The best Square Enix games of 2022
Overall, Square Enix's video games were therefore not limited to a single genre, even if there is no doubt that the company has made it its main bulwark: for for this reason, in this guide we can recommend quite varied titles, even among those released in recent years. Before starting, however, remember that on our pages you will find other similar guides, such as the one dedicated to the best Ubisoft video games, the one on the best JRPGs and the one on the best anime-style video games. Having said that, as always, let's get on the list!
The best Square Enix video games
Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade Triangle Strategy Life is Strange Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy Dragon Quest XI S NieR Shadow of the Tomb Raider Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac AgeStranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin
Platform: PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X | S, PC Born from the collaboration of Koei's Team Ninja Tecmo with Square Enix, Stranger of Paradise is a spin-off action RPG of Final Fantasy, created precisely to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the historic Japanese JRPG saga. The video game sees the exploits of some characteristic characters in a world that is a dark interpretation of the first Final Fantasy, dominated by malevolent forces of Chaos. Unlike traditional titles related to the world of FF, Stranger of Paradise is an action experiment with a very technical battle system borrowed a little from Team Ninja masterpieces such as Nioh. If you want a different point of view on Final Fantasy, with a little more action and technique, this title is definitely for you.Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade
Platform: PS4, PS5 Final Fantasy VII Remake brings back Square Enix's late 90s masterpiece, with a makeover that leverages the episodic nature of the project to focus more on every single one part and deepen further the secondary aspects of the story. The first chapter, entirely set in Midgar, is perfectly consistent with the evolution of Final Fantasy in recent years, marrying a more action-oriented drift but without losing the foundations on which Final Fantasy has always relied: a memorable narrative background, characters characterized in every aspect, an amazing art direction and excellent music, elements to which the remake adds a respectable combat system, created thanks to the help of the Monster Hunter designer, who moved from Capcom to Square Enix in recent years. The PS5 version, called Intergrade, includes the exclusive Intermission DLC, dedicated to Yuffie Kisaragi.Triangle Strategy
Platform: Nintendo Switch Take a very technical turn-based grid based combat from games like Final Fantasy Tactics, add a story full of conspiracy, political fantasy and betrayal to Game of Thrones, and mix it all up with pixels art brought to its maximum splendor. Triangle Strategy is the tactical JRPG we didn't deserve, but didn't know we needed. In this game the player has an immense party of 2D characters to be deployed in three-dimensional battlefields, with the result of being in the middle of a diorama of pixels and light effects born of an artistic technique called HD-2D which, since the days of Octopath Traveler, is now doing school. If you then add that everything is supported by a mature and detailed narrative, you just have to open your wallet.Life is Strange
Platform: PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X | S, PC, Nintendo Switch Today everyone knows Life is Strange, but in 2015 the release of the first chapter was a bit of a "bet" that Square Enix and Dontnod Entertainment had wanted to try, publishing a graphic adventure of a strongly narrative mold, which moved a lot away from the traditional style of point and click, with which it had practically nothing to do. The experiment proved successful: without fear of contradiction, it can be said that Life is Strange was the right game at the right time, thanks to a combination of factors, including an exciting story, beautiful characters and a wonderful soundtrack. The ingredients that made Life is Strange so successful were simple, but not so easy to put together: the French studio did it, launching one of the most surprising new IPs of the last generation, as well as a series of great success (which we advise you to play all). The new True Colors chapter is available from September 2021.» Click here to buy Life is Strange: Before the Storm
» Click here to pre-order Life is Strange: True Colors
Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy
Platform: PS4 , PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X | S, PC, Nintendo Switch Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy is a mad dash in the Marvel cosmos, a guarantee for super-hero themed content. The famous Guardians of the Galaxy, with their 80s verve and surrealist comedy, are ready to catapult players into a colorful galaxy made up of hostile planets and parking tickets. The video game is a Square Enix-style third-person Action RPG, where the player takes on the role of Star-Lord to guide his team of Guardians from one delusional situation to another, through an innovative system of choices.Dragon Quest XI S
Platform: PS 4, Xbox One, PC, Nintendo Switch Dragon Quest XI S is among the best Absolute chapters of Dragon Quest, no ifs and buts. The eleventh chapter, enriched with numerous elements and quality of life improvements in this re-edition for Nintendo Switch (released later also on the other consoles), is a real ode to the classic structure of the JRPG, of which it represents the maximum expression seen in the last times, and more. The story is told in a rather classic, but exciting way (and with beautiful characters), and the game structure, refined over decades of experience, is the most solid the JRPG genre can offer. Setting and technical sector, taking into account the ambitions and the level that DQ has always wanted to reach, are at the highest levels.» Click here to buy Dragon Quest XI S for PC and Nintendo Switch
NieR
Platform: PS4, Xbox One, PC Square Enix had seen us for a long time when, in 2010, agreed to produce one of the most brilliant video games in the medium's recent history: NieR, an action-packed JRPG with an exceptional narrative, deep and engaging themes. NieR was part of the Drakengard universe, of which it was a spin-off, and was originally released in two separate versions: NieR: Replicant, for the Japanese market, and NieR: Gestalt, for the Western market and with an adult protagonist. NieR: Replicant ver.1.22474487139 is a remake of NieR: Replicant, which definitively canonizes the Japanese version and carries it in 2021, graphically updated (with 4K support on mid-gen and next-gen consoles) and with several other improvements. If you've never played NieR, now is definitely the time to fix it! Also recover its sequel, NieR: Automata, an exceptional video game, born from the collaboration between Taro (author of the first chapter) and Yosuke Saito (producer) with Platinum Games, the brilliant authors of some of the most successful action games in recent years, including Bayonetta. The result could only be a deadly mix, and in fact NieR: Automata is still remembered today by many fans as one of the best video games of the last generation thanks to a wonderfully written and narrated story, set many millennia away from the first NieR, and a first level combat system.» Click here to buy NieR: Replicant ver.1.22474487139 for PC
» Click here to buy NieR: Automata
Shadow of the Tomb Raider
Platform: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X / S Shadow of the Tomb Raider closes the latest Tomb Raider trilogy, dedicated to a younger Lara Croft and carried on by both Crystal Dynamics and Eidos Montreal (Deux Ex), who developed this third installment, a sequel to q uello of 2013 and Rise of the Tomb Raider (2015). Shadow of the Tomb Raider represents, at least for the moment, the maximum expression of the "new course" of Tomb Raider: an adventure that is a bit like the Uncharted, while granting more freedom to the player (in the face of less spectacular of certain scenes) and transporting it to exotic and well-curated settings, all accompanied by solid gameplay. The "new Lara", then, finally gives the best of herself as a heroine, finally maturing from the character point of view and returning to be configured with full merit as one of the icons of modern gaming.Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster
Platform: PC, iOS In recent years, Final Fantasy hasn't watched" only " forward, but it has also been able to exploit its past very well: an example is the Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster operation, a pixelated batch of the famous Square Enix saga that includes the very first episodes. Final Fantasy, after all, is unquestionably one of the best JRPGs that have ever been produced in the history of video games, and the new remasters in pixel format bring their story to a new audience, as well as to the indefatigable nostalgics. For this reason, quite a few fans who had never played it have had the opportunity to recover it on PC and iOS.» Click here to buy Final Fantasy II Remaster
» Click here to buy Final Fantasy IV Remaster
Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age
Platform: PS4, Xbox One, PC, Nintendo Switch For Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age is also 'it is an excellent remastering, which finally does justice to one of the perhaps most underrated Final Fantasy ever, giving the possibility to those who have discovered the series only on the most recent consoles to recover a real gem of its past. Final Fantasy XII was written by Yasumi Matsuno, one of the most brilliant - and at the same time bizarre - authors of Square Enix, and it was quite different from the immediately preceding Final Fantasy, both in terms of setting and in the combat system, which he abandoned for the first time the shifts to integrate a hybrid but successful system. Overall, the twelfth chapter of the series remains a masterpiece, and, pending Final Fantasy XVI, the last "great" Final Fantasy of the main and numbered series.» Click here to buy Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age for PC
What is Square Enix?
When you think of JRPG, an acronym for Japanese-style role-playing games, the first cardinal point that comes to mind is certainly the company Square Enix, known for having produced many video games under the banner of this genre such as Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest and Kingdom Hearts throughout his life and his various incarnations. We are talking about different incarnations because, in fact, the current company is the result of the merger of two of the greatest protagonists of the mass media of the 80s and 90s: SquareSoft and Enix Corporation.Square was founded in 1986 by Masafumi Miyamoto and has realized its success already starting from the first Final Fantasy, published in 1987 after several unsuccessful attempts. Enix instead was founded by Yasuhiro Fukushima in 1975, and became famous for the Dragon Quest role-playing video game series. Their union took place on April 1, 2003, under the name of Square Enix.
Since then there have been several ups and downs, acquisitions (such as that of Tomb Raider developer Eidos Entertainment), collaborations and alternative projects, but Square Enix continues to be one of the most active gaming companies and most appreciated by gamers all over the world.
