A slew of gaming showcases/presentations have come out over the past couple weeks, revealing tons of great looking games. These are the ones our team is most hyped for.
Between Summer Game Fest, the Xbox Bethesda Showcase, PC Gaming Show, and a host of smaller showcases, we’ve seen a ton of awesome games in a short amount of time. Even though it’s not technically E3, it’s hard not to look at the past couple weeks as bringing similar vibes.
With all the games revealed, and fresh looks at previously announced titles, the hype is very much real. As such, we’ve tasked our gaming team to breakdown the games they’re most excited about after all the showcase this past week.
Jordan
Starfield – To be entirely honest…I wasn’t all the excited for Starfield. It may come as a shock, but most Bethesda RPGs just haven’t been for me (yes, including Skyrim and Fallout), and I’ve spent little time playing them. As such, I was intrigued by Starfield, but wasn’t particularly pressed about it. That’s all changed with the gameplay footage shown at the Xbox Bethesda showcase. Now, my hype is in full gear as I can’t wait to explore this vast galaxy and BUILD MY OWN SPACESHIP.
Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth – This seems like a no-brainer, even though we’ve still got a bit of waiting to go for it. Square Enix finally offered eager players their first look at the next chapter in the Final Fantasy VII remake, and it teases some amazing things. As someone who only get into the game thanks to the Remake, I’m very excited to see where they’re taking things.
The Last of Us: Part I – I know it’s not “new,” and there are many who question the need for a remake of a game that hasn’t quite hit a decade old yet…but I don’t care. The Last of Us is easily among my all-time favorite games (and one of the few I’ve replayed multiple times). Seeing it get such an impressive visual overall, along with better mechanics to line it up more with the sequel, has me more than ready to be hurt again.
High on Life – Shooters, typically, aren’t my thing. Most of that boils down to my preference for storytelling and my being pretty terrible at them. High on Life, however, has instantly captured my attention. The setting looks like a lot of fun, with some fresh takes on the genre (plenty of Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath vibes), and that’s not to mention it’s coming from Rick and Morty’s Justin Roiland. Sign me up for this goofiness.
Lightyear Frontier – I know, it’s silly, but aside from RTS titles, few game announcements get me as instantly excited as farming games. Combining that genre with some mech-based science fiction, and you bet I’m all in.
Katy
Roots of Pacha – I was hooked when I heard developers say that while this game is inspired by Stardew Valley and Harvest Moon, they are looking to make their mark on the genre instead of cloning the big titles and it appears they’ve done just that.
Roots of Pacha is a farming and life simulation game that explores the existential ideas of how we came to be and how civilization should move forward. Instead of unlockable skills, the player will explore “ideas” to progress with NPCs to move progress forward. This tidbit is merely a snippet of what makes the game unique among a genre of giants, and players have the chance to check out the Steam demo of Roots of Pacha today.
Bear and Breakfast – Another cozy sim where you are a bear. Running a bed and breakfast. Need I say more? Out July 28 on PC and Nintendo Switch.
SchiM – I’m a sucker for platformers and SchiM brings that to the forefront with its eclectic art styles, fun looking mechanics and honestly the trailer had me in love.
Ark 2 – My love of Ark Survival Evolved knows no bounds and every time we get a peek at the sequel my brain goes primitive. I’m so excited to see how Studio Wildcard took their titular game and (hopefully) made it even better.
Power Wash Simulator – I laughed at the existence of this title by Future Lab and published by Square Enix, but a hand-on demo showed me how fun this game really is. Not only fun, but relaxing.
Honorable mentions: Lightyear Frontier, Ravenlok, Ara: History Untold, Animal Well
Soleb
Scorn– The grotesque, horrifying game from EBB Software is finally coming out this October and I am beyond excited to dive in. There is not much we know about this world outside of the fact that you are isolated in a dream-like world, filled with a mesh of organic and mechanical like materials. From the trailer, I can tell you that this game will leave a lasting impression on anyone who plays it for some time.
Starfield– This is it people, this is the game that I am saying now will be GOTY in 2023. Coming directly from the wild minds behind games like Fallout and Elder Scrolls, we now move on to the great beyond and explore the vast blanket of space. From an expansive creation system, to exploration, to a huge action-adventure RPG story, Starfield has all gamers can ask for and more!
The Callisto Protocol– Coming from the horrifying minds of the Dead Space series, The Callisto Protocol seems like it will be the spiritual successor of Dead Space and will be more gory than ever!
As we saw in the recent gameplay trailer, there are many aspects of the game that are pulled right from Dead Space. Gravity guns, Space suits, and of course deformed humans moving into the next form of life.
Becky
Starfield: Given how long we’ve been waiting to get a proper look at Starfield, I was understandably skeptical that this game would be worth checking out. But then I saw the gameplay demonstration of Starfield and oh my goodness I need this game! I’ve longed for a game that lets you properly explore space (No Man’s Sky came close but just didn’t click with me) and Starfield looks to be everything I’ve ever wanted. And yes, I’m super stoked at getting to build and fly my own customized spaceship.
Ark 2: I was intrigued from the beginning about a sequel to Ark and this new trailer only increased my hype. The graphics look incredible and I just hope the story and gameplay matches what I’ve seen so far.
Street Fighter 6: While I was very disappointed in the initial logo reveal for Street Fighter 6, the recent reveals for this game have been very exciting. We’ve gotten a look at the game’s roster and the art style which is much more hyper-realistic than in past entries. I’m really excited to see what the game’s story is about as more is revealed.
Dustin
GOAT Simulator 3– It’s the G.O.A.T. of video games! Honestly I love the series as it’s a huge amount of fun, especially with co-op. I had a blast with the first game, and all the expansions, and when I saw that the game was coming back for a full sequel I got super excited. However, what really pushed me over the edge was that the trailer shown was an absolute blast already. Making fun of Dead Island 2, and then entirely skipping “2”, is just pure genius and shows how much fun this game will be.
Layers of Fears – Look you can love them or hate them, I don’t care, I love Bloober team and their atmospheric horror is so fun to play through. Now we take that atmosphere and amp it up with Unreal Engine 5 and it looked phenomenal in so many ways. The added benefits of Unreal Engine 5 are right up their alley, and we get an early tease of what their eventual horror game with Konami will look like. Silent Hill? Maybe.
The Callisto Protocol – Honestly this game looks like everything we wanted from Dead Space a long time ago. It has the atmosphere, gore, and mechanics to be amazing. It stood out by a mile to me even with Summer Games Fest having five or so Dead Space “inspired” clones around it. It’s hard to believe that it’s the same team behind PUBG.
Outriders: Worldslayer and Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course – Honestly I didn’t see a whole lot of stuff that got me too excited throughout the week, but these two games I’ve been hyped for already and the best part about them is we get to play them both rather soon. Both games are fantastic, and both expansions could probably hold weight as their own game.
Even without E3, the amount of gaming news we’ve gotten over the past couple weeks has been overwhelming and awesome. While we’ll be waiting a while on some of these choices, there’s no denying the amount of great looking titles gamers have on the horizon.
Which new reveal (or re-reveal) were you most excited about this year?
