Square Enix E3 2021 Showcase
June 13, 2021, 12:15 PM PT
Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy
The first title in the lineup is Square's second attempt at a Marvel title, this time based on the "Guardians of the Galaxy" franchise. It's worth noting that like Marvel's Avengers, this isn't set in the movie or the comic book universe but a fusion of the two. The character visuals have the same "slightly off-brand" look as Avengers, and the references made by the characters sound a whole lot more like their comic adventures than the movies.
Player take control of Peter Quill, AKA Star-Lord, in a third-person action shooter. Quill can jump and slide around using his jet boots, and he can shoot foes with various elemental bullets — a comic book power the movies haven't really used. The other Guardians are not directly playable but can be ordered to attack in a method somewhat reminiscent of Final Fantasy VII Remake. There's even a Stagger Bar that can be filled to weaken and stun enemies.
The demo followed the crew as they attempted to swindle an infamous creature buyer by pretending one of their crew was for sale, only to bust them out later. We saw some of the game's interactive story here, as Quill was able to side with various other members of the Guardians to determine how the story moves forward. This included deciding if Groot or Rocket Raccoon would be the monster they were selling or if Drax should throw Rocket over a cliff to hit a button. It's difficult to tell how much of the story can be altered, but the flexibility looks nice. Perhaps most surprising is that Guardians is due out this October, so we won't have to wait long to see how the game plays.
Mobile and upcoming
We got a rapid-fire barrage of upcoming or existing Square-Enix titles, but in this case, the majority of them were reminders that they existed and were still being supported. This included Final Fantasy: Brave Estevus, Hitman: Sniper and Nier: Reincarnation for mobile and The World Ends With You for consoles. Perhaps the most interesting of the lot was the promise of a Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster collection, a re-release of the first six games for mobile and PC. Considering those games were already released for mobile and PC, plus the name, it's safe to assume these versions intend to replicate the original pixel art look of the original games rather than the smoothed "mobile" visuals that you can currently access.
Babylon's Fall
We got more of a look at Platinum Games' upcoming games-as-service title, Bablyon's Fall. The core concept seems cool, if a bit familiar. Players will take control of a character venturing into an endlessly tall tower where they battle enemies to get loot to battle stronger enemies. The biggest selling point is going to be Platinum Games' iconic character action gameplay, which looks to be in full force here. The combat looks smooth, awesome, and seems to contain a lot of depth. Hopefully the final version can live up to what they've shown so far.
Marvel's Avengers
Another case of being reminded that something exists more than anything else, Square gave a quick overview of the upcoming content for Avengers, including new maps, a new Patrol mode with supervillain boss fights, and the upcoming Wakanda expansion. The expansion brings in a playable Black Panther and is going to be entirely free. Black Panther will go up against Klaw and the usual collection of evil robots alongside the other Avengers.
Life is Strange: True Colors
This one has been coming for a while, but the latest entry in Square's "reality meets supernatural power" is almost here, and it's looking darn interesting. The latest game follows a girl named Alex Chen, who has always had the ability to see auras around people to give her insight into what others are thinking. It comes with a cost, though. Unfortunately for Alex, those powers are the only thing that will let her figure out the mystery behind the death of her beloved brother Gabe.
What we saw of the gameplay looks very much in the vein of the other games in the series. It's one part soap opera and one part supernatural mystery. Alex can use her gift of empathy to see colored auras around people and get brief glimpses into their thoughts, which allows the player to gain information they wouldn't normally have. If someone has a particularly serious trauma, they may go "nova," which allows Alex into their mental world. Alex can even take away someone's most serious trauma, but she can only do that by taking it into herself. Expect a lot of good ol' drama and angst from True Colors.
Also announced was a remastered version of the original Life is Strange and its spinoff, Life is Strange: Before the Storm. While these will be available separately, they'll also be available as part of the Life is Strange: True Colors Ultimate Edition for those who just can't get enough of supernatural drama. Both True Colors and The Remastered Collection will hit Sept. 10, 2021, for the PC and pretty much all consoles besides the Switch.
Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin
Probably the most surprising entry on this list, Stranger of Paradise looks to be a retelling or remake of the original Final Fantasy title, but this time with an angry protagonist who just … hates Chaos so much. You have no idea. The trailer consisted largely of the protagonist, who is beefy and wields and oversized sword to brutally smash, crush and kill various monsters while screaming about his hatred of Chaos. The trailer ends when he runs into Garland, the first boss (and secret host of Chaos), who threatens to knock him and his compatriots down.
The gameplay is being done by Tecmo-Koei studio Team Ninja, most recently responsible for Nioh 2, and it shows. The game has a character action vibe with fast-paced combat, counters and parries, and a whole lot smashing foes. A demo of the game is available now for PS5 owners to try it out for themselves. The game won't be out until 2022, so there's plenty of time to wait.