New Xbox? Just words, words words.
But. KEANU REEVES! I love that guy. Everyone loves that guy. He's breathtaking. Why do we love him? That's not even a question.
Honestly, I didn't watch the presentations; they're too long. I only saw the Nintendo Direct in its entirety (I can stand 40~ minutes) and the Final Fantasy VII Remake gameplay demo.
I'm here to talk about a few things that caused my mind and heart to melt, because there were certain parts of E3 that touched me on a deep, personal level.
Trials of Mana
Not many people are familiar with the Mana series, and fewer have played the hidden gem Seiken Densetsu 3, which was only released in Japan. Thanks to the wonders of the Internet and the power of emulation, I had the fortunate opportunity to play through a fan-translation of this spectacular game. It is by far one of the best action-rpgs ever made, especially for its time. I played it as a teenager and deeply appreciated the compelling characters and their customization options. There's a lot of replay value in this game, and I'm so happy to see that Square-Enix is finally bringing it to the west, both the original game and its upcoming remake. The fact that not many people have played this amazing game is a tragedy. Thankfully, now this can be rectified. I can't wait for the remake.
Final Fantasy VII Remake
Speaking of remakes. My god, the gameplay of the Final Fantasy VII Remake looks amazing. It seems like a perfect combination of the action mechanics from FFXV with elements of the Active Time Battle system from the original Final Fantasy VII (and pretty much every other Final Fantasy game). Now, it's been five years since the Final Fantasy VII Remake was announced (I admit that I cried when the first trailer was revealed), and finally we actually have actual, in-depth gameplay footage. This may very well be the most ambitious remake project ever for a video game. Other than having the same story and characters, this is essentially an entirely new game made from scratch. It looks amazing, and I'm excited for the release of its first episode next March. I already ordered the $330 1st Class edition because I'm crazy...
But. Will the entire project ever be fully completed? I'm not joking when I say that I may die of old age before the whole game is completed. Final Fantasy XV took ten years; Kingdom Hearts III needed thirteen. Final Fantasy VII Remake? Estimates are between ten to thirty more years.
Final Fantasy VII is another precious, timeless classic that I (and so many others) hold near and dear in my heart. Never mind the outdated graphics. It solidified my love for role-playing and story/character-driven games. The gameplay footage and trailer for the remake reassures me that Square-Enix will probably not ruin Final Fantasy VII. Probably.
In the past, Square-Enix upset me greatly, with Final Fantasy XIII's terrible story, the declining quality of the recent Final Fantasy games (don't even mention the mobile games to me), the final mix versions of the Kingdom Hearts games not being released in the U.S. (of course, this has been fixed with the HD collections), and the overall lack of vision, direction, and timeliness the company has demonstrated. "Things will never be the same with Hironobu Sakaguchi gone," I would constantly tell myself. And things never were.
In my mind, I set two requirements for Square-Enix to win me back. First, release the Final Mix editions of the Kingdom Hearts games in the west. This has been done. Second, make a good remake of Final Fantasy VII. It looks like Square-Enix is on track to winning back my heart completely. Maybe it will happen before I die. Ten, twenty, maybe thirty years later.
We know Squeenix sure likes to take its time.
Elden Ring
The Game of Thrones television series is over. George R. R. Martin, another person who likes to take his time, is working with the creators of Dark Souls (which I finally managed to play through a few months back!). Seems like a perfect match. I'm sure this collaboration will result in an amazing game. I still like Tolkien more, though.
Dragon Quest's Hero(es) in Smash
Continuing Square-Enix's momentum this year is the inclusion of the Dragon Quest Hero(es) in Smash Ultimate. For a while, I've been thinking to myself: there should be another Square-Enix character in Smash. Capcom has two; even Konami has two. And fuck Konami.
However, I couldn't think of another Square-Enix character that people really want in Smash other than Geno from Super Mario RPG. Personally, I'm partial to Terra or any character from Final Fantasy VI, but I knew that was unlikely. I don't understand why I completely forgot about Dragon Quest. I always forget about Dragon Quest. I'm still ashamed that I haven't played through the Dragon Quest games yet as I've always been more of a Final Fantasy guy. Nonetheless, Dragon Quest Hero is perfect for Smash, since most of the Dragon Quest titles have released on Nintendo hardware. The Hero(es) can just borrow techniques from the other swordsmen and Robin, with some tweaks to make him/them seem more unique.
BANJO IN SMASH
Words are unnecessary. Just watch this video:
If you don't understand why people have wanted Banjo so much in Smash, then just go away. You don't understand video games.
Rare. They made Donkey Kong Country for the SNES and Banjo-Kazooie for the Nintendo 64. Timeless classics. Microsoft. They acquired Rare, and thereafter Rare fell from grace (Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts... a tragedy), and both the developers and gamers were left pining for older, more golden times. Finally, Banjo and Kazooie can return home, home to Nintendo, and Smash. I'm so happy that Banjo and Kazooie will be in Smash.
If for some reason you don't know about Banjo-Kazooie because you are too young or not a real gamer, then you should watch this video to educate yourself:
Nothing else really excited me that much this year at E3. Moving on.
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