e3 2005: Square Enix Press Conference (For Gaming-Age.com)
The primary focus of Square Enix’s E3 press conference was trailers of their upcoming titles. Beginning with Dragon Quest VIII, the montage of trailers went on to include Full Metal Alchemist 2, Radiata Stories, Romancing Saga, a World of Mana teaser, Code Age, Front Mission Online, Final Fantasy VII Snowboarding, Musashi Mobile Samurai, Hexcite Fusion, Final Fantasy XII, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, Final Fantasy VII: Before Crisis, Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core, Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerberus and, lastly, Kingdom Hearts II.
The PlayStation 2 exclusive Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King on the PlayStation 2, complete with a revised menu system and full voice acting, will be hitting North America later this year, as will Full Metal Alchemist 2: Curse of the Crimson Elixir and Radiata Stories, with Romancing Saga, a remake of the Japan-only first installment in the Saga series, also slated to eventually hit North American shores.
The World of Mana teaser was just that, flying over a lush forest and pulling back to reveal the large Mana tree of the world. No platform or release date was specified.
Spread across three mediums, Code Age is an example of what Square Enix calls polymorphic content. A manga series, entitled Code Age Archives, tells one part of the tale, the PlayStation 2 Code Age Commanders telling another with the Mobile Phone Code Age Brawls filling in more details. These titles can be enjoyed separately, though their whole tells a much broader story. What was shown in the trailer bought to mind moments of Xenogears, the characters questioning the whole of creation and the reasoning behind it all.
Front Mission Online, an action-based MMORPG, reminded many of the MechWarrior games of old. Not many details were available, but FMO is slated to hit both PS2 and PC.
Final Fantasy VII Snowboarding, Musashi Mobile Samurai and Hexcite Fusion are all part of Square Enix’s Mobile Gaming lineup aimed at cell phones, though they don’t know how they’re going to bring them over or what carriers will support them.
After a year of media blackout, it was nice to see some new media on Final Fantasy XII. Unfortunately, a CG-only trailer was shown that detailed the storyline. With rumors of a troubled production running rampant, a Square Enix representative assured us that the game was still on track and more details would be revealed in late July.
At this point, Shinji Hashimoto, Corporate Executive of Square Enix, took the stage. He explained the four Final Fantasy VII titles, the overall effort dubbed Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, were an example of polymorphic content, that is, how to take a franchise and spread original content among multiple platforms. He went on to detail that Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children would be released in Japan via DVD and UMD on September 14, 2005 and the US release, handled by Sony Pictures, would take place shortly thereafter.
Speaking on a variety of topics, he explained that Final Fantasy VII: Before Crisis, the mobile phone title, would provide an “unexpected experience,” Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core, the PSP action RPG, would feature “previously unseen gameplay” and that Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerberus, the PlayStation 2 shooter starring Vincent, is set one year after the events of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children.
Moving on, Hashimoto revealed that Kingdom Hearts II contains over 2.5 the content of the original and should be available in Winter 2005. He then showcased the expanded catalog of the Square Enix online store, including Final Fantasy VII posters, rings, cell phone straps, shirts, action figures, Dragon Quest VIII figures, Kingdom Hearts chess pieces, Full Metal Alchemist action figures, among others. As his speech concluded, Hashimoto briefly discussed the More Friends concerts, now touring the nation, as an example of Square Enix branching into other mediums.
This led into a second series of trailers, beginning with Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, the not-quite feature film set to release later this year. The trailer offered insight into both the story and showcased some very exciting action scenes, the ending hinting at the return of a familiar foe.
The Final Fantasy VII: Before Crisis trailer didn’t show much gameplay, mostly focusing on that the title is set six years before the events of Final Fantasy VII, follows the Turks and includes appearances by many familiar faces.
The first media of Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core, the first Square Enix PSP title, was described to us as “concept footage of the game setting.” From the trailer, which retold key Final Fantasy VII events in an anime-styling, we can deduce that Crisis Core is also a prequel, set in the years before Final Fantasy VII and following the events that occurred in Nibelheim. Cloud, Zack, Sephiroth and Tifa all made appearances, the trailer ending with the tagline “Three young men, and one woman all bound for destiny’s core.”
Following Crisis Core was a preview of Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerberus, showcasing the shooting gameplay and providing an overall synopsis of the plot, which features a secret ShinRa organization that’s to stop Vincent through whatever means possible.
Last was a new Kingdom Hearts II trailer that revealed one of the many new worlds featured in the game: Pirates of the Caribbean. Despite the realistic stylings of the movie, Square Enix has done a wonderful job of capturing this in the game, the characters instantly recognizable. Also shown was footage of the revised Gummi Ship ports, which now look to be far more exciting, and some real-time battle footage featuring hundreds of enemies on screen at once.
Though far from a disappointing lineup, the press conference itself left much to be desired. Details on the highly anticipated titles, namely Final Fantasy XII and Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core, were sparse and offered little insight. Most of what was announced was already known, giving the entire event an aura of “been there, done that.” Regardless, Square Enix certainly has some quality titles on the way - be sure to check back soon for hands on impressions of their upcoming games.