Final Fantasy 8/7 Birth by Avengers Chronicles ReMaster – An E3 Square Enix 2019 Press Conference Recap

Here we are again on a Monday night in June waiting for Sony to take the E3 stage. *checks notes* Oh….Square Enix? Do they have anything not releasing 7 years from now? I’ll take your word for it. Here we go!

FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE

– The conference begins with the menu screen of Final Fantasy VII and drops down to “REMAKE”. Trailer zooms in on Aerith (come at me Aeris stans) and the introduction to the first mission of Cloud riding the train without his boarding pass.

– Yoshinori Kitase, producer of Final Fantasy VII Remake, comes to the stage to introduce the game.

– The same loud crowd member from Bethesda may be here as well with a quick “YEAAAH!”.

– The Midgar section of Final Fantasy VII is able to stand as its own game and promises not to disappoint anyone whether it old fans or new.

– Neal Pabon, senior manager of product marketing, comes on stage to walk us through some gameplay.

– Battle system includes a tactical mode that slows down time once the ATB bar is full and allows for different abilities, materia spells or items.

– Barrett joins the fray showcasing some of his potential along with switching characters, but no Tifa much to the disappointment of the crowd.

– Combat looks like it could be fun. Swift and plenty of options at your disposal while also including the surrounding for barriers and whatnot. All of this is best shown during the battle with the Scorpion Sentinel. Check out the trailer to see everything in action. Beautiful all around at the very least.

– Director of the remake, Tetsuya Nomura takes the stage (I imagined him wearing more belts) as well for some ego stroking from Kitase praising working with him again on this remake.

– Nomura coyly asks if people really want to play the game leading to applause. Demo available at the booth, but if you can’t play it there, tough luck.

– Oh well, here’s another trailer (the release date trailer from the other day) but an extended version.

– More combat, Aerith in battle as well, along with Marlene…AND TIFA! You sly dogs.

– Tifas’ clothing based off the original game, not Advent Children. The design still works and she still kicks ass.

– Finally, a showdown between Cloud and Sephiroth in a fiery alleyway before he disappears.

– Will launch episodic, with the first coming on March 3, 2020.

Life Is Strange 2

– New trailer for Life is Strange. Gameplay mixed in with streamer reactions about how emotional it makes them.

– I haven’t played this newest season yet….and feel like I’m being spoiled. Either way, it appears to have good reviews because they keep sprinkling the quotes throughout the trailer.

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Remastered

– Time for more Final Fantasy, but on phones!

– On Android and iOS this Winter.

Octopath Traveler

– Octopath Traveler trailer showcasing review quotes from the Nintendo Switch version.

– Download it now on Steam!

The Last Remnant Remastered

– Trailer for The Last Remnant Remastered. Available now on Switch for $19.99!

Dragon Quest Builders 2

– God I love the Dragon Quest aesthetic. You should too.

– Coming out on PS4 on July 12th with playable demo on June 27th.

Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age

– Coming to Nintendo Switch this Fall.

– If you don’t like the new look, revert it to the classic retro a la Halo Anniversary but with Dragon Quest. Same with the music.

Square Enix Indies

– Taking a look back at games they released in previous years such as Deadbeat Heroes, Tokyo Dark, and Boundless. I’ve heard of a few….not sure if that is a good thing regarding their indies.

– They show some coming out in 2020 including:

• Motorsport arcade racer Circuit Superstars, reminds me of the Micro Machines game on SNES in a way.
• First person multiplayer military shooter Battalion 19/44: Eastern Front available now on Steam. Another one of those games.

Square Enix Music

– Streaming music on apps such as Spotify, Amazon Music, and more. Time to get my “Otherworld” theme going on the way to work.

Kingdom Hearts III DLC – Re Mind

– I never know what’s going on with Kingdom Hearts games, and it’s no different with this trailer.

– Dramatic music with moving lips but LARGE GIANT FONT for dialogue with lots of questions between characters.

– Coming this Winter.

Final Fantasy XIV Online: Shadowbringers

– Naoki Yoshida, producer and director of Final Fantasy XIV, takes the stage now.

– This expansion brings new races and jobs while also bringing enough stand-alone content for a typical RPG.

– Time for a world premier trailer for Shadowbringers. Lots of creepy flying creatures and angels.

– Drops on July 2nd.

Dying Light 2

– Trailer for Dying Light 2.

– You know what’s more frightening than zombies? A room full of mannequins. Least they are easier to run and parkour away from.

– Showcases some parkour action and human murder.

Romancing SaGa 3 and SaGa Scarlet Grace Ambitions

– Coming to the West. Haven’t played them before. I’m sure they wouldn’t bring them over if they were bad, right?

War of the Visions: Final Fantasy Brave Exvius

– New spinoff from the mobile game Final Fantasy Brave Exvius and taking place in the same world.

– Now in development. If you are announcing it, I would hope it’s being developed.

Outriders

– People Can Fly! Bringing us a new game in Summer 2020 called Outriders.

– Not many Bulletstorm and Gears of War Judgement fans in the audience based on the limited woo’s when those games were mentioned…

– Developer video on Outriders. People Can Fly love shooters and have made this game to be played with friends or solo. Play with up to two other people in a drop in/drop out game.

– World looks cool. Eager to see more. Hoping for my dick to be killed again from this team.

Oninaki

– Something something reincarnation.

– Comes out August 22nd.

Final Fantasy VIII Remaster

– It’s finally here! They didn’t lose the source code or whatever excuse had been made for years! Time for people to appreciate one of the more underrated Final Fantasies including some of the best music in the series. Time for me to buy it again….sometime in 2019.

Marvel’s Avengers

– Here it is. Long time coming from Crystal Dynamics and Eidos Montreal. Appears you just can’t keep a good helicarrier in the sky.

– Single player or four-player co-op from the sounds of it.

– Tragedy strikes causing the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes to disband. Five years later, a threat brings them back together again. Captain America. Thor. Hulk. Black Widow. Iron Man.

– Video showing the cast where they describe their characters. Cool to see everyone involved, even though you could have guessed a few of them with no context, but didn’t add much since we know who the hell these characters are after 22 films or whatever in the past 15 years.

– Miniscule trailer where you really get the feeling that Nathan Drake…I mean Tony Stark has lost all hope with being a hero. Why couldn’t this have been part of the initial trailer?

– The game will have new heroes and new regions for free after the game launches. No lootboxes or pay-to-win scenarios. Real awesome to hear. Makes me wonder how this game is structured even more now.

– Teaming up with PlayStation with early access and some perks detailed later down the road.

– Another trailer with Hank Pym shrinking a giant robot. It’s CUTE!

– May 15, 2020 release date. Yet another game to add to the 2020 deluge of video games.

That’s a wrap on Square Enix. I imagine quite a few people are pleased, especially if you love Final Fantasy games. I mean…that was half their conference basically. Not half bad if I say so myself, especially after last year.

Nintendo tomorrow!