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squareinsider.com

Square Enix News, Previews, Reviews and Discussion

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Games & Board Games
Language
English
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Registered
2002
Hosting
Hetzner Online GmbHInferred
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Website review

This review may include AI-generated content and is not individually verified. Domain, certificate and other facts come from the observed data on this page.

What is Square Insider?

Square Insider is a fan-run news and discussion site focused on Square Enix games. Its front page mixes short news briefs with reviews, previews, interviews and guides, and it lets readers register to build member collections and join comment threads.

In practice, it functions less like a database and more like a blog-style feed. Recent items on the homepage include coverage of Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles, the Bravely Default: Flying Fairy HD Remaster launch on Switch 2, the Xbox and PC shadow-drop of Final Fantasy XVI, and the cancellation of Kingdom Hearts: Missing-Link.

Who it suits

  • Square Enix regulars who want a single feed for Final Fantasy, Bravely Default, Kingdom Hearts and similar series.
  • Remaster and port watchers, since the site tracks re-releases and platform moves closely.
  • Readers who like comment sections, as each article shows a comment count and members can curate collections.

Trade-offs

Coverage is narrow by design: if you mainly play outside Square Enix's catalogue, most of the feed won't apply to you. It also leans toward aggregation and summary rather than deep original reporting, so for major announcements you may prefer to check the publisher directly at Square Enix or a broader outlet like Eurogamer.

A useful next step: open the site's Articles Archive rather than the homepage, then search a specific title you're following. That tells you quickly whether its coverage depth matches what you want before you commit to reading it regularly.

How does Square Insider cover Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles?

Square Insider covers Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles as a remaster with a preservation problem behind it. Its article "Some Lions Not Included" reports that the original PlayStation source code was at least partly lost, and that the team rebuilt missing pieces by studying earlier releases, including the PSP version War of the Lions. The piece centers on director Kazutoyo Maehiro's stated aim: keep what worked in the original while modernizing controls, UI and adding full voice acting for immersion.

That framing suits readers deciding whether this is a faithful port or a reworking. The useful signal is the stated priority on intact systems over a visual overhaul, paired with the honest note that reconstruction, not direct porting, shaped the result.

What the coverage gives you

  • Development context from an interview on Square Enix's official site, summarized rather than copied wholesale.
  • A concrete preservation angle: lost master data and source code, and how the team worked around it.
  • A clear statement of scope: controls, UI and voice acting as the main changes.

Where to take it next

If you care about fidelity to the PS1 original, read the piece for the source-code detail, then compare it against hands-on impressions closer to release. If you mainly want convenience and presentation, the UI and voice-acting notes answer that faster. For broader Square Enix coverage alongside this, Square Insider collects news, reviews and interviews in one place.

Where can I find Square Insider's review of Final Fantasy XVI?

Square Insider's Final Fantasy XVI review is not on the homepage excerpt you have; that page only carries a news item about the game's Xbox and PC shadow-drop. The site's own navigation points to a dedicated Reviews section, which is where a full critique would live once published.

How to find it on Square Insider

  • Open Square Insider and use the top navigation: Articles, Reviews, Interviews, Games, Guides.
  • Go to Reviews first, then scan or search for "Final Fantasy XVI." If nothing appears, try the Games section, which may collect all coverage for a single title in one hub.
  • If you are not signed in, you can still browse; the "Member collections" and sign-in options are for saving or discussing, not for reading.

What that page will and won't tell you

A Square Insider review would give you the site's own verdict on combat, story pacing and performance, written for a Square Enix-focused readership. The homepage item you have is news, not criticism: it reports the Xbox Series X|S and PC shadow-drop, including the Rising Tide and Echoes of the Fallen DLC, and notes the game's earlier PS5 timed exclusivity and later Windows release. Treat that as release information, not a review score.

If it isn't there yet

Check other outlets with dedicated review archives, such as IGN, Eurogamer or PC Gamer, and search their review indexes for the game. As a decision rule: use a specialist site like Square Insider for series context and fan-facing analysis, and a large general outlet when you want a scored, platform-by-platform technical breakdown.

What does Square Insider report about Kingdom Hearts: Missing Link's cancellation?

Square Insider reports that Square Enix officially cancelled the mobile title Kingdom Hearts: Missing-Link, attributing the decision to a broader strategic realignment rather than a problem specific to the game. The brief item frames the cancellation as a company-level shift in priorities.

For readers tracking the series, that framing matters: it suggests the project was cut as part of portfolio reassessment, not because of a single development setback. If you want to follow what happens to the Kingdom Hearts mobile line next, watch Square Enix's own announcements and the wider Square Enix news coverage at Square Insider, since the site aggregates this kind of update alongside its reviews and interviews.

How can I join discussions or comment on Square Insider articles?

You can join the conversation on Square Insider by creating a free account and using the comment thread attached to each article.

How it works

  • Create an account: The site's navigation includes "Sign in" and "Create account" options, so registration is the entry point for participating.
  • Open an article: Commenting is tied to individual posts rather than a single general forum. Each article page carries its own thread.
  • Post your comment: On article pages, a comment count sits alongside the byline and date, indicating where replies are collected.

A practical example

Suppose you want to respond to the site's coverage of Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles, where director Kazutoyo Maehiro discussed rebuilding lost source code and revamping controls and UI. Open that article, sign in, and add your take in its thread. Because the discussion sits under that specific piece, your comment reaches readers who are already engaged with the same topic—more useful than dropping it in an unrelated thread.

Decision criteria

  • If you want to react to a specific news item or review: comment on that article. Context is built in.
  • If you just want to read first: you can browse articles, reviews, interviews and guides without posting.
  • If you want a broader Square Enix community beyond one outlet: pair Square Insider with a large general forum such as ResetEra or a dedicated community like Reddit's game-specific subreddits.

Start by registering an account, then open any recent article and use its comment section to reply.

What are the latest Square Enix game releases covered by Square Insider?

Square Insider's recent coverage highlights three Square Enix releases from mid-2025: Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles, Bravely Default: Flying Fairy HD Remaster, and the Xbox/PC shadow-drop of Final Fantasy XVI. A cancelled title, Kingdom Hearts: Missing Link, also appears in the feed, though that is a cancellation rather than a release.

What the coverage shows

Release Platform focus What Square Insider emphasizes
Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles Returning "this fall" A re-vision rather than a simple remaster: revamped controls and UI, full voice acting, and reconstruction of lost PS1 source data using later versions like War of the Lions
Bravely Default: Flying Fairy HD Remaster Nintendo Switch 2 launch title Enhanced visuals, a revamped UI, modern conveniences, and fresh content while keeping the 2012 3DS game's art style
Final Fantasy XVI Xbox Series X|S and Xbox PC A shadow-drop during the Xbox Games Showcase, including the Rising Tide and Echoes of the Fallen DLCs

How to use this

If you are deciding what to play next, the Tactics remaster is the one to watch for its reworked interface and voice acting, while Bravely Default suits players who want a classic 3DS RPG with modern polish on new hardware. For platform choice, Final Fantasy XVI is now relevant to Xbox owners who previously had no access.

For ongoing release tracking, check Square Insider directly, since its archive sorts by date and includes reviews and interviews alongside news.

Related questions

More questions →
What Kind of Square Enix Content Can I Find on Square Insider?

Square Insider is a fan-focused news and community site covering Square Enix games, and its homepage organizes content into a few clear categories: articles, reviews, interviews, games, and guides, plus member collections and a sign-in area. If you want Square Enix news, previews, reviews, and discussion in one place, this is the type of site where you'll find them. The site's own description frames it as "Square Enix News, Previews, Reviews and Discussion."

Content categories on the site

Based on the navigation and article archive visible on the homepage, the main content types are:

  • Articles / news — short reported posts on Square Enix announcements and releases.
  • Reviews — critical write-ups of Square Enix titles.
  • Interviews — coverage of developer commentary, often sourced from official Square Enix interviews.
  • Games — a section indexing games, likely tied to the coverage.
  • Guides — how-to and reference content for specific titles.
  • Member collections — user-curated lists, which require an account to build or manage.

What the news coverage actually looks like

The homepage shows the site's editorial range through recent posts. These examples illustrate the kind of Square Enix news you can expect:

Post Date What it covers
Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles returns this fall 2025-06-17 Remaster details, including director Kazutoyo Maehiro's comments on revamped controls, UI, and full voice acting
Bravely Default: Flying Fairy HD Remaster launches on Switch 2 2025-06-11 A launch-title release with enhanced visuals, modern conveniences, and fresh content
Final Fantasy XVI shadow-dropped on Xbox Series X|S and PC 2025-06-11 An unexpected multiplatform release including two story DLCs
Square Enix cancels "Kingdom Hearts: Missing-Link" 2025-05-14 Cancellation of a mobile title, attributed to a broader strategic realignment

Two things stand out about the reporting style. First, it aggregates and summarizes official sources — for instance, the Final Fantasy Tactics piece draws on an interview published on Square Enix's official website, quoting Maehiro directly. Second, it includes production context that goes beyond a press release, such as the note that some of the original PS1 source code was lost and the team reconstructed missing pieces by examining prior releases like the PSP's War of the Lions.

Who it's for

Square Insider suits readers who want:

  • A single feed of Square Enix release news, including remasters, ports, cancellations, and shadow-drops.
  • Summaries of developer interviews without hunting through official channels.
  • Reviews and guides alongside the news, rather than a pure news wire.

It is not a general gaming site — the coverage is scoped to Square Enix and its franchises, so expect Final Fantasy, Bravely Default, Kingdom Hearts, and similar properties rather than broad industry coverage.

Practical notes

  • Account features: The homepage shows "Sign in" and "Create account," and member collections are listed as a feature. Building or saving a collection appears to require an account.
  • Pricing: The available page information does not state whether any content or membership is paid, so don't assume free access to every feature.
  • Freshness: Posts carry dates, so you can judge how current a story is before relying on it — useful for fast-moving items like shadow-drops or cancellations.

If your goal is to follow Square Enix specifically, start with the Articles and Reviews sections for reporting and criticism, and use Interviews when you want developer reasoning behind a release.

Does Square Insider Cover Games Outside of Square Enix?

Based on the site's own description and its published articles, Square Insider is focused on Square Enix. Its tagline is "Square Enix News, Previews, Reviews and Discussion," and every article visible on the homepage covers a Square Enix title or studio. There is no stated coverage of other publishers, and no non-Square Enix games appear in the available page evidence. If you are looking for coverage of Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, or third-party studios outside Square Enix, this site is not positioned as a general gaming outlet.

What the site says it covers

The site's own description is the clearest signal:

"Square Enix News, Previews, Reviews and Discussion"

That scope is narrow by design. It names one publisher and four content types — news, previews, reviews, and discussion — rather than claiming broad industry coverage.

What the published articles actually cover

The homepage articles all sit inside the Square Enix catalog:

Article Square Enix connection
Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles remaster Square Enix title; interview with director Kazutoyo Maehiro
Bravely Default: Flying Fairy HD Remaster Square Enix and developer Cattle Call
Final Fantasy XVI on Xbox Series X|S and PC Square Enix title
Kingdom Hearts: Missing-Link cancellation Square Enix mobile title

Every headline, developer credit, and platform note in the evidence ties back to Square Enix. The Final Fantasy XVI story does mention Xbox and PC platforms, but that is a Square Enix game arriving on those platforms — not coverage of another publisher's games.

What this means for you

  • If you want Square Enix news, previews, reviews, and discussion: the site matches that intent directly.
  • If you want coverage of other publishers or the wider games industry: nothing in the site description or the visible articles supports that. You would need a general gaming site instead.
  • If you want to confirm current coverage: check the Articles Archive, since the homepage only shows a snapshot of recent posts. The archive is the best place to see whether any non-Square Enix content has been published.

A caveat on the evidence

The available page evidence shows the homepage and a handful of recent articles. It does not include the full archive, so it cannot prove that zero non-Square Enix articles exist. What it does show is that the site's stated identity and its visible output are both Square Enix–centric. Treat "Square Enix only" as the working assumption and verify against the archive if the distinction matters to you.

What Does a Square Insider Membership Offer?

Square Insider is a Square Enix news and community site that includes a membership layer: the homepage shows Member collections, along with Sign in and Create account options. Based on what the site exposes publicly, a membership is best understood as an account for saving and organizing content on the site rather than a paid subscription with advertised perks. The available evidence does not list any pricing, payment platforms, or premium benefits, so there is no basis to describe it as free or paid.

What the membership layer actually includes

The only membership-related features visible on the site are:

  • Member collections — a section tied to logged-in users, most plausibly for saving or grouping articles you want to revisit.
  • Sign in — for returning users with an existing account.
  • Create account — for new users who want access to member features.

That is the full extent of what the site's public surface confirms. Anything beyond this — exclusive articles, comment privileges, newsletters, ad-free reading, or early access — is not stated in the available material and should not be assumed.

What the site publishes, member or not

Square Insider's stated focus is "Square Enix News, Previews, Reviews and Discussion." Its public content sections include:

Section What it covers
Articles News and editorial posts
Archive Older published content
Reviews Game reviews
Interviews Developer and industry interviews
Games Game-specific pages or hubs
Guides Walkthroughs and how-tos

Recent examples of the kind of coverage the site runs include a piece on Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles, reporting that director Kazutoyo Maehiro described revamped controls and UI plus full voice acting, and that parts of the original PS1 source code were lost and reconstructed using prior releases such as the PSP's War of the Lions. Other posts cover Bravely Default: Flying Fairy HD Remaster launching on Switch 2, Final Fantasy XVI arriving on Xbox Series X|S and PC, and the cancellation of Kingdom Hearts: Missing-Link.

How to decide whether to create an account

Create an account if your goal is to keep a personal set of articles — for example, tracking a review series, saving interviews you want to cite later, or building a reading list around a specific title like Final Fantasy XVI or Final Fantasy Tactics.

Skip it if you only want to read news, reviews, and guides. All of the content categories listed above appear on the public site, so an account is not required to browse.

Practical notes before signing up

  • No pricing information is published on the pages reviewed, so treat cost as unknown rather than assumed free.
  • No payment platforms are mentioned, which is consistent with an account-based rather than commerce-based membership — but this is an absence of evidence, not proof.
  • Member collections is the only named member feature. If a specific benefit matters to you (downloads, forums, ad removal), verify it after signing in rather than assuming it exists.
  • Community discussion is part of the site's stated scope, but whether commenting requires an account is not confirmed in the available material.

The short version: Square Insider membership appears to be a lightweight account for organizing content you read, not a described premium tier. Sign up if you want collections; read freely if you don't.

What Is Square Insider?

Square Insider is a fan-run news and community site focused on Square Enix games. Its own tagline describes it as covering "Square Enix News, Previews, Reviews and Discussion." If you follow Final Fantasy, Bravely Default, Kingdom Hearts, or other Square Enix franchises and want headlines, impressions, and reader discussion in one place, it's built for that audience. It is not an official Square Enix property, and nothing on the site indicates paid tiers or account requirements beyond an optional sign-in for member features.

What the site covers

The homepage organizes content into a few clear sections:

  • Articles – news posts and announcements
  • Reviews – write-ups of released games
  • Interviews – developer conversations and quotes
  • Games – a browsable index of titles
  • Guides – how-to and walkthrough-style help
  • Member collections – user-curated lists, tied to accounts

Posts carry an author byline, a date, and a comment count, so you can tell at a glance how recent and how discussed a story is.

What the coverage actually looks like

Recent posts show the mix of news and analysis the site runs:

Topic Type Date shown
Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles remaster News/analysis 2025-06-17
Bravely Default: Flying Fairy HD Remaster on Switch 2 News 2025-06-11
Final Fantasy XVI on Xbox Series X|S and PC News 2025-06-11
Kingdom Hearts: Missing-Link cancellation News 2025-05-14

The Final Fantasy Tactics piece is a good example of the site's approach: it reports on a remaster and folds in director Kazutoyo Maehiro's comments from an interview on Square Enix's official site, including the detail that some original PS1 source code was lost and had to be reconstructed from later releases like the PSP's War of the Lions. That's the pattern—aggregating official statements and adding context rather than breaking original news.

Who it's for

  • Square Enix players who want a single feed of announcements across the company's franchises
  • Readers who like discussion attached to news, via the comment threads
  • People researching a title who want reviews, guides, and a game index in one place

If you need official support, account help, or store purchases, go to Square Enix directly—Square Insider is a third-party outlet, not a service portal.

How to use it

  1. Open the homepage to see the latest posts in reverse-chronological order.
  2. Use the section links (Articles, Reviews, Interviews, Games, Guides) to narrow to the content type you want.
  3. Sign in or create an account if you want to build member collections or join discussions; browsing appears to work without it.
  4. Treat posts as secondary reporting—where a piece cites an official interview or announcement, follow that link for the primary source.

Website Overview

An established domain and managed infrastructure suggest continuity of operations and may support dependable delivery, although neither guarantees service quality. Several search or sharing settings need attention. Together they may make snippets, preview images or preferred URLs less consistent across platforms.

Domain and Registration

Registered in 2002, this domain has about 24 years of history. That suggests continuity, although ownership and purpose may have changed. Transfer-protection status is present, helping reduce the risk of unauthorized domain transfers. The registrar is NameCheap, Inc., a widely used domain service provider. The domain uses the common .com extension, which is not an independent safety signal.

DNS and Email

Nameservers are provided by hetzner.de, indicating managed DNS hosting. CAA records restrict which certificate authorities are authorized to issue certificates. No CNAME was found; the observed records resolve directly to addresses. No MX record was found. A conventional explicit inbound-mail route is not configured. DNSSEC signatures were not detected, so this additional DNS authenticity protection is not confirmed.

TLS and Certificates

The public key uses EC with 256 bits. The server supplied a complete certificate chain. No organization name is present in the certificate; the available fields are consistent with domain validation. The certificate was issued by Let's Encrypt, commonly associated with automated certificate services. The certificate's total validity is about 89 days, consistent with a short renewal cycle.

HTTP and Browser Security

The checked browser-security headers were not detected, leaving fewer explicit browser-side safeguards. No X-Powered-By header was found, reducing one common source of backend fingerprinting information. No obvious internal addresses or debug information were found in the headers. The Server header identifies nginx without an exact version. Cookie security attributes are unknown.

Technology Stack Analysis

The public page identifies jQuery, Bootstrap, nginx without precise versions, leaving fewer clues for version-specific scanning.

Search and Social Sharing

No homepage canonical URL was detected. If duplicate URLs exist, consolidation may be less explicit. No Open Graph metadata was detected, so social previews may depend on platform inference. The title has 21 characters, within a common display range. A meta description is present, with 50 characters. The observed directives allow indexing and link following.

Hosting and Email

DNShetzner.de
HostingHetzner Online GmbH
EmailUnknown
Approximate IP geolocation (inferred; a CDN or proxy may differ from the origin server) Germany flagNuremberg, Bavaria, Germany Inferred 46.225.185.215

Registration details

RDAP / WHOIS

RegistrarNameCheap, Inc.
Registered2002-03-11
Expires2027-03-11
Domain statusclient transfer prohibited
Nameservershelium.ns.hetzner.de、hydrogen.ns.hetzner.com、oxygen.ns.hetzner.com
DNSSECunsigned

DNS records

DNS

TypeNameValueTTLPriority
Asquareinsider.com46.225.185.2153600—
NSsquareinsider.comhelium.ns.hetzner.de3600—
NSsquareinsider.comhydrogen.ns.hetzner.com3600—
NSsquareinsider.comoxygen.ns.hetzner.com3600—
TXTsquareinsider.comv=spf1 include:mailgun.org ~all3600—
CAAsquareinsider.com0 issue "letsencrypt.org"3600—

TLS and certificates

TLS / SSL

AssessmentNormal configuration
Supported protocolsTLSv1.2、TLSv1.3
Negotiated protocolTLSv1.3
Certificate subjectsquareinsider.com
IssuerLet's Encrypt
Valid until2026-11-22T22:46 · Remaining when checked: 42 days
Verification detailsCertificate trust: Passed · Hostname match: Passed

HTTP response headers

HTTP

HeaderValue
content-typetext/html; charset=UTF-8
servernginx
set-cookieRedacted

Identified technologies

jQueryBootstrapnginx

Pages, Search and Sharing

Meta descriptionSquare Enix News, Previews, Reviews and Discussion
Canonical URLNot detected
LanguageEnglish (default)
Twitter CardNot detected

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