X

Tomb Raider, Just Cause 4, Kingdom Hearts 3: Everything Square Enix is showing at E3 2018

No Final Fantasy 7 Remake, but plenty of Tomb Raider.

Sean Keane Former Senior Writer
Sean knows far too much about Marvel, DC and Star Wars, and poured this knowledge into recaps and explainers on CNET. He also worked on breaking news, with a passion for tech, video game and culture.
Expertise Culture, Video Games, Breaking News
Daniel Van Boom Senior Writer
Daniel Van Boom is an award-winning Senior Writer based in Sydney, Australia. Daniel Van Boom covers cryptocurrency, NFTs, culture and global issues. When not writing, Daniel Van Boom practices Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, reads as much as he can, and speaks about himself in the third person.
Expertise Cryptocurrency, Culture, International News
Sean Keane
Daniel Van Boom
4 min read

The news that Kingdom Hearts 3 would be released on Jan. 29, 2019, broke days before E3 , with Square Enix spreading the word on Twitter over the weekend. So, what would be left for the company's press conference?

Nothing major, evidently. There was no word on Final Fantasy 7 Remake, but there was plenty to be excited about for the Tomb Raider and Just Cause fans among us. 

The Tomb Raider Rises

Most of the spotlight went to Lara Croft. Her new game, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, comes fresh off a 2013 game reboot (and its 2015 sequel) that was highly regarded, and a 2018 movie that was... not. 

We got around seven minutes of action in the new trailer. It included the exhilarating opening to the game, and then gameplay footage of Lara Croft murdering people in the jungle. 

Daniel Chayer-Bisson, a senior game director at Eidos Montreal, promised greater depth in combat and underwater exploration. Lara will become one with the jungle, he says. This is all likely to mean Lara will have more inventive ways to brutally kill unsuspecting enemies.

The game is coming Sep 14, and will be playable on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC. (Expect to need a really powerful PC if you want to play this on max settings.) 

Kingdom Hearts 3 info

Over the weekend Square Enix made the reveal Kingdom Hearts fans have been waiting for: Kingdom Hearts 3 is coming out on Jan. 29, 2019. A new trailer also showed that the highly-anticipated game would include a Frozen world, taking advantage of arguably Disney's most popular new franchise.

That was all great news, but the bad news is that this meant we got nothing new during Square Enix's press conference. Also absent was Final Fantasy 7 Remake, a game which was unveiled at E3 in 2015.  

The Frozen reveal wouldn't be the last we saw of Kingdom Hearts during E3, as yet another trailer was shown at Sony's press conference. This time, the big reveal was Captain Jack Sparrow and Sora's return to Pirates of the Caribbean. 

Catch up on 16 years of Kingdom Hearts here

Watch this: E3 2018: Kingdom Hearts 3 makes its debut on Xbox One

Just Cause... and the rest

Just as Lara must become one with the jungle, Just Cause 4 is apparently all about the elements, too. 

The newest Just Cause takes place in a fictional South American country that the trailer says is "the largest and most breathtaking world we've ever created." Extreme weather is a big part of gameplay, as we're shown ravaging tornadoes, forked lightning, sandstorms and blizzards absolutely wrecking shop.   

Vehicles have been overhauled, as has your grapple hook. Enemies are allegedly much smarter now, making them feel as natural as the... extreme natural disasters that plague the world of Just Cause 4. 

The game hits the Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC on Dec. 4. 

Here's all the smaller announcements made at Square Enix's conference: 

Biggest games of E3 2018

See all photos

What's next at E3 2018?

The big finale before the doors officially open for E3 2018 on Tuesday is the Nintendo Direct livestream, Tuesday, June 12:

Earlier E3 news

Update on June 12 at 8:31 a.m. PT: Adds summary of earlier E3 news.

Biggest games of E3 2018

See all photos

E3 2018: The biggest stories so far, and what's still to come: All the news from Saturday and Sunday, plus the rumors from what's yet to come

E3 2018 coverage at CNET: All of our E3 2018 coverage in one place

E3 2018 coverage at GameSpot: Wall-to-wall coverage of the show from our sister site, GameSpot

E3 2018 coverage at Giant Bomb: Still more commentary and news from E3, from our colleagues at Giant Bomb

Update, June 11 9:09 p.m.: Updates with announcements from Square Enix press conference.