Announcing Square Enix’s Winter of RPGs Campaign

Hello everyone! You may remember me from such PlayStation.Blog articles as “Chrono Trigger Hits PSN This Tuesday.” I haven’t finished playing through it yet, but I’m back! Why, you ask, would I stop playing this classic game to write another blog post?

The answer: I’m here to announce Square Enix’s “Winter of RPGs” campaign. In some parts of North America, winter seems to have gotten an early head start. And while that brings a lot of headaches for those who have to contend with ice and snow, it’s also a perfect time for us to announce our latest group of titles coming to PSN. So, while you’re staying inside and out of the cold, icky weather, why not fire up your PS3 and play some classic RPGs? We’ve got some great games lined up to get you through the cold days ahead.

So what’s up first? Some of you may have noticed my responses to reader comments in my last column. And even last week, readers of “The Drop” were asking when we’d see this particular title arrive. Well, get ready to travel not through time, but through alternate realities when Chrono Cross releases. Join Serge as he finds himself in a world where he died as a young child, meets the enigmatic thief Kid, and goes on a quest for the artifact known as the Frozen Flame! The sequel to Chrono Trigger, Chrono Cross delivers on some great gameplay and fantastic story, which is probably the reason why the game is so highly rated. It won lots of awards when it was released, including Gamespot’s Game of the Year in 2000. Don’t believe me? Google it. I’ll wait.

Chrono Cross will release on November 8th—just five days from now. You have been warned.

But, you know, we can’t really call it the “Winter of RPGs” if we just announce one title—even if it is one as great as Chrono Cross. The second title in our “Winter of RPGs” lineup begins with a meteor and some crystals. It also expanded on the incredible job system and introduced us to the Time Mage, Blue Mage, Berserker, and Dancer jobs, to name a few. That’s right—it’s Final Fantasy V! Our main character is Bartz, whom many of you will probably know from his appearances in Dissidia Final Fantasy and Dissidia 012[duodecim] Final Fantasy. In Final Fantasy V, you take on the role of Bartz and help defend the Crystals that keep the evil sorcerer Exdeath imprisoned.

Final Fantasy V will be released on November 22, just in time for you to save the world over Thanksgiving!

We’ve got one more title to announce, and it’s a big one. This one made it all to #9 on IGN’s top 100 games of all time back in 2007. And in 2009, Game Informer went one better and named it #8, while G4TV named it #1 in their “Top 5 Must-Own RPGs.” Have you guessed what it is yet?

It features a crazy clown mage who is truly evil and the young female half-Esper who winds up opposing him. Welcome Kefka and Terra to the PlayStation Network just in time for the holidays!

Final Fantasy VI will be released on December 6th.

That’s all for now—Chrono Cross, Final Fantasy V, and Final Fantasy VI. To horribly misquote Shakespeare, “Now is the winter of our RPGs.”