The Tokyo Game Show has become one of the top venues in which video game developers have showcased their upcoming games over the years. This year, though, it’s been a mostly online event, but this has not prevented top companies like Square Enix and Microsoft from showing off their hot new games to their fans.
These include the likes of Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier, which will be the first battle royale game set in the Final Fantasy universe. The trailer below showcases the frantic action that gamers will be able to enjoy in this Final Fantasy game. Players can use swords, magic and guns to pummel their opponents (including sniper rifles) and make use of cover and altitude in order to gain an advantage over the enemy.
There are different classes to play as including monk, ninja and ranger, while you can also ride the cute chocobo creatures as in the other Final Fantasy games too… Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier will be hitting iOS an Android this November, and will include controller support, as this was an oft requested feature by Final Fantasy fans according to Square.
The King of Fighters XV was another game previewed at TGS 2021, the latest entry in a series that has been going strong since the 90’s. It’s a sort of rival to the two big fighting franchises (Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat), but fans swear by its unique personality, style and gameplay. And now SNK is gearing up to release the 15th entry in the series, which will include new and colorful characters like Isla.
She’s a female fighter who’s fond of using spray paint during fights as wells as other tricks in order to beat up her opponents into submission, as seen in the trailer below. Isla is one of the 39 characters included in the game, which will launch on PS4, PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S on February 14, 2022.
Microsoft also gave gamers a taste of Forza Horizon 5 at this year’s Tokyo Game Show. This latest Forza game will take place in sunny Mexico, with the trailer below showcasing the game’s beautiful Mexican landscapes. This new location also has the highest point ever in a Forza game, a volcano which can be seen at some point in the trailer. Forza Horizon 5 also features cutting-edge graphical technologies like ray tracing, but will run on a wide range of PCs (even laptops) as the game’s creative director and designer explain in the video below.
This open world driving game will also have hundreds of cars to drive (as was the case with previous iterations of the series), and will launch on November 9, 2021 on PC and Xbox consoles. The PC system requirements are now available as Microsoft explains on the Xbox website.
Fans of the Gungrave games (which first hit PlayStation 2 in 2002) have been waiting for a new entry in the series for a while now. Korean studio Iggymob aims to deliver another gory and action-packed third-person shooter with Gungrave G.O.R.E, another top game showcased at TGS 2021. This brings back characters like protagonist Grave, a tough as nails antihero who can be seen slaughtering a group of punks in the trailer below. Other characters making a comeback include Mika Asagi and Bunji Kugashira, Grave’s long-time rival. Little is known of the game’s story at this point, but it will pit Grave against a criminal organization known as the Raven Clan, the boss of which is a martial artists known as “Yensen”.
Yensen and other characters have been designed by Japanese artist Ikumi Nakamura, who is lending her magic touch to what could be one of the best action games coming in 2022 on PS4, Xbox One, PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S consoles.
Not all games shown at TGS 2021 were AAA games from big studios, though, as there were also smaller titles from indie developers, such as Eternal Return. This game from indie outfit Nimble Neuron has been available on Steam’s Early Access program for almost a year, meaning players have had a chance to try its mix of game genres for a while now.
The multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA), battle royale and survival hybrid finally got a release date (October 19, 2021) and also a new gameplay trailer at the Tokyo Game Show, as reported on IGN. It will be available on PC on that date, letting you play solo or with a team of friends on Lumia Island (the game’s setting) enjoying its crafting, fighting and survival gameplay for free, although the game has paid add-ons like other battle royale games such as Fortnite do.