Please! Do not ask for these! This was a personal job, not
outsourcing the work to other people. If you want me to work out
something for you, I will do so for money only.
It's time for some E3 2021 news!
And by E3, I mean the digital version of E3's announcements.. which is basically what 99% of the world received every year actually. No live con. But we kept all the cringe one man shows and talk shows... Yes. Not that great.
And you know what isn't that great? The games. All the games announced so far.
This is me trying to get motivated for a few upcoming stuff.
Maybe I'm just getting a bit... tired of it all? I dunno...
Honestly nothing caught my eyes much so far. Microsoft/Xbox/Bethesda news? Nothing much really... I'll post Psychonauts later.
Sony? SoNo. Meh...
Nintendo? Nothing yet (where are you Zeldaaaaa??). The Mario and Rabbids stuff.. bleh.. Give us a new Xcom instead of this weird IP crossover that plays like Xcom..
Indie stuff? We get better announements throughout the year, no need for a whole E3 for that.
Some Square Enix stuff did catch my attention. Let's see... in no particular order...
The new Life Is Strange looks nice. And sounds intriguing.
We're getting yet another Marvel game from Square Enix in the form of... a brand new original Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy? Sign me up!
This is better than Marvel's Avengers from the go, it's a single-player focused action game. They even (randomly) brought back the interactive story aspect à la Telltale's Guardians of the Galaxy! It's an original story inspired by a 2015 comic book arc. Playing from Starlord's POV, with orders assigned to the party FFXV-style. I can dig it.
Plus it will have a great 80s-inspired OST, what's not to like!
On the Final Fantasy-side of things, we got a confirmation of the rumored FF1 remake. It's a SoulBorne-style action game from Team Ninja (who also made Nioh). It seems like an interesting way to re-explore the NES classic, since it was a more generic and openworld-ysh early take on Final Fantasy. Works fine for the formula. I even recognized the first dark knight you could fight north of the starting area.
The only things that isn't working for me is the weird FFXV realistic protagonists. I expected the crazier knight, thief, ninja, wizard classes of the original FF1 art design, which had been revamped several times in games like Dissidia and whatnot.
And we will apparently get a "pixel remaster" collection of the original FF1-6, which I have been currently replaying.. so it's kinda annoying to me in a way. But it hasn't been announced for consoles yet... what?? Where's the Switch port of this collection? Are you crazy, Square? This would sell easier on consoles than PC! The audience for this is the nostalgic kind, and they wanna play in front of their TV with a pad in hand, not next to a computer!
I'm liking the "pixel remaster" mention, considering the awful 3D-ysh or 2D flash-like remakes they made on Steam or smartphones these last few years. Bring in the pixel-versions of these games, put them on wider resolutions. Done. Use the PSX/GBA revamped score. Done and done. Use a modern HD UI. Maybe the original art for the character portraits. But keep the characters as 2D sprites.
And that's all for this part of the first few days of E3 2021.
If there's more interesting things, I will make other posts. Otherwise, THAT'S IT! THAT'S THE SHOW!
The new game from the FFXV team Square Enix's Project Athia has now been retitled into Forspoken.
Several things changed. People are calling it a new Destiny, imaging this as a "game service" with lootboxes and all.. I still just hope this is a new FFXV-style solo RPG...
Wait and see...
Check out the new trailer:
Coming in 2022!
The intro!! The intro!! The intro!! The intro!!
Color me: HYPED.
(For a more nuanced commentary: Not entirely sold on Kaine's reimagined face... But I can't wait to go back to Nier 1. Although I would have prefered a brand new original title to be honest..
Also, I was expecting the theme for the Shadowlord theme to play for the opening...)
Final Fantasy VII Remake was a huge success! So expect a ton more Final Fantasy VII -specifically.
First up going from PS4 to PS5, FF7R is getting a Yuffie DLC. I ADORE Yuffie, but I'm not too interested in getting some side-character DLC chapter. I loved FFXV and didn't bother with any of the DLC as well.
I kinda find it funny how a secret unlockable character in the original game is now treated as a DLC. I wonder if having played this DLC will be required to get her in the party in the later game (episodes)...
The game is still looking amazing, though.
Meanwhile mobiles will get their share of FF7 with this chibi edition, just like Final Fantasy XV: Pocket Edition. I guess Square will want to get some FF7 love to the Switch, eventually they're no doubt going to port this mobile game to the Switch like they did with 15 Pocket...
It's interesting how we've come full circle. Want a remake of FF7 closer to the original, both in terms of visual (chibi characters) and RPG mechanics (no action fights, turn based)? Well, then Fantasy VII Ever Crisis is for you!
I like how this might actually remake a "Demake" update of the entire "Compilation of FF7", meaning covering even elements from Before Crisis and Dirge of Cerberus!
Finally there's also some random battle royale game set in Midgar before the events of FFVII due for iOS and Android, but this just looks plain bad...
Square. Capcom. All the other big companies. Stop trying to cash in on the battle royale genre by mistreating your classic IPs. They will never ever get the same success as smaller-scale battle royal original games. You can't turn Final Fantasy, Resident Evil, etc. into the next Fortnite, it's never happening...
Final Fantasy games come in all shapes and sizes. Often the product of being developed one after the other, from the reactions of one game to the next, handled by different teams, different directors...
I can dig my share of Final Fantasy games. I've played them in all sorts of strange order. And while I distanced myself from the series (and RPGs in general) for a long while I came back to XV, which had its fair share of problems but also lots of things that resonnated in me, someone who only liked the older pre-FF8 games. Lots of FF1 influences, for an example.
Anyway, why this long introduction? Because I was hyped for a new game. I was looking forward a new FF for a while, the FF7 Remake only helped crave even MORE for a brand new experience. Loving the new direction of FFXV and the FF7 Remake. Less Lightning drama AND linear exploration, and more mini-sandbox filled with mini-hubs to explore. A return of side dungeons and bosses. Etc.
These games might not be connected, story-wise. But they are as far as development go.
Everyone knows FFXV started as a spinoff, Versus XIII. But did you know around the movie Spirits Within flopped, Squaresoft almost went bankrupt only to become Square Enix after an acquision, and that's why they started making sequels to their games and quickly improvised X-2? The mixed reception of FFVIII made Square launch 3 teams on simulatenous projects, those would become: - a return to classic medieval FF which became FFIX, an even more modern and action-packed FF than 7 and 8 which became FFX and an online MMO which became FFXI. That's right these three started dev at the same time, which spawned the rough current three different teams that work on FF games.
I like FFXV's team. They like to explore new ideas while honoring the past. The perfect blend for modern Final Fantasy in my eyes, which worked great for FF7 Remake.
There's also the legendary Final Fantasy XII team, in my eyes the most creative, characters, lore and story-wise. They're behind the Tactics games and Vagrant Story (and it showed in XII).
And then there's the MMORPGs team (Final Fantasy XI, Final Fantasy XIV)... Which I know people love, but I don't think they fit a solo experience game.
Here's the trailer:
Square Enix provided a first look at Final Fantasy XVI during the PlayStation showcase. It’s coming exclusively to PS5 (and PC?).
So far? Err.. it all looks so bland and generic. I'm afraid the customizable MMORPG-ness is showing up. And I hope I'm wrong. But for now, it's a return to classic FF medieval world... and colorless and generic. The only aspect I like is this seems to hint at the passage of time and the main character growing older. It just looks like XI/XIV mixed with Dark Souls ... I'm not sold.
And the XV team had such a fun tech demo/FF pitch a few years back, the infamous "agni's philosophy demo tech":
Now that looks dope, fun and colorful! And more Final Fantasy-esque. I wish this was the new game. In fact I hope this is still on the table, maybe for a FFXVII - let's dream a bit!
Alright the best Avenger/Hawkeye's coming to the Square Enix Avengers game? Now I'm finally starting to get a bit interested in this whole thing. All my fav Marvel characters are way too quirky for such a serious "realistic" game, but "Lady Hawkeye" is a great addition. (Any Matt Fraction fans out there?)
Wow! They kept her costume mostly intact, hip-holes and all. Sign me up!
