There were 32 games showcased during yesterday’s phenomenal Summer Games Fest. Geoff Keighley, as always, did an excellent job getting us good and ready for the rest of what has turned out to be one of the best years of gaming in some time.
And as is tradition, I’m giving my gut reaction to every single reveal, world premiere, and gameplay trailer we witnessed. Remember that I am one person, I have certain games and genres I like, and others that I would rather lay on a bed of rusty nails than be forced to play.
And that’s OK! Some of you love JRPGs and strategy games and some of you only play first-person shooters. Gaming is a wide-open field will of all different types of games and genres. Just because I don’t like something doesn’t always mean it’s bad!
Unless it looks bad. Like trash. In which case, heed my advice and don’t waste your money.
But enough intro, let’s get into it:
Street Fighter 6 (2023)
I can’t imagine Street Fighter fans were thrilled to hear the “new” character coming to the Street Fighter 6 roster is a character that’s been in the series since the 90s and hasn’t really been MIA in previous entries.
I’m not a big fighting game guy so I don’t really have much of an opinion on the gameplay but it looks like the same old Street Fighter I used to play as a kid on SNES just with another art style. Good trailer though.
Aliens: Dark Descent (2023)
And thus began the great space horror game orgy of 2022…
The trailer was pretty badass. With a lack of Aliens movies coming out over the last few years, getting even just 90 seconds of a CGI Xenomorph hive slowly taking over a space station was nice to see. But I don’t know how hyped for the game I am tbh. Apparently, this will be a kind of top-down single-player squad strategy game which makes me think of XCOM. Need to see more actual gameplay.
The Callisto Project (December 2022)
Already wishlisted this after the reveal at last week’s State of Play, but man did the gameplay sell me even more. The key with horror games is immersion; you can always scare people with jumpscares but the lingering feeling is built with great visuals, stellar audio design, and innovative mechanics and enemies.
That being said, it also looks VERY much like Dead Space, which we are getting a remake of in early 2023. Thankfully, the game will have plenty of time to make its mark until then. Call it “space horror insurance” in case the DS remake isn’t as good as we hope.
Modern Warfare II (October 2022)
One of the biggest moments of the show was the full-level playthrough of what seems to be a mashup of classic Call of Duty campaign missions “The Only Easy Day… Was Yesterday” and “Crew Expendable”. Lots of nostalgia watching it, but gotta be honest, it didn’t change anything for me.
CoD campaigns are always pretty decent and the MW 2019 was one of the best in years, so I was always expecting the campaign for MW2 to be just as good. But like many of you, I don’t buy CoD for the campaign. I buy it to impose my dominance on the noob factory that is public matchmaking.
Until we see gameplay of that and a showcase of how Activision is going to correct all the wrongs of the last 4+ years of CoD, I don’t care how many flashy story trailers running on supercomputers you show me.
Flashback 2 (Winter 2022)
Never played the first game, have no clue what it’s about, but it was one of the more impressive trailers showcased at the event. I will likely look into it further when it shows up at the next gaming presser.
Witchfire (TBD, Early Access soon)
Two different “DOOM-like” shooters were shown at this event and while Witchfire is a sick ass name, I’m not completely sold on it yet. The gameplay looked fine and the powers gave me Bioshock vibes, but without any context to the story or what I’m seeing other than flintlock pistols and demon-possessed guards in medieval armor, I can’t really put a read on the game as a whole. I am looking forward to seeing more though because even just the premise of the title has potential.
Fort Solis (TBD)
I think I let out an audible sigh at this point seeing yet ANOTHER space horror game trailer.
This one though has two legendary voice actors in Troy Baker (Joel from The Last of Us) and Roger Clark (Arthur Morgan from Red Dead Redemption 2) portraying the main characters so while it does look very similar to almost every other space horror game we’ve seen, maybe it will have the best story? Idk, it seems like it’s a year or two away from release anyway.
ROUTINE (TBD)
“This is the space horror game with robots.”
That’s what I have written down in my notes. Looked cool but I was done with space horror by this point in the show.
Outriders Worldslayer (June 2022)
Outriders came out last April to mixed reviews praising the gameplay but criticizing the story. Basically, I read it as “if you play this game with friends and skip all the cutscenes you’ll have fun.”
Now they’re coming out with their first expansion which seems interesting, but is it too late? Has the ship kinda already sailed on this game? I feel like at most people that played through this game already may try it if they can round up their boys again but I was pretty shocked to see DLC for this game.
Fall Guys (Free To Play On June 23rd, And On Xbox)
Say what you want about this being a dead game, I still love Fall Guys. It’s funny, it’s goofy, and it’s still very challenging for the hardcore competitors like yours truly.
So seeing it finally become free-to-play and available on Xbox is a big fat W for me. I will 100% be playing it again at some point this summer.
Stormgate (2023)
I hate RTS games and I was still pretty hyped for Stormgate. The Starcraft community has been STARVING for over a decade at this point. I still have friends playing Starcraft II on a daily basis and that game came out in 2010.
And now, many members of the team that made that game have left Blizzard (good choice) and started their own quest to rejuvenate the competitive RTS multiplayer genre with their spin on a modern Starcraft. We didn’t see any gameplay but the CGI trailer was pretty cool and the screenshots would have gotten an “OH FUCK YEA” from a live audience member so I think this was a pretty big highlight of the show.
Highwater (2022)
Love the art, but didn’t really love the game. Not my style. Turn-based strategy games outside of stuff like Slay the Spire are not my shit. But again, the art looks cool and the music was a vibe.
American Arcadia (TBD)
This looks like The Truman Show meets Inside, and I’m not sure any of you know what either of those are.
I’m very interested. It’s an original idea we haven’t seen in gaming in a while and I’m a sucker for a good story/adventure/puzzle game. Just hope the story lives up to the hype.
Goat Simulator 3 (Fall 2022)
baaaaaaah.
Marvel’s Midnight Suns (October 2022)
ANOTHER turn-based strategy XCOM game but this time in the Marvel universe.
I will likely never touch this game but the trailer was pretty badass. I’m not sure about the Ghost Rider redesign but seeing Demon Hulk and Demon Venom was pretty cool. Might be a big win for XCOM fans.
Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course (June 2022)
Can’t wait. Can’t fucking wait to be put right through the blender again. I think too much time has passed and I don’t remember how painful that first playthrough of Cuphead was.
But I don’t really give a fuck. I love the art, I love the music, and I love the challenge. Here’s to hoping we didn’t wait 5 years for only like 6 more levels. Now, all we need is for the full game to be coming to Game Pass day 1, hopefully, announced on Sunday.
Neon White (June 2022)
I’m not usually a JRPG guy unless you put a really good spin on the button-mashy gameplay. Neon White seems to have that spin.
I’m not sure I even fully understand how the game is played but it looks like a momentum-based shooter with a cool card battler mechanic and some dating sim story. It comes out next week on Switch and PC so I’ll probably wait for the reviews but if its decent I’ll give it a swing on stream.
Midnight Fight Express (August 2022)
This trailer looks badass. I definitely get Sifu vibes but after playing the demo on Steam (available now), it’s a lot less precise and a lot more chaotic. I really wish the story was voice-acted and not told in dialogue bubbles but maybe that’s to push a comic book-style narrative? The gameplay definitely makes you feel like a comic book vigilante.
Warframe: The Duviri Paradox (TBD)
I do not care about Warframe in the slightest bit. If you do, good for you. I hope the game gets better than the first 10 minutes cause I found that to be unbearable when I tried playing it like 5 years ago.
Honkai: Star Rail (TBD)
A turn-based JRPG with a generic trailer that only other JRPG fans can distiguish between it and every other JRPG trailer. Didn’t look like anything special…
Zenless Zone Zero (TBD)
…but this did. This looked interesting. Both of these JRPGs are being made by the team behind Genshin Impact, arguably the most successful JRPG of the last 3 years. And while the only difference between the two games is this one is an action game and is a bit…furrier, that’s enough for me to be intrigued.
No release window for either game so we’ll seen them again in the future.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge (June 2022)
My personal highlight of the show is the reveal of THE FIRST EVER PLAYABLE CASEY JONES IN A VIDEO GAME.
I cannot express how excited I am to play this game next weekend. I used to wait in line at Chuck E. Cheese to play the 4 player arcade cabinet of TMNT and they’d have to rip my tiny fat fingers off the joystick and drag me to the car to give up my turn. I love these games and developer Dotemu did such a fantastic job with Streets of Rage 4.
AND it’s on Game Pass. I’ll be streaming this 100% next Friday.
Humankind Console Release (November 2022)
Trailer was very cool for a game I will literally never touch.
One Piece Odyssey (2022)
I’m an avid anime watcher but I haven’t gotten into One Piece just yet. And honestly, I have no idea why, this game is giving me the same vibes I got from the Samurai Jack game that sucked complete dong water a few years ago. The studio behind this open-world adventure doesn’t have a strong history of developing games outside of being a support studio. But who knows, maybe they pull off one of the best anime adaptations in gaming.
We’ll see when the reviews start coming out.
Atlus’ Soul Hackers 2 (August 2022)
Honestly, I must have blacked out for a second during the presentation because I do not remember ever watching a trailer for this game. It must have been that forgettable, which is on par with almost every other JRPG trailer I’ve ever seen.
Metal Hellsinger (September 2022)
Ok I’m gonna be honest and say my reaction to this trailer was “this looks like a very budget DOOM game” and I didn’t think it would be that good.
My entire perspective changed upon playing the Steam demo (available now). This game is so much fun. The music gets stronger as you hit more shots to the rhythm of the beat, building up until the vocals are included. And the music really is so freaking good. Seems like it will be a great game to come home to after a long day of work and decompress with some light demon-slaying and heavy metal headbanging. Wishlisted it.
Nightingale (Early PC Access 2022)
This is the game that stole the show for me. I’ve never been super into survival games since everyone seems to think Rust is the only good one and I have no interest in getting griefed by Russian children all day. But V Rising this year was fun and this game looks incredible. And CREEPY AS FUCK.
Instantly wishlisted it on Steam and I’m very excited to see more footage.
Tip: if you see a game you enjoy in a gaming presser, follow the studio or the game on Twitter. You’ll get a ton of developmental footage from now until its next appearance.
Saints Row Boss Factory (Out Now)
I love the Saints Row games. They’re just like GTA with the raunchiness and wackiness turned up to 1000. And one of the best things these games have done is make great character creators.
After playing around in the Boss Factory yesterday, I can confirm this game will continue that trend. I’ve seen some wacky creations already on Twitter today and I’m excited to handcraft my wacky band of hooligans this fall.
Warhammer 40,000: Darktide (September 2022)
I opened this trailer saying to stream “I’ll never play this game but it’s gonna look cool” and ended saying “ok but if it’s on Game Pass I’ll definetly play it.”
I feel like that’s every Warhammer game. The stories are never that good, the gameplay is pretty meh, but it’s you are your friends slaying waves of creatures with cool abilities. Shotgun a couple beers, maybe take a buzzball to the face, and this game could end up being a ton of fun (if it comes to Game Pass).
Layers of Fear (2023)
Very cool trailer despite the horror fatigue this show forced upon me. I will say though despite it being in Unreal Engine 5 and looking phenomenal, I’m not convinced that anything we saw was actual in-engine gameplay. I’m waiting to see more of this game before I give my verdict because this studio has a reputation for making great trailers and mediocre games.
Gotham Knights (October 2022)
Love it. Inject this game straight into my veins. Batman is my favorite superhero by a mile and being able to finally play as the Red Hood is gonna be so epic. Add to it that I can play a Batman Arkham-style game now with 2-3 of my friends and you have an instant pre-order on your hands.
The Last of Us 1 Remake (September 2022)
Finally, the game wrapped up with a ton of news from Naughty Dog’s Neil Druckmann.
We got a sneak peek at the HBO Series adaptation with Pedro Pascal (The Mandolorian) and Bella Ramsey (Lyanna Mormont from GOT), some info on the upcoming multiplayer entry in the series, and of course the first remake trailer of Part 1, coming this September.
These are all phenomenal games with some of the best animation and acting you will find in video game history. Very excited to play through it again later this year.
Congrats, you made it to the end. I know it was a slog but thank you for reading it! We go again on Sunday for the Xbox Games Showcase at 1pm ET!
You can follow and watch me react LIVE on Twitch or Twitter!
