Let’s get this out of the way: I will not bash on Square Enix, because I know how hard it is to prepare an event/presentation. With that being said, a legitimate question can be asked: why did they insist on having a 30 mins presentation given the rather weak content they have shown? The answer is probably: because they felt they needed to be present by themselves among the big guys and have their own slot. This is something I understand and fully respect. It felt a bit underwhelming and short, the ending was pretty abrupt. Either way… It’s hot take o’clock!

 

Notable moments:

Octopath Traveler: Ok, it is not supposed to be a notable moment, but this is potentially my GOTY. The trailer was super short and didn’t reveal anything… aside from the release date that we already knew.

 

Dragon Quest XI: Same as above. Not much was revealed, aside from the trade offers (Edition of Light and Edition of Lost Time), and a new showcase of the English voice-over. This game is also very high on my list this year.

 

Kingdom Hearts 3: This trailer was shown the day before during the Microsoft conference… under another name.

I love Disney, I love JRPGs, however, I always had a hard time with the KH series – I found that the UI and Storyline were not in line with what I wanted. As for Kingdom Hearts 3, the game is incredible visually and seems very fluid. Oh, and it has been delayed (I mean… Who didn’t expect that?) and will release on January 29th, 2019.

 

Babylon’s Fall: a new cooperation between Square Enix and PlatinumGames? Count me in from day one. Their last game was a resounding success, with 3 million units shipped (Digital & Physical)  Although a vague 2019 has been shown, I am very eager to see more of that.

 

The rest did not attract me… For 2 reasons:

• It was already revealed prior to the conference
• It doesn’t fit with my needs/desires (especially their other new IP, Final Fantasy XIV, Monster Hunter, Shadow of the Tomb Raider…)

 

To be honest, I absolutely adore Square Enix, but this was underwhelming and a missed opportunity. Where was Final Fantasy 7 Remake? New content on Kingdom Hearts 3? New content on Dragon Quest XI? New content on Octopath Traveler? The celebration of NieR massive success? Back catalog? Nonetheless, with NieR on Xbox One, Octopath Traveler, DQXI, KH3, FF XIV, and some potentially unannounced titles; I am sure that SQEX will have an incredible FY.

 

To summarize: 

 

 

Full conference