Summer Game Fest 2025

[kamikazekeeg]

We can just use this as a general catch all for anything happening this weekend, but SGF proper is in a few hours and I'll post anything that's new and notable that shows up.

Was gonna live post some of the reveals, but it's a two hour show and I kinda realized I'd rather not.

Not a ton of stuff blew me away personally, but it did end on one of my big wants, which is Resident Evil 9 or Resident Evil: Requiem. Damn excited for that and it's got a Feb 27, 2026 release date with gameplay being shown off at Gamescom. Looks like it'll involve the bombed out ruins of Raccoon City.  You play as I think a reporter, to investigate a mysterious death, in a place where her mother was killed, her name being Grace Ashcroft.  That name probably means she's the daughter of Alyssa Ashcroft who was an investigative reporter that was from RE: Outbreak. Very excited for this.

For some other neat showings...

Mortal Shell 2 - I didn't play the first one, I heard it was just alright, but more of a proof of concept than a full game, but this looked great.

Sonic Racing: Crossworlds - Initially I was bummed that it was Sonic only, because of how much I liked Sonic All-Stars Racing Transformed, but they are adding guest levels and characters.  Yakuza guy, Hatsune Miku, Joker from Persona 5, and Minecraft Steve, probably more also.  Hopefully this is decent.

Atomic Heart 2  - Was one of those games that had good ideas, but poor execution, and with this insane trailer, I'm hoping they can kinda properly nail it now.  There's also a multiplayer game set in the universe called The CUBE, though not 100% sure what type of game it was.

Lies of P: Overture - Surprise shadow drop of the DLC for today, looking forward to it down the road, I played it on Game Pass, so I need to actually buy the game before I can do the DLC now lol

[telekill]

Not too surprised by this revelation, but nothing for me was shown that wasn't already known about. As an example, I fully expect to enjoy the new Onimusha.

I used to be a big Resident Evil fan, but I simply fell out of enjoying horror games and the series went from action suspense to full horror with RE7. I still appreciate the nod to RE Outbreak with the main character though.

[bikingjahuty]

There were a few announcements that I was moderately excited to see, but overall the only trailer that got me really hyped was RE9. I love how the series seems to be going back to its roots with the Raccoon City incident from 2 and 3 and taking a step away from the stupid supernatural/Texas Chainsaw Massacre aesthetic of 7 and 8. I'm just super relieved Ethan Winters isn't going to be the main protagonist again. If they reveal its going to be a third person shooter like 4 or the recent remakes it'll definitely be a day 1 purchase for me.


Sadly, I feel like I'm lucky if there are more than a 2 or 3 new games a year that I want to go out and buy, and this year's SGF really doesn't make me feel like it's going to change. There are definitely some new games that still appeal to me, but it's becoming more and more obvious that whatever devs have in mind for new games, they don't have people like me in mind. Whatever, I'll take what I can get.

[dhaabi]

Alongside the immediately following Day of the Devs presentation, there were enough announcements and updates for games that are impressionable.

Summer Game Fest
Felt That: Boxing
This features a praiseworthy puppet art style reminiscent of Sesame Street with arcade-like boxing gameplay. It's always refreshing to see developers have a unique idea and implement it strongly.

Fractured Blooms
The narration for this trailer was eerie, leaving me wanting to know more. I'm not entirely enthralled by everything shown including the character design, but it's enough for it to pique my interest.

Ill
A horror game that looks impressively terrifying, but I'm not sure how I feel about what was shown in regards to the narrative context with military involvement. The trailer doesn't make clear what genre the game is exactly, but it doesn't really seem like survival horror but instead an action-focused shooter which, as a result, diminishes its established horror.

Into the Unwell
This features an attractive art style that I'm assuming is intended to imitate rubber hose animation. Apparently gameplay is randomized to some extent which is questionable, as it looks like the game would be far more interesting as a 3D platformer or some sort of grounded action-adventure game. Multiplayer options are optional which, based on the trailer, seem odd to me to include.

Out of Words
This was easily best-looking game presented. It's a visually striking 2D co-op platformer crafted from tangible 3D models in stop-motion.

Resident Evil Requiem
As the ninth mainline Resident Evil entry, I'm not really sure how I'm feeling about it. I definitely want to see more of it before making finer judgment since, despite looking good, it's mentioned to be different. Apart from character connections and setting, nothing about this particularly looked like Resident Evil to me. Eight months until its release isn't long, and I'm sure there will be several occasions where gameplay will be shown. Regardless, Capcom is set to have a successful year in 2026 with this, Onimusha, and Pragmata being scheduled for release then.

Stranger than Heaven
Ryu ga Gotoku's latest original game. The setting has been changed from 1915 to 1943 which is certainly odd and a big change to make so late into development. I loved seeing how interactive the crowd was when a combat encounter began, and the enemy designs were fun.

Day of the Devs
Big Walk
It's been shown before as a social game, but a closer look at what it is exactly was shown. It's more than just a social tool, though, as it's some sort of multiplayer puzzle-adventure game with objectives to overcome that require teamwork which emphasizes communication in some fashion. Vocal dialogue isn't always accessible, so finding out how to communicate is part of the discovery. It looks fun, but I know I won't be playing it.

Consume Me
This life sim strategy game comprised of quirky action minigames has a lot of personality. I highly doubt I'll ever play it, but it looks fun with a lot of personality.

Please, Watch the Artwork
Self-described as a "psychological spot-the-difference [horror] game" which repurposes Edward Hopper's paintings. Gameplay revolves around observing any anomalies when viewing animated artwork. I enjoyed the developer's previous game Please, Touch the Artwork 2, so I think I'd enjoy this game too.

Tire Boy
This has a lot of playful energy within the frame of a coming-of-age exploratory adventure in some strange world. I'm interested.

[dhaabi]

There are definitely some new games that still appeal to me, but it's becoming more and more obvious that whatever devs have in mind for new games, they don't have people like me in mind. Whatever, I'll take what I can get.

What sort of aspects would you like for developers to have in mind for audiences like you? More arcade-style gameplay? From what I know about what you play, those aspects seem to be a major interest of yours considering the majority of what you play seems to be from fighting and shoot 'em up genres. Are you opposed to less commercial games? I feel like plenty exist even on consoles, but maybe that is a quality you don't want to sacrifice with what you want to play.

[bikingjahuty]

There are definitely some new games that still appeal to me, but it's becoming more and more obvious that whatever devs have in mind for new games, they don't have people like me in mind. Whatever, I'll take what I can get.

What sort of aspects would you like for developers to have in mind for audiences like you? More arcade-style gameplay? From what I know about what you play, those aspects seem to be a major interest of yours considering the majority of what you play seems to be from fighting and shoot 'em up genres. Are you opposed to less commercial games? I feel like plenty exist even on consoles, but maybe that is a quality you don't want to sacrifice with what you want to play.

Yes, that would definitely help. I miss when there were more fighting games out there and also SHMUPs released by very talented Japanese studios like Cave and Raizing. The other part of it is I'm annoyed Souls-like games took over the 3D action genre and now most devs want to model their games after successful From Software games rather than games like God of War or Devil May Cry. I'm annoyed that Battle Royal Zoomer Shooters like Fortnite have more or less taken over the action third person shooter genre and even the FPS genre too. I was mostly content with where new games were even 10-years ago; E3 2015 is still the best game conference I've ever watched to this day. But now, I just feel like what's being made doesn't speak to me like games did barely a decade ago.


Another part of it is the way many games are made now. I detest DLC no matter how much its been normalized, micro transactions in a game is a fast way to turn off all interest I may have had in a specific game; the predatory practices of game devs and publishers giving as little as possible while charging a premium has also made me very jaded about the modern industry. Hell, I didn't buy a Switch 2 at launch because I don't have enough faith in Nintendo to continue to do first party titles on the game card instead of switching to key cards like almost all third parties are doing on that console.
 
I also feel like gaming has lost so much authenticity and soul too. When I see a lot of new games get announced, they just don't scream passion or that the devs really cared about the game. I don't doubt they worked really hard on it, but it just seems like a lot of games were made out of some corporate mandate with a bunch of checkboxes that had to be filled rather than a passionate visionary being at the helm that was allowed to more or less do whatever they wanted. I get that things are this way due to how insanely pricey games have become to produce, but it's really a perfect example of publishers getting in their own way. They need to hire the crazy creatives and let them go nuts, but that is simply too risky now. The result is getting a lot of games that just sort of blend together and I pretty much forget about less than 5-minutes after they're revealed.


Don't get me wrong, there are some new games that get announced that I think look at least mildly interesting, and a few that I still get properly hyped about. Unfortunately, as time has gone by, I feel like this happens less and less. I don't enjoy watching Summer Game Fest or The Game Awards just to crap on most of the games, in fact I kinda hate it. I want to love and enjoy most of what is being shown off like I did in the not too distant past, but that spark in modern gaming has greatly faded in a relatively short time.


I guess the tl;dr of it is certain genres I really enjoy are under represented now, especially by bigger studios, and I also feel like the industry is a bit stuck due to greed and low risk tolerance. That is what I mean when I say it doesn't feel like the industry is making games for me anymore. Obviously, there are a lot of people who are still buying many of these titles, but it definitely isn't me.

[telekill]

Fully agree with the sentiment Bikingjahuty stated above, but for me this entire generation has been lacking. It wasn't just recent but the PS5 generation as a whole and it's the entire industry, not just Playstation.

That said, here's my list of upcoming things to look forward too. Only two were announced before the last couple weeks, so there is improvement. Still, glad I picked up other hobbies this gen as games of interest are few and far between.

Code Violet


Onimusha: Way of the Sword


007 First Light


Mortal Kombat Legacy Collection

[dhaabi]

There are definitely some new games that still appeal to me, but it's becoming more and more obvious that whatever devs have in mind for new games, they don't have people like me in mind. Whatever, I'll take what I can get.

What sort of aspects would you like for developers to have in mind for audiences like you? More arcade-style gameplay? From what I know about what you play, those aspects seem to be a major interest of yours considering the majority of what you play seems to be from fighting and shoot 'em up genres. Are you opposed to less commercial games? I feel like plenty exist even on consoles, but maybe that is a quality you don't want to sacrifice with what you want to play.

I guess the tl;dr of it is certain genres I really enjoy are under represented now, especially by bigger studios, and I also feel like the industry is a bit stuck due to greed and low risk tolerance. That is what I mean when I say it doesn't feel like the industry is making games for me anymore. Obviously, there are a lot of people who are still buying many of these titles, but it definitely isn't me.

I understand your opinions, and there is a lot of overlap between them and mine. And they're not unpopular ones either—just maybe not the most popular by comparison. Still, trends change, so what's popular now won't be in another ten years, just like what was popular in 2015 isn't what's popular now (or most popular, anyway.) I think that general opinion toward free-to-play models alongside the battle royale and hero shooters genres is dwindling and isn't even sustainable for developers, so something new will need to be found to command consumer attention.

Gaming has obviously been commercialized for decades, but big money corporate investors far greater than ever before are firmly rooted now and obviously have major influence over how developers design their games. And since big-budget, AAA games more often than not take five or more years to develop, there are many instances of titles chasing trends which either aren't popular by the time they finally release or release in a market where that style of game has become oversaturated (i.e. games influenced by Souls gameplay, games inspired by Ghost of Tsushima's setting and tone, or action-adventure platforming games wanting to be the next Hollow Knight.) Still, this has always been the case. It happened before the '90s too, but some of the biggest examples of developers chasing the trend previously was with Doom and Resident Evil (both the original title and Resident Evil 4 specifically) previously, and the market became flooded. There always were and always will be alternatives, but I suppose that depends on an individual level based on how open someone is to playing a variety of gaming genres.

But despite that, I'm still consistently drawn to numerous games during each of these kinds of events. They're not all games I know I'll play just since I can only play so many, but I still acknowledge their uniqueness and for the possibility for them to be successful and to attract a passionate audience of any size. Fortunately, the kind of games I tend to play don't incorporate micro-transactions and seldom release DLC which means that there are plenty of modern games which avoid those practices. I suppose it helps that I also don't play that many newly released games either, so I never feel as if I'm just waiting for something new to play.

[telekill]

Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy was just leaked. Supposedly will have more info drop tomorrow during the Xbox event. Slated for Xbox, PC and PS5.

[bikingjahuty]

There are definitely some new games that still appeal to me, but it's becoming more and more obvious that whatever devs have in mind for new games, they don't have people like me in mind. Whatever, I'll take what I can get.

What sort of aspects would you like for developers to have in mind for audiences like you? More arcade-style gameplay? From what I know about what you play, those aspects seem to be a major interest of yours considering the majority of what you play seems to be from fighting and shoot 'em up genres. Are you opposed to less commercial games? I feel like plenty exist even on consoles, but maybe that is a quality you don't want to sacrifice with what you want to play.

I guess the tl;dr of it is certain genres I really enjoy are under represented now, especially by bigger studios, and I also feel like the industry is a bit stuck due to greed and low risk tolerance. That is what I mean when I say it doesn't feel like the industry is making games for me anymore. Obviously, there are a lot of people who are still buying many of these titles, but it definitely isn't me.

I understand your opinions, and there is a lot of overlap between them and mine. And they're not unpopular ones either—just maybe not the most popular by comparison. Still, trends change, so what's popular now won't be in another ten years, just like what was popular in 2015 isn't what's popular now (or most popular, anyway.) I think that general opinion toward free-to-play models alongside the battle royale and hero shooters genres is dwindling and isn't even sustainable for developers, so something new will need to be found to command consumer attention.

Gaming has obviously been commercialized for decades, but big money corporate investors far greater than ever before are firmly rooted now and obviously have major influence over how developers design their games. And since big-budget, AAA games more often than not take five or more years to develop, there are many instances of titles chasing trends which either aren't popular by the time they finally release or release in a market where that style of game has become oversaturated (i.e. games influenced by Souls gameplay, games inspired by Ghost of Tsushima's setting and tone, or action-adventure platforming games wanting to be the next Hollow Knight.) Still, this has always been the case. It happened before the '90s too, but some of the biggest examples of developers chasing the trend previously was with Doom and Resident Evil (both the original title and Resident Evil 4 specifically) previously, and the market became flooded. There always were and always will be alternatives, but I suppose that depends on an individual level based on how open someone is to playing a variety of gaming genres.

But despite that, I'm still consistently drawn to numerous games during each of these kinds of events. They're not all games I know I'll play just since I can only play so many, but I still acknowledge their uniqueness and for the possibility for them to be successful and to attract a passionate audience of any size. Fortunately, the kind of games I tend to play don't incorporate micro-transactions and seldom release DLC which means that there are plenty of modern games which avoid those practices. I suppose it helps that I also don't play that many newly released games either, so I never feel as if I'm just waiting for something new to play.

I definitely feel like this whole AAA game dev model is becoming more and more unsustainable. These studios are putting more or less all their eggs in one basket, which makes sense why they wouldn't want to make any big risks, but at the same time it's really causing modern gaming to feel stagnant and dull. I think a good middle ground where games are given more than a shoe string budget, but are also not these massive 5+ year long projects that rival blockbuster Hollywood movies in terms of budget are the way to go. We do get a fair amount of games like this, but I feel like many of them are still chasing trends and still have a heavy corporate hand weighing passion and creativity down.


I'm certainly not some well informed industry insider and can only give my armchair opinions on what I think would set the ship right, but I know what I feel and I just don't feel optimistic about the future of video games or really where they currently are. With that said, I'm not so doom and gloom where I don't think any interesting games will ever be made again, but as I said in my first post, it's unlikely there will be more than 2 or 3 new games a year that really speak to me and make me want to buy them. I'd love to be proven wrong about that, but at the moment, that's where I stand. I'm really hoping Microsoft reveals some cool stuff in about an hour from me typing this and I can maybe at just one more game to get excited about.