Square Enix E3 2019 report card: Final Fantasy, Marvel’s Avengers and more

With Square Enix’s E3 2019 conference wrapping up, here are the games showcased along with the highlights and news regarding upcoming releases.

It was no surprise that the conference was to start with an all-out showcasing of the Final Fantasy VII Remake. We didn’t get just another snippet of a cut scene; we got a lot of gameplay and a good idea of how the game runs. Aside from being put into two Blu-ray discs, it’s understandable given how much detail was put into the graphics, the quality of the remastered music, and combat mechanics.

Cloud and Barret taking on that scorpion sentinel just brought back so much nostalgia in a much more beautiful and deeper lens. I’m jealous people at the event can actually get their hands on a playable demo at the booths.

After announcing as much as they can, the presentation went into a rapid-fire reel of upcoming and current games. We were shown Life is Strange 2, which is already out but seemed to be poorly placed right after the best contender of the show. After a steep slow down in pace, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles is getting a remaster for the Switch and PlayStation 4; it’s even coming to Android and iOS.

Sadly, I started to lose interest, even with the announcements of Crystal Chronicles and even The Last Remnant getting remastered editions. Adding to the remasters, Dragon Quest XI is getting the enhancement treatment coming to the Switch, but we knew about it already too. At least we’re also getting Dragon Quest Builders 2 next month.

Then came the indies showcase in which we were treated to a top-down racing game titled Circuit Superstars. It looked somewhat neat. It wasn’t particularly too spectacular, but probably a good party game of some sorts. We also were shown Battalion 1944, a World War II first-person shooter. It looked rather smooth and felt very nostalgic to the period in which gaming was riddled with many generic World War shooters.

To add more Final Fantasy goodness to this presentation, many of the games’ original soundtracks are available now on major music streaming services! It somewhat eliminates the need to go to YouTube and find OST compilation playlists.

Coming this winter, Kingdom Hearts III is getting an expansion, titled ‘ReMIND.’ It wasn’t the best trailer, but the most I got out of it was being able to play as Roxas again, so that was neat.

Then the next big showcasing of Square Enix’s presentation was the showcase of Final Fantasy XIV Online‘s next expansion, coming July 2. It was said to have as much content as there would be in a standalone game, so FFXIV fans should be hyped for it. Two new classes and races are to be added in it as well.

Adding to the rapid-fire showcases of upcoming games, we saw the fluid parkouring of Dying Light 2. But then we got Romancing SaGa 3 and SaGa: Scarlet Grace Ambitions coming to western regions. For all you mobile game fans, War of the Visions: Final Fantasy Brave Exvius is now in development, so there’s that. There’s also more world building to the world of Lapis.

We then got a look into Outriders; a People Can Fly title. It feels heavily reminiscent of their more notable games like Gears of War: Judgment and Bulletstorm. It looks somewhat interesting, but then maybe a victim to just being another generic shooter. Enemy and character designs look very crisp, but sadly, it was mostly just another cinematic trailer. Hopefully, more will be shown of it soon.

Another wave of hype to give to the crowd was the announcement of Final Fantasy VIII Remastered. It is set for a 2019 release to all current consoles and Steam.

Then to conclude the show, we were finally shown Marvel’s Avengers. It looks pretty, and the plot building seems very neat, but the models and voice actors do not give the MCU original six Avengers much justice.

The best of Square Enix’s presentation:

• Lots of Final Fantasy VII Remake news and gameplay
• Square Enix music now being on major streaming services
• FFXIV Online Shadowbringers expansion
• FFVII Remastered coming this year

The worst:

• The Life is Strange 2 trailer should not have been placed between two Final Fantasy games
• Many trailers shown were of things that we’ve already seen
• The Marvel’s Avengers debut was rather weak in presentation
• No Babylon’s Fall

Just one more conference to go with Nintendo Direct setting up E3 2019 proper!