Did you know that Final Fantasy XV has a spin-off game that hardly anyone has heard of? No, I’m not talking about Justice Monsters Five, the unfortunate in-universe game that was released and shut down in record time. I’m not looking for Pocket Edition or Comrades either.

I’m not even referring A new empire, the truly awful mobile game we’ve been playing so you don’t have to. Although this new game has a slight connection to that title – it’s technically a sequel, coming from the same mobile game company as that notorious stinker.

Walk in Final Fantasy XV: War for Eos, evocatively described as “a strategy game that will take you on a long adventure”. In fact, that shadow fell in limited territories like the Philippines and Indonesia in March this year as a sort of early access, testing and tweaking deal – but over the past month it seems to have been quietly released across all app stores and territories – and we’ve even started to see ads for the game popping up quite aggressively on Instagram and YouTube.

So what is it? Well, here is the official game description:

Final Fantasy XV: War for Eos is a strategy game that will take you on a long adventure. You will have the chance to build the kingdom of your dreams, collect magical resources by traveling to other kingdoms and rule your mighty empire with your friends. You will fight in a war with other cartels to defend your kingdom and your friends. But first you must choose the right strategy to win the war, protect the crystal and rule the kingdom.

With FFXV: War for Eos you will feel like a movie hero and can create your own scenario and plan the desired ending. There are no rules in this game; everything happens by magic. Build a mighty empire in the war world with unified strategies and structures to win the wars. Content and features are new and updated periodically, so more bonuses can be awarded while playing.

• Start building your empire with a favorite character (Noctis, Cindy, etc.).
• Travel to other kingdoms, collect resources, fortify your kingdom and build a powerful army.
• Strategize epic wars to conquer the battles and take control of the crystal.
• Create the ultimate guild or join already powerful forces
• Become a legend by taking control of the Crystal and ruling the Kingdom

It’s time for you to write history! Your journey begins now in FFXV: War for Eos!

The trailers and screenshots depict two basic gameplay styles – a strategy layer that looks like a dubious knockoff of Age of Empires from the 90s, and a combat layer that seems to reuse original 3D assets from FF15 like character models and animations, pitting a team of heroes from the FF15 universe against enemies ranging from magitek soldiers to a Behemoth.

There are weapon upgrades and such, a roster of heroes to collect, and honestly, it all sounds pretty familiar to anyone familiar with the work of Machine Zone, the mobile development powerhouse responsible for the game.

Even if you think you don’t know them, you’re probably still vaguely familiar with their work – Machine Zone is responsible for games like Game of War and Mobile Strike, those phone games that get lavish Super Bowl commercials featuring the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Mariah Carey. Their advertisements are also at the origin of the “we are fucking attacked!” same – in fact, the model of this meme comes from a FF15: A New Empire advertising campaign featuring model Alexis Ren in a sort of Luna cosplay.

Usually, frankly, a lot of these games are paid garbage. In the case of A New Empire, RPG Site paid a contributor to play and spend money in-game – and it discovered an in-game economy designed so that those who pay will almost always win. “The few who decide they want to be the best in A New Empire will pay the price,” she concluded, “and free-to-play players will be in anguish as their empires are constantly stripped of goods and resources. .”

The FF15 deal between Square Enix and Machine Zone initially seemed like a one-off thing, but apparently not – either that or Square Enix has decided to renew its commitment. A New Empire was an odd game, bearing the name FF15 and reusing many of the strengths of the base game, but otherwise unrecognizable as a Final Fantasy product. It also had a few touches that were decidedly different from Square Enix’s laser focus on how it showcases its properties – including the use of photoshopped FF13 assets and a few assets from when FF15 was Versus. Why Square Enix would let Machine Zone flout the usual way FF ​​works is pretty obvious – but for the avoidance of doubt, RPG Site understands that the rights deal between the two that led to A New Empire was lucrative enough to make up for it significantly. a large amount of major FF15 development costs. As Noctis once said: “money”.

This title at least warns how far this particular apple falls from the FF15 tree, noting that the game “takes place in a parallel world” to the original FF15. Because, honestly, these two universes have little in common. However, at least Luna actually has a role to play in this game. Every cloud has a silver lining, and all that…

If War for Eos is different in terms of quality as Game remains to be seen, although there are signs that it is similar. After all, the structure and style of the game seems quite similar to A New Empire, which is not the best of omens.

If you want to find out for yourself, Final Fantasy XV: War for Eos is now available in a much more widespread version on iOS and android. Hold on tight to that credit card.