While Final Fantasy XIII was pretty much MIA at E3 this year (other than its being announced for the Xbox 360), Square Enix still had plenty of JRPG goodness for those of us who love our silly characters with wacky hair and even wackier names. Their E3 lineup was mainly a portable affair, with Dragon Quest IV, Final Fantasy IV and Chrono Trigger on the DS, leaving Infinite Undiscovery all alone in the land of console games. Hit the jump for a quick rundown of the games and initial impressions from Square Enix’s space at E3.

Final Fantasy IV, which will have already been released by the time you read this, is a remake of what was released as Final Fantasy II in North America on the Super NES. The DS game has all new graphics, including CG cutscenes, and its new translation is voiced. There are also minigames that can be played in order to boost the power of your Eidolon, Whyt (”eidolon” is nerdspeak for “summonable creature”). The game also features custom abilities and an extra dungeon.

Another golden oldie of RPG history, Dragon Quest IV, is also being remade with better graphics and improved game mechanics. The first part in the “Zenithia Trilogy,” DQ4 is spread over several chapters and features custom characters and the ability to build your own city, which you can then share with friends over a wireless network. Something else that made my inner RPG nerd smile was the ability to change party members mid-battle, which is nice for someone like me who is pretty bad when it comes to planning, and always ends up having characters in my party who aren’t that suited for a particular fight. Anyway, the game looks pretty neat, though I’ve never actually played a Dragon Quest game (they seem so…Japanese! They’re quite terrifying.) DQIV will be released on the DS on September 16.

Rounding out the games on the Nintendo DS is Chrono Trigger, which I already wrote up my impressions of. In short, the DS remake will have all the extras from the PlayStation 1 remake - except for all the bugs - such as new animated scenes and a new dungeon. The DS version will also make use of the touch-screen controls as well as some sort of wireless multiplayer that they were pretty mum about. The extra features and somewhat revamped look are, apparently, optional, so if you don’t dig the changes then you can still enjoy the game the way you remember playing it on your Super NES. Chrono Trigger should hit DSes by this holiday season.

And last but not least is the only console game featured, Infinite Undiscovery. I didn’t actually get to play the game hands-on, but I got to watch some of it and it looked exactly like what a Square Enix game on a next-gen console should look like - lots of bright colors, lots of flashy spells, lots of sassy characters with questionable fashion sense. Battles take place in real time, even “more real time than Final Fantasy XII,” apparently. You only directly control one character at a time, while the rest are controlled by AI that is hopefully somewhat competent. You can form squads from 17 characters, giving battles more depth and requiring more skill in how you balance your characters and their abilities. Certain things you do in the world will have implications for the story later on. Infinite Undiscovery is slated to hit North America on September 2, Europe on September 5, and Japan on September 11.

People complaining about a lack of good RPGs (myself included) these days should at least take a peek at what Squenix has to offer in the coming months, especially if you’re a fan of handheld gaming.

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