Square Enix Conference Round Up

Phew.  I was a bit overwhelmed with the sheer number of awesome games that were revealed and teased. Day two started out with Square Enix’s first conference at E3 in a long time. The night prior at Sony’s conference, they revealed the Final Fantasy VII Remake was coming first to PlayStation 4. The reaction was spectacular, along with a Shenmue III Kickstarter reveal that also rocked the show. Square Enix had some ground swell to capitalize on after the Sony conference and for the most part, I feel as if they have delivered. It all started with a quick trailer for Just Cause 3, which looks as explosive and ridiculous as it always has been. Square spared no time to try and build themselves up on their recent change in their public opinion, followed up by a minor reveal of their smaller developer project, Square Enix Collective. There was nothing immediately revealed but I’ll be investigating more about this at a later point in time.

Just Cause 3 looks to be an explosively good time!
Just Cause 3 looks to be an explosively good time!

As a follow up to the trailer played at the begining, Just Cause 3 will be released Dec 1st of this year. A gameplay video was shown and it looks like this game will be one of the big ones to beat this holiday season. I think the action junkie in me is going to have a real ball making things blow up in spectacular fashion! They also are working on Mad Max the game this year and I hope it is every bit as explosive as this reveal was.

I was entirely unprepared for what came next. I almost fell off my seat. A sequel to the oddly wonderful Nier was revealed in short teaser with some beautiful piano work and a female character holding an oddly shaped sword. It appears that Platinum Games (developers of Bayonetta and Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance) will be developing the game along with Takahisa Taura (director of Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance) as composer Keiichi Okabe (who composed the wonderful soundtracks for both Drakengard and the original Nier) and Yoko Taro (director of both Drakengard and Nier). I have so many questions I want answered about this game but I’ll have to wait for either Gamescom or Tokyo Game Show for more because the trailer ends with “More information Fall 2015”  quite the tease.  Yoko Taro then came on stage to discuss the game a bit wearing a creepy character mask from the game itself.

A small glimpse of a new Character, a direct sequel to Nier is coming!
A small glimpse of a new character, a direct sequel to Nier is coming!

To keep the pace going, they showed off a beautiful gameplay trailer for Rise of Tomb Raider and a small behind the scenes video from Crystal Dynamics. After seeing gameplay from the Microsoft conference I have a ton of faith for this game. Noticing a trend? Square Enix is really trying to establish trust again through its diverse catalog. A great example of this is what they’re doing with the Hitman franchise.

Lara Croft Go was then shown off and as the name implies, the game is a turn based mobile game. Not many details but a nice art style was shown. This was followed by a snappy montage of different games Square Enix is bringing out soon, including Final Fantasy XIV Heavensward, Life is Strange, Dragon Quest Heroes (a Dynasty Warriors game with characters from various Dragon Quest games). The Final Fantasy VII Remake trailer was shown again, which only further reinforced my desire for this game. What came next almost turned me off from the conference but then pulled me back in full.

The long awaited Kingdom Hearts III looks fantastic!
The long awaited Kingdom Hearts III looks fantastic!

The next segment involved the long awaited Kingdom Hearts III. The way it was played up brought forth my thirst for more information from the series. What was revealed was Kingdom Hearts X Unchained, a mobile game. I’m slightly embarrassed to admit that I fumed a bit and felt led on. Suddenly the rug was pulled from under my feet and Kingdom Hearts III gameplay trailer revealing that the world of Tangled will be a playable area. The gameplay that was shown was just beautiful. The animations were smooth, the world was colorful and had a huge feeling of depth. The use of Disney rides as summons and finishers just looks downright fantastic. Sora’s new outfit was revealed along with what appears to be Twilight Town. Sora also utilized what appears to be the flow motion system from Dream Drop Distance, so combat is going to be very dynamic. The gameplay also teases a bit of the story involving two of the games backdrop characters. Man this looks great!

The same trailer for the previously revealed World of Final Fantasy. It’s a good showing of how they’re trying to evolve the Final Fantasy franchise. Evolving another series that has been around for a long time, Hitman, Io Entertainment played a story trailer that also displays a wide variety of how to get the job done. I love this franchise so it’s great to see the game opening up so much. Speaking of franchises that I love, Sleeping Dogs is getting a follow up game known as Triad Wars. This was only briefly teased but it’s good to know the series is still alive.

This might be the first start ocean I have an interest in,
This might be the first Star Ocean I have an interest in.

Phew. I’m getting tired from all the cool stuff. Square had more though. What was shown next also caught me a bit off gaurd: Star Ocean Integrity and Faithlessness which is going to be exclusive to the PlayStation 4 and will feature seamless transition from exploration to combat and story. It’s scheduled for release in Japan in winter 2015 and 2016 for the US and Europe. More RPGs to look forward to are always a good thing! Something that I’ve been waiting for for months surfaced. 

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided. There was gameplay captured by Eidos Montreal from the PlayStation 4 version of the game and IT IS GLORIOUS. The video featured not only new augmentations, but also weapon customization, stealth and gun-play. All which looked refined and smooth. Human Revolution was a marvelous game so my expectations are through the roof.

This game will probably eat all of my time! It looks amazing!
This game will probably eat up all of my time! It looks amazing!

On a final note, Square Enix announced the creation of a new studio “Tokyo RPG Factory” with a focus on creating Japanese RPGs, and a new project known only as “Project SETSUNA”. We’ll get more details later. But for now, Square Enix has brought their A-game and their future looks bright.