TOKYO -- One of the big events of every Tokyo Game Show is Square Enix's "Closed Mega Theater," for which gamers wait in line for hours not to play games, but to watch about half an hour of trailers and footage that they won't be able to see anywhere else, not on the Internet, not in magazines. The theater is carefully policed by Square Enix staffers looking for people trying to sneak photographs or video. It's all very hush-hush, creating an atmosphere of exclusivity.
This year's list of games was almost identical to the one held last year at Square Enix Party. We got to see gameplay footage of Final Fantasy Agito XIII, but not of the other games in the series. Other than that, there wasn't a whole lot of new information, and no game announcements. The rundown is below.
1. Kingdom Hearts Mobile
"The smallest Kingdom Hearts." Chibi characters frolic and play in an adorable 2-D world on your mobile phone. You can play a variety of mini-games like "Card Struggle" or "Balloon Glider." You can buy ring tones based on tracks from the entire Kingdom Hearts series. It'll be available Autumn 2008... and contain "secrets" about the upcoming mobile game...
2. Kingdom Hearts Coded (pictured right)
Coming in Winter 2008, this mobile game does not actually look like the screenshots that Square Enix provided, which are of the game's pre-rendered cinematic scenes. The game itself looks more like a DS action title.
3. Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days
Also looks like a DS action title, because it is one. Square Enix showed a super long trailer with tons of pre-rendered animated sequences that focused on a new character named Xion, an adorable little female member of that shadow organization that I never quite understood.
4. Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
The PSP version of Kingdom Hearts wins for having the less complicated name. Much like the DS footage, there wasn't a whole lot of Disney in this one. We saw Cinderella, Snow White, some mice, and the Wicked Witch in the mirror. Yawn! Where's the Song of the South level, already?
5. The 3rd Birthday
This is actually the long-awaited third entry in the Parasite Eve series, for PSP. Hot. No actual gameplay footage was shown, but some real-time scenes were played in the middle of the CG. It looks exactly like you'd think, as if it was made using the Crisis Core engine with no modifications at all. No idea how this plays yet, though. Interestingly, the trailer says it's being developed in concert with Hexadrive, who did Rez HD. No release date.
6. Dissidia Final Fantasy (pictured right)
Following Jean's positive impressions and this awesome trailer, I am now more excited for Dissidia than anyone really should be. The trailer is positively dripping with nostalgia -- there's tons of scenes in which Final Fantasy characters from the entire two decades of the series' history meet and greet and stare at each other in a stern manner. Kefka looks pretty amazing, like a cross between a rainbow and Heath Ledger's Joker. Sephiroth and Golbez meet for the first time.
And when they showed the segment that announced that Exdeath and Butz Klauser from Final Fantasy V were in the game? Grown men in front of me shook in their seats with excitement. Girls squealed. I guess there are some V fans out there.
A "Final Fantasy 20th Anniversary Edition" PSP-3000 system will go on sale at the same time as Dissidia in December, and (of course) a Dissidia-branded Potion drink will also be available (do not buy it).
7. Final Fantasy VII Advent Children Complete
I don't like this movie, and so I don't actually care about the fact that this Blu-Ray exclusive version will now be longer by 30 minutes, but damned if the Resident Evil CG movie didn't give me a begrudging admiration for the animation quality of Advent Children.
Besides what you already know about -- it's out in March 2009 and will include a demo of Final Fantasy XIII and there will be a limited edition PlayStation 3 bundle -- the trailer said, if I read this right, that a novel called "On The Way To A Smile" that tells a tale of the events between FFVII and AC will be included. Or separate. Or maybe it's not a novel. It went by really fast.
8. Final Fantasy XIII
This video was a mix of old and new footage. There might have been some real-time cinema scene footage at the end, but who can tell? There was no gameplay, either fake (Blizzrad!) or real.
9. Final Fantasy Agito XIII
Hey, gameplay footage! One of the XIII games is actually more than a movie! Except it's the PSP version. Agito XIII looks like it plays quite a bit like Crisis Core or Kingdom Hearts -- there were a lot of characters on screen, and it looks like they were showing a multiplayer mode. Looks like fun. I'm trying to figure out how exactly all the XIII games are related, as they all seem totally completely separate from each other.
10. Final Fantasy Versus XIII (pictured top)
Versus XIII, as we all know, is way on the back burner until* Final Fantasy XIII* actually makes it out. It's clear that there is still a lot to be done. While real-time footage might have been part of this trailer video, Versus' incomplete nature was most obviously shown by the fact that the voice acting wasn't yet inserted into the cinema scenes -- instead, the characters moved their lips silently while subtitles were displayed on the bottom of the screen. if FFXIII is supposed to squeak out in 2009, I wouldn't expect this until well into 2011.
"Only on PlayStation 3 Worldwide," the trailer said. Wonder if that's still true when this one's actually ready to come out.
Images: Square Enix
