New Final Fantasy Headed to DS

Today Square Enix announced it is bringing Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light to the Nintendo DS in North America. While older Final Fantasy games have been spruced up and ported to the handheld, this will be the first original Final Fantasy game for the DS. It's being developed by Matrix Software, maker of the Final Fantasy III and IV DS remakes.

The 4 Heroes of Light is presented as a storybook adventure with illustrations and character designs from Akihiko Yoshida (Final Fantasy XII). It includes a new feature called the Action Point Combat System, which doles action points out to players during battle. Save up your action points and you can unleash more powerful attacks. There will be over 20 jobs to choose from in the Crown Job System. Your characters' appearance will change as they equip new weapons and armor.

In typical Japanese RPG fashion, you control a young boy who has to save the world from evil. The 4 Heroes of Light will include a cooperative multiplayer mode for up to four players.

Here is the official story description:
In the small kingdom of Horne, Brandt awakes on the morning of his 14th birthday. Today is the day he becomes an adult, and the custom of the realm says that he must go to the castle to present himself to the king.

Yet when he arrives at the castle, he finds the king distraught and the youngest princess missing, abducted by the Witch of the North. With no one else to turn to, the king makes a shocking request: will Brandt save the princess?

And thus Brandt's adventure begins ...

Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light will be released on October 5.