Square-Enix is among the last companies to present at E3 this year, but you wouldn’t know it when the likes of Final Fantasy VII’s monolithic remake and Hitman were announced in previous shows as third party titles of interest. Find out what other surprises Square-Enix had up its sleeve with the show’s highlights below.
The show opened with an explosion montage of Just Cause 3. A presenter promised stronger and more prolonged support for games in the future, such as the aforementioned Just Cause 3 thanks to the fans continuing to play. Avalanche Studios spoke briefly about putting sandbox games back into next gen. A trailer showed off a wind suit to fly along with an updated grapple hook. 400 square miles of complete freedom to fly around were promised. The story begins with Rico’s desire to return to his homeland to its normal state following the appearance of a dictator. December 1st this year on Xbox One, PS4, and PC. It’s going to “revolutionize the genre, one explosion at a time”. Uh, good luck with that one.
Nier
Footage of a project produced by Yosuke Saito and developed by Platinum Games called was shown. Many other big names involved like Taro Yoko of Nier/Drakengard fame. It’s…a new Nier game on PS4! Our editor-in-chief picked a good day to sleep in. The game won’t be ready for a while and has no release date or official title, but the team states they’re hard at work. Mr. Saito acknowledged the tremendous fan support that led to the game’s existence.
Rise of the Tomb Raider
Another new trailer for Xbox One was shown. Lara’s latest hits shelves on November 10 this year. Developers spoke at length about Lara’s character model and the extent to which the team wants to make her “believable and life-like”. They also want to put the “tombs” back in “Tomb Raider”.
Square Enix Montreal is bringing some of its IPs to mobile. Hitman Go and Hitman Sniper were discussed and a new game called Lara Croft Go was shown.
Shinji Hashimoto introduced the same Final Fantasy VII remake trailer we saw at Sony’s conference last night. More information was promised for this winter. In related news, Final Fantasy VII PC Edition is coming to iOS by the end of the summer.
Kingdom Hearts III? Nah, it’s Kingdom Hearts Unchained Key for iPhone and Android. It features heavily stylized character art. Looks like good fun based on the bits of gameplay footage shown. Its story links directly to Kingdom Hearts III and will be available in Japan and North America.
Speaking of Kingdom Hearts III, a trailer was finally shown! Footage of Sora roughing up foes with Goofy and his keyblade were shown in spanking detail. Locations ranged from fields to cities. Some of the summons looked like Disney rides. The game is said to have a massive scope. As an aside, Tangled is in Kingdom Hearts III.
A World of Final Fantasy trailer, also from last night’s conference, was shown again. The game takes place in a whole new universe. The game is looking to appeal to as wide an audience as possible to familiarise new players with the ever-expanding universe of Final Fantasy. Players and monsters form towers to engage in battles. They’re aiming for a 2016 release.
Hitman
The new Hitman is called…well, “Hitman”. New locations, missions, and hits will be released at regular intervals. Some targets only surface once and are gone forever. The tagline is “Enter a world of assassination” and it’s been described as a stealth-action sandbox game. The player decides what, where, and how to infiltrate. It releases digitally on December 8.
Star Ocean
The new Star Ocean project from tri-Ace was shown, subtitled “Integrity and Faithlessness”. The project’s producer confirmed that the game will release in North America and Europe on PS4. A new trailer showed off the player’s party roaming through churches, beaches, cities, temples, caves, and, of course, space. The game will have seamless events such as cutscenes, battles, etc. The goal was to rid the feeling that the player is a passive participant. A larger cast than ever was teased. It comes out winter 2015 in Japan and 2016 for North America and Europe.
Deus Ex
The new Deus Ex is called Mankind Divided and runs on a brand new engine. It takes place in 2015 and Jensen has a ton of new tools at his disposal. Choices made as a player will affect the story as it unfolds and determine the ending. An in-game trailer was shown featuring a good deal of action. It comes out early 2016 on PC, Xbox One, and PS4.
Square Enix’s president introduced the Final Fantasy Portal App. An English version comes out this summer.
Project Setsuna
A new RPG project being developed by a newly-established studio called Tokyo RPG Factory was shown. It’s a console JRPG and is planned for a global release in 2016. Only concept art was shown but it sure looked pretty.
Conclusion
The show concluded with a montage of everything that’s been presented today as a representative of each came onto the stage. Square-Enix wished everyone a great E3.
What did you think of Square-Enix’s conference?
Anime Editor
