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Square-Enix shows its Last Remnant and latest Crystal Chronicles, Star Ocean, and Chocobo titles
- May 10, 2007 10:21 AM PST
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Square Enix previewed a few of its more highly-anticipated titles for a select few journalists in Japan, and GamePro was among them. Check out the sweet deets on the company's hottest titles, including a few you haven't heard about yet!
Square-Enix highlighted the major games to be shown at this weekend's Square-Enix Party 2007, and the centerpiece wasn't a Final Fantasy title. Rather, it was a new IP that should serve as the cornerstone of the company's new worldwide strategy. The Last Remnant reads like a laundry list of firsts for the company; the first multiplatform RPG, the first simultaneous US/Japan release, and the first Square-Enix game to make use of Epic Games' Unreal 3 engine. Presented completely in English, The Last Remnant looks to be one of the biggest games Square-Enix will put out during this console generation.
Producer Nobuyuki Ueda showed Last Remnant's intro, during which the game's protagonist, Rush, stumbles out of a forest and into a large-scale battle. Before returning to the action, Udea took a few minutes to show off a few of the game's various locales and the Remnants that cast over many of them (including a giant sword and a dragon statue--both so large they can be seen everywhere in town). Both a cavern and aqueduct were shown, with enemies scattered about. The demo showed Rush deftly avoiding them, which raised the question about whether there's small-scale encounters in the game. The "real meat of the game" explained Ueda, is the 300-style fast-paced large-scale battles, replete with a rocking soundtrack and quick, terse banter between comrades in arms. With simple battle options and random button prompts, The Last Remnant's battles should provide an interesting new twist on the tactical RPG.
Square-Enix also provided new information on the Star Ocean saga. For those gamers upset that Final Fantasy has been recieving all the remake love, fear not, as PSP versions of the first two Star Ocean titles were announced. Star Ocean: First Departure will be an update of the SNES original with brand-new 3D graphics, while Star Ocean: Second Mission will feature new CG movies and voice acting never before seen or heard in the PS1 version. Star Ocean series Producer Yoshinori Yamagishi affirmed that the next chapter in the Star Ocean saga, Star Ocean 4, is "under rigorous development", but did not provide any release details.
Even though they may not have taken center stage, it wouldn't be a Square-Enix event without Final Fantasy titles, and the company delivered the goods on some of the more popular titles to be shown this weekend. An extended trailer with lots of gameplay footage was shown for Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles for the DS, which seems to take more of the action elements of its GameCube predecessor, with less of the strategic--lots of single-screen gameplay seemed to be present in the footage. The Wii Crystal Chronicles, subtitled Crystal Bearers, is visually unlike the style present in the GameCube and DS versions. The footage seemed to be almost entirely single player, though the trailer shown was one of the shortest shown the entire press conference. A new game starring Final Fantasy's favorite bipedal animal was shown--Chocobo's Dungeon for the Wii was short on motion sensitive control details and long on cute music. According to producer Yuki Yokoyama, the new Chocobo Dungeon will, like many other Wii titles, attempt to appeal to non-gamers who are unfamiliar with the now ten-year old series. Square-Enix also announced Final Fantasy XII International, which is pretty inconsequential to American gamers, as it's a Japanese version of the souped-up version we've been privy to for months now.
Be sure to check back on GamePro this weekend--yes, when most folk are free from work--with some hearty previews and interviews fresh from the Square-Enix Party floor!
These guys--and GP--will be working OT this weekend.
