Square Enix confirms new Final Fantasy VII spin-off for PSP

Now that the details of Sony and Nintendo’s handhelds have been officially unveiled, there’s a new emphasis on the machines’ respective software and the third party publishers behind them. In terms of impacting the Japanese market, Square Enix is of central importance, with its proven track record for creating quality RPGs, and most importantly, its Final Fantasy franchise.

The Nintendo DS has already got two confirmed Final Fantasy games in the offing: Crystal Chronicles 2 and a remake of Final Fantasy III, and many had thought this would give the DS some sort of advantage in Japan. The Advent Children movie had been confirmed for the PSP-angled UMD format, as well as DVD, some time ago; but beyond that, the PSP had seemed to be sorely lacking in the FF department.

But today, with the opening of Square Enix’s new webpage for its ‘Final Fantasy VII compilation’, comes news that the PSP will be getting its own new FF title. Called Final Fantasy VII Crisis Core, it’s difficult to interpret how that might relate to the original FF VII, but as an ‘action RPG’ it should be something completely fresh (apart from its kinship to an existing game, obviously).

Alongside this FFVII spin-off, Square Enix also outlined its other FFVII related projects. There’s FFVII Before Crisis, intended for mobile phones; FFVII Dirge of Cerberus for PS2 and, of course, the aforementioned Advent Children movie. Including the original, that makes 5 FFVII related things. Trying to chronicle the history of this seminal series has suddenly become even more convoluted than it already was.

It’s clearly great new of fans of FFVII, and massive overkill for the apathetic, but the addition of Crisis Core to the PSP roster is sure to work in Sony’s favour. We'll update you as soon as we know more solid details.