Final Fantasy Artniks

Final Fantasy Artniks is a Japanese video game developed by Square Enix and the GREE social network. It is the second Final Fantasy social game and the second game developed with GREE.

The game is a card game using art assets, characters and battle systems from previous Final Fantasy titles. Players either fight series of battles against enemies and bosses for rewards and rankings, or engage other players.

The game was released on November 30, 2012, and in just over a month, one million players had joined. Square Enix reported in 2013 that social games like Artniks were producing "acceptable profits".

On June 30, 2014, Square Enix and GREE announced a sequel to the game, titled Final Fantasy Artniks Dive, scheduled to be released later in the near future.^[1]

Both titles have since been terminated.

Gameplay

Players begin by choosing a main card. They also utilize equipment cards that enhance all characters in play.^[2] Ability cards are also used to make attacks stronger and hit points higher.^[3] Defeating enemies and completing quests fills a meter that when full makes players enter "Burst Mode", releasing treasure chests.^[2][3] Boss combat uses Final Fantasy's active time battle system.^[3] Player versus player combat is also possible, and involves eleven cards instead of the five used in boss battles.^[3] Winners get points toward the games leaderboard, and also "Mog Medals" that are used to access a mini-game.^[2]

Features

Characters, monsters and items from all the main Final Fantasy games appear, as well as Final Fantasy Tactics, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, Dissidia Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy Type-0, and others.^[4] Well known events from previous Final Fantasy titles are occasionally encountered. The game receives updates periodically in the form of "Most Wanted" villains for players to share information about to find and defeat to earn rewards.^[4] The first update featured Kefka Palazzo from Final Fantasy VI and the second being Sephiroth from Final Fantasy VII.^[4]

Development

The game was first revealed under the temporary title of "Final Fantasy X GREE" on October 23, 2012.^[2][5] Theatrhythm Final Fantasy producer Ichiro Hazama collaborated with Kazunari Itakura to create the game.^[3] It was the second social game released under the Final Fantasy title and the second collaboration with the Japanese social network GREE.^[6] In an interview with Famitsu, Yuichi Itakura explained that the graphics were not remade to have a similar aesthetic like Dissidia or Theatrythm, but were kept similar to their original appearances to appeal to players sense of nostalgia and make the game feel more like a collectible card game.^[7] Those the registered early for the games release received a free "summon ticket" reward and signing up for "The World Ends With You Live Remix" as well gave access to two extremely rare Aerith and Bahamut cards.^[8] The game was released in Japan on November 30, 2012.

Reception

Famitsu featured Artniks on the cover of "Famitsu GREE" magazine on January 31, 2013, and carried rare character game card "Seifer Almasy".^[9] Square Enix revealed on January 11, 2013 that Artniks had reached over one million players in a little over a month, becoming their fourth game to reach one million.^[4][10] In February 2013 Square Enix revealed that Artniks, like their other social gaming offerings, was producing "acceptable profits".^[11]

References