Possible teaser websites for two popular Square Enix franchises appear

A few days ago some new teasers from Square Enix went live on the web. Speculations are running wild about then, but it's pretty safe to assume we can be sure of what they are.

Could this be a tease for the finale of the "Lightning saga.

The first being a screen shot on Square Enix's Facebook wall that shows stormy clouds and the words "A Storm Gathers." This could be a possible teaser for "Final Fantasy XIII-3" seeing as we were left with a cliffhanger in "XIII-2." The font is very in tune with the kind of text you'd see in "Final Fantasy XIII."

Square Enix is also holding a conference in Tokyo Sept. 1 in regards to "Final Fantasy's" 25th anniversary and has stated that members of "FF:XIII's" development team will hold a conference about whats next in what it referred to as the Lightning saga (named after the games' protagonist). For more about this, we'll just have to wait until Sept. 1, but that's not too far away.

The other piece of teasing goodness is the new website http://www.square-enix.co.jp/subaseka/, which displays a timer with (at the time of this article post) has roughly three days until zero. Other than the timer, the only things shown are a silhouette of a city skyline line and credits given to Tetsuya Nomura and Gen Kobayashi.

This screen captures the same stylistic feel of "The World Ends With You."

The font on the timer is very similar to "The World Ends With You's" font style, and the buildings in the background are very reminiscent in the style of art used in the game's box art. Tetsuya Nomura and Gen Kobayashi were also the artists on "The World Ends With You," so that can be a huge hint.

The dead give away is when you visit the site background music starts to play.

 The music playing is very similar to the main theme of "TWEWY," "Twister." A trick that people have been talking about is that when you move the date on your computer closer to the date the song changes to a remixed version of "Twister" and "Calling," both of which were in the original "TWEWY" game. At the time of this article being posted the song is "Calling." The date scheduled for the timer to end is Monday, Aug. 27, so check back with us then to see what this turns out to be.

Kingdom Hearts 3DS: Dream Drop Distance review

Calling all Keyblade wielders!

It's time to take up arms and dive into the latest iteration of the "Kingdom Hearts" franchise. "Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance" on the Nintendo 3DS continues the story of Sora and friends dealing with darkness in the worlds of Disney.



While the game is a continuation of what happens after "Kingdom Hearts 2", it is in no way the all-elusive, reportedly non-existent "Kingdom Hearts 3." It's more of a set-up to what will happen in "KH3."

This time, Sora and Riku are given the task of passing the Mark of Mastery and opening the seven keyholes of the slumbering worlds. All the while, a mysterious boy is causing havoc throughout the worlds, making Sora and Riku's test that much harder.

As simple as it all sounds, the inner workings of the story can make you scratch your head at times, but it's nothing a 2nd playthrough can't fix.

To help tell the story of both characters, the game incorporates the Drop system. After playing with a character for a while, the bar next to the HP bar will begin to empty. After it does, Sora or Riku (whichever character you are currently playing as) will fall asleep and the story will switch over to the perspective of the other character.

At first it can be a bit frustrating, but it becomes easier to handle as time moves on. The only big annoyance is when you're facing a boss and your Drop meter runs out making you leave the battle and focus on something else. Luckily you can force Drop at any time to go back to that boss fight and you can use the Drop-Me-Not item to prolong your play time as Sora or Riku. This is an intriguing way of going about the story, making sure that no character's story is neglected and it does a great job of it.

Players can link with Dream Eaters to boost attacks

If you've played any "Kingdom Hearts" games in the past, chances are that you'll be very familiar with the combat system this time around, and this is where the "Kingdom Hearts" series comes to shine.

With every new installment in the franchise new elements are added, but the basic concept of combat is kept the same. In "KH3D," You still have the same free-flow-esque type of combat that the series is known for while also bringing back the attack commands that "Birth By Sleep" brought to the table.

This time around, Flowmotion is the big star of the combat. Using the X button, players can send Sora and Riku flying through the levels, spinning on poles, jumping off of walls and leaping tall buildings in a single bound. This also adds to combat, and with that a new level of strategy and excitement.

Veering off a building, bouncing off a wall and then dash-attacking into an enemy makes you kind of a badass.

Another aspect new to the franchise is the story. Since it takes place within Sora and Riku's dreams, Donald and Goofy can't be part of your party, but in their place come the Dream Eaters. Sort of like Pokemon, players fight with these creatures by their side. Each Dream Eater has a different archetype - some heal and others attack with magic or physical attacks. Players gather items and synthesize new and more powerful Dream Eaters.

With the Dream Eaters, your characters can also grow stronger. Leveling them up unlocks new commands and stat attributes and abilities to help strengthen your characters, adding more to the level of depth. All in all, the gameplay aspect is solid and very fun, and will definitely bring you back for more if the story doesn't already.

Sora vs. Rinzler

Now, a big part of a "Kingdom Heart" game is the worlds and characters you meet along the journey. This time around, we're treated to worlds like The Grid from "Tron: Legacy" and The Symphony of Sorcery from "Fantasia" and their respective characters. So, Sora & Riku will meet the likes of Sam Flynn, Quasimodo, Esmeralda and many others.

The worlds and characters are represented well here and add to the experience. One group of characters to make exceptional note of is in Traverse Town. Riku & Sora meet the gang from The DS title "The World Ends With You." Neku, Rhyme, Shiki, Beat and Joshua are brought back to the spotlight with fully voiced monologues. After only being able to read their thoughts in their original game, it was great to hear the conviction they carry in their lines.

While the story may be a bit hard to understand and there may be some platforming issues here and there, the game is a note-worthy addition to a franchise fans have come to love. The game does a good job of adding to the rich story and set up for the final battle and the real "Kingdom Hearts 3." You know, if that ever comes out!

"Kingdom Hearts 3DS: Dream Drop Distance" gets an eight out of ten from me.

Now we play the waiting game for the next one to come out....

Despite rumor, Final Fantasy Versus XIII still in development

A couple of days ago, Kotaku had reported that the long-in-development "Final Fantasy Versus XIII" had been cancelled and that Square Enix had not made it public so it would not make their stock prices drop.

Well, all the fanboys and fangirls can breathe a sigh of relief because t turns out that the rumor is just that - a rumor.

"Theres someone making a false rumor that Versus was cancelled, Haha....Just a minute ago the regular Versus meeting had ended. If you saw the presentation of the city, it'd knock you off your feet," Yoichi Wada, president of Sqare Enix, said on Twitter.

All this was based on a rumor from an anonymous tip. It was reported that Square Enix wanted the game to die out in a whisper and just fade away.

This sent an uproar in "FF" community because a lot of people wanted this game to come out, myself included. The trailers were amazing and the gameplay shown made it seem like this game could be an instant hit whenever it came out.

"Final Fantasy Versus XIII" was first announced at E3 in 2006, but after that it was rarely heard of. We're being kept in the dark about specifics of the story, but it from what we've seen and what Wada had said, it looks to be a good one.