#E3WithWGL: Square Enix Conference – Gamer’s POV (@MissElise84)

Ah yes, E3. A holiday where video game enthusiasts young and old, rich or poor, near and far, can all come together to celebrate the announcement of new and exciting games, or the continuance of a beloved franchise. Today I shall present to you Square Enix’s E3 2015 conference! Let’s get started, shall we?

We start this gaming convention off with an opening statement from the CEO of Square Enix Americas and Europe himself, Phil Rogers! He believes that this will be a remarkable next twelve months for the company; they have been more open-minded in how they support projects/teams and how they interpret feedback about games (for example, the upgraded demo for Final Fantasy XV)! He goes on to talk about how Square Enix is unique in the variety and depth of the experiences they create with their video games; all of which ultimately provide a richer gaming experience for players like you and I.

     Avalanche Studios’ hotly anticipated and explosive title, Just Cause 3, was the opening act for Square Enix this year. According to the game’s director, Roland Lesterlin, they pride themselves on pushing the limits of open world games; they want to make this the greatest game in the franchise. Just Cause 3’s toolbox will include a winged suit which will bestow players with greater vertical freedom, including the ability to slingshot while in midair or cancel while airborne. Another item of interest for Just Cause 3 players: infinite C4 and grenades! Boom, boom! Set to release globally on the PlayStation 4, Xbox 1, and PC on December 1, 2015, you can check out the crazy detailed trailer below for more information!

Rolling right along, we have a sneak preview of the Nier new project by Yosuke Saito (producer), Yoko Taro (director), and Atsushi Inaba (producer).

For those unaware, NieR is an action role-playing game released in April 2010 which chronicles the adventures of the main protagonist, Nier. His mission? Seek out a cure for the Black Scrawl illness in order to save his daughter. During their presentation, Square Enix announces that Platinum Games will be taking over where Cavia left off five years ago with this new Nier project. In a blog post by Yosuke Saito (found here), he writes that after the initial release of Nier, they noticed that there were “numerous points they needed to reflect on”. That being said, any issues seen with the previous title should be resolved with this new venture. Additional information should be available this Fall!

Before I go any further, I would just like to show everyone how Yoko Taro came dressed on stage:

Very amusing! This makes me more interested in what this game will have to offer in the future! Okay. Let’s continue…

 Next off, we have the game director at Crystal Dynamics, Brian Horton, talking about their next installment in the Tomb Raider series: Rise of the Tomb Raider.

They opened by giving a behind the scenes look at the intricacies of making of Lara Croft (check it out here). Brian Horton says that players can expect a massive gameplay space in a beautiful yet hostile environment. Tombs will be coming back to Tomb Raider in this upcoming title! Can you spot the tomb in the trailer *Dora blink*?

While we’re still on the subject of Lara Croft, the next presenter, Square Enix Montreal’s Head of Studio, Patrick Naud, is introducing a new mobile game: Lara Croft Go! According to Naud, unique concepts, intuitive controls, and iconic visuals are monumental to creating AAA mobile games. He promises that this turn based game will offer gorgeous visuals, a mesmerizing soundtrack, and challenging gameplay. All of this offered in a mobile game? I definitely cannot wait to give this title a try.

Up next, we have Shinji Hashimoto, the executive producer of the Kingdom Hearts series. He opens up this segment of the conference with a trailer for the remake of Final Fantasy VII and an announcement that the game will be coming to iOS before the end of summer (curious to see what that entails). The promise has been made, ladies and gentlemen. FF VII fans can expect more information about the remake this winter.

Now for the segment of this conference that I care about the most. KINGDOM HEARTS.

I ALMOST CRIED AT THIS EXACT MOMENT.

What is shown in the above preview was Kingdom Hearts: Unchained, a mobile game available only in Japan at the moment. Like all of the previous smaller titles in the series, this mobile game will further advance the Kingdom Hearts narrative. We can expect to see this title hit North America in the future!

What happened next nearly caused me to have a heart attack.

O.M.G.

O.M.G. WE HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR MORE INFORMATION OR AT LEAST A TRAILER SINCE E3 OF 2013! It’s finally here!

Players of the beloved franchise can expect to see Tangled added to the catalog of worlds available in the next/last installment of the Kingdom Hearts series. I am personally hoping that Frozen gets added to the roster of available worlds!

This trailer is too amazing for words! You can see Sora, Donald, and Goofy battle against all new Heartless with a new set of combos and a very intriguing new Keyblade (it seems to turn into a gun. AWESOME!).

During the final moments of Mr. Hashimoto’s portion of this presentation, he presents an adorable, new gameplay trailer full of chibi characters! The game is called World of Final Fantasy. Based on the opening 5 seconds of the trailer, I already know that I will spending my hard earned coin to purchase this title in 2016.

Slated to release on December 8, 2015 digitally, the creative director of Hitman (Io-Interactive), Christian Petersen, says that this creative, stealth action game will take the player around the world to assassinate your targets with complete freedom of approach! Players get to decide the where, when, and who of taking out their targets as well as how they carry it out. The possibilities are endless so get as creative as you would like! Check out the gameplay trailer below!

Square Enix begins wrapping up their conference with a gameplay trailer for Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness. You can expect this title to hit shelves for the PlayStation 3 and 4 in 2016.

Rounding home, we have Eidos Montreal’s Deus Ex: Mankind Divided! Gamers can expect this title to be released in early 2016 to the PlayStation 4, Xbox 1, and PC. Never forget, you #CantKillProgress.

Square Enix’s E3 conference comes to a conclusion with an announcement from the President and CEO of Square Enix holding’s, Yosuke Matsuda: a brand new studio named Tokyo RPG Factory has been created. They are currently working on a secret venture named Project Setsuna which will be coming to a new console (what?!?) in 2016.

Although no special presentation was made for these titles, they did receive a small trailer in the middle of the conference – Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward, Life is Strange, and Dragon Quest Heroes: The World Tree’s Woe and the Blight Below. In the opening PowerPoint, I noted two very interesting facts about two of these titles…

• Final Fantasy XIV’s expansion, Heavensward, will introduce a new Primal, Bismarck, who first appeared in Final Fantasy VI as a water-based stand-in for Leviathan. It will be available for purchase on June 23, 2015.
• Dragon Quest Heroes: The World Tree’s Woe and the Blight Below is tied for the longest English game name in the series at its 51 character title with Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors.

That’s all folks! You can check out Square Enix’s full E3 conference here! To the people at Square Enix, I have only a few words for you: