My 15 Biggest Winners from Summer Game Fest Week

In a lot of the reaction pieces that I see from things like Summer Game Fest, the winners are usually the surprises and big showings. And those are awesome and all, but these often miss the mark, in my opinion. Summer Game Fest, Xbox Showcases, State of Plays, etc, are built for the purpose of marketing. While the trailer for Gears of War: E-Day was awesome, I’m not sure who is going to play that game that didn’t plan on it already after that particular trailer. I’m not bashing the trailer. It’s a mere announcement trailer, and they will have more marketing to come. But I make that point to explain why my list might look a little different from some others you might see.

This list is my personal biggest winners from the past week of showcases (including the State of Play that was a little over a week ago). I watched that State of Play, Summer Game Fest, Day of the Devs, Ubisoft Forward and the Xbox Showcase. I did not watch any deep dives from after the fact yet, which probably would have benefitted a game like Avowed, but I was already more sold on that game than most. These are all games that made me significantly more interested in playing them after their trailers were dropped. Some of them are here because they debuted and managed to show off some interesting looking gameplay, and some I knew about, but surpassed my expectations in multiple ways. In the end, it’s pretty much impossible to make a list like this for me if there is no gameplay shown.

There are engagement artists out there who are shitting on all of the showcases this year, but as someone who actually loves games, I had a tremendous time watching all the trailers this past week. While things in the industry aren’t perfect, there certainly are a whole lot of games to look forward to both this year and in years to come. 2023 was one of the deepest years in gaming history, and 2024 is looking like it might actually be even better than 2023. Video games are on fire right now, and I’m so happy to be on this ride with all of you. With that said, here are my fifteen biggest winners from this past week.

15. Battle Vision Network

As someone who loved Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes, anything from Capybara is going to interest me. Especially when it was clearly influenced by that game. The combat system, the 2-3 minute matches, and the art style all absolutely wowed me here.

The only thing that left me concerned is that this trailer seems to imply this is mostly a multiplayer game. That would be a bummer, and hopefully, I’m just misunderstanding the trailer. But there do seem to be some cool storytelling elements within the multiplayer element, so it’s not all bad. This was easily one of my favorite trailers from Day of The Devs.

14. Fable

This is probably the trailer that has the least gameplay of anything on this list, but the fidelity and the art direction both blew my mind here. It has obviously been a long time since the last Fable, but this was incredible looking in ways that I did not anticipate. Just exploring this world looks to be a treat, and the personality seems like classic Fable, with it being both fun and a bit dark at the same time. I would love to see more gameplay, but this was a very promising start that definitely piqued by interest.

13. Flintlock

This action looks CRISP. I love the mix of melee and gun combat. The art style is fun, and they even sneak in some decent looking platforming elements.

I also love that they are marketing themselves as a “soul-lite.” I feel like I’m starting to see more and more action RPGs lean in to certain elements of Souls games, but not go all the way in. They tend to be harder than the average game, but not that hard. This years’ Stellar Blade and Rise of the Ronin also fit this bill. There is a lot to like here, and even more so with it being on Game Pass. Luckily, there isn’t a very long wait left for Flintlock.

12. Doom: The Dark Ages

I’ve missed the boat on the last two Doom games, and I suddenly had thoughts of going back and playing those games after watching this trailer. Everything about this trailer is badass as hell. But after playing so many generic single-player FPS games back in their heyday, I really need a hook to get interested. And the shield absolutely did it for me here. The mix of blocking attacks, throwing the shield like a boomerang, revving it up like a chainsaw, and charging into enemies with it all looked so damn cool. Obviously, the atmosphere, enemy design, and music all absolutely cooked here as well. This trailer did its job and then some, and it has me ready to slay some demons on day one.

11. S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2: Heart of Chernobyl

I never played the original S.T.A.L.K.E.R, but I have certainly been interested in this sequel, if only because of the crazy backstory behind it, with the developers being from Ukraine.

This trailer showed me that the game is going to be able to stand on its own just fine as well, though. The atmosphere and gunplay both just seem incredible. This seems like a desolate but beautiful world, and every encounter looked very intense. Being able to play it on Game Pass is even more exciting. S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2 is another reason why the 2nd half of this year seems insanely packed.

10. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater

I fell off the original Metal Gear Solid 3 for reasons that I don’t fully remember (I think playing the first 3 all in a row since I adopted it late was just too much). But the graphics look great, and the gameplay looks like it has been nicely modernized. There is lots of gameplay variety between stealth, action, and set pieces, too. And, of course, I am anticipating an incredible story. We have had a string of fantastic remakes in recent years, and this trailer confirmed that Snake Eater is likely to be the next great one.

9. Assassin’s Creed: Shadows

This wasn’t a shocking showcase, but it was very sound in pretty much every way. I love being able to pick between Yasuke and Naoe, and that they play differently. Both combat and stealth looked very well done, and of course, just this universe being in Japan at this era of that countries history is exciting as well, even if multiple games have done it recently. It didn’t blow me away because I already felt good about it, but it certainly made me even more excited for this November.

8. Cairn

I had a very fun time with the climbing game Jusant last year. Jusant had puzzle and platforming elements, but overall, it was meant to be a breezy and chill experience with some great art.

Cairn seems to want to take things in a different direction, as it even showcases the extreme frustration the climber feels when they fail at a specific area, seeming to signal that failure is inevitable in spots here. This basically looks like Jusant, but with many more systems to manage and more intense gameplay. That won’t appeal to everyone, but this sucked me in pretty quickly with the art, and the added difficulty appeals to me as well. This looks like a 2025 must play.

7. Neva

When I did my top 10 games as art list a few weeks ago, the main game that people asked me if I had ever played before was Gris. I had not, which is why it didn’t make that list.

Sure enough, Neva has absolutely stunning art direction and general ambiance. I was taken in by the world immediately. The surprise came when the combat started, and it actually looked pretty good, too! This seems like it could come together to be a very special package. Not only did this trailer put Neva firmly on my radar, but it actually made me want to go back and play Gris, too. That’s a huge win.

6. UFO 50

So much about this game sold me. As a constant game hopper, the idea of playing a game with fifty stand-alone games sounds awesome. They were also very clear that these are not fifty minigames, but fifty stand-alone games, which once again, is incredibly ambitious.

The idea of all of these games being made by one fictional developer over about 8 years is so cool, too. It’s going to be fun to watch the graphics slowly evolve over that time. Several of the gameplay clips looked pretty damn interesting, so it seems inevitable that anyone can find at least a few games that they fall in love with.

Oh, and the developer of Spelunky is involved? That is freaking awesome. I didn’t even know this existed, and now it might be my most anticipated indie game.

5. Astro Bot

I saw a lot of people highly anticipating this trailer before the Playstation State of Play. I was not one of them. While Astro’s Playroom was a nice enough way to show off the PS5 controller, I did not find it to be all that great. This is totally understandable, as once again, it was a game designed to introduce you to the features of a controller. So I wasn’t expecting anything all that magnificent from a full-length Astro Bot game.

But based on that trailer, I may have been very wrong. This looks like a day one buy for me. They packed so much into three minutes here. I loved the level design and all the fun looking upgrades and cameos they threw it. The ship flying looked fun, and just in general, it seemed like there was creativity streaming out of every little thing they did here. They managed to create something that seemed so fun and like an awesome little celebration of Playstation’s past as well. There aren’t tons of AAA platformers out there these days, so that also makes this unique. A pretty nearby release date in September was a nice bonus as well. This helped redeem what I found to be a pretty lackluster State of Play on the whole.

4. Phantom Blade Zero

This game wasn’t on my radar at all, so I was a bit surprised when it got the prestigious last appearance of the show during Summer Game Fest. But after watching this trailer, I can understand why. The two minute trailer absolutely flies by when you watch it. They pack so much gameplay in here. It looks a whole lot like Sekiro, but maybe a touch faster paced, and definitely a bit more stylish (apparently the game was inspired by Devil May Cry, so that checks out). While the swordplay looks fantastic, using the various gadgets seemed pretty neat as well. If you are someone who likes action combat, there’s no way this one didn’t speak to you at least a little bit.

3. Star Wars: Outlaws

With an over 10 minute showcase during the Ubisoft Forward, this easily could have been my #1. The one difference is that I was already quite sold on Star Wars: Outlaws. But that got taken to another level after this trailer. I might even say this is my most anticipated game left this year, which I never expected over Metaphor: ReFantazio. There are just so many different elements to this game. They all get showcased in this trailer, and they all look so good. The stealth, the minigames, the spaceship elements, the on land vehicles, the factions. It all looks so cool. I wasn’t quite as sold on the combat yet, but it certainly looks competent at the very least. Kay Vess seems like she has the potential to be one of the most likable characters of the year as well. There is a lot of good stuff cooking here, and I can’t believe we are only a few months away from playing it when it didn’t get revealed all that long ago.

2. Clair Obscure: Expedition 33

So much of this trailer blew me away. It kicks off with some beautifully tragic music and some gorgeous visuals and art direction. The story hook is quickly interesting, and the voice acting seems very strong as well.

And then, the combat starts, and WHOA. A lot of turn based RPGs do not spend a lot of time showcasing the combat in a debut trailer like this, but Expedition 33 spends quite a bit of the trailer showcasing its combat. It had the ability to do this in part because the combat is very cinematic, but even more so because it was able to show off all of the “action” elements in its turn based combat. There are a lot of button prompts for both attacks, and defense, showing off how active this turn based system will be. This feels like a best of all worlds type of turn based RPG, and I don’t think they could have done a better job of debuting it.

1. Perfect Dark

Before this trailer, I really did not care at all about this game. The original Perfect Dark wasn’t anything special for me, and I really didn’t care for Perfect Dark Zero. Even though they show Joanna Dark early, I didn’t even realize it was her, so I was absolutely stunned at the end when Perfect Dark showed across the screen.

It’s tough for this not to be my winner when I went from more of a negative perception of this game, to wanting to play it immediately. The trailer showed an open-ended mission structure that looked a lot like a Deus Ex game, with some fun looking stealth, strong gameplay, and some Mirror’s Edge esque platforming to boot. It also looks really cinematic and visually gorgeous as well. This was a stunning way to debut this game, and I am officially very hyped for it.