3DS action-RPG Final Fantasy Explorers premieres stateside in 2016

By Danny Cowan Published July 30, 2015

Square Enix’s multiplayer action-RPG Final Fantasy Explorers is due to launch in North America and Europe for the Nintendo 3DS in January, the publisher announced this week.

Inspired by Capcom’s Monster Hunter games, Final Fantasy Explorers is an action-focused take on Square Enix’s long-running JRPG series, offering a selection of character abilities, job classes, and summonable monsters that will be familiar to longtime fans.

Launched for the Nintendo 3DS in Japan in late 2014, Final Fantasy Explorers abandons the franchise’s traditional focus on narrative for a quest that’s heavy on action and team-based combat mechanics. Players wander expansive worlds, taking down any monsters they encounter in order to fulfill quests while nabbing dropped loot and upgrades.

Final Fantasy Explorers lets up to four players team up to take on the game’s lengthy campaign. Players can form a party either locally or online via an Internet-connected 3DS. The game’s multiplayer approach is similar to previous action-focused Final Fantasy games like Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles for the Nintendo GameCube and its follow-ups Echoes of Time, Ring of Fates, and The Crystal Bearers.

Like the Monster Hunter series, Final Fantasy Explorers features a number of upgradable weapons, and players can leverage each weapon type’s unique strengths when they team up in battle. Final Fantasy Explorers expands on Monster Hunter’s team-based combat mechanics with selectable job classes, many of which return from previous series entries like Final Fantasy V and Final Fantasy Tactics.

Featured job classes in Final Fantasy Explorers include series mainstays like the Knight, Monk, White Mage, and Black Mage types, along with more exotic alternatives like Beastmaster, Geomancer, and Machinist. Each class boasts its own unique attacks, along with weapon-specific abilities that can be earned with experience in battle.

Though multiplayer is a focus for Final Fantasy Explorers, players can also tackle the campaign solo. For single-player quests, adventurers can summon up to three monsters to assist in battle, taking the place of human-controlled party members.

Final Fantasy Explorers launches in North America on January 26 and in Europe on January 29.

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The best armor in Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth

Cloud from Final Fantasy VII Rebirth.

Just like in Remake, you only have one valuable armor slot per character in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. Deciding on what you want to put there is more complicated than you think, since each piece of armor has multiple factors that determine how effective it will be, and you may want to prioritize different things for different characters. New armor will become available as you go deeper into the world of Gaia, and you can even make some yourself with the new Transmutation system, so comparing and contrasting them all can be a major chore. We get it, you're just a merc looking to get the job done, so let us worry about figuring out the best armors so you can just put them on and get back to the action.
The best armor in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
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Garm Bangle

The Garm Bangle is an amazing piece of physical-focused armor that becomes available once you hit the Nibel region. It has a fantastic 59 rating for regular defense, aplus a decent 28 for magic defense to keep you from being totally vulnerable to spells. Offensively, it has two pairs of linked Materia slots plus a spare, so you can still make plenty of killer magic combos for your mages.
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Tales of Arise

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Queen's Blood

If you're getting ready to start your Final Fantasy VII Rebirth adventure, let me offer you fair warning: it is a long game. If you're planning to do every sidequest, minigame, and Chadley combat battle, you'll be wandering around Gaia for 100 hours. That's not an exaggeration; I hit credits in 73 hours and I still had a massive checklist of side content to complete.

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All hail the queen
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