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Square Enix Screenshot Blowout

Square Enix Screenshot Blowout

Written by Charlie Sinhaseni on 10/8/2003 for
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You knew that sooner or later that Square Enix would blow the lid off of the gaming scene. It had been too long since the company had generated any hype and speculation was running rampant about the company's secrets. Well this year the perennial giant came clean at the Tokyo Game Show 2003 and showed off an impressive lineup that dazzled and wowed all of those in attendance.

Since we're based out of the 'States we weren't able to attend the show firsthand. Luckily our friends at Square Enix decided to send over some complimentary screen shots for your viewing pleasures. No scans here folks, these are the geniune article and they're here for you to drool on.

We're starting things off here with a huge bang. All of you have professed your love for Final Fantasy VII, even going so far as to clamor for a direct sequel based on the same storyline. Well Square is giving you the next best thing, a completely CGI movie that takes place a few years after the events of the video game. We have received very little information about the actual storyline but from the images below we've been able to deduce that Cloud will play the central role in the flick. We've also received a few images containing Sephiroth as well. Whether this means that he's also in the flick or if he's a facet of Cloud's imagination is yet to be known.
Square confirmed what we all knew in our hearts, that it was developing a sequel for Kingdom Hearts, one of the best action RPGs ever to have been made. Combining Disney and Square properties, it was one of the best crossover games to have ever been created. Apparently enough people dug it to warrant a sequel and here it is, Kingdom Hearts II, a game that allows you to play as Sora and the crew.

Again not too many details were disclosed on this highly anticipated title although it seems to have a more decidedly dark approach than the lighthearted original. Sora now runs around in a black getup as opposed to his good-natured white costume and his facial expressions seem to convey anger and hatred. We've been told that the primary cast will be making a return as will most of the secondary players. We're not sure if this includes the excellent voice actors of the original although that's almost a given.

We've also included screenshots of the GBA game, Chain of Memories. Very little is known about this title as well although it seems to follow the some of the plot elements of the PS2 title. As always we'll have more information on these titles as it becomes available.Remember Front Mission? It was one of Square's earliest PSOne games and allowed you to control a squad of high powered mechs. Taking an approach that has been made very popular by the Final Fantasy Tactics line of games, Front Mission was a strategic combat game that relied more on sound combat tactics than sheer brute force. Now Square is releasing the original Front Mission on the PS2 as well as an all-new sequel.

Front Mission 1st seems to be a direct port of the PSOne classic although it may come with a few visual enhancements a la Final Fantasy Origins. Front Mission 4, the all-new title, seems to be up to snuff with what we have come to expect visually out of our PS2 titles. From the early screenshots it appears that the game will retain the same style of gameplay from the other titles in the series while providing a significant graphical boost.Here's the rest of the screens that we received. Of them, the only one that we had previously heard about was Drag-On Dragoon (Drakengard here in the 'States) while the others are all foreign to us. Sadly the packet that we received from Square was solely in Japanese and since none of us are fluent in the language, we're just as clueless as you are when it comes to these games. Among them are Cross Gate, a cutesy game that looks kind of like Diablo, Junk Metal, a 3rd person shooter that looks to utlize Mechs and Yankee, Square's take on the phenemenon known as the Sims.

Because these games are so relatively new we have very little information on them. We will try to secure official comments from Square Enix next week. In the meantime please enjoy the screenshots. If you have any questions feel free to submit them and we'll forward them on to Square Enix.

* The product in this article was sent to us by the developer/company.


About Author

Gaming has been a part of my life for as long as I could remember. I can still recall many a lost nights spent playing Gyromite with that stupid robot contraption for the old NES. While I'm not as old as the rest of the crew around these parts, I still have a solid understanding of the heritage and the history of the video gaming industry.

It's funny, when I see other people reference games like Doom as "old-school" I almost begin to cringe. I bet that half of these supposed "old-school" gamers don't even remember classic games like Rise of the Triad and Commander Keen. How about Halloween Harry? Does anyone even remember the term "shareware" anymore? If you want to know "old-school" just talk to John. He'll tell you all about his favorite Atari game, Custer's Revenge.

It's okay though, ignorance is bliss and what the kids don't know won't hurt them. I'll just simply smile and nod the next time someone tells me that the best entry in the Final Fantasy franchise was Final Fantasy VII.

When I'm not playing games I'm usually busy sleeping through classes at a boring college in Southern Oregon. My current hobbies are: writing songs for punk rock bands that never quite make it, and teasing Bart about... well just teasing Bart in general. I swear the material writes itself when you're around this guy. He gives new meaning to the term "moving punching bag."

As for games, I enjoy all types except those long-winded turn-based strategy games. I send those games to my good pal Tyler, I hear he has a thing for those games that none of us actually have the time to play.

When I'm not busy plowing through a massive pile of video games I spend all of my time trying to keep my cute little girl fed. She eats a ton but damn she's so hot. Does anyone understand the Asian girl weight principal? Like they'll clean out your fridge yet still weigh less than 110 pounds.

Currently I'm playing: THUG, True Crime, Prince of Persia, Project Gotham 2 and Beyond Good & Evil. View Profile