Last year, the presentation of Square Enix at E3 was a huge disaster. Square Enix had to make up for the mistakes made last year, today they won’t come with trailers we’ve seen before. The company has a lot of amazing games down the pipeline and that’s exactly what they were here to show. No unnecessary talking but a showcase filled with great games we were waiting for was what we got after all the long waiting.
Square Enix isn’t messing around this time
Right from the start Square Enix demonstrated they were here to make things right with their fans. They started off by showcasing the most-anticipated remake of Final Fantasy VII, which looked incredible. Without going into full details here (see our summary for that), this couldn’t have been a better start for the showcase. They demonstrated that one game everybody was hoping to see and the gameplay that was shown truly left its mark. The company clearly knows what’s its doing and it’s handling their franchises with the respect they deserve. Quickly after this first amazing reveal, we learned this was only the start. Square Enix wanted to do things differently by showcasing more actual gameplay than some CGI trailers, a formula that worked in their favor for sure.
After that first big reveal, Square Enix fell back to a new strategy, showcasing trailers of games already in stores and other (un)announced games like Life is Strange 2, Crystal Chronicles, and Romancing Saga 3. Now, this wasn’t a problem at all as it kept the pacing right into the presentation, which was unfolding magical painting after magical painting, always taking us to a new upcoming game. What was most interesting about this approach was the fact that Square Enix managed to squeeze in a couple of surprise releases and overall new gameplay for some unannounced titles. It looked like a combination of a Nintendo Direct presentation and a regular live showcase, an interesting approach and by far one of the better presentations we’ve seen this E3. It’s clear that Square Enix learned from last year’s mistake as this is a way better way to hype up your fans. They continued showing a wide variety of game throughout the entire show. Ranging from DLC additions and expansion for some of their most popular games to updates of anticipated games, and the biggest hitter was still kept as icing on the cake.
Avengers Assemble
By the time we got to the last big reveal of this evening, we saw new updates on Oninaki and even got some surprise reveals of new upcoming games Outriders and the Final Fantasy VIII remaster. Needless to say, the audience was hyped at that point but nothing compares to the reveal of the Marvel Avengers game by Crystal Dynamics. The game looked incredible and offers a different take on the franchise. These aren’t the same Avengers as seen in cinemas, it’s the developers own take on the heroes, of course, under the guidance of Marvel. What’s amazing here is the fact that this will be an own unique Avengers game, following its own story. Not a lot of gameplay was shown just yet but from what we’ve seen, you better prepare for a lot of variation and intense battles. What’s interesting is the fact that it’s an online co-op game where you team up with others to free the world from danger. The developers promised no lootboxes, no pay to win, and no extra DLC post-launch. This truly looks like the game everybody was hoping for and fans simply couldn’t wish for a better ending of this stellar showcase.
Conclusion:
Square Enix clearly learned its lesson and brought us one of the most interesting and spectacular Square Enix showcases we’ve seen in years. The company has an amazing portfolio of upcoming games including the Final Fantasy VIII and Avengers games as big hitters, but it doesn’t stop there. Square Enix made sure the fans knew they were here to impress during E3 as they dropped surprise after surprise. They delivered what the fans were hoping for and more, as a showcase, this was one of the best shows we’ve seen this E3.
