The Good, the Bad, and the Weird of Gamescom 2016

Gamescom 2016 has begun! Unlike E3, where I cover as much as possible, I usually only cover the Gamescom announcements that stand out to me the most. But just because there aren’t many big press conferences this year doesn’t mean we don’t have a lot to look forward to!

I’ll update this post throughout the day if necessary.

First, Final Fantasy XV is playable at Gamescom (and a 53-minute gameplay video is available, although it may contain spoilers. 52 fantastic new screenshots were also revealed.

Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue is playable again, as well. I’ve heard positive reactions to both.

Before we move on from Square Enix, NieR: Automata is coming to Steam in addition to the PS4.

…So weird.

During E3, we briefly discussed an upcoming Souls-like sci-fi game called The Surge, from the developers of Lords of the Fallen. Here’s the new gameplay footage shown at Gamescom.

I’m not entirely sure if I want to play The Surge, at least not until I’ve played more Souls and Souls-like games, but it definitely looks interesting.

And speaking of games similar to Dark Souls, Koei Tecmo announced a new demo for Nioh. It will be available to download from August 23 through September 6, and includes changes made based on feedback from the alpha demo.

A new trailer was also shown for ReCore, which has more shooting than I expected, but still looks interesting.

(I’m not entirely sure why people compare it to Mega Man, but maybe they mean Mega Man Legends?)

Unfortunately, while I was curious about Rare’s Sea of Thieves when it was announced, the newest gameplay footage didn’t give me any reason to be more interested in it than in other online games.

On the other hand, if I get any more excited for Yooka-Laylee, I might explode.

The Banjo-Kazooie vibes are so strong!

Now that we’ve had some wonderful Yooka-Laylee footage to boost our spirits, let’s brace ourselves to take a look at the newest game in the Metal Gear series… in which wormholes form an alternate timeline for a… co-op survival game with… zombies…?

You know, I wondered how Konami would continue the series without Kojima, but I don’t think anyone could have predicted alternate universe zombie-fighting.

This probably is one of the “bad” announcements and it’s definitely one of the weird ones. I have so many questions. Chief among them is “why?” Why?

Let’s move on to a game that should have zombies and see what Capcom had to show from Resident Evil 7!

I’ll admit, it doesn’t look a lot like Resident Evil. However, it does look like horror, and that’s something the series sorely needs.

Capcom has been evasive about what Resident Evil 7 itself will play like. The Beginning Hour demo isn’t necessarily indicative of the main game, and this new trailer shows a “found footage” tape you’ll find in the game.

I’m undecided about whether this is good or bad… but it’s the most interested I’ve been in a Resident Evil game in quite a while. Is it hypocritical to be optimistic about Resident Evil 7 and negative toward Metal Gear Survive?

Well, let’s move on to more horror: a trailer for the creepy new game we discussed recently, Little Nightmares.

According to Bandai Namco, Little Nightmares tells the story of a girl named Six as she tries to escape the Maw, “a vast, mysterious vessel inhabited by corrupted souls looking for their next meal.” It’s creepy, weird, and definitely one to keep an eye on.

Bandai Namco also showed a trailer for a game called Get Even, which is also horror. I’m not sold on it yet, but it’s worth a look.

These are the most interesting (or weird) things I’ve seen from Gamescom so far. What about you?