By: Tyler Miller

Our next stop on the Road to E3 2018 is a brand new one for the series. Today, we’ll be talking about Square Enix!

Square Enix hasn’t had an E3 press conference since 2015, so it’s been quite some time. Some of their games have come and gone, while others have been announced and have still yet to be released (although one of those will release this year). That hasn’t dampened my excitement for their games though, as I’m really looking forward to their press conference this year and all the things that will be (and might be) shown. Let’s not delay anymore and dive right on in!

What I’m Looking Forward To

Kingdom Hearts III

We’re gonna start this off with Square Enix’s biggest and most important upcoming game this year, Kingdom Hearts III. It’s been twelve years since the U.S. release of Kingdom Hearts II, five years since the announcement of the game, and now we’re finally going to be getting the game! It’s insane to believe that the game will be releasing this year after such a long wait. KHIII is sure to be the centerpiece of Square’s E3 press conference and I have so many hopes for what they’re going to show.

I’m hoping to get a few new world reveals, possibly some gameplay of the Big Hero 6 world that was announced a while ago, and hopefully an English voiced trailer that gives us more info on what’s going to be happening in the game story wise. Thanks to the gameplay premiere event that happened a few weeks ago, we already know that the release date will be revealed this month, so I’m hoping we get that announced as well. It’s a great time to be a Kingdom Hearts fan, and I’m enjoying every second of it!

Shadow of The Tomb Raider

Three years after her last adventure, Lara Croft is returning for Shadow of The Tomb Raider, the final chapter in the new Tomb Raider trilogy. I haven’t gotten around to playing Rise of The Tomb Raider, but I did play the 2013 reboot that started this new trilogy off and thoroughly enjoyed my time with it. I’m excited to see what challenges Lara has to endure this time around, and just how much of a toll it’s going to have on her as she becomes the icon that fans around the world fell in love with so many years ago.

The Avengers Project

Ever since its announcement early last year, not a single peep has been said about Square’s Avengers game that they have in development over at Crystal Dynamics. The announcement trailer only revealed that Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, and Captain America would be in the game, but nothing more than that. I feel like there’s been enough time between the announcement and now for Crystal to have produced something show worthy. What I hope is that we actually get to see some sort of gameplay for Avengers, and not just a CG trailer of some sort. With a title of this magnitude, we’re gonna need some gameplay to help get us excited for what’s to come in the future.

Final Fantasy VII Remake

Oh Final Fantasy VII Remake, what ever shall we do with you? You were announced back at E3 2015, had some gameplay shown that same year at PSX, only to disappear off the face of the Earth shortly after that. Then your developer CyberConnect2 was dropped from the game, and you were brought back to your parents at Square to be properly taken care of.

What you are now is a mystery to us, but it’s very clear that you’ve been through quite a lot, and we’re still going to have to wait some time before we get to play you. I do think though that we’ll get to see you again at E3 this year though. It’ll be a good opportunity to show what Square has been working on and get fans excited for the game again. But who knows. Square could just as easily keep you hidden away back at their office and hold your grand return for a different event.

Final Fantasy XV DLC

Final Fantasy XV has gotten multiple new additions to the original game since its release back in 2016, and that isn’t going to stop in 2018. This year sees updates to the Comrades multiplayer mode, as well as the release of a standalone version of Comrades. This is all followed up by four new story add ons, being released well into 2019. While I don’t expect to see much in regards to the story DLC, I hope that we receive some type of update on the status of these add ons. Final Fantasy XV was a game that I absolutely adored, and I can’t wait to get some more of it.

What I Don’t Want To Happen

For Square Enix To Under Deliver

Last time Square had an E3 press conference, it wasn’t that bad of a showing for their first time out. It definitely could’ve been better, but it wasn’t bad by any means. This year has the potential to be just as good as their last show, but it could also end up being worse if they only give out the smallest bits of information, or simply don’t have many exciting new things to show off. Please Square, don’t be afraid to do some deep dives into these games and give them the time that they rightfully deserve. People really like your games and would love to see as much of them as they can.

Square Enix is poised to have a great conference this year. With Kingdom Hearts III as the main course, and the many other games that can potentially pop up during their show, things are sure to be awesome this year. Square Enix will have their show on Monday at 10 AM PT / 1 PM PT, so we don’t have to wait much longer to see what they have to show us.