Square Enix Is Playing With Our Hearts (And Plastic), While Handheld Prices Go To The Moon
AI Gaming News Author · kotaku ·
Square Enix is teasing Chrono Trigger fans with high-end statues while the handheld market faces price hikes, and Fortnite's long-forgotten 'Save the World' mode is having a massive, unexpected comeback.
Right, so apparently Square Enix thinks a bit of painted plastic is going to distract us from the fact that we’re all collectively vibrating with the need for a Chrono Trigger remake. I’ve been tinkering with this story all morning, and bloody hell, it’s wilder than it first appeared—mostly because it’s a masterclass in the art of the 'gentle tease' that leaves fans both drooling and slightly annoyed. It's like a wizard showing you a glimpse of a gold hoard through a portal, only to tell you the portal is just a poster and costs fifty quid.
According to a report by Ethan Gach over at Kotaku, the legendary RPG publisher has just unveiled some rather gorgeous prototypes for upcoming FORM-ISM statues of Chrono and Marle. Now, don't get me wrong, these things look stunning. They’re currently being paraded around the Ikebukuro PARCO store in Japan, and while they aren't available for pre-order abroad just yet, you can bet your bottom dollar (or your last bit of ETH) that collectors will be scrambling for them once they hit the global market.
But here’s where my inner skeptic starts twitching his staff. Is this just low-stakes merchandise designed to squeeze a few more yen out of millennial nostalgia? Or—and this is the 'OR' that keeps me up at night—is Square Enix laying the groundwork for something bigger? We’ve seen Dragon Quest creator Yuji Horii making a few 'slips' lately, and with the Dragon Quest VII Reimagined proving that the HD-2D style is basically a license to print money, a Chrono Trigger remake feels less like a dream and more like an inevitability. If they can make a bunch of sprites look that good in 2026, imagine what they could do with the End of Time. (Though, let’s be honest, part of me thinks the original is so perfect that touching it is like trying to improve a masterpiece with a neon highlighter.)
Moving away from the land of 'what ifs' and into the cold, hard reality of hardware, we’ve got some slightly depressing news for the handheld enthusiasts among us. AYN, the folks behind some of the punchiest portable PCs on the market, just dropped a bit of a bombshell on their Discord. Apparently, the global supply chain is throwing another tantrum. They’re facing a 'difficult situation' with UFS storage—basically, the fast stuff that makes your games load before you've had time to blink is becoming rarer than a shiny Pokémon.
As a result, the upcoming Thor and Odin 3 handhelds are being downgraded from UFS 4.0 to UFS 3.1. To add insult to injury, prices are heading north. The Thor Max model has jumped from $450 to $550. It’s a classic case of the 'tech tax' hitting the little guys. It makes you wonder if the dream of affordable, high-end handheld gaming is hitting a bit of a ceiling, or if we’re just in a temporary dip. Either way, it’s a reminder that while digital worlds are infinite, the silicon we use to reach them is very much at the mercy of some very grumpy logistics managers.
Speaking of things that refuse to die, have you checked in on Fortnite lately? No, not the bit where you jump out of a bus and get sniped by a twelve-year-old doing a dance move. I’m talking about 'Save the World,' the original PVE mode that Epic spent years building before the Battle Royale behemoth swallowed the sun. In a move that feels like a glitch in the matrix, Epic recently made the mode free, and it has absolutely exploded. We’re talking over 100,000 concurrent players—a record for the mode. It’s like finding out your old, dusty basement project is suddenly the hottest club in town. There's a lesson there about community-driven movements and giving players what they actually want without the paywalls, though I reckon Epic is just as surprised as we are.
Over in the land of JRPGs (which is usually where I spend my weekends when I'm not fighting digital dragons), Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter finally has a release date: September 17. It’s coming to PS5, Switch, and PC. But, in what has become a bit of a recurring tragedy, there’s no mention of an Xbox version. My heart goes out to the Xbox crowd—it’s like being invited to a party but being told you have to watch through the window while everyone else eats the cake. Why the platform parity is still so lopsided in 2026 is a mystery even a level 99 wizard can't solve.
Finally, because no news cycle is complete without a Hollywood update that may or may not be vaporware, David Leitch (the Deadpool 2 guy) reckons the Gears of War movie is actually, definitely, for-real-this-time happening at Netflix. He says they have a 'great draft' and the studio is '100% behind it.' Now, I’ve heard this song before—usually right before a project disappears into development hell for another decade—but with Netflix's track record lately, maybe we’ll actually see Marcus Fenix on the big screen before the sun burns out. I’m cautiously optimistic, but I’ve got my 'press X to doubt' finger ready just in case.
It’s a weird time to be a gamer, isn't it? We’re being sold plastic versions of our childhoods while hardware prices climb and decades-old game modes find new life. But hey, that’s the beauty of this industry. It’s chaotic, it’s expensive, and it’s occasionally brilliant. Just keep an eye on your wallet and your expectations—and maybe hold off on buying those Chrono figures until we see a trailer for the game. (Who am I kidding? I'll probably buy two.)
Tags: Chrono Trigger, Square Enix, Handheld Gaming, Fortnite, Gaming Hardware
Original article: kotaku