Square Enix used this year’s edition of E3 to place an emphasis on its attention to the company’s new partnerships with Western developers, with known quantities like Dungeon Siege III and Deus Ex: Human Revolution on show alongside still-mysterious titles such as the new Tomb Raider and Hitman games.

Of course it wouldn’t be an E3 without a demonstration of the next Final Fantasy game, while a new action RPG for the 3DS also made an appearance:

A new action RPG by the name of Heroes of Ruin was at E3 this year and is headed to Nintendo’s 3DS in early 2012.

Said to make use of most every feature of the handheld (including SpotPass and StreetPass), Heroes of Ruin will allow you and three other players to journey through dangerous dungeons collecting loot, weapons and armour to improve your characters, while new skills and abilities will be learned to deal with the variety of bizarre creatures bent on doing you harm.

The main feature of Heroes of Ruin seems to be this drop-in/drop-out multiplayer component, which will additionally allow you to swap items with one another to help you more easily progress in the game. Looks very intriguing indeed!

The last few entries to the Tomb Raider series of action adventure games have all been solid and enjoyable in their own right, but it’s been a long time since we’ve seen a drastic evolution (or even revolution) in the basic gameplay of the franchise.

Queue ‘Tomb Raider,’ the next game from series stewards Crystal Dynamics to feature the adventures of world-famous adventurer Lara Croft… except in this title (said to be a reboot for the franchise), Lara Croft is but a young woman with no adventuring experience whatsoever.

After her boat crashes on a mysterious island in the middle of the ocean, young Ms. Croft is forced to fend for herself and survive against the all-too-real terrors that await her – if crazy humans and wild animals aren’t trying to kill her, then the world is doing its best to crack her skull open or impale her on a stake.

Be sure to watch the dazzling live gameplay demo for Tomb Raider from E3, and flip through the latest amazing screenshots.

To seemingly make right the wrongs of Final Fantasy XIII (and to utilise supposedly unused ideas and assets created for the game), Square Enix will be bringing Final Fantasy XIII-2 to the world across Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 later this year (unconfirmed).

Final Fantasy XIII-2 looks very similar to Final Fantasy XIII, naturally, but will include additional features to tackle (or at least minimise) the complaints made by fans following the release of the original.

In an interview conducted during E3 2011 with Square Enix’s Motomu Toriyama and Yoshinori Kitase, some of these concerns were addressed, while a brand new story and gameplay trailer emerged from the show to reveal a little bit more about the next big RPG from Square Enix.

Thanks to E3, we finally got our first looks at the next stealth action (strategy?) game from IO Interactive with amazing screenshots and an awesome CG trailer. What game could this be? Why, Hitman Absolution of course!

The Hitman series has long held a place in many gaming hearts as a solid, thoughtful and intense alternative to other stealth-focussed franchises like Metal Gear Solid or Splinter Cell, but compared to these behemoths Hitman has always been relegated to the ‘niche’ corners of fandom.

IO Interactive seems to be all hands on deck with Hitman Absolution, however, and following the release of Mini Ninjas and the Kane & Lynch series of games, the developer will be looking to knock everybody out with its next title to help Agent 47 on his way to a larger audience of gamers.

El33tonline’s E3 2011 News Round-up:

Did you happen to miss some of the major announcements at E3 2011? Don’t worry, you can look through our coverage of the event to catch up:

• 2K Games and Activision E3 2011 News Round-up

• Bethesda and Konami E3 2011 News Round-up

• Capcom E3 2011 News Round-up

• Codemasters and Namco Bandai E3 2011 News Round-up

• Microsoft E3 2011 News Round-up

• Nintendo E3 2011 News Round-up

• SEGA and Warner Bros. Interactive E3 2011 News Round-up

• Sony E3 2011 News Round-up

• THQ E3 2011 News Round-up

• Ubisoft E3 2011 News Round-up