Latest news with #Sephiroth
Geek Culture
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Geek Culture
Magic: The Gathering – Final Fantasy ‘The Masamune' Card Preview
Are you looking for a magical fantasy during the summer holidays? You will find that (and a ton of fun) with Magic: the Gathering's newest and biggest set release since Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth. Set for release on June 14th, the Final Fantasy mega crossover is part of Magic's Universes Beyond line, and promises legendary heroes and villains, powerful equipment and an unrivalled sense of nostalgia for anyone who grew up playing the games. Geek Culture and Tap & Sac are thrilled to reveal a very special preview card that even casual Final Fantasy fans will recognise: The Masamune! What's the Big Deal with The Masamune and Who Uses It? The Masamune is one of the most iconic weapons across franchise history, wielded none other by Sephiroth, the big bad of Final Fantasy VII. More than just a normal odachi blade, it symbolises his might as the game's penultimate and final boss – while its handle is long enough to accommodate both hands, Sephiroth carries it single-handedly due to his incredible strength. Advertisement ▼ Much of the detail is carried over to the card design, including its gold-coloured tsuba, or guard, and curving angle, which varies across depictions but is never entirely straight (as seen on the left). The top-down perspective, with its tip pointing at the player, also references his infamous method of impalement instead of slashing, the traditional way of using the weapon. Meanwhile, the side stance Sephiroth adopts in the later games is reflected in the other card, showcasing a slightly lowered blade that falls under its own weight. How is The Masamune as an Equipment in Magic? The Masamune is no slouch and certainly lives up to its name as Sephiroth's legendary weapon. When equipped, the creature wielding it gains First Strike and must be blocked if able. While it doesn't have any triggers when dealing combat damage to a player (unlike other swords such as Sword of Fire and Ice), The Masamune supplies an additional benefit: 'If a creature dying causes a triggered ability of this creature or an emblem you own to trigger, that ability triggers an additional time.' Advertisement ▼ That was rather wordy, so it's worth noting a few things: The Masamune must be equipped onto a creature for it to be in effect. The extra triggered ability only applies to the creature that The Masamune is equipped to. If the creature doesn't have any triggered abilities, then The Masamune is merely a glorified long sword. Likewise with emblems, you need to have a death-triggering emblem for an extra triggered ability to happen. For example, The Masamune will not work with most emblems (like Chandra, Torch of Defiance's emblem), but will work with the also-new Sephiroth, One-Winged Angel's emblem How Does The Masamune Compare with Other Strong Magic Swords? Swords are the most-loved Equipment in Magic history, and as you would expect, is very well represented. There have been some very strong swords that have become just as mythical in Magic's lore as a sword as The Masamune in the Final Fantasy realms. Let's look at two other famous Magic swords and see how it compare with The Masamune. Sword of Feast and Famine Arguably one of the most powerful swords among the 10 of its cycle, Sword of Feast and Famine gives equipped creature protection from black and green, and +2/+2 stats. After connecting with a player, you get to untap all your Lands and force the opponent to discard a card. In short, every granted effect is going to get you ahead, especially when you can untap all your Lands and cast another few spells. Protection from two colours is also tough to get around, giving your creature added resilience. The Masamune, on the other hand, doesn't offer any protection or evasion, but instead goads the opponent to block. With First Strike, there's a pretty good chance your creature will come out victorious. A Final Fantasy deck filled with death triggers will find The Masamune more useful, but in nearly every other scenario, Sword of Feast and Famine is going to be top pick. Sword of the Animist Another fan-favourite of Magic players, Sword of the Animist fits into the utility category, able to expand your mana base by searching for a Land and placing it directly onto the battlefield. The +1/+1 buff is not going to be that much of a game changer, but it's offset by the sword's low 2-mana cost and equip. The Masamune is clearly a better offensive tool than Sword of the Animist, and depending on what creature you have equipped, The Masamune can also outshine Sword of the Animist in pure value. For example, a Zulaport Cutthroat with The Masamune is going to be draining each opponent for 2 life instead of 1 when it triggers. That could happen any number of times you can muster, rather than just once per attack as is the case with Sword of the Animist. End Step The Masamune is certainly going into every deck with Sephiroth, just for the sheer pleasure of having him swing his iconic sword, not to mention its ability synergises perfectly with Sephiroth, One-Winged Angel's emblem. For most other decks, The Masamune is going to be quite situational and falls lower in the pecking order of powerful Final Fantasy Equipment. But with the Buster Sword also an actual Magic card, clashing both blades in a game would be a wonderful treat.
Geek Culture
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Geek Culture
Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge Gaming Test — Wuthering Waves, Zenless Zone Zero, Genshin Impact & PUBG Mobile
All things considered, the Samsung Galaxy S25 series meets the mark for a slim profile. At 162 grams and 7.2 mm thick, the base model packs compact muscle for work and play, but its newest addition, the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge, goes even leaner and meaner without skimping on performance. The device fits a Snapdragon Elite 8 processor and Adreno 830 GPU into its 5.8 mm-thin chassis, which accompanies a 6.7-inch QHD+ 120Hz display (3,200 x 1,800 pixels) for viewing enjoyment. It also inherits the same 200-megapixel camera from its Ultra sibling, alongside the full suite of Galaxy AI features, establishing itself as a competent all-rounder. Naturally, the horsepower extends to mobile gaming, and there's plenty to like about here. The lightweight form factor affords better grip and comfort in the hand, and it passed the gaming gauntlet of Wuthering Waves , Zenless Zone Zero , Genshin Impact , and PUBG: Mobile with flying colours. Frame rate drops were kept to a minimum, with surprisingly capable thermal management keeping overheating at bay even under heavy loads. Check out the performance of the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge in the video above, spanning benchmarking indicators, starting and ending temperatures, and more. The S$1,628 base model features 12GB of RAM and 256GB of ROM, while the 512GB iteration retails for S$1,808. Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth's theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia's greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really. Android gaming test Samsung Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge Smartphone
Geek Culture
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Geek Culture
'Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition' On Nintendo Switch 2 Adds Two Classes & Bonus Content
The Lands Between will welcome new faces to the Nintendo Switch 2 when the console drops, with Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition introducing new classes, armour sets, and other bonus content. Per Famitsu, a special event held in Tokyo unveiled a first look at the upcoming selectable classes: Knight of Ides and Heavy Armoured Knight (as translated by RPG Site). Other details, including gameplay mechanics, were not shared, but developer FromSoftware confirmed the arrival of more new weapons and skills in the future. The two new classes will also reportedly unlock two of the four new armours in the Tarnished Edition , with the other two available to obtain in-game. Meanwhile, the ever-reliable Torrent is set for a makeover. Three new appearances are available for the spirit horse as part of the Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition , which includes the Shadow of the Erdtree content, and the Tarnished Pack DLC for other platforms. A release date has yet to be set for both the action-RPG on the Switch 2 and the Tarnished Pack DLC. The base title debuted in 2022 and has sold over 30 million copies to date, surpassing the entire Dark Souls series to become the studio's best-selling entry. While there are no plans for a direct sequel, its forthcoming spin-off, Elden Ring: Nightreign , will keep the fun (and a little bit of frustration) going with an additional co-op element when it releases on 30 May. Following that, genre fans can look forward to The Duskbloods , a surprise release for the Nintendo Switch 2. Not much else is known about the gothic-flavoured game, but it's coming sometime in 2026 as a console exclusive. Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth's theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia's greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really. Elden Ring Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition FromSoftware Nintendo switch 2
SoraNews24
24-04-2025
- Entertainment
- SoraNews24
Japanese high school Final Fantasy VII not an April Fool's Joke, is playable this month【Video】
Cloud, Sephiroth, Tifa, and more are headed to high school in Youth Fantasy Evecri Academy VII inside Final Fantasy VII Ever Crisis. It's always a little hard to tell how seriously to take announcements made on April 1. April Fools' Day has become an international phenomenon, and with many Japanese entertainment media companies' penchant for irreverent self-referential humor, any unusual unveilings from them that take place on April 1 feel like they should be taken with at least two grains of coarse-ground salt. So while the artwork for Youth Fantasy Evecri Academy VII, a reimagining of Final Fantasy VII set in a Japanese high school, definitely looked cool when Square Enix Showed it off at the start of the month, it was still too early to know if it was all a joke. Now, though, it's been confirmed that Youth Fantasy Evecri Academy VII is really going to be something that fans can play, even though it's not a full-fledged stand-alone game. Instead, Youth Fantasy Evecri Academy VII is going to be an in-game event for mobile game Final Fantasy VII Ever Crisis that will be available later this month. Despite its side-story status, a lot of care looks to be being put into the visuals, as a new preview video shows off not just the illustrated high-school student/teacher versions of some of the members of Final Fantasy VII's iconic cast, but their detailed polygonal models as well. Youth Fantasy Evecri Academy VII puts the player in the role of an aspiring educator doing their student teacher stint at Municipal Seventh High School in a Japanese town named 'Midogaru' (pronounced in Japanese identically to Final Fantasy VII's metropolis of Midgar, but written in kanji characters instead of purely phonetic katakana script). The student body at Municipal Seventh High School is particularly rowdy, and the player soon gets caught up in the teens' daily fights. Along the way, you'll interact with incoming freshmen Cloud and Tifa, delinquent leader Aerith, and P.E. teacher Barret, and eventually cross paths with the staff and students of Shinra School of Medicine High School, attended by Sephiroth and Angeal. ▼ 'Beat Shinra High's baseball team!' says the fired-up Barret, who's swapped his traditional machinegun arm for a harisen folded paper fan appendage. Youth Fantasy Evecri Academy VII goes live within Final Fantasy VII Ever Crisis on April 30. Source: YouTube/スクウェア・エニックス Top image: Youth Fantasy Evecri Academy VII official website Insert images: YouTube/スクウェア・エニックス ● Want to hear about SoraNews24's latest articles as soon as they're published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!
