Final Fantasy VII mobile update

Earlier this month at E3, Square Enix announced that a mobile prequel to its RPG blockbuster Final Fantasy VII was in the works. Some additional factoids about the product, titled Before Crisis - Final Fantasy VII, were recently revealed, specifically that the game is slated for a September 2004 release, and it will be available (in Japan) on NTT DoCoMo 900i-series or higher phones.

Square Enix has not yet announced a North American release date for Before Crisis. However, given the disparity between Japanese and North American handset technology, it's likely that Before Crisis will not be a downloadable option for US gamers for the foreseeable future.

As previously reported, Before Crisis will be set in the environs of Midgar, the dystopian metropolis that had fallen under the sway of the evil Shinra Corporation in the first Final Fantasy VII. This time around, players will control a member of the Turks--the elite band of Shinra operatives that worked at cross-purposes to Cloud Strife and his friends in the 1997 PlayStation original. And in lieu of the original title's nonlinear, exploratory, turn-based gameplay, Before Crisis will feature mission-based objectives and real-time combat.

Square Enix has also revealed that this action role-playing game will support real-time multiplayer--for up to three players--over a cellular network.