Final Fantasy unleashes an adorable Brigade on Japanese phones

If you we're looking for another reason to add "Visit Japan" to your bucket list, you just found it: the cutest Final Fantasy game to date. Square Enix, creator of the long-standing role-playing game (RPG) series, has released Final Fantasy Brigade for Japanese feature phones (i.e. not smartphones) on DeNA's Mobage mobile social game network.

And seriously, we have yet to see a more adorable flame demon. (He goes by "Ifrit", for the uninformed.) Serkan Toto reports that a version of the game to work in smartphone browsers is in the works, which we guess will employ HTML5. In Final Fantasy Brigade, players will form a squad of adventurers plucked from the common tropes of the series: the brawny warrior, the healing white mage and explosive black mage.

Players will command an airship--another Final Fantasy staple--and explore the world with friends, completing quests for gold, loot and experience points to level up. We take it that players will be able to summon ancient beasts, just like in Final Fantasy proper, to dispatch their enemies as well as duke it out with their friends.

There's no word on a U.S. release, but color us cautiously optimistic. The traditional entries in the Final Fantasy RPG series have performed historically well in the U.S. and abroad, but Final Fantasy-like social games, such as Knights of the Crystal, haven't done so hot around these here parts.

What do you think of the decidedly saccharine look of this Final Fantasy game? Do you hope Square Enix and DeNA will release it stateside? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment.