Before Crisis "Official" EoFF thread

[Chris]

TGS 2005: Square Enix Video Wall Presentation
Japan's most secretive development giant keeps its cards close once again.

September 16, 2005 - Every time we head off for TGS or E3, we carry with us thousands of emails and message board posts begging us to give readers all we can from Japan's most revered developer, Square Enix. And every time, we try to warn them all: don't expect miracles.

Square Enix is a prolific development company, and is constantly dropping surprise shocks for gamers to be excited for. When it comes to trade shows, however, the joint company is often very secretive and careful with the details it doles out. Most of its game announcements come at special Square Enix press conference held at a later time and different place, and the playable demos on hand are often familiar to those in the press in one form or another.
TGS 2005 wasn't an exception, unfortunately. The company has a number of great titles playable on the show floor, but there were only a handful of games to play in total, and its video presentation consisted mostly of trailers we've seen before and sneaks of games that didn't illuminate much more detail that what was known prior to the event.

Square has strictly forbidden filming of any portion of this video presentation (we're probably not even allowed to suggest you try searching Korean message boards for unauthorized clips from the video reel taken by hidden cameras...) Here's a run-down of what was shown in the Square Enix video presentation:

Code Age
Slime MoriMori 2
Final Fantasy XII
Dragon Quest II
Musashiden II
FFXI
EverQuest II
Fantasy Earth
Front Mission Online
Front Mission 2089
Front Mission 5
The World of Mana
Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children
Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII
Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII
Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII
Kingdom Hearts II

Code Age (PS2, Cellphone) -- The beginning of the video presentation was all about this new Square Enix concept project. (The video, while we're going on about it, was very, very, very LOUD! Did anybody in America happen to be able to hear it, because it seemed that damned loud.) Across mobile phones and a PS2 RPG, this new concept unfolds with some gorgeous scenery and some bizarre character designs. It's a whole game where overly-serious warrior men and women are dressed up in Tron cosplay. Much of the video was of the CG animation, showing large battles in the epic war that this tale is set in. Actual gameplay of the PS2 game, called Code Age Commanders, looked similar to the graphic quality and texture style of Kingdom Hearts, with RPG battles that had the characters flying through the air and lunging at each other when they weren't standing around discussing things severely. There was also a small smattering of wireless footage Code Age Brawls, and there were two different cuts of the trailer footage. What was there looked nice in an otaku freak-out kind of way, but nothing really grabbed us in the presentation besides the unique character designs. From the looks of the stumped Japanese showgoers, it wasn't just because we were foreign to the game that we didn't get it. The project launches in Japan on October 13.