E3 2019 Impressions: Square Enix makes gamers dreams come true

When Square Enix announced that they would fill in the primetime spot that Sony left vacant at this years E3, many were left wondering if Square had enough material to show. To be fair, their past E3‘s have been disappointing, lacking in new exciting announcements and uninspiring presentations. Fast forward to 2019, and everything aligned perfectly for them. Two of the most anticipated game’s ever and a vacant prime time spot to show em off in, and they didn’t disappoint with many other surprises also.

Since it’s tech demo during the launch of the PS3, gamers have been pleading to Square Enix for a modern remake. After many delays it seemed like an impossible dream, but now here we are and the wait seems worth it. Fans were hoping for a lengthy trailer and some gameplay, and we got the trailer and a lot of gameplay plus an actual release date in less than a year!

Square Enix started their press conference with a bang! Showing the start screen of the original FF7 and launching into what seems to be beginning of the remade game, it transitioned from in game cutscene straight to gameplay seamlessly. The remade modern graphics are so impressive they seemed like the Advent Children movie in real time. Most of us were left in awe as we saw how they modernized the combat and the reveal of fan favorite Tifa Lockheart. There were worries about if they would change the game too much, but those worries were put to rest as the game feels and looks faithful to the original with modernized mechanics.

It was a real crowd pleaser, as they were cheering in excitement with every announcement of the highly anticipated remake. For many of us it felt like a surreal moment, as if we were re-experiencing the 1997 launch all over again. That’s the beauty of well made remakes of fan favorites, they take you back to that special moment that you cherish so much and get relive it. Even though it will be launched in separate parts, the game looks so impressive that we’re willing to adapt to this change, and even buy that ridiculously overpriced collectors edition of $350! The wait is almost over, the dream has come true, it’s time to party like its 1997 again!

That moment alone felt like it could‘ve been the whole conference, but Square Enix had many more surprises in store including another gamer dream game. Ever since the first Avengers movie, we’ve been wanting a modern day high end video game of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes! The Batman Arkham game’s showed us that if the right developers make a licensed game with enough passion and care, it could turn out to be really special. When Square Enix was announced to be the ones to make a serious Avengers game, expectations went through the roof.

After almost 2 years since it was first revealed, we finally got a glimpse to the game. Our favorite main Avengers are all present with the exception of one, Hawkeye. It was all shown with impressive in game graphics with cinematic storytelling. The character models at first looked weird because they look really different from the real life actors, but maybe that was the goal to differentiate themselves from the live action movies. Some gameplay was shown and features announced like cooperative play and live service regular updates with new heroes and missions free of charge. A release date for 2020 was shown and gamers couldn’t be more excited to play it before the end of this console generation.

Now when it comes to updates to current games and some surprises, Square did not disappoint either. Major updates to popular games such as Final Fantasy XIV, Brave Exvius, Kingdom Hearts 3 and Life is strange 2 were announced with release dates later this year and early next year. Also a new game was announced from developers People Can Fly, a shooter called Outriders. Lastly, various updated ports were shown to be coming soon to current consoles like Final Fantasy 8, FF Crystal Chronicles, Romancing Saga 3, Infinite Undiscovery, among others.

The variety of games was very welcome and appreciated and filled the vacated prime time spot very nicely. There were no empty promises as we were given what we expected and even more. Square Enix put on a great show with a lot to look forward to, standing toe to toe with Microsoft and Nintendo this year, so here’s to hoping that it’s only the beginning of many great E3’s from them! Now to relive that epic 1997 moment and feel like a kid again.