S - plot
It ’s been a long seven days here at Digital Trends . While play fans may have had a busy few days thanks to live broadcasts like Xbox Games Showcase and Ubisoft Forward , we were on the dry land in Los Angeles for a full week full of hands - on demos and preview . Over that time , we played more games than we can count , from with child fall releases likeMetaphor : ReFantazioto small-scale title likeBounty Star . The big takeaway ? Even if the secret plan industry is currently facing a rocky moment , plenty of developers are still pouring their hearts and souls into making nifty game .
There ’s so much that we ’ve already write about already ( and so much more come ) , but we need to highlight some of the near games we work over the past week . Our picks represent a wide selection of games , from tentpole console exclusives to indie made by one or two developers . Each one is entirely unlike from the others , showing that passion and creative thinking are still fly high even in the industriousness ’s knotty moment .
Game of the Show: Astro Bot
If we had to beak a game of the show this year , it would have to beAstro Bot . PlayStation ’s upcoming exclusive impressed at the show with a abstruse demo showing off its precise platforming , intricate bosses , and tricky challenge stages . What ’s most impressive here is how different each level we played was . One had us further through walls with a Bulldog Backpack , while another rotate around froggy boxing gloves that could turn Astro into a sling . The more we played , the more we were surprised and beguiled . Team Asobi has something extra on its hand here with a family - friendly platformer that feels just as tight — if not good — than Nintendo ’s best . Do n’t sleep on it this September.~ Giovanni Colantonio
Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves
Though I ’ve played combat games my intact lifetime , I ’ve only sustain serious about learning their refinement in recent eld . I ’m happy I did , because that noesis helped me appreciate the intellectual brawling ofFatal Fury : City of the Wolves . SNK ’s fashionable revitalization may look likeStreet Fighter 6at a coup d’oeil , but it has its own clear-cut voice thanks to its singular rev system of rules . Certain action , like limited relocation , work up up rev , which is tracked by a rising gauge . When that run into 100 % , role player overheat and lose access to some key move . That means that combatant ca n’t just spam moves ; they have to think carefully about when to unleash the big guns . It ’s a not bad overture that opens the door for mountain of strategic thought and spectacular moments.~ Giovanni Colantonio
Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess
My quick elevator sales pitch forKunitsu - Gami : way of life of the Goddess?Bloons Tower Defense 6meetsOnimusha , but even that would n’t quite do it justice . Capcom ’s latest is an action strategy game where the independent goal is to guide a princess from one side of a horizontal surface to the other so she can dance and disembarrass the area of “ befoulment . ” During the daytime , players can save villager and gain currency that can be used to bribe combat units or make the princess walk a certain aloofness . At night , players then must set and command the villagers they wrench into warrior and fight off horde of enemies render to attack the princess . It ’s a unique gameplay eyelet , andPath of the Goddesslooks great while doing it . ~Tomas Franzese .
Fragpunk
When I sat down to playFragpunkat Summer Game Fest the day before itsreveal at the Xbox Games Showcase , I knew nothing about it . About 20 proceedings later , I was all - in . Fragpunktakes the idea ofValorant , with its flack - defend multiplayer shooting setup , and sprinkling in a stratum of goofiness thanks to a card organisation . At the start of each round , each team activates up to three card that drastically change the rule . Those cards can get very silly , turning the ground into ice or trip with child head modality . It ’s a fruity tailspin on a competitory shooter that feel much better tune up for casual players who just need to goof off with friends.~ Giovanni Colantonio
Fear the Spotlight
While Blumhouse Games announced several title at Summer Game Fest , only one was playable during the effect — and it was a great choice . Fear the Spotlightis an expanded version of a tiny indie that in short launched on Steam last September . The developer took it offline and decided to retread it once Blumhouse record stake in support it . The new version is already evince hope thanks to its retro ’ 90s esthetic , tactile puzzle box gameplay , and more New storytelling that almost brings me back toLife is Strange . While the original version gained a very small audience of consecrate horror lover , I imagine it ’ll get a lot more eyes when it relaunches this year.~ Giovanni Colantonio
Harmonium: The Musical
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl
After several time lag , the release ofS.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 : Heart of Chornobylis nearly upon us , and I was impressed by what I fiddle at Summer Game Fest . This supernatural horror shooter fructify in a radiated Chornobyl immediately makes the player feel unsafe in the exception zone they ’ve broken into . From environmental hazards to aggressive enemies , almost everything is out to kill players . You ’ll bleed if you get shot or support from radiation intoxication if you walk in something toxic , so there are survival plot elements underpinning the entire experience . S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2doesn’t feel janky like its harbinger either , so it seems like it will be well deserving playing when it collide with Xbox Game Pass this September . ~Tomas Franzese
UFO 50
UFO 50 , the late game fromSpelunkystudio Mossmouth , is the variety of game you ask to play to in truth understand how wild it is . The apparatus is that Mossmouth “ let out ” 50 lose games from a fictional developer call UFOsoft . Players can plunk into 50 8 - morsel games by the imaginary studio , each of which is entirely different from one another . One min you ’re play a multiplayer platform fighter like Super Smash Bros. , the next you ’re dally a mini - golf secret plan in the trend of Zelda . It ’s an eclectic collection with some deceptively cryptic secrets that already have me eager to grasp back in.~ Giovanni Colantonio
Phantom Blade Zero
Both of the trailer forPhantom Blade Zerowere so brassy that I had my doubtfulness that the secret plan would live up to the hype . Thankfully , I was pleased to see that was n’t the case when I went deal - on with it at Summer Game Fest this year . It ’s definitely a more familiar - experience action game than its poke suggest , but it ’s still a joy to act . This is a game where role player sense powerful when on the offensive . There is tons of combat depth and combo potential , and all of the attempt animations are gorgeous to depend at . Still , smart parrying , dodging , and move canceling are what will give the good players an bound in battle . ~Tomas Franzese
Building Relationships
Building Relationshipstakes its title quite literally . Playing as a house on the prowl for a bachelor , you ’ll tumble your way across an island looking at different buildings . You ’ll meet a riverboat who bang to angle , a tent who ca n’t get enough of bro refinement , and even a windmill looking for love . Its crunchy , lowly - poly artwork mix with reality - television - driven written material made it an oddball standout at Summer Game Fest this year . You ’ll believably never represent another dating simulator quite like it.~ Jesse Vitelli
