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Next spring is starting to feel so far away, especially since we've seen so much media on Ring of Fates already. It's starting to feel as though we can cobble everything together and just pretend we have the full game ... and we're not sure if that makes the waiting easier or harder. But we'll take what we can get and pretend to be happy. Just ignore our twiddling thumbs.

Famitsu has a new set of screenshots up, complete with a few details on the battle system -- racial factors contributing to attacks -- and all we can say is that it's a good thing we've got another Square Enix RPG coming to tide us over.

[Via 4cr]

Square Enix spent the morning revealing its lineup of "fresh new faces and timeless classics" that the company plans to exhibit this week at E3, attaching US release dates to its upcoming titles:

• Heroes of Mana - August 14
• Front Mission - October 23
• Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker - November 6
• Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings - November 20
• Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates - Spring 2008

We're jumping on our beds with glee over the fact that we'll be receiving Front Mission so early after the localization was announced, but several disappointing details failed to escape our attention -- Final Fantasy Tactics A2: The Sealed Grimoire, It's a Wonderful World, FFIV DS, and Dragon Quest IX's absence; and Ring of Fates' distant date. The multiplayer ARPG and its DS Lite bundle are scheduled to hit Japan this August 23rd.

[Via NeoGAF]

As with every Square Enix title that comes out on the Nintendo DS, the upcoming Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles: Rings of Fate has a limited edition DS Lite bundle coming for ¥21,840 (approximately US $177), according to Famitsu. The bundle comes with the above DS Lite and game.

Like Revenant Wings and Final Fantasy III before it, the bundle and console are sold in Japan only. By merit of having all games be region-free, these bundles are at least import-friendly if you want to continue playing games in languages you understand.

[Via Siliconera]

Another Square Enix game, another special-edition DS Lite. SE seems to have set up a template for these: logo on the left, line art on the right, money in the bank.

This time, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates gets the special-edition treatment on a Crystal White DS Lite. For Japan, obviously. We like the pseudo-stained-glass look, which can be found in full color on the box. This new DS variant is great news for people who were holding out on a DS purchase until the Japanese Ring of Fates came out. It's probably a little irritating for Square Enix fans who already have a plain DS.

We've been clamoring for a proper follow-up to the Seiken Densetsu series for over a decade now, and by the looks of the Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates videos we've seen so far, we might finally be getting one. The first Crystal Chronicles entry on the GameCube was by no means disappointing, at least in our opinion, but hardware and link cable requirements made getting a group together much harder than we would've liked. Its handheld sequel seems free of those problems without losing that multiplayer ARPG's cooperative fun.

Square Enix's latest Ring of Fates clip demonstrates the teamwork involved in getting through the game's dungeon puzzles. Carrying around a huge block of wood can be difficult if someone isn't knocking back the enemies coming at you! Bring your crew past the post break for the short movie.

What did we do to deserve all this recent news on Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates? Whatever it was, we should do it again ... a lot ... and with pretty much every other game ever. Square Enix has not been at all shy lately when it comes to Ring of Fates, and we're getting more and more interested in the story of fraternal twins Yuri and Cherinka. Now we're just hoping we can wrestle people into playing with us.

The latest Famitsu was packed with Ring of Fates tidbits -- see for yourself after the jump!

Square Enix may be a little stingy with that other Crystal Chronicles, but they make up for it with all kinds of updates on the DS game Ring of Fates. These newest screens go quite well with the action-packed trailer that was released earlier this week. We've dropped them into the gallery below and hope to add more soon!

We know not everyone is pleased with Square Enix lately. While a lot of DS owners are squealing in delight over all of the games headed to the handheld, some of you are a little grumbly about remakes. We know that sometimes SE can go a little overboard, but look at it this way -- they're also loading up on the original content. And when the landscape is packed with great games, we, the gamers, can only win.

After weeks of teasing us with screen captures from its Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers trailer, Square Enix made the 55-second video public early this morning. Though a third of it is taken up by an animated, spinning crystal, the movie still manages to pack in plenty of airship shots, city scenes, and even a tender, tearful moment with the RPG's blonde-haired protagonist. Jump past the post break for the clip and some skydiving action.

[Update 1: We mixed up our Ring of Fates with our Crystal Bearers, citing this trailer as belonging to The Ring Bearers. How embarassing.]

If previous Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates clips have left you wanting, look no further than the multiplayer ARPG's latest trailer from last week's Square Enix party. The four-minute video has everything you could ever ask for -- story cutscenes, cooperative puzzles, touchscreen elements, topless Selkies, hectic combat, boss fights, peanut butter jelly, and a baseball bat. Carry your bucket past the post break for the movie, but don't expect to get much use out of it.

Square Enix have been tantalising us with a slow drip of info regarding Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Crystal Bearers for a little while now. We've managed to decipher some of the recent interview with Akitoshi Kawazu, the game's executive producer and Toshiyuki Itahana, the director.

The game starts with the hero arriving to sort out an aircraft accident. But was it an accident? That's where you come in. You'll need to find out what happened, and who was responsible. Rather than featuring a character who progresses and develops through the course of the game, Crystal Bearers' protagonist will start the game as a powerful hero. Instead of focussing on developing your powers, the focus will be on how you solve individual problems. The idea is to enjoy the hero's triumphs through the story, rather than building up to one climatic victory.

You'll have a range of abilities and weapons from the very start. Few specific details on abilities are given, but they do mention that the glow emanating from the hero's hand, whatever it is, will be available to players from the word go. There is also speculation on the internet that summoning will play a role, as a Bahamut-like dragon is visible in the teaser video.

The emphasis seems very much on accessibility and fun. The controls will be simple, possibly adapting from scene to scene. You'll be able to move fluidly, and naturally, both the nunchuck and Wiimote will be involved in proceedings. There might be less of an emphasis on cut scenes, apparently it's no fun watching the plot unfold when you aren't taking part. They want you to play by controlling things.

We're also promised big enemies as well as big bosses, who will be able to match the fluidity of your own movements. They hoped Square Enix party attendees would be able to play the game, but couldn't get this sorted out. Apparently the footage shown at the party was in-game. Hopefully that means the release date isn't that far away.

That's all we've got to go on for now, but watch this space; there'll surely be more from Square Enix over the coming weeks.

Well, 66% new, at least -- but that's more than we had a mere week ago. The good folks at Square Enix seem to make us want to suffer. They're teasing us with glimpses of this strange new Final Fantasy, the game that's not quite in keeping with the franchise's glorious RPG tradition. But exactly what do they have in store for us? At this rate, we'll find out sometime in late 2010.

Just let go, guys. Give us the Crystal Bearers trailer and let us see it in action. That one teaser just wasn't enough!

It's been a while since we've seen anything from Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Crystal Bearers, but this single image popped up this week in the Japanese media in the aftermath of the Square Enix Party, and it's got us dying for more. Alas, even in recent interviews, they're not saying much about this action-oriented RPG .... Thank goodness we have all kinds of Final Fantasy fun to look forward to on the DS as well, or we'd be burning with anticipation.

[Thanks for all the e-mails on this one!]

The DS sequel to Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, entitled Rings of Fate, has been given a release date of August 23 for Japan. The announcement was made by the game's director Toshiyuki Itahana at the Square Enix pre-conference event today, IGN reports.

Itahana said that he and his team wanted to get the game perfected before its release and will use the time between now and then to get close to that point. IGN reports that the game's engine, as shown in the demonstration today, is not currently up to par with that of the Final Fantasy III remake and that there are some framerate issues.

No release date has been given for the US version.

And with it comes the juicy details. RPG site has some translated information from the scan, and we've scavenged the best bits here for you:

• The director of the game is Mitsuru Kamiyama, a coder for the original Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles (nice promotion!), and Toshiyuki Itahana, character designer for FFIX, will be reprising that role for this game.
  
• Single player mode requires the player to swap between characters ala Lego Star Wars. We just hope it's less buggy.
• Ring of Fates will feature some voice acting, but will not have a fully voiced script.
  

Check out the new scan after the jump!