Y’all… So school and work got busy, right? And while I’m drowning in life, Square Enix and Nintendo (and everyone, else it seems) were lighting it up! So many exciting things are being announced, and I couldn’t even post about it all because there was so much going on. But I decided to compile it all into one big post! I’m going to cover stuff from Square Enix, Nintendo, and a couple other things that I’m personally excited about. Check it out!

Square Enix –

Kingdom Hearts: Dark Road Ends

Kingdom Hearts: Dark Road ended on August 26th. It ended up that many people’s progress was erased from the game after it updated, which meant we had to start over. Unfortunately, I don’t have time for that (and I HAD to know what the end was like), so I just waited for the cutscenes to be uploaded. Thank you to Everglow for always uploading the Union X and Dark Road cutscenes, that was mainly how I watched them! Go check them out!

Anyway, it took me a long time to get through the cutscenes, but when I did… I honestly felt like I was hoodwinked with that plot twist! There was a lot going on there at the end. I always knew one of the characters was Luxu, and we got to figure out which character it was. We saw the beginning of Xehanort’s fall into darkness. And then the part that hoodwinked me; the fact that Xehanort isn’t who we thought he was.

Ever since the end of Union X last year, everyone was under the impression that Xehanort was a reincarnation of Player (your avatar from Union X). But that is not so! Dark Road revealed Xehanort is actually a descendant of Ephemer. This is surprising, too, but after going a year thinking that Xehanort was a reincarnation of my avatar, I was a little confused. But heck, who isn’t confused after watching the end of a Kingdom Hearts game? From what I understand, it is actually the Old Man, the one who raised Xehanort, who is your avatar.

While I was never impressed with Dark Road as a game, I did enjoy the ending a lot and I’m looking forward to the future of the series.

Crises Core Gets A Release Date

I didn’t realize there was a Nintendo Direct until a while after it had happened, but I did see many of the trailers that were released during it. A new Crises Core trailer was one of them! Check it out!

I was so happy to see the release date was in December! I’ll be preordering this game as soon as possible, even though this game is one of the most soul-crushing games I’ve ever played, haha! I’m so glad they finally moved it to a platform other than the PSP, but I know it’s not a coincidence that they do this now. With Zack returning to Final Fantasy 7, this game is a must-play for fans who may not know Zack and his story.

Final Fantasy: THEATRHYTHM FINAL BAR LINE Reveal

Not gonna lie, this trailer made me get a little emotional, haha! Don’t ask why! This was another game announced during the Nintendo Direct last month. Watch the trailer!

I’ve been waiting for a game like this for a long time, and it’s finally coming! I was so happy to see all the nostalgic FF music I love. And y’all, the fact that the DLC includes Chrono Trigger music MAKES this for me, because that’s one of my favorite video games of all time. They have so many songs smashed into one game, and I can’t wait to get my hands on it!

Dragon Quest Treasures

I’ve been waiting for this game for a LONG TIME. Finally, it’s releasing in December alongside Crises Core: Reunion! Check out the trailer:

This is a little spin-off game from the world of Dragon Quest 11 featuring Erik and his sister when they were kids. It looks like such a fun game! I love the design of the world, and the gameplay looks great! I’m interested in seeing if there are any cameos of other characters from DQ11, because I LOVE cameos. We’ll have to wait and see!

Octopath Traveler II

I haven’t quite finished the first Octopath Traveler game yet, but when I saw the trailer of the second one, I was blown away. This game looks GORGEOUS! I’ve been fascinated by the look of these games since I first set eyes on the original game, and I feel like this one took it up a couple notches. Check it out!

See what I mean? It looks like a little pop-up book, and I love it! I’m super excited to see what kind of stories are in this one. I’m particularly interested in the wild west looking part of it, because the design is AMAZING. This can’t come out soon enough!

Forspoken Gets Delayed…Again

A looooong time ago they released a teaser trailer to showcase the abilities of Unreal Engine 5. However, they never revealed what the game was until month later. It was delayed to release on October 11th ( my birthday, haha!), but it was delayed once again so that it will not release until January 24th, 2023. I actually didn’t find this out until today, but it explains why I didn’t see a thing about it on the 11th (I thought it was still releasing that day). I don’t know what’s been up with Square Enix, but things have been interesting. First, they started announcing all these new games and stuff. Then, Forspoken got delayed, and apparently Final Fantasy: Ever Crises just fell off the face of the Earth (it was supposed to release in September, but no one’s said a word about it), then…

Final Fantasy: The First Soldier Shutting Down

…this happened. I found this out last night, and I’m kind of baffled as to why this is happening. Not even a year old, The First Soldier has been a popular game, one that even I enjoyed. So, I’m not entirely sure why Square Enix is shutting it down. I’m guessing it has something to do with financial problems, but oh well. The game will be shutting down officially on January 11th, 2023. Square Enix has said they will continue to put out updates and new stuff until that time, so enjoy it while you still can.

Kingdom Hearts Anime Revealed At Long Last

This is probably one of the strangest things that have happened so far (besides, you know, Square Enix randomly shutting down The First Soldier). To make a long story short, almost twenty years ago Disney’s animators were working on a Kingdom Hearts anime. The pilot got made, but it never went past the animatic phase. A couple months or so ago the animator who had worked on the show, Seth Kearsley, revealed that we might be seeing the animatic soon. Of course, the fandom freaked out. Time passes by, and no one really hears anything. Until, all of a sudden, it dropped on his YouTube last Tuesday evening (happy birthday to me, haha!). I watched the majority of it, and even though it is almost twenty years old and incomplete, I was impressed. The voice actors had really outdone themselves, and I enjoyed the plot. I totally think they should have kept it up, but we’ll have to see what happens now that the fandom knows what could have been…

Nintendo –

Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

I literally didn’t hear anything about this for a bit since I missed the Nintendo Direct, but I can’t tell you how excited I am for this! Watch the beautiful trailer below!

AHHH! I really didn’t think we would be getting a release date either, since a while back they said it would have to be delayed. Honestly, I think it’ll be delayed again like Breath of the Wild was, but I’m still hoping for the best! And just for clarification, this is the sequel to Breath of the Wild. I can’t wait to play this!

Fire Emblem: Engage

The last thing I was expecting to happen at the Nintendo Direct was another Fire Emblem game announcement, but here is it! Check out the trailer!

It’s definitely got the usual Fire Emblem style! I’m pretty happy to see Marth (I’m assuming that’s Marth) again! I don’t know much about the plotline, but from what I can tell, it’s going to be the main character sleeping for a long time and losing their memory, which is typical. However, I’m excited to see what this one is like!

Netflix –

Shadow and Bone Season 2

A couple weeks ago, Netflix had their Tudum event. I watched most of it, but there was really only two things I was interested in, one of which being Shadow and Bone season 2. They revealed the costumes for three characters coming into the show, which I thought were very accurate to the books. You can see the trailer below!

It is short, but awesome! I admit I haven’t finished the first season yet, but I was happy to see the Crows in this trailer. Honestly, the Crows are the biggest reason I watch this show since I’m not that big of a fan of the Shadow and Bone books or characters. Not to say they aren’t good; I just like the Crows better!

Manifest Season 4

Last but certainly not least, the second things I was interested in at Netflix’s Tudum; my favorite TV show! I got into this show last year literally right after Netflix revealed they would be picking it back up after NBC cancelled it. I was right on time! Finally, we will be getting the first ten episodes of the final season on November 4th. Check it out!

It looks pretty crazy! I’m really not sure what to expect from this season, but I just want some answers! I’m currently going back and re-watching the series so I’m ready for it. I’m preparing myself for the worst, because I have a feeling not everyone is going to survive- especially since the finale of season 3 showed us that anyone could be next.

There’s a lot going on, so much so that I can’t include them all in this post because it would get extremally long! I’m looking forward to a lot of these things, but kind of bummed about a couple reveals, such as The First Soldier being shut down. Anyway, let me know how y’all feel about these announcements! Which one are you most excited for? Start a conversation in the comments below!

As always, God bless y’all and have a wonderful week!

Media property of Square Enix, Nintendo, and Netflix.