GX Game - Anime - Manga - Movie - Music - Toys Portal: Final Fantasy Explorers - what to expect from the Monster Hunter-style action RPG!

Nintendo3DS™ [Action RPG]

Final Fantasy Explorers is an upcoming quest-driven action RPG with many elements similar to Final Fantasy Chronicles (GameCube) and the Monster Hunter franchise. The premise of the game is that the titular Explorers are hunting the world for crystals, the source of life and civilization, which are guarded by fearsome beasts and summons from the Final Fantasy franchise.

The title makes use of the classic Job system, familiar to nearly any RPG player, with these jobs currently confirmed: Beastmaster, Machinist, Dragoon, Dark Knight, Ninja, Paladin, Hunter, White Mage, and Time Mage.

Each job falls under the category of a tank, support, or damage dealing role but the way you play is mostly determined by how you customize your abilities. Abilities are something you earn and upgrade in this game and are linked to job versitility - so don't expect to get them all at once!

Players don't choose their job immediately, in the beginning your character will be a 'Freelancer' who will be able to collect materials and create gear, but won't be specialized in any one thing.

The 'Trance' system will bring the power of past Final Fantasy characters, called 'Legend Characters', into your battles by temporarily transforming into one of the iconic characters while simultaneously gaining the ability to use special attacks without consuming AP. Some of the already revealed Legend Characters are: Cloud, Yuna, Lightning, Tidus, Bartz.

The use of Trance will also allow you to use the power of your Summoned Beasts. Beasts are added to your team by collecting 'Spirit Stones' which are occasionally dropped upon death. Once you've collected your Spirit Stones, journey to the Monster Laboratory located in Libertus to create new monsters as well as level them up.

There will be no real appearance customization, instead your worn equipment will be visible. Players disappointed by this news need not worry too much as you can still add some flair with 500 different equipment pieces to choose from, including famous weapons and armor pieces from the Final Fantasy franchise. Material collection and equipment creation is core to hunting games, and will surely play a large role in Explorers' progression.

Final Fantasy Explorers will have both singleplayer and multiplayer modes, where the multiplayer will be up to 4 player co-op with both online and local capabilities. Communication between players will be possible through the use of preset text phrases.

As one of the first games to utilize the extra buttons on the New Nintendo 3DS players will be able to control the camera using the C-stick while the ZL button is for monster lock-on and the ZR button is for summon monster lock-on.