PC Gamer at Tokyo Game Show 2024 Day 3 report: Square Enix, Bandai Namco and Sega booth deep dives
While you might expect the first couple of days of Tokyo Game Show to be the busiest days, it is actually day three due to it being a public day on a weekend. And, having hit the show floor again today to do deep dives on Sega, Square Enix and Bandai Namco's booths, the amount of attendees has been truly huge. I wouldn't be surprised if this day sets a new attendance record for the TGS! Anyway, that aside, let's see what PC gamers can look forward to from Sega, Square Enix and Bandai Namco, who have had a big presence at Tokyo Game Show 2024.
Sega: Sonic Team and Atlus
As explained in the Day 1 TGS report, all the big publishers are playing it safe right now and that means a lot of remakes and remasters. And, Sega is of course no exception, with it leaning heavily this year on Sonic X Shadow Generations, with a giant Shadow statue dominating the firm's booth at Tokyo Game Show 2024.
Checking Sega's booth, it is more than clear the firm is focussing its finances on its two main designers: the internal Katsuyuki Shigihara of Sonic Team, and its sister-company Atlus' Katsura Hashino, known for the best-selling Persona series cash cow. Aside from these two, all other games are left in terms of distribution under the banner of 'Sega Partners'.
This move back towards Sonic Team in terms of budget and focus internally has, in my opinion, come off the back of two financially successful Sonic movies, and with a third about to drop soon. This is probably also why we've heard no news on a brand new proper AAA Yakuza game (here known as Ryu Ga Gotoku). Now the Sonic remake has changed the plans of the overall management.
Sonic X Shadow: Generations has generated great hype in Japan following its announcement, with gamers reminded of the classic Dreamcast Sonic games, which for younger gamers are a fresh new thing. The game is going to be out pretty soon, less than a month from now in fact, on the 25th of October.
Seeing the game at Sega's booth, there have been a number of improvements in terms of graphics, speed, smoothness, gameplay. If you loved the original games on Dreamcast, or the improved versions of the Gamecube, then this remaster is for you. There's even a unique collector's special edition of the game available. Check it out below.
The collector's edition includes the game (Steam download code on PC), The Art of Sonic x Shadow Generations Art Book, the game's official soundtrack, a Sonic and Shadow statue, a steelbook, a numbered certificate of authenticity, as well as some figurines and a keychain. Pre-order will close next week, the 6th of October to be exact, with the set costing $249. Naturally, Sonix X Shadows: Generations is launching day one on PC on Steam.
Sega's other big push at its TGS booth this year is Atlus' Metaphor: ReFantazio from Studio Zero, which is from the firm's lead Persona team, the brand that now accounts for more revenue for Sega than anything else aside from Angry Birds. Sega is clearly hoping that the game's director Katsura Hashino, character designer Shigenori Soejima, and composer Shoji Meguro have the magic touch to be able to create a new successful IP with Metaphor: ReFantazio, something that is particularly difficult right now in the industry. And Sega will be hoping it is a success, too, as it has been in the works for 8 years, first announced back in 2016.
Metaphor: ReFantazio delivers a new RPG that shifts from the high school preset of games like Persona 5 Royal to a fantasy kingdom setting where a new successor for the kingdom must be chosen and our mission is to find our childhood friend who is the son of the murdered king. The game is out on October 11, and there is a prologue demo available to play now on Steam.
Finally for Sega, there's Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii on display here at TGS 2024. Being candid, I'm not that impressed anymore with the Like a Dragon saga since its creator, Toshihiro Nagoshi left the series, but here we are with more content that will likely still appeal to most diehard Like a Dragon fans, and especially those that liked Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth.
Set in, you guessed it, Hawaii, the game reuses much of the same gameplay already seen in the last couple of outings for the series. Here at TGS a complete pirate navy display has been set for the event, which is cool at least. Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is set to be released next year on February 28, and there's a collector's edition priced at $129. Available day one on Steam.
Bandai Namco: Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero and Sword Art Online Fractured Daydream
Like Sega, Bandai Namco is focussing largely on just two games in terms of booth presence this year, and both are from long-running established series. The first is its new fighting game, Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero, and its gameplay is basically the PS2 era's successful Dragon Ball: Budokai Tenkaichi fighting game but on steroids. A roster of more than 180 characters is available, and there are also three kinds of battle mode, too, including: Episode Battle, Versus mode, and Custom Battle.
The structure of the combat system is very similar to the last Tenkaichi game in which the two players move and fight in vast areas. Flying, just as in the anime, between mountains and buildings is lots of fun and captures the feel of the show. The combat moves seem to be pretty limited (but effective for casual gamers), with various combos and the possibility of escape and dodging that deliver some really speedy action. Clearly can not be considered a contender to Tekken 8, but a fun versus fighter for fans and casual gamers. There's a decent collector's edition of the game available, too. Launching on PC day one on Steam.
Then next we've got Bandai Namco's Sword Art Online: Fractured Daydream, which is available to pre-order now on Steam. Sword Art Online: Fractured Daydream is the 20th installement of this franchise, which has gained large interest not just in Japan but around the world, too. And, as such, the demo here at the fair - as can be seen by the photos - had a waiting list of more than one and a half hours. Crazy! In terms of gameplay it is a co-op action game, with up to 20 players from around the world able to play together cross-gen.
A great move, in my opinion, by Bandai Namco, that seemingly has embraced in full the new PC gaming focus as a market waiting to be tapped into with these sorts of releases. The game is available in this case pretty soon on the 4th of October.
Square Enix: Romancing Saga and Fantasian Neo Dimension
With Square Enix already having its major new RPGs like FFXVI (check out PC Gamer's Final Fantasy 16 review) and FFVII: Rebirth launched already, the Japanese firm now appears to be focussing on optimising its other existing IPs, just like most other companies right now. And that means, of course, more remakes. Indeed, the biggest game of TGS 2024 for Square Enix has been Romancing Saga 2: Revenge of the Seven (check out the next issue of PC Gamer magazine for an exclusive interview with the game's director).
The game's demo here at TGS has looked really promising and faithful to the original game despite overhauling parts of its gameplay. Now gamers, including PC gamers on day one, can explore this RPG's world in 3D and across a number of generations. Also, we finally had the chance to see live the sought after limited edition of Romancing Saga 2: Revenge of the Seven here at TGS, and let me tell you it's going to sell out fast.
In terms of minimum hardware specs, the game only needs an AMD Radeon™ RX 570 / Intel® Arc™ A380 or NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1060 and an AMD Ryzen 5 1400 / Intel® Core™ i5-6400 to guarantee the 60fps, so I'm already looking at this as an ideal Steam Deck companion. The game launches on October 24th, and is available for PC gamers to play through Steam.
And, finally for today, we have Square Enix's Fantasian Neo Dimension, which comes from Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi and composer Nobuo Uematsu, who have teamed up once again to deliver this RPG. Some gamers may remember this game was originally released just for Apple Arcade back in 2021, but now it's getting a wider, upgraded release, including PC of course.
The game delivers enhanced graphics, an easier difficulty option, various gameplay balances, and most of all voice acting is now not just in Japanese, but also in English, too. It will be the definitive version of Fantasian Neo Dimension, and it is out on Steam for PC gamers on December 5th.
Be sure to check back tomorrow for our final PC Gamer at Tokyo Game Show 2024 Day 4 report. See you then!