Square Enix announces Gamescom 2016 lineup

Square Enix has announced its lineup of titles, which it calls its “biggest ever,” for Gamescom 2016.

Square Enix’s booth stretches over two locations in Hall 9 of the Koelnmesse. The main booth includes areas for a worldwide-first consumer hands-on of a new part of Final Fantasy XV, as well as Final Fantasy XIV, where players compete in daily Battle Challenges against the primals Sephirot and Thordan. There’s also Dragon Quest Builders, World of Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8: Final Chapter Prologue, HITMAN, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, Rise of the Tomb Raider: 20 Year Celebration, and Deus Ex GO. The Final Fantasy XIV: Battle Arena booth is where players can face-off against powerful primals featured in the game to win prizes, enjoy show matches on stage, a signing session, and a cosplay competition.

Gamescom will run from August 19 to 21.

Get the full lineup below. Square Enix will have more information “regarding the new announcements and reveals at Gamescom 2016” in the coming weeks.

■ PC and Console

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided

• Platform: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Windows PC
• Developer: Eidos-Montréal (a Square Enix studio)
• Available: August 23, 2016

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, the sequel to the critically acclaimed Deus Ex: Human Revolution, builds on the franchises trademark choice and consequence, action – RPG based gameplay, to create both a memorable and highly immersive experience. Players will once again take on the role of Adam Jensen, now an experienced covert agent, and will gain access to his new arsenal of customizable state-of-the-art weapons and augmentations. With time working against him, Adam must choose the right approach, along with who to trust, in order to unravel a vast worldwide conspiracy. The game also includes Deus Ex: Mankind Divided – Breach, a new and innovative game mode. This new take on the game offers, for the very first time, an arcade approach on the gameplay of Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, providing players with a unique puzzle shooter experience.

Dragon Quest Builders

• Platform: PlayStation 4, PS Vita
• Developer: Square Enix
• Available: October 11, 2016

Dragon Quest Builders provides players the ability to build a variety of unique tools from materials you gather, and rebuild towns and cities to restore life to the shattered world of Alefgard. Players will battle with famous monsters from the Dragon Quest series and interact with gorgeously designed 3D characters. The immersive Dragon Quest story and world to explore, combined with the freedom of sandbox gameplay, provides a new and exciting, family-friendly experience, with an intuitive control system, will have you building the towers and castles of your dreams in no time.

Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age

• Platform: PlayStation 4
• Developer: Square Enix
• Available: 2017

Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age improves upon the 2006 classic Final Fantasy XII, now more beautiful and easier to play than ever. The HD remaster introduces several modern advancements, including reconstructed battle design and a revamped job system. With newly implemented trophies and share functions, as well as stark visual and sound improvements, players both returning and new to the game will experience a grand adventure that spans the world of Ivalice in an entirely new and improved way.

Final Fantasy XIV

• Platform: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Windows PC, Mac
• Developer: Square Enix
• Available: Now

With over six million registered accounts globally, Heavensward expands the critically-acclaimed MMO Final Fantasy XIV, featuring an increased level cap and storyline surrounding the Holy See of Ishgard and the thousand-year Dragonsong War. Heavensward continues to update content for players, with the recent release of Patch 3.3, Revenge of the Horde, concluding the story of the Dragonsong War, and featuring new dungeons, a new alliance raid and more.

Final Fantasy XV

• Platform: PlayStation 4, Xbox One
• Developer: Square Enix
• Available: September 30, 2016

Final Fantasy XV is a groundbreaking fantasy based on reality that is destined to become a future masterpiece – with revolutionary gameplay, dramatic storytelling, and cutting-edge technology. Escaping the flames of war, Noctis, the Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Lucis, embarks on an epic journey with his best friends – through a world of larger-than-life beasts, amazing wonders to behold, and dungeons filled with danger, in the hopes of finding the strength to take back his homeland and end the battle.

HITMAN

• Platform: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Windows PC
• Developer: Io-Interactive (a Square Enix studio)
• Available: Now, New episodes releasing throughout 2016

The creative stealth–action game HITMAN sees players perform contract hits on powerful, high-profile targets in exotic locations around the world, from the highly fashionable Paris and sunny coast of Italy to the dust and hustle of the markets in Marrakesh in this creative stealth action game. Gameplay focuses on taking out targets in huge and intricate sandbox levels with complete freedom of approach. Where to go, when to strike and who to kill – it is all up to you. For the first time, HITMAN leads with a digital release inviting players into a world of assassination.

Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8: Final Chapter Prologue

• Platform: PlayStation 4
• Developer: Square Enix and Disney
• Available: December 2016

Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8: Final Chapter Prologue is a compilation that brings the popular Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance to the PlayStation 4 system platform remastered in high definition. The newly improved title features brand new content with Kingdom Hearts 0.2: Birth by Sleep – A fragmentary passage –, a playable episode that is played from the perspective of Aqua taking place after the storyline of Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep and links to the upcoming Kingdom Hearts III. The title also includes Kingdom Hearts χ [chi] Back Cover, a new HD movie that tells the mysterious story of the Foretellers and connects to the earliest parts of the series’ history.

Rise of the Tomb Raider: 20 Year Celebration

• Platform: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Windows PC
• Developer: Crystal Dynamics (a Square Enix Studio)
• Available: October 11, 2016

Crystal Dynamics and Square Enix continue to celebrate 20 years of Lara Croft, the gaming world’s iconic heroine, with Rise of the Tomb Raider: 20 Year Celebration. This new version will include the award-winning Rise of the Tomb Raider game; a completely new story chapter entitled “Blood Ties”, new co-op Endurance gameplay, PlayStation VR support for “Blood Ties”, all of the previously released DLC, more outfits, weapons, and Expedition Cards. With the exception of VR support, all of the new content in Rise of the Tomb Raider: 20 Year Celebration will also be available for Xbox One and PC players. Current Season Pass owners on Xbox One and PC will automatically receive the content for free, and moving forward the existing Season Pass will be updated to include the new content. There is no Season Pass on PlayStation 4, as all of the content is included in the initial release.

World of Final Fantasy

• Platform: PlayStation 4, PS Vita
• Developer: Square Enix
• Available: October 28, 2016

In World of Final Fantasy, players will lead a pair of twins, Reynn and Lann, on their journey through the world of Grymoire on a search to rediscover their lost memories. Throughout their journey, players will collect, raise and battle with the adorably familiar beings throughout the world including cactuar, chocobo and behemoth to customize and stack their army of monsters to create strategic tower combinations and take on even the most challenging of opponents.

■ Square Enix Collective

The Turing Test

• Platform: Windows PC
• Developer: Bulkhead Interactive
• Available: August 2016

You play the role of Ava Turing, an engineer for the International Space Agency (ISA) who attempts to uncover the truth behind the research base on Jupiter’s moon, Europa, in this gorgeous first-person puzzle game built with Unreal Engine 4. Solve puzzles using your Energy Manipulation Tool (EMT) to transfer power out of one object and into another; power up and take control of artificially intelligent machines, manipulate giant structures and solve complex tasks – all woven into a multi-layered story based on the human struggle for control. The Turing Test will be published for PC by Square Enix Collective in August 2016.

Black The Fall

• Platform: Windows PC
• Developer: Sand Sailor Studio
• Available: 2016 TBC

Black The Fall is an immensely atmospheric side-scrolling action adventure for PC and digital consoles set in a dark and oppressive land, inspired by the Sand Sailor team’s upbringing in Communist Romania. Discover a forgotten industrial world where strict rules and harsh punishments tore the fabric of humanity itself. What will you do to survive? Solve puzzles to progress, all the while attempting to avoid suspicion and alerting the intent… and unfriendly… gaze of the State. Black The Fall will be published on both PC and Console by Square Enix Collective later in Q3 2016., with console versions available in early 2017.

Tokyo Dark

• Platform: Windows PC/Mac
• Developer: Cherrymochi
• Available: tbc 2016

Tokyo Dark is a sidescrolling point-and-click mystery adventure game for Windows and Mac. As Detective Itō you’ll explore Tokyo – following leads, collecting clues, and making difficult decisions with far-reaching consequences. Tokyo Dark features a huge number of dialogue choices and interactions that affect character attributes and change the outcome of the story. Unlike a visual novel, you’ll control Detective Itō directly as you explore Tokyo, trying to balance your professional duty, personal life, and sanity. Will the past come back to haunt you, or will you stand by your decisions?

Oh My Godheads

• Platform: Windows PC
• Developer: Titutitech
• Available: Q1 2017

Oh My Godheads is the world’s first capture-the-head action game for 1-4 players. Capture-the-head is like capture-the-flag, but the flag is an ancient head that’s alive, angry, and after you! Fight with friends to capture these furious, living heads and bring them back to your team’s plinth…if you can. Born from a love of old school multiplayer games like Micro Machines, Worms, and Street Fighter, Titutitech wanted to recreate the fun, fast-paced multiplayer experience of those games while adding full 3D environments for more tactics, more depth, and more replayability. Oh, did we mention it’s got exploding pies?

Goetia

• Platform: Windows PC/Mac
• Developer: Sushee
• Available: Out Now

A haunting point-and-click adventure, Goetia puts you in the ghostly shoes of Abigail Blackwood, recently risen from the grave, who knows nothing about the last 40 years of her family’s history. Help Abigail find out what went on in the manor, and the nearby ruins of Oakmarsh village – what happened in the place you grew up, and what led to its downfall? Tough puzzles and a deep story awaits, as you piece together the mysticism and fanatical experiments that took place, to reveal the disturbing truth of your family’s past…

■ Handheld and Mobile

Deus Ex GO

• Platform: Phones & Tablets
• Developer: Square Enix Montréal (a Square Enix studio)
• Available: Summer 2016

Deus Ex GO is a turn-based infiltration puzzle game set in a stylized interpretation of the Deus Ex Universe. As double agent Adam Jensen, you’ll use hacking, combat, and augmentations to solve the most challenging puzzles of the entire GO series. Work alongside your allies in TF29 and the Juggernaut Collective as you infiltrate locations to unravel the conspiracy behind a terrorist plot.