One RPG that some 3DS fans will hope to keep in the limelight is Final Fantasy Explorers, a twist on the franchise that prioritises co-op adventuring. It's heading to North America on 26th January and is sure to be on plenty of wishlists.
It featured in the North American Nintendo Direct, and Square Enix has now issued finalised details of the Collector's Edition that will be available. First of all you can see an image of it below.

The breakdown of its contents is as follows:
- 32-page artbook featuring illustrations by renowned artists Yoshitaka Amano, Gen Kobayashi and Toshiyuki Itahana
- "Songs for the Journey," a 20-track music soundtrack sampler comprised of tracks by celebrated Composer Tsuyoshi Sekito
- Themed FINAL FANTASY EXPLORERS Nintendo 3DS hard case
- Exclusive box packaging, featuring the artwork of series concept artist Amano
- Codes for exclusive weapons, these include Venus Gospel from FINAL FANTASY VII, Death Penalty from DIRGE of CERBERUS®: FINAL FANTASY VII, Crimson Blitz from LIGHTNING RETURNS: FINAL FANTASY XIII, and Thyrus from FINAL FANTASY XIV.
This edition is only available to pre-order on the official Square Enix store and costs $69.99; the standard game is $39.99.
It's also been confirmed that all of the DLC released for the game in Japan will come out for free in North America.
Are you in North America and planning to pick this up early next year?
Comments 51
2016 is gonna be the exact opposite of 2015 for me, at least when it comes to the 3DS. This year I got a grand total of one retail release for the console (two with Yokai Watch, which I'll probably get in the next few weeks). Next year, there's already Dragon Quest VII & VIII, Fire Emblem, Final Fantasy Explorers, Mega Man Legacy, and Bravely Second. And those are only the must-have, day-one buys.
Looks very good.
I wouldn't mind getting this but I don't think I can face online co-op on 3DS after witnessing how annoying it can be in Tri Force Heroes. I know that game's online features leave a lot to be desired and one drop out wouldn't mean the end in FF Explorers, but I get kicked out myself so often due to connection errors I doubt I'll get far.
Amano in the art book and a 20 song Sekito soundtrack? I'd drop 30$ right there, so I'll be picking this up and trading the game in to EB Games (considering the date, I'll be putting that towards a ME: Catalyst or Uncharted 4 preorder).
I am interested in playing the game but i'm not sure I need this. I have a bunch of 3DS cases and I've never been one to listen to game soundtracks. $70 for something on the 3DS seems steep. I'll just buy the regular game version and save the other money for another great game. There are about 10 3DS games I am interested in for 2016. Sweet!
@ricklongo Exactly same here, to me this year was MH4U, Devil Survivor 2 and Yokai Watch, which is pretty bad! But next year! Bravely, Fire Emblem, Dragon Quest (2 fuc*ing titles), Project X Zone, and probably a Pokemon game...god 2016 marvelous as 2013
Thanks for the heads up! I just pre-ordered mine. I spent a bit of time looking around for other things to buy to qualify for free shipping, but it doesn't work on pre-orders, oh well. $9 for basic shipping it is.
definitely would love to get the special edition but it's $104 (with $34 shipping charge) which isn't worth it to me. I will just stick with the copy I pre-ordered because I have enough other stuff going on that month, what with Mario & Luigi coming out and a new baby on the way.
So Mario & Luigi Paper Jam, Final Fantasy Explorers, Project X Zone 2, Mega Man Legacy Collection, Fire Emblem Fates, Hyrule Warriors Legends, Bravely Second and Dragon Quest VII all in the 1st half of the year? With Dragon Quest VIII, Pokemon Z, and hopefully Rhythm Heaven and Picross 3D 2 later in the year? Oh god yes.
@ricklongo I bought 2 3DS games this year, if next weeks release counts. MH4 came out this year right?
@IceClimbers Yeah, Wii U had a few games in the ND, but 3DS had hours and hours of game play ahead. (Was even 1 of them a "new 3DS" game only?) I don't think NX is a 3DS replacement, but if it could play 3DS games on my TV I'll never need another console.
Anyway, I rechecked the eShop, and AC:aF says in bright blue letters - "Retail only" above the price info. Had I noticed that earlier today I would have known not at any price. I still think it's weird you can't, but if you can't, you can't.
Had to order this. It'll look nice with the Type 0 LE and the future FFXV and FF7 LE's
Like others have mentioned 2016 is going to be simply amazing for 3DS owners. I thought the 3DS' best years were behind it but 2016 proves that is far from the case! As for this game I absolutely love Monster Hunter so based on the prospect of 4-player online co-op alone this already looks right up my alley. A demo would be much appreciated in order to solidify my decision.
Considering Cloud will now get an amiibo due to his Smash debut, I hope this won't be the only game to benefit from it. Hopefully the Final Fantasy characters won't be reduced to (what the trailer implied to be) mere summons, making this more of a Dissidia Final Fantasy-esque game than the two Theatrhythm game ever were.
Translation: hopefully, the amiibo will give the tagline for the FF7 remake, "Play it first on PlayStation" a whole new meaning.
So can someone please explain, this is exclusively on the Square Enix store? It won't be at GameStop? If so I should probably pre order fast...
Was gonna get the special edition, but I dunno about the price...my wallet will be in to much pain during Q1 2016. :s
Special editions. Special editions everywhere.
@rjejr And how about all those release dates! Over and over. It was like someone saw your rants. Pretty solid overall, but no price cut on Wii U! Acknowledging a special Wii U bundle specifically for Black Friday is something new though, isn't it? So that's sometihng.
I don't know what to think about 3DS and NX. All these releases are great but watching all those 3DS game on regular screens just hurts. Good games on horrid screens. THe market has moved way on. Maybe this is dumping all the 3DS games to market before the transition starts.
I just feel like portables plus console = NX. It's all speculation, but I see them working closely together in every way and it would be weird to separate them for a year. If it is all jammed into a portable that is still a competitor to 3DS. If it's just a console... I just don't see that. Maybe.
It was also confirmed for Europe, if you'd bother to do your research.
If they'd announced it for PAL territories I'd have pre ordered that limited edition Oh well I guess I'll have to make do with all the other goodies that got announced for our region.
Special Edition is looking really good. Hope the game sells well we want more FF titles on Nintendo's systems.
I would like to see a bit more of the gameplay from the game. But from what I've seen from the Direct this seems to be a game for me. A Monsterhunter like co-op game with the final fantasy as theme, awesome!
The multiplayer for MH4U works brilliant with very few connection errors. For those who experience connectionproblems with Triforce heroes shouldn't stop considering this game, cuz online multiplayer on 3ds can be handeled very well.
@theBluntKnight Here you go champ, https://store.eu.square-enix.com/emea_uk/games/3ds/Final-Fantasy-Explorers-Collectors-Edition.php
Just as a heads up, standard edition is roughly £24 from ShopTo.net and Game.co.uk compared to £30 at some stores.
@aaronsullivan - "but no price cut on Wii U! Acknowledging a special Wii U bundle specifically for Black Friday is something new though, isn't it?"
I've been ragging on Reggie (I know, what else is new) all morning about that BF comment. To summarize my translations: "We think Wii U is a great value, but only if you can find a good deal on BF, otherwise buy something else." If you want people to buy it, just lower the price. And the problem w/ announcing BF deals is that all the other consoles will have BF deals as well, then your price won't look so good.
His "BF" moment was his "NX" moment from E3. Otherwise a good ND. If he only would have said "$279" instead of "Black Friday"...
I was happy about all the dates, but then again this was the first ND in 5 months, since E3, so they had to give out all the dates as most of them are within the next few weeks - AC:aF today, Mario Tennis next week, XCX in 3 weeks, the so bad bill Trinin won't even mention it Devils Third Dec 11. How could they NOT have so many dates when they only do 1 ND every 5 months?
And Zelda U "2016". It would have been really funny if it said "Not this year", or "When it's Ready". They really should have gone w/ "When it's Ready". Did Pokken get a date? Starfox got a date pretty far out in April, but yokwo what, italready had a date, Nov 20th, and i tmissd it. And what's th epenalty fo rmisisn ga date by 5 motnhs? You have a job. If you tell your boss you'll have a big project due on Thursday, but then change it to 5 months later, how does that meeting go? Companies can give out any date they want b/c there is NO accountability. Nintendo knows this, they delayed SSBB not once, but twice, w/ exact dates all 3 times. They didn't have to sell it at a loss, give it away free, give out anything. It sold extremely well. There are no repercussions for missing a date. So why not miss them all?
@JaxonH So what did that ND cost you last night, about $500? I may be a tight wad when it comes to spending money on obsolete consoles, but lots of game goodies. I like the TP amiibo better than the game. Nintendo seems to be all in on the amiibo, huh. I'm ok w/ that, I'm not a gaming purist or whatever. Give the people what they want. I'd sitll like not-a-board-game though. I may have to buy Mario Tennis.
When did you go back to the penguin, just yesterday? Where you trying to channel to a new DK game announcement in the ND?
@rjejr
I thought it was time to return to the classic avatar for a while
That was seriously one expensive Direct. I promptly ordered 3 Twilight Princess HD bundles at BestBuy ($152), 3 FE Fates LE bundles at BestBuy ($203), a a MegaMan Legacy Collection LE at GameStop ($57), Pokken Tournament with Shadow MewTwo Amiibo card at Amazon ($64), Final Fantasy Explorers LE at Square Enix Online Store ($77), and both Dragon Quest 7 and Dragon Quest 8 ($85).
So about $638 total. I'll return one of the Twilight Princess HD's, 3 was just to ensure I get 2 mint copies. But FE Fates, that one I'm keeping all 3. Lucky there's a GCU limit of 3 copies of any SKU, otherwise I might have gone wild with preorders lol. Also have one copy of each path preordered from before, which I also want since this LE comes with all 3 on a single cartridge
I've never played a Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest game, between those and Fire Emblem fates there's a lot of RPG'S to buy 2016
Let's hope that Square Enix can do what Nintendo doesn't seem capable or willing to do anymore - make a good game for 3DS. Unbelievable.
@JaxonH Gee, I can't imagine w/ you didn't notice Minecraft's absence. Looks like I was pretty close w/ my $500 guess after you return that TP #3. And that's why I'm afraid of GCU, I need a ZERO limit sometimes.
I think I'm sticking w/ Amazon this holiday. Though I did order 2 DI 2.0 toys for $7 delivered from BB, not going to pass up a great deal, my loyalty isn't that strong. But I have Prime, so I've been saving some $ w/ that. And they gave me a $25 refund for a game over a moth after I bought it, bringing it down from $100 to $75. And I had to return 2 motherboards trying to repair my broken PC, full refunds, no questions asked.
If I bought even 1/5 of what you do I'd still sign up though. you save more than I spend.
@rjejr
Honestly, I've never heard of someone willingly choosing to pay more just to buy less.
I wasn't afraid of ordering more of anything, just the FE LE since I love FE so much.
gif image hosting
If you do the math, that's over $600 saved this year just in 20% off (20% of $3,011) and another $335 in additional rewards (and that's just since this summer when I cashed out last).
That's almost $1,000 saved by shopping at BestBuy for my games this year alone.
We're talking 2 years of THIS ^^^^^
I'm really interested in this game after that trailer. The collectors edition looks pretty good too, but not sure I'm going to preorder without a demo 1st xD.
@JaxonH Oh man, don't make me do math before lunch.
OK, so far this year, SMM, Yoshi, Splatoon, about $150. Saved about $30 between Target and Amazon.
S&S2, Legend of Kay, a few others, about $50.
Coming this Christmas about $400. B2G1 free at Target saved $30, already told you about my $25 on Amazon.
So I was right, we spent about the $600 you saved this year. And we probably saved about 20% ding it as well. And it didn't cost me $30 to sign up and lock me into 1 vendor.
Of course had I bought a PS4 for $300 it would be more, but it's my understanding no 20% on hardware, just software. But Target constantly has 15% off w. Cartwheel on PS4, so I'm prepared when the time comes next year.
Know how you and your band of mercenaries hunt down amiibo? That's kind of how I am w/ sales. I don't buy things unless they are on sale or offer some swag. And I know you like doing everything online but I like shopping in stores. Just not on Black Friday, silly Reggie. So if I sign up for GCU I lose all reason for being, as I'll only shop at BB, and I'll have even more time to annoy Damo on here. He'll hate that. So for Damo's sake I don't sign up.
Though to be honest I do think about it, and I'll probably have to sign up next year when I get a PS4, too many old games to pick up like 2nd Son, and hopefully a Watcher 3 full-content edition. But really, w/ all my hard work, I don't think it saves me that much money. 5% off at Target every day, nothing to do but save.
@rjejr
That is something to take into account- before GCU I did pretty well hunting down te cheapest preorders. Usually went with Newegg for tax-free and a $8 promo code.
Thing is, it wasn't every game. And it took a LOT of time checking different sites for best deal (can only imagine how much worse it would be in-store).
This way I know I'm saving 20%, every game, every time, and don't have to deal with the hassle of shopping around. Less time shopping and more time gaming.
Not just that, but when you factor in the $10 preorder rewards for most AAA games, and the double reward points (equals ANOTHER 4% back) and then ANOTHER 5% back with their CC (10% for October- I canceled over 50 preorders and re-ordered to get that extra 10%) it's simply far lower than anywhere else.
But the more games you buy, the better. You get a PS4 and 3DS, this will save you mountains of cash.
@JaxonH "You get a PS4 and 3DS, this will save you mountains of cash."
If I get BOTH of those, I won't have any money left for games.
It may still happen, I do have the BB CC. Still need a TRU CC, they usually give 10% off on Thursday or something. Probably not on videogames though, they always exclude the videogames.
OK, your my last post, going to go be productive. Probably shop at Target for B2G1 games.
shame it's ONLY on the Square Enix Store
oh well i'll just stick with the normal edition
Final fantasy fan flows freely and freakishly!
@JaxonH So how'd I do? Puzzle and Dragons Z w/ Mario Ed; Dragonball Xenoverse on PS3, and DI 3.0 Twilight of the Republic playset.
order summary
subtotal:
3 items
$94.97
discounts:
REDcard 5% Discount
buy 2 get the 3rd FREE video games
-$33.24
shipping:
discount:
$12.00
-$12.00
tax:
$5.32
total:
$67.05
you saved $45.24 (40%)
That $45 is cheating, I was never paying $12 for shipping. Better than spending money on gas though. Now I need a $25 PSN card for the DBXV Season Pass. It never ends.
Not bad. I use the REDcard too, for all my eShop/PSN/Xbox Live purchases. Better than no discount at all.
@rjejr
Oh btw, BestBuy was selling all eShop cards for 10% off yesterday. I stockpiled another $400 to prepare for the final stretch until NX. Not sure if the sale is still live but get em now, with CC 5% back in rewards it's effectively 15% off.
@JaxonH Yeah I saw that thanks. But I need to throttle back a bit, all the doom and gloom on CNBC says retailers will have a blood bath this holiday, so maybe better deals are coming?
http://www.cnbc.com/2015/11/13/christmas-season-will-be-a-bloodbath-for-retail-analyst.html
@rjejr
Id be shocked if anyone offers eShop cards at a discount. I learned, grab em when they're discounted or else it'll be 6-8 months before you see another sale. And it's never more than 10% anymore anyways...
Yeesh. I don't think that the extras warrant a $30 increase in price. I'll just stick to the standard edition
@rjejr Wait... so now you want dates and you want them to stick to those dates?! This is the game industry, you can't have both. Actually, when you get both you get a product that isn't finished. Just ask Batman, or that Assassin.
I didn't think the BF thing was a problem at all. I think it was just respecting the retailers choosing different bundles for BF. Plus, finding out you can get it for $250 is better than seeing that $279 price, in my opinion.
I'm more interested in the 3DS port of the original that Japan got as a pre-order bonus. Hope it shows up on the eShop at least.
@aaronsullivan "finding out you can get it for $250 is better than seeing that $279 price, in my opinion."
But he didn't say we could get it for $250, nor did he show the $279 price, all he said was "Black Friday". And I'm pretty sure every person in america knows BF means sales, so no matter what price he said, it would be cheaper someplace BF. And not everybody does all their shopping that weekend.
And $279 isn't even the BF price, it's the new bundle price according to another thread.
https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2015/11/these_are_nintendos_black_friday_hardware_and_software_offers
"Nintendo has slapped a recommended retail price of $279.99 on the pack,"
I don't know where Damo got that from, NL is always a bit loose w/ the links. But if $279 is the NEW PRICE of the NEW BUNDLE, BF has nothing to do w/ it, it's a price drop. Right? (Please say right, it's been a long day.)
@rjejr right.
279 is the suggested retail price, retailers have unfinished plans when ND was made, and it's better for consumers to see the $250 in BF ads than see that $279 price as a first impression of the bundle. That's the point I was trying to make anyway. It seems like the bundle is debuting on BF too, so why she the higher price first?
@aaronsullivan "so why she the higher price first?"
B/c most consumers weren't watching the ND, only us fanbois were?
Better question - why have an ND in Sept 2013 saying you will lower the price of the Deluxe to $299 in Oct 2013? They gave people 2 weeks notice NOT to buy the system b/c it would be cheaper in 2 weeks, and there would be a Zelda WW HD bundle, so just wait.
Reggie in essence did the same thing - "Don't shop until BF." He might as well have added - "And when this new "Super Splat" bundle releases on BF it will do so for only $279." Then everyone can tell their freinds - "don't buy a Wii U for AC:aF, buy "Super Splat " for $279, even cheaper on BF".
See, by saying "BF" he already told people to wait, might as well have told them the good news about what - the price cut - they were waiting for.
"If either of those strikes your fancy, be ready Black Friday" ~23 minute mark.
http://www.nintendo.com/nintendo-direct/11-12-2015/#/video-1ndirect
Why not say - "This bundle will launch BF for only $279." Then people dont' have to go get killed rushing to buy one. you know what, don't even say Black Friday". Just say Nov 27th. People can figure it out. They launchd MM on 9/1, they can say 11/27. And several stores open 11/26 at 6PM, will it be available then I wonder? hmm, with Nintendo, one never knows.
And again, even if he didn't say the price, just slap it up there over the pic - $279.
@rjejr
Well, I know it frustrates you. I just don't see a big problem with 2 weeks. I also don't see a significant number of people even briefly considering buying a Wii U just for AC:aF. And if they were and were savvy enough to look for sales, why does it matter if they wait for BF? So people wait 2 weeks... people who are paying attention to online announcements.
Most people are going to see the Black Friday ads and the price ($250 in places) with those games in the bundle. It will work to get attention and stir up desire or it won't. People who take Black Friday seriously aren't buying much now anyway.
Anyway, Nintendo also perplexes me with their marketing choices many times. I chalk some of it up to a company run from Japan that doesn't really understand global tastes and markets (Free-to-play and micro-transactions are the bomb in Japan) and yet keeps the reins tight on their Western counterparts. Certainly, big mistakes have been made on both sides of the pond, but I'm just not seeing this particular decision as a big deal, myself.
The problem is that there isn't a bundle scenario that could hit $199 or less. I really think Nintendo is missing that up-sell mentality that works so well around here at least. You need that low-priced version to pass up in order sell the higher priced one. Put up a console with no games, knowing that most will go for the bundle version anyway. The people who want exactly what they want can then spend more money on games. Win-win. But no.
Not sure who decides all that though.
Love that Splatoon has been given the pack-in treatment.
@aaronsullivan "Put up a console with no games, knowing that most will go for the bundle version anyway. "
And you make fun of me for wanting the price drop announced in the ND.
Nintendo tried "upsell' at the Wii U's launch. Failed miserably. White Wii U disappeared in NA. They didn't even bother to lower the price on it to $249 - which is why I say there has NEVER been a price cut, $299 always its lowest entry point. And you want them to try it again?
OK, to be fair, I may have mentioned a $199 game free console to my wife and kids reecently. Sell it for $199 for people who want XCX or MK8 or maybe just top lay their old Wii collection. but don't want SSBU or SPaltoon. So it did cross my mind. But my sticking point was, and you and I have discussed this a bunch, where do they get the inventory from? They may be making more of these, but not a ton. 1 mil per year maybe. So how many of those do they allot to the $199 empty box nobody wants, how many to the MK8 bundle, how many to the new $279 price drop bundle?
I'm going to have to side w/ Nintendo on this one - which is a strange feeling inside - b/c they don't think it will sell and they just don't have the spare inventory to put a box on the shelf that won't sell.
Also, an dI havnt bnedoin gmy du edilgence on this one yet - but the past few or 2 years theyhavebne doin gKSyaldners bundleson the cheap w/ what ar eprobably old 8GB white inventory. I havent' sen a single one of those this year, yet. But I havent' really looked either. $199 consoles might sell better at $229 w/ Skyaldner so rDI or Leo Dimntions. A $199 LEgo Diemsnions Wii U would sell wonders I think. HEck I migh teven buy anothe rone.
So I suppos eI do like the upsell "in theory", but Nitneod has already tried it and failed miserably, no reason to repeat history, ask Einstein, and I don't tthink they have the spare inventory for a failed experiemnt.
@rjejr
Well... the hardware differences are a problem with consoles and upselling. I'm mostly talking unbundle the games.
Since Black Friday has earned the name Black Eye Friday from me for the violence it has encouraged, I should go and if I punch sue Nintendo for damage!
But DLC huh... I wonder if the Final Fantasy 1 eShop remake is also planned. I believe that was originally a bonus for first-print Japanese copies.
@aaronsullivan Do you really think those 2 cradles - 1 charging, 1 not - made that much of a difference?
It never even dawned on me about the 8GB vs 32GB, obviously today it would be $199 for the same hardware, never even gave it a thought. I just assumed Nintendo would fear the same result though.
If you go back at look at my comments from 3 years ago I was convinced the choice actually stopped consumers from purchasing. Well the ones who knew Wii U existed of course.
Well it wasn't just the choice, it was how the choices were set up.
In consumers minds you had a $250 Wii Sports package as the baseline.
Now the choices are:
$299 no game, which is a decent price for HD but nothing else for it
$349 w/ a game, good bundle but bad price compared to $250, and what the #$%# is Nintendo Land? Looks nothing like Sports. Asymmetric gameplay? And people think "motion" was a gimmick.
I've never agreed w/ the idea that dropping the Gamepad and lowering the price could save the Wii U. What's done is done. Though MS has had success going from $500 w/ Kinect 2 to $400 w/o, but they actually market their system, and they have games. But hind-site says $199 Wii HD, $249 Wii HD and NSMBU. Sell Gamepad w/ Sports Club and Ninntedo Land for $89. Wii Balance Board has sold 42 million. They should have learned from that. Despite what all the naysayers say, you can sell an $80 peripheral controller, Balance Board proved that. SMM, Spaltoon and Starfox means wait 2 years if you have to for Gamepad.
https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2012/01/wii_balance_board_enters_record_books
But that's all hind-site. We both know Wii U really doesn't sell now at any price. B/c no matter the games or price Nintendo doesn't market. Poor AC:aF.
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