After the excitement of the Xbox Games Showcase, we have one more showcase to talk about today. The PC Gaming Show is usually one that shows a ton of games, so I’ll once again be focusing on highlights rather than trying to go through every single game shown.
The show was framed by another joke about using AI, although it wasn’t as funny as Devolver’s show. Anyway, not a lot of games stood out to me, but there were a few. To start with, I never thought I’d be talking about a metroidvania starring Scrooge, but that’s exactly what we’re getting with Ebenezer and the Invisible World.
Scrooge is a Stand user. Go figure.
Moving on, I’m not sure if we’ve talked about Eternights before, but it’s one that’s looking intriguing from the moment it was revealed. Definitely some “indie Persona” vibes, although it’s an action RPG.
They showed a beautiful game called Islands of Insight, another brief look at Lords of the Fallen, and a 2D action game called Mariachi Legends that looks cool.
Then there’s Critter Cove, which probably isn’t a game for me, but it’s so cute I’m surprised it wasn’t at the Wholesome Direct.
Similarly, I don’t think I’ll play Undead, Inc., a management sim where you’re the evil corporation making zombies, but the premise is fun enough that I had to mention it.
Cyberpunk metroidvania Altered Alma and first-person thriller The Invincible also looked pretty interesting.
And while Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew isn’t the sort of game that appeals to me, I have to give it a shout-out for the catchy pirate song during the trailer. That was entertaining.
Finally, Bloomtown at first struck me as yet another life sim farming game, but… there’s enough going on besides that for me to keep an eye on this one. I didn’t expect it to be an RPG at all, much less one that has some supernatural aspects.
That’s all for now, but tomorrow we’ve got Ubisoft Forward and the Capcom Showcase to look forward to (if we chant “Ace Attorney” three times, will it appear?), so stay tuned! In the meantime, what games from the PC Gaming Show stood out to you?
Since two certain RPGs were leaked ahead of the Xbox Games Showcase, I went into it feeling confident that we’d see some interesting news, at least. The showcase started with the new Fable game, which I’m interested in (although I felt the trailer had an odd tone for the Fable series, but then again, I haven’t played any of them yet).
They showed an interesting-enough trailer for a game called South of Midnight, although it didn’t show much about what the game is like, and then a new Star Wars game called Star Wars Outlaws. More details about Outlaws will be shown at Ubisoft’s showcase tomorrow.
They announced a new co-op game from Thunder Lotus, the developer of Spiritfarer. Called 33 Immortals, it’s a raid-based game for 33 players that doesn’t seem like my sort of thing, but it did look pretty.
After Payday 3, the leaked trailer for Persona 3 Reload was shown! I avoided watching the leaked trailer, because I wanted to see it for the first time when it was officially shown. It looks pretty good. (Now, do I play Persona 3 Portable in the meantime since it seems like the Persona 3 remake might not include P3P’s unique content…?)
Avowed also looks good, and it was interesting to see Sea of Thieves get a crossover with Monkey Island.
Then came Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 and Hellblade 2, followed by…
Like a Dragon 8? Maybe?? Maybe not??? It’s a pretty funny trailer, but I’m still not sure if Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth is the official title for Like a Dragon 8 or if it’s a new game set in between.
Update: It has since been confirmed to be 8.
They showed more Fallout 76 stuff, and then a trailer for a new Capcom game called Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess.
I can’t help but be slightly disappointed, since I thought it was a new Onimusha game when the trailer started, but it looks pretty cool. (There’s a good chance it’s part of the “and more” planned for Capcom’s own showcase tomorrow.)
After that, I got a bit of a reprieve to think about all the exciting games I’d just seen, while they showed Forza Motorsport, a new Elder Scrolls Online expansion, and Overwatch 2.
Then it was time for the other leaked trailer, Persona 5 Tactica. This strategy RPG Persona 5 spin-off looks like it could be a lot of fun, so I’ll probably play it.
They showed a trailer for Starfield, a new game from Dontnod called Jusant, a game called Still Wakes the Deep that I’d be more interested in if I liked any games from the developer, and an action RPG social sim called Dungeons of Hinterberg that could be interesting.
Then they devoted a good portion of time to the new Cyberbunk expansion, showed Cities Skylines 2, and revealed…
Project Re Fantasy???? It exists, it’s actually coming out next year, and it somehow avoided being leaked alongside the two Persona games. Officially titled Metaphor: ReFantazio, it looks extremely cool, and I can’t wait!
They finished with a game called Towerborne and then one called Clockwork Revolution that has a cool steampunk aesthetic, before going into the Starfield Direct.
This was an incredible showcase! Even if the excitement was muted slightly by the Persona 3 remake and Persona 5 Tactica being leaked ahead of time (can you imagine the levels of hype if they were surprises?), there were so many great-looking games in this showcase! I’m excited for Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth and Metaphor: ReFantazio in particular, and I can’t wait to see more.
What games stood out to you the most from Xbox’s showcase?
Today brings us two more showcases: the Wholesome Direct and the Future Games Show. Once again, we’ll be going through the highlights, so be sure to check out the full showcases if you want to see everything that was announced.
Wholesome Direct
The Wholesome Direct is always an interesting show to look forward to, because while it might only have a handful of games I want to play, it’s bound to be the cutest showcase. This year’s Wholesome Direct featured a lot of farming and garden games (and a high number of witch games again), like last year. Also like last year, there were multiple frog games.
First up was Mineko’s Night Market. I feel like we’ve been talking about this game for years, but now it finally has a release date!
The next game to catch my attention was one of the aforementioned frog games. Frogsong is an action-adventure game where you play a tiny frog, and it looks so cute!
Creature-collecting game Moonstone Island, bunny-collection game Usagi Shima, and nature exploration game Flutter Away are among the number that look really cute even though I’m not sure if they’d appeal to me personally.
Frog-raising farm sim Kamaeru: A Frog Refuge is another (as well as being another frog game).
Then there’s Gourdlets, which sounds like a game I wouldn’t normally be interested in, being a city-building sandbox. Yet something about building your city and watching the little gourdlets interact with it looks so relaxing, I can’t help but be interested.
And while there are a lot of games starring cute animals, special mention goes to Smushi Come Home, an exploration game where you play as a tiny mushroom.
I’m also intrigued by A Tiny Sticker Tale, which looks like a pretty neat little puzzle game.
And while there were a ton of exploration/gardening games, Kibu is one that especially stood out.
Meanwhile, even among all these cute games, the cuteness award might go to Little Friends: Puppy Island, where you explore and build a paradise with a bunch of puppies. (Now, if it was kittens, I’d probably be buying it already.)
Narrative adventure game Fall of Porcupine looks interesting, and there was also a surprise appearance of Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life. Of course, it fits right in with the theme, but I expected it to be entirely focused on indie games.
(One of these days, I’ll get back to playing Rune Factory.)
Campfire Cat Cafe did bring some more cute cats to the showcase, and then it ended with another farm/life sim RPG that looks especially interesting, Fields of Mistria.
Future Games Show
After the Wholesome Direct, we went straight into the Future Games Show. One of the games that stood out to me the most is Lords of the Fallen, the spiritual successor to the previous Lords of the Fallen. Confusing title aside, it looks pretty cool! This new trailer introduced its dual worlds system and gave a decent look at its gameplay.
I also have to give a shout-out to Head Bangers: Rhythm Royale. While this sort of multiplayer game isn’t my sort of thing, the dancing pigeons were terrifying yet strangely compelling to watch.
Moving on, you might remember The Last Faith from last year, and it still looks fantastic.
Swashbuckling action game En Garde! looks like it could be interesting, and so does narrative adventure game The Book Walker: Thief of Tales.
I was also surprised to see the Deponia series return, with Surviving Deponia… a survival game entry in the adventure game series.
Layers of Fear also got a new trailer – this is the upcoming collection of both previous Layers of Fear games plus new content, so it’s competing with Lords of the Fallen for the most confusing title.
Speaking of horror games, I’m also curious about Daymare: 1994 Sandcastle, although I haven’t played the first one.
Ruffy and the Riverside also looks like it could be a lot of fun, although finding out that it’s open world diminished my excitement a bit.
Getting back to the horror genre, another horror game (although its store page officially describes it as a “psycho-thriller”) that looks like it has potential is Reveil, so I’ll be keeping my eye on that one, and Luto also looks nice and spooky.
The final game shown, The Spirit of the Samurai, also looks interesting, although I’m not sure how I feel about the stop-motion animation style.
Anyway, those were the highlights for me from today’s showcases! Come back tomorrow for two more game showcases as we proceed through this year’s Not-E3 season. In the meantime, which games stood out to you the most?
