with Nintendo’s handheld in mind. The soundtrack is soothing and accompanies the game quite well with its light hearted and relaxed musical tunes.

Regrettably, the A.I. party members are more trouble than they are worth as they will often miss platform jumps, fall into lava pits and stand around idly while your enemies are attacking you. Echoes of Time shines in the multiplayer aspect as the single player adventure mode is very short-lived. Regarding the portability and the convenience to play with your friends, both Wii and DS owners can connect online with one another for quests. However, I personally recommend the DS version as the Wii online interface to join other quests is not very user-friendly at all.

Star Ocean is an enjoyable RPG with engaging battles and an addictive item creation mode. Despite the bland dialogue and vague mission objectives, role playing fans will love the open worlds and intense combat with their party members. Ultimately, Star Ocean is a vastly superior game to Infinite Undiscovery and The Last Remnant titles. With multiple endings, battle trophies and various achievements, the Last Hope appeals to both casual and hardcore players. Though the game is plagued by bad dialogue and long cutscenes, The Last Hope is definitely an RPG that is worth the investment.

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Star Ocean has been an RPG series that has only received modest attention. Overshadowed by other Square Enix series like Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest, the Star Ocean series has only begun to receive attention thanks to its recent PSP ports and the earlier Till the End of Time PS2 instalment. To the surprise of many RPG fans, the next title was announced exclusively for Xbox 360 with possible development for the PlayStation 3 left as unconfirmed. Despite the mediocre cutscenes and dialogue, Star Ocean: The Last Hope is a deeply complex but satisfying game.

Originally scheduled for a Japanese release on March 28, Dragon Quest IX has been delayed until July 11, according to Joystiq (via NeoGAF).

It seems like Square Enix discovered some major bugs in the game's code and delayed the game as an emergency precaution, since they have been advertising the game heavily throughout Japan, which has traditionally been where the series sells the most units.

There's still no news on a North American release date, but we'll keep our eyes peeled. Could there be an announcement at E3, perhaps?

Chrono Trigger is still an exhilarating RPG to play - this is no small feat considering the game was released thirteen years ago. The compelling characters, intriguing storyline, solid battle system and unforgettable musical score makes Chrono Trigger DS a worthy addition to any RPG fan’s gaming library. The Wireless Play mode and extra dungeons are a nice addition but nothing special. The game warrants the buying price alone for the simple reason that it’s Chrono Trigger and that it retains the title as one of the greatest RPGs in gaming history.

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Chrono Trigger has long been revered as one of Squaresoft’s (now Square Enix) most epic RPGs that graced the SNES system. The game was produced by the “Dream Team” with credits given to Hironobu Sakaguchi, Masato Kato, Akira Toriyama and Yasunori Mitsuda. Shortly after a mediocre PSX port, Final Fantasy Chronicles, fell short of its mark with its dreadful loading and slowdown issues, no announcements were made for any potential re-releases. After a long seven year waiting period, Square Enix has revisited one of their most critically acclaimed RPGs that features touch screen controls, a brand new dungeon, an extra ending and a brand new Wireless Play mode.

Chrono Trigger tells the tale of Crono, the unspoken hero who meets Marle, the spunky, tomboy-ish princess at the Millennium Fair. After browsing through various attractions, he travels through time to rescue Marle after a scientific experiment goes awry. As one might expect, he is soon thrust on an epic quest to save the world and rewrite history along the way. Crono teams up with many allies: Lucca, a childhood inventor friend, Frog, a silent but noble swordsman, Ayla, a brash tribal leader, Magus, an optional ally who is an enigmatic figure, and Robo, a machine from the distant future. Each character is equipped with unique abilities and tech skills used effectively to destroy wave of enemies and large bosses.

The game utilizes the Active Time Battle system. From the start, you can select either an Active system (enemies are free to roam and attack during your turn) or the Wait system (enemies are frozen giving you ample time to choose your attacks). Most enemies are visible on screen (with exception to those hiding or waiting for an ambush) with no random battles. A new dual screen mode is featured in Chrono Trigger DS that clears the screen of menu clutter from the original game. Attacks and tech abilities can be selected by using either the stylus with touch functionality or the standard DS controls. Rather than holding down A or B, Crono runs by default instead of walking. In the DS mode, enemies are segregated by text boxes on the lower screen that are roughly divided to show their name and relative positions. Though the DS stylus control scheme is appreciated, most will end up sticking to the tried and true control scheme.

New features in Chrono Trigger DS include an extra ending, a monster training arena, and the inclusion of two brand new areas: Lost Sanctum and the Dimensional Vortex. The Lost Sanctum, found in two separate time periods, is a rather mediocre addition that fails to add anything valuable to the overall storyline of Crono’s journey through time With respect to the Vortex, it offers a satisfying dungeon romp filled with monsters, new items and new spoilers that fills the gap for a few mysteries from the original SNES game. Accessible at the End of Time warp gate is the Arena of the Ages, known otherwise as the monster training area. You can send your monster to battle against NPC foes in a Prize match or online with a friend via a Wi-Fi connection in an Inter-dimensional battle. Prizes are awarded for victories that vary depending on the entrance fee paid before battles in the pit begin. Conversely, you can train your monster by giving it an item and sending it to a specific era on its own. Once that is done, you can return to it at a later time to check its boosted stats.

On the visual front, the game sports familiar environments, sprites and special effects from the SNES original with cut scenes ported from the PSX version. Chrono Trigger DS doesn’t push the DS to its graphical limits but is still acceptable nonetheless. The dialog has been revised for the more modern gamer; thus replacing parts of the original script. More than a decade after its release, famed composer Yasunori Mitsuda was re-enlisted by Square to manage and oversee the game’s soundtrack prior to its release. With credits attributed to Nobuo Uematsu as well, the music still sounds as epic and inspiring as it did from its original heyday.

The biggest disappointment comes from the lack of multiplayer co-op. Training your monsters in the Arena of the Ages and Wi-fi battles with your friends is largely a forgettable ordeal. The Dimensional Vortex and new areas to explore are a nice addition but they’re nothing special compared to existing worlds found within the game. However, Chrono Trigger is still an RPG masterpiece that should be enjoyed by hardcore and casual role-playing fans worldwide.

According to Gamasutra Square Enix has plans to open a US studio based in Los Angeles for the purposes of creating an action game based on an original IP (assumedly for the 360 based upon the job descriptions.) It should be interesting to see how this pans out in the end. Square Enix, original IP, and action game aren't usually phrases that you see lumped together. I'm personally just excited to see what sort of art direction we can expect to see from this new studio. I'm going to be really disappointed if it's full of man-tough space marines rather than my beloved effeminate Gackt copies. In the end, I'm just glad to have had a chance to use this image.

Sqaure Enix President Yoichi Wada dropped a bombshell at the end of Microsoft's press conference today, as he revealed that Final Fantasy XIII is no long exclusive to the PS3 and will be available for the Xbox 360 on release day.

This is huge news for Sony, as one could now argue that they have to show at least one huge game at their conference tommorow to show that they have quality exclusives in the pipeline for the PS3. There's no doubt that they'll be facing pressure to show that the PS3 can compete with the 360's lineup of exclusives, which includes Fable 2 and Gears of War 2.

Stay tuned, we'll keep you updated with all the big announcements.

Square Enix has officially announced that Chrono Trigger is coming to the DS. The game will feature an "all new dual-screen presentation and touch screen functionality" in addition to the inclusion of a new dungeon. Chrono Trigger for the DS is set for release this holiday season.

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The plot of course remains centered on the Dark Knight Cecil and his questioning of authority and the whirlwind of events that follow. Square Enix has promised however that all new scenes will be added to the story that were written out for its original release but were either technically or logistically unfeasible at the time. Early screens have shown that the game looks to improve over FFIII's exploitation of the DS hardware, as more characters can be displayed on the 3D battlefields. The original version's battles, as mentioned previously, loaded quickly and were over quickly - FFIII DS suffered slight load times that were made all the worse due to the high encounter rate. Whether FFIV will suffer the same remains to be seen. Another addition is that characters are now able to use skills inherited from other characters, the details on which are still scarce.

This of course isn't the first time FFIV will see release on another console. Subsequent re-releases on the PS1, Wonderswan (a Japanese-only handheld), and Game Boy Advance have seen minor additions to the game. But never before has the game been completely remade, so the hope for new content built from the ground up is there. The original game is short but some standards - an experienced player can breeze through the quest in about 10 hours. Let me repeat - experienced, on the original US version's toned down difficulty. Someone playing the game for the first time should see more than 20 hours from the game, which is a solid length for its now portable status.

Final Fantasy IV sees its DS release on December 20 in Japan. There is still no word on a release to the West; however, that gamble is about as safe as betting that Cecil will have to come to terms with himself and save the world from a villain that pops up for the first time in the story's latter act. In other words, yeah, it'll happen.

SpongeBob SquarePants. Kids love him, potheads love him, and punky teenagers who try to identify themselves with pop-cultural iconic oddities love him; everybody else is pretty much sick of him at this point, and the same applies to this game.

SpongeBob SquarePants: The Yellow Avenger is a cute little portable title, available both on the DS and the PSP. In it, the resident crime fighters, Mermaidman and Barnacleboy, have grown too old to keep fighting underwater crime, and abandon the mantle. This happens, inconveniently enough, just as a villain named Dirty Bubble arrives.

Apparently the source of Mermaidman’s powers, his belt, is picked up by SpongeBob who dons it and becomes the Yellow Avenger to fight off the wave of kid-friendly badness that has infested Bikini Bottom.

The game, once under your control after all that exposition, plays as a pretty simple platformer. You (SpongeBob) are given various tasks to perform, and can roam all over a larger overworld and enter individual areas to accomplish them. An average task is to the tune of "Go here and find this." Along the way, you'll come across friends and neighbors who have been taken over by bubbles, and you have to jump on them once to knock them out, and then press another button to suck the bubble up. Combine this with some platform hopping and timing puzzles, and you've got this game in a nutshell.

On the PSP, the game does look quite nice. The presentation is very colorful and kid-friendly, and the graphics use a cel-shaded design that brings the cartoon to three dimensions fairly well. While there's no voiceovers, the soundtrack is much like what I expect the show's would be.

As I touched on earlier, this game is very simple – not exactly in the sense of difficulty, but in the fact that there's really not a lot to do. The game's obvious target is young children, and for them this game might be perfect, but for perhaps the discerning teens and adults among us who just might want to play a good SpongeBob game, they will find this title lacking.

The lack of complexity or depth to the game makes it very repetitive, even to the point of tedium after a while. Perhaps some mini-games or fully animated clips from the show would have livened up the experience a bit.

There are really no specific flaws beyond the simplicity of it, save the fact that there is quite a bit of reading to do as there are no voiceovers in the game. Considering the abilities of the PSP, having voiceovers in the game would be an easy and obvious addition that would have increased the entertainment value of the game several times over; but it probably just wasn't cost feasible to bring in the show's actors to do the lines, and the game suffers for it (especially considering this game should appeal only to young children who would rather hear their favorite characters than read them).

As this game is based on a children's cartoon show, the fact that the game would be a nightmare for anybody but the very youngest of children shouldn't be surprising. However, SpongeBob has a very odd appeal among select groups of adults, who might pick up this game looking for some entertainment and would come up empty-handed – unless they're just humongous SpongeBob freaks.

Beyond that, the repetition and lack of voiceovers or full animation might even turn off the young'ns, so this game would be most ideal for children so young that they don't play games for their quality but for their content.

It's a bit repetitive and menial,

Graphics are quite engaging and fun, but the cutscenes are frame-by-frame, no full animation.

The music is good, though the lack of voiceover is tragic.

The fun really only lies in the jovial simplicity of it.

Once is repetitive enough.

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