Square Enix E3 round-up

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The Japanese powerhouse of gaming that is Square Enix opted not to do a traditional press event this year, making it all the more difficult to summarise their multi-day 'Square Enix Presents' streamed content in a nutshell (you’re welcome).

​​by James Michael Parry

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@james_parry

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The event kicked off by talking about the game featured in both Microsoft and Sony’s press events: Final Fantasy XV.

​The team talked through the game in a little more detail, sharing such revelations as the fact that the box art on Xbox One and PS4 will be reversible, but there was also an extended version of the E3 trailer, a new trailer for the Kingsglaive Final Fantasy XV feature film (see below), as well as a second episode of the web-based anime series Brotherhood Final Fantasy XV.​

Elsewhere there was more to say about some of the games we've already got our hands on, including HITMAN, Just Cause 3 and celebrating Lara Croft’s 20th anniversary. The stream also explored the Minecraft-like Dragon Quest Builders, which gets players to create and battle enemies in the Dragon Quest universe, all in a fairly cartoony style.

We also got more details on the recently announced mobile game Deus Ex Go and, in particular, Deus Ex Mankind Divided. That live action trailer set the scene before the team played through a Dubai-set level in ‘aggressive’  (i.e. lots of killing), stealth and ‘adaptive’ (a bit of both) stances. ​

Our favourite augmented sunglasses-wearer, Adam Jensen, is planning to stop a smuggling deal in the abandoned ruins of a half-built hotel. There are abundant signs that this is not the same world as we saw in Human Revolution, two years having passed and a major augment incident having occurred. The gold colour scheme's a lot more muted as well.

A few new augmentations were showcased, including the Tesla gun arm, which non-lethally disables up to four enemies, in addition to a stun gun, which serves as a more close range immobiliser.
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Hacking is back and there's more depth to it this time around, making it less forgiving and more tactical than it was before. One interesting concept, used in HR but not made the most of, is that the time you spend on certain parts of the mission will have an effect on its outcome, for example an incoming sandstorm may hit and impact your escape if you don’t finish the mission quickly. In all the game looks very promising, which is reassuring since originally it would have already been released by now. Watch the mission in full below in a clip from IGN (since Square haven't uploaded the gameplay separately).

Another title which has some people excited is Mighty No. 9, the Kickstarter-backed project which is spiritually related to well known 8-bit icon Megaman. The game has a fairly friendly art style and slightly eccentric presentation, but overall should provide some tried-and-tested platforming action when it releases on Tuesday, 21 June.

Aside from an overall trailer montage which highlighted some of the other games on Square’s slate, there was more from Kingdom Hearts, including a promise of more information on Kingdom Hearts 3 this winter, and Deep Silver’s recently revealed Agents of Mayhem, which shows it as living up to its name with some personality - definitely one to keep an eye on.

Have you kept up with any of Square Enix’s streams? Leave us a comment or chat about it in the forums, and don’t forget to check out our E3 podcast, coming to an internet near you very soon!