With Summer Game Fest over, it’s time to look back at some of the series’ notable successes. I’m not talking about the most exciting revelations, but the best games I’ve ever played. The SGF area was full of interesting games, some from well-known studios and others from independent groups. And there were some surprisingly fun games that I only discovered by simply picking up a controller and playing.
Even though I’ve seen trailers for Capcom’s lavish game, I never really knew what it was about. I thought it was a generic hack-and-slash game dressed up in the richness of Japanese mythology, but I was surprised and frankly delighted to discover that it is a game of tower defense. Your job is to protect a shrine maiden as she works to eliminate corruption from the land. The gameplay is divided into two sections: day and night. By day, you cross a village saving the inhabitants from the corrupting infection. At night, you protect the shrine maiden from demons as she slowly makes her way through the village to purge it of evil.
I really appreciated Kunitshu-Gamithe new twist on the genre. The villagers you save become part of your army and you assign them tasks to help in the girl’s defense. The Lumberjack is a powerful melee attacker who makes up your first offensive line, while the Monk uses his holy power to freeze demons in place, making them easy targets. Once the fight is over, there is a base building item that allows you to upgrade and unlock jobs and gain new powers for your warrior.
I’m really glad I had the opportunity to play Kunitshu-Gami. I love strategy games, especially when they’re dressed up in such an ornate art style. I found myself looking at everyone’s clothes, looking at the details and wondering what meaning each little piece had. It releases July 19 on Xbox, PlayStation and PC.
I am not a Star Wars no one – but Star Wars Outlaws It was enough to intrigue my Force-independent ass. My practical work was divided into three parts: ship-to-ship combat, stealth combat, and platforming. Since children (meaning me) yearn to Ace fight (Thanks Bandai Namco!), I decided to try the ship first. Before leaving, I had to do a little stealth section to get to my ship which involved some hacking mini-games. Usually, hacking minigames are tedious and terrible (looking at you, Mass Effect), but I enjoyed both, especially the data-spiking minigame that involves spinning a beaker through time with rhythmic clicks.
Once in space, I had a great time. The controls were very responsive and I didn’t feel like I had to fight to keep my target in front of me like in other dogfight games. I also liked that the game doesn’t automatically reorient you if you flip the ship, because it’s space and there’s no up or down. Towards the end of the demo, there was a moment where I descended from space to the surface of a planet, and everything felt very fluid, a real “you can go anywhere” moment ( although I’m sure there is some game developer trickery involved).
For the stealth mission, I wasn’t very stealthy, often blasting an enemy instead of distracting them with Nix, my axolotl-like pet. It turns out that Nix is very useful as a distraction and a recuperator. You can have him pick up weapons your enemies have given up on when you need a little extra firepower. Your main weapon is a simple blaster equipped with special ammunition; the default blaster setting eliminates humanoid enemies, while the plasma setting is effective on droids. In an encounter involving a shallow body of water, I thought it would be smart to shoot the water with plasma in hopes of electrocuting any enemies there. Unfortunately, the game didn’t work out that way.
The platforming section was the weakest part as it didn’t really bring much new. There’s a grappling hook to use, but other than that, my villain Kay Vess just runs, jumps, and climbs up bright yellow grates and ledges like anyone else. Overall, I was once again pleasantly surprised. Star Wars Outlaws will launch on Xbox, PlayStation and PC on August 30.
Arranger is a well-suited puzzle game for mobile, which might explain why it was featured prominently at Netflix’s booth. You play as a messy girl named Jemma who has a quirky way of moving through the world. When you slide your finger up and down or side to side, the world moves with it, horizontally or vertically, moving everything on that axis with it. You use this unique move to solve puzzles or bypass impassable obstacles. To Jemma, a locked door means nothing: she can pass to the other side once she reaches the end of a row or column.
One thing I like about games is how you’re always in conversation with the developers; I enjoy it when I can hear their voice in the way they design their games. There was a point early on when I couldn’t figure out how to solve a puzzle with a pressure plate. Confused, I left the room to find two strategically placed planters. I didn’t yet know that you could bring objects from room to room, so when I saw the planters, I had this “Aha!” » very obvious (and audible). moment. The developers could have left a planter or other object in the room with me to make the puzzle easier, but I would have missed out on deepening my understanding of the game’s mechanics.
Arranger releases on Switch, PlayStation, PC and mobile via Netflix on July 25.
Playing Astrobot was happy. Sure, I enjoyed all the games I highlighted here, but Astrobot This is the one that made me laugh and kick like a 10 year old given free rein at a candy store. A mascot platformer, in 2024… we might be back, y’all! Astro jumps, crashes into walls and can hover in the air, evoking the sensation of Mario. But even though the game is mechanically similar, Astrobot feels particularly charming. Astro squeals, squeals, claps and waves – his enthusiasm and happiness are so contagious that it’s impossible not to hurt your face smiling while you play.