E3 2015: Square Enix Press Conference Impressions

Along with Bethesda, Square Enix is one of the new kids on the press conference block.  They used to have press conferences at E3, but it has been a long while since their last conference.  With Square Enix's big presence at both the Microsoft and Sony press conferences, did they save enough for their very own press conference?

Square Enix did save enough to fill their 90 minute conference, but the great number of titles shown didn't translate into an interesting presentation.  In actuality, it was a boring show that saw a lot more gum flapping than gameplay footage.  At certain points throughout the conference, I closed my eyes and just listened to the corporate jargon the presenters were throwing around.  The show must have been putting the translator to sleep since he had some problems keeping up with the presenters at times.

For all the great titles that Square Enix had to offer this year, it was frustrating to see time wasted rehashing the exact same trailers for Rise of the Tomb Raider, Final Fantasy VII and World of Final Fantasy that were shown at other press conferences or worthless "behind-the-scenes" trailers that could've been replaced by actual gameplay footage.  Don't have two random animators from Disney tell us about a Tangled world in Kingdom Hearts III, show it as part of the gameplay trailer.

Speaking of Kingdom Heart III, the gameplay trailer was the best thing on this show.  It hinted at the story, showed off the combat system and highlighted some dramatic special moves including the use of Disney theme park attractions as weapons.  Aside from Kingdom Hearts III, the Just Cause 3, Hitman and Star Ocean trailers were the only other standouts from this show.  Everything else just felt like white noise; even the Deus Ex; Mankind Divided trailer which Square Enix was hyping weeks before the conference.

As their first press conference in God knows when, Square Enix performed far worse than anybody could of predicted with their large lineup of games.  At its best, the conference was passable.  At its worst, the conference was like an uncoordinated powerpoint presentation.  Square Enix may need a phoenix down after this dull show.

Grade:  D

Hump Day Video: Remember Me

For the past few years, Germany's Gamescom has become one of the big video game conventions of the year.  While it may not be as popular as E3, there are quite a few big announcements saved for this August convention.  With EA, Capcom and Sony having their big press conferences at the event yesterday, there is already quite a bit palpable gaming news from the event such as release dates for upcoming games and announcements for a slew of Vita and PSN games.  Even companies like Activision and Microsoft are showing off some new stuff for their big games this holiday as both Call of Duty: Black Ops II and Halo 4 are getting their full multi-player reveals at Gamescom.  There is even a rumour floating around that the next Half-Life game will be revealed at Gamescom.

Out of all the stuff revealed these first couple of days at Gamescom, it is a new IP from Capcom that has caught the eyes of many gamers including yours truly.  Published by Capcom and developed by a French studio known as Dontnod Entertainment, Remember Me is an action game set in a futuristic Paris.  In this future, everybody has brain implants that control and store their memories.  While these implants are used to govern a person's memories, they can in turn be hacked by outside forces.  The protagonist of Remember Me, Nilin is a former memory hunter that has been betrayed by her former employer and left with no memories whatsoever.  Remember Me has a very interesting premise that has futuristic Mirror's Edge/Deus Ex vibe to it.  I cannot wait to see more of Remember Me in the months leading up to its May 2013 release for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.  Right now, I got the announcement trailer and first gameplay footage of Remember Me so you guys can see why you should be excited for Remember Me.

Top 10 Games of 2011

Yesterday, I listed my Top 5 Downloads of 2011.  Now on the final day of this calendar year, I give you my Top 10 Games of 2011.  As one person, it is very hard to play every single game that comes out in a year especially when you get some of them for Christmas.  So there will be some big games that I am playing at the moment that might have made this list if I had the money to get them earlier this year, but ultimately will not at this point in time.  Before you see this list and immediately make comments that I did not make this list, just remember this list is just one man's opinion.  If you want to share your opinion, I encourage you to make your own Top 10 list.  So let us countdown in my opinion the best games of 2011.

10. Jetpack Joyride
This addictive, time chopping, one button run for your life game sunk its claws in me early this year when I downloaded it to my iPad.  I have sunk many hours into this dollar game trying to collect coins, complete missions and beat my friends' best distance.  You can play Jetpack Joyride for two minutes or two hours, you will always have fun.

9. Sonic Generations
After years of being dragged through the mud, Sonic has remerged as one of the kings of the platform genre.  To celebrate The Blue Blur's 20th Birthday, Sega gave the fans Sonic Generations, a game that gives us both the classic Sonic platforming and the modern Sonic mix of high-speed obstacle course and platforming segments to make the best Sonic game of the last 10 years.  Personally running through a HD version of Chemical Plant Zone as both classic and modern Sonic with remixed background music was one of the highlights of my year in gaming.

8. Deus Ex: Human Revolution
It is all about choice in Eidos Montreal's Deus Ex: Human Revolution.  Will you run in guns blazing or take a more stealthy approach?  Will you hack into a computer and turn the security droids on your enemies or disable the droids with a EMP Grenade?  There is no clearly defined right or wrong way to complete any objective in Human Revolution and that is what makes this game so amazing.

7. Bastion
Beautiful art, great music, compelling story and deep gameplay that even works with a mouse and keyboard, this Action-RPG stand out above all the other downloadable games.  Bastion literally looks like watching art in motion, it is so beautiful.  Also having the ominous ever-present narrator tell the story is one great touch that has not been done before in games.  If you own a Xbox 360 or a PC, Bastion is the best downloadable game and one of the best games you can play this year.

6. Portal 2
Once you start thinking with portals, you can never go back.  Back in 2007, Portal charmed gamers around the globe with its great puzzles and amazing villain in GlaDOS.  With more brain-racking puzzles and more GlaDOS, Valve adds in more challenging puzzles with co-op and new hilarious characters in Wheatley, Cave Johnson and last but not least the Space Core.  More story, more puzzles, more laughs and ultimately more fun, these are all the things most sequels look to do, but never achieve.  Portal 2 is one of the few exceptions and that is why it is the best puzzle game of the year and one of the best games of 2011.

5. Pokemon Black and White
For years, people have felt that Pokemon needed a huge shake-up or this RPG behemoth would loss some steam.  Nintendo and Game Freak proved that it they did not need to make some radical changes to make the series feel fresh again.  Launched head first into the Unova region as a new trainer, you start off with a new batch of 150 Pokemon with none of your old favourites in sight.  The additions of seasons that affect terrain you traverse, TMs that no longer disappear from your inventory after one use and the improved online features make Pokemon Black and White the definitive games in the Pokemon franchise.

4. Super Mario 3D Land
The Nintendo 3DS had a slow start when it launched earlier this year, but those woes seemed to end with the release of Super Mario 3D Land.  A portable Mario that cohesively blends concepts from both 2D and 3D Mario games into one compact handheld game that you can play on your 3DS.  It is one of the must-own games for any 3DS owner and the best portable Mario game of all-time.

3. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D
Confession time.  I have never completed The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time until I got it for the 3DS this year.  Boy, was I ever missing out.  Even with the 3D coat of paint on it, Ocarina of Time stands the test of time (seriously no pun intended) and shows why it is considered the greatest game of all-time.  Either on consoles or in the palm of your hand, Ocarina of Time is one of the best games of this year.

2. Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception
I am one of the few that did not consider Uncharted 2: Among Thieves to be the masterpiece everybody says it is.  Do not get me wrong, Uncharted 2 is a phenomenal game, but it felt like it followed the same formula from the first game.  It is just the difference between what I consider a 9.5 and what I consider a 10.  Uncharted 2 was a 9.5, but Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception is a 10.  Naughty Dog hit it out of the park as it improved on all the mechanics from the second game, added a fun and rewarding multi-player that I can even get into and got rid of the bullet sponge enemies that I hated from the previous two Uncharted games.  When I finished Uncharted 3, this was my Game of the Year that was until I played this next game.

1. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
Sorry Nathan Drake, I love you, but Link schooled you.  If you have read my blog for the past month, you would know how much I love The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword.  It is the greatest game of this generation, the best game of 2011 and in my opinion, the greatest game in this iconic franchise.  Again when people complain that said Nintendo franchise is getting stale, Nintendo shows them up and makes one of the best games in the series.  It happened earlier with Pokemon and happened again with Zelda.  Shows that you don't mess with Nintendo.