Square Enix decided to go the Nintendo route this year and have their presentation be a pre-recorded video instead of live. While this is a much easier way to do it, the video works for Nintendo because they give it personality, which this presentation did not have. I love Keith David, but this felt like a chore to watch.

Nintendo’s Directs occur because they are a company that loves to control the message and a live event introduces too many possible failure points for them. Square, on the other hand, appeared to do it because they didn’t have much to show outside of Shadow of the Tomb Raider. Honestly, they may have been better off not having a press conference this year, especially since there was zero mention of the Final Fantasy VII Remake.

Below is my breakdown of the good, the bad and the AMAZING of the Square Enix’s E3 Press Conference.

Good

Shadow Of The Tomb Raider

There has never been a more surprising series reboot in the last 20 year than Tomb Raider. For an IP that was only remembered for its main character’s breast size, Tomb Raider has become one of the best action games of this generation. The new Laura Croft feels like a real character with an evolving set of skills, and she is more than just her body in the modern installments. It is quite an amazing feat to completely rewrite a character and game series, and have it become more popular than ever. I can’t wait to play this next adventure.

Babylon’s Fall

A fantasy action game from the makers of Bayonetta? Sign me up. I honestly don’t need to see anything else.

The Quiet Man

Finally, the sequel to the Bouncer that we’ve all been asking for. In all seriousness though, this game has the potential to be a very cool experience. The sound in video games, especially in a fighting game, is very critical for success so having the main character’s primary feature that he’s deaf, is a very interesting choice; I’m excited to see more.

Bad

No Mention Of Final Fantasy VII Remake

My belief that this remake will actually come out changes constantly. The recent change in the studio making it only adds to my skepticism about ever playing it. For the fans who have been waiting for over a decade for this release, I hope it does come out but the lack of any footage this year doesn’t give me much confidence.

AMAZING

Twitter After The Quiet Man Trailer

After the game was announced, Twitter went nuts with alternate titles in response to Jeff Gerstmann’s “The Hushed Dude” tweet. My personal favorites were “The Silent Stud”, “Tha Wysper Kidd”,  and “The Silence Lad”. This instant bit is why I love Twitter during E3 Press Conferences.

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Our schedule for the press conference articles is as follows:

Sunday — EA; Monday — Microsoft; Tuesday — Sony; Wednesday — Nintendo; Thursday — Bethesda; Saturday — Ubisoft.

We will have a full E3 wrap-up article on Monday, June 18th and on the Main Damie Podcast. If you have any questions that you would like us to answer, please tweet us @themaindamie with the #VGCornerE3. We will answer your questions on the podcast!