The 2019 Square Enix E3 Conference Summary
A big showing from Square Enix this year and a much more enjoyable show than in previous years. Lots of good titles and unlike most of the conferences this year, plenty of gameplay.
- They kicked things off with a huge showing for the Final Fantasy VII remake. A couple of trailers and a deep dive into how combat works were all gobbled up by fans faster than a Labrador eats a dropped sausage. It was an impressive showing and sure to ease the worries of fans. The only sticking point I feel will be real-time combat which might put off the JRPG purists out there. Otherwise, it looks like a winner.
- Next on show was the full season trailer for Life is Strange 2. The trailer was a bit weird with streamer reactions built in. But hey it celebrates a good game so I can live with that.
- We then moved on to Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Remastered. Coming to every system known to man.
- A brief Octopath Traveller for PC trailer was then followed by the announcement of The Last Remnant Remaster on Switch. Got some buzz in the crowd for sure.
- Now onto something with a bit more meat on its presentation bones, Dragon Quest Builders 2. A healthy sized gameplay trailer with a wonderfully “proper” narrator. It looks to be a huge expansion on what the first game offered so it is sure to please fans.
- Following this, we had some titles from the Square Enix Collective, Square’s indie program. The first title was a top-down racing game called Circuit Superstars and the second a WW2 shooter called Battalion 1944. Both look like high-quality titles, though I find it hard to get excited about the second one.
- While it happened a couple of days ago, Square went on to announce that a mountain of their soundtracks are hitting music streaming services with a cool little ad. Worth a watch.
- We were then treated to some news about Kingdom Hearts 3 DLC and a new expansion for FFIV online. The KH trailer didn’t really explain much and the FF Online trailer was a massive production that made no sense to anyone except FF Online players. Good news for fans though that is for sure.
- Techland got to show off some more of Dying Light 2 next, with a focus on the movement. Sadly though I cannot find the trailer anywhere on the web, so here is a new interview with Tymon Smektała, lead designer on Dying Light 2 instead.
- A couple more quick announcements with a previously Japan-only title coming to the west. Romancing SaGa 3 and follow up SaGa Scarlet Grace: Ambitions both hitting our shores.
- We then got the reveal of People Can Fly’s new title, Outriders with a stylish cinematic trailer and some developer chatter. It is a co-op shooter for 1-3 people in a dark setting. It looks quite cool but it is hard to say for sure without gameplay. Coming mid-next year so I think we will see gameplay before long.
- This was followed by the announcement of an FFVIII remaster, with upscaled graphics and a fresh lick of paint. It is the original game however and not a full-blown re-do like the FFVII remake. Fans will be happy though because it seems like this has been a bit of a forgotten title in the franchise until now.
- Finally, we got to the Avengers. Coming out May 15 next year, you will be able to play as everyone in the classic Avengers line-up except poor old Hawkeye. Hulk, Thor, Iron Man, Black Widow and Cap will be at your disposal in a 3rd person action game. The sad thing is that despite it being playable at E3, there was no gameplay footage in the conference. Just quick cuts and cinematics. I am really not sure on this one, something about the presentation has me worried. I could be very wrong but it feels a little off. Prove me wrong Crystal Dynamics, please.
So that is it for Square Enix. A solid showing with some crowd-pleasing titles.
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