CGMagazine’s Best of Summer Game Fest 2026

Summer Game Fest 2026 has come and gone, and across four gamers here at CGM, we had over 65 appointments for various games and interviews. Whether it was Summer Game Fest Play Days, the XBOX Games Showcase, or various appointments strewn across Los Angeles last week, we had an array of different genres and experiences to choose from. At CGM, we pride ourselves on our coverage spanning AAA and indie titles, with anything from cozy games to horror. Summer Game Fest 2026 had no shortage of options, and our best of SGF list this year is as diverse as this year’s lineup was.

Brendan Frye’s Best of Summer Game Fest 2026

Alien: Isolation 2

Alien: Isolation was a game that I absolutely loved when it first launched, and now, 12 years later, Alien: Isolation 2 made its long-awaited debut at Summer Game Fest 2026, and I could not be more excited. With it at the show, we had to make sure we got our hands on the game, and I am happy to report it carries forward the legacy in a meaningful way and feels just as nerve-wracking as you would hope.

Rather than returning to Sevastopol Station, this instalment drops players onto planet LV921 as Blake, a new protagonist searching the wreckage of the ejected Project KG348 laboratory. The demo showcased a mix of interior and exterior spaces, with the Xenomorph stalking players through the tight confines of Kurosawa Station, while we explored the planet’s eerie landscape and the station’s wreckage in a good mix of gameplay.

The core hide-and-seek gameplay remains intact, complete with the same unpredictable AI that made the original so terrifying. New environmental pressures and updated visuals make the experience feel fresh, while the core gameplay look remains intact and as solid as ever.

Creative Assembly has preserved what made the 2014 classic a masterpiece while meaningfully expanding the scope. For fans who have waited over a decade to feel that particular brand of helpless dread again, Alien: Isolation 2 appears to be worth the wait when it launches on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.

CONTROL Resonant

When I sat down with CONTROL Resonant during Summer Game Fest Play Days, I thought I was ready for anything Remedy could throw at me, and somehow it still managed to surprise me. Picking up with Dylan Faden as the lead, the demo drops you into a Hiss-ravaged New York where buildings break all laws of reality, and people are eerily floating over the barren city streets. It is surreal, unsettling and the kind of nightmare concept that Remedy has delivered so well up to this point.

While I loved the atmosphere, the combat is where CONTROL Resonant really shines. Dylan has access to a wild arsenal, including scythes, sectioned staffs and cleaver-like swords, each offering a totally different rhythm. I clearly went for the scythe.

You can fly, dash and slam down with flaming energy punches, making the movement feel significantly deeper than the first game. The first boss, a telekinetic, horizontally halved face floating into the sky while hurling cars, sets a tone that is dynamic, challenging and unapologetically bizarre. And even though I was cursing its existence after I died for the fifth time, I absolutely loved it. I absolutely cannot wait to dive back into CONTROL  Resonant in when it launches on September 24.

SILENT HILL: Townfall

Since it was first announced, I was not sure what to think about SILENT HILL: Townfall. It looks striking and has a creepy vibe, but it was also a very different direction for the series. But having seen the hands-off demo at Summer Game Fest, SILENT HILL: Townfall looks to be one of the series’ boldest departures yet, and I could not be more excited.

Screen Burn transplants the fog and creepy atmosphere to 1996 Scotland, where the protagonist, Simon Ordell, explores the hyper-realistic island of St. Amelia. The first-person perspective is the most notable change beyond the fact that it is no longer set in New England, and it works. Peeking around corners with actual head movement creates genuine claustrophobia, while the handheld CRT TV elegantly replaces the series’ iconic radio, flashing cryptic signals to track enemies and guide progression without a HUD.

While we only got a small taste of the combat, it looks deliberately fragile, with the monsters a challenge to take down, making stealth and avoidance a much better solution. But should you decide you need to take down some monsters, a blood-pack revival mechanic adds tension, though its limits remain unclear. Puzzles look to be more grounded in the real world, with the one they showed off in the demo requiring you to turn on the power and head to the local shop to get a meter card to top up the electricity. We were assured it was a thing in Scotland back in the ’90s.

It may not feel like classic Silent Hill, but as a standalone horror experience, it is the most viscerally unnerving entry in years, and I could not be more interested to see more when it launches September 24th.

Dayna Eileen’s Best of Summer Game Fest 2026

SEED

Immediately after I had my session with the SEED developers at Summer Game Fest, I couldn’t stop telling people about it. Anyone who would listen, really. This is a highly ambitious, yet deceptively simple-looking MMO simulation where everything is controlled by people. Think The Sims, but there is no NPC shop. You want chairs for your home? Well, someone in your town better start making and selling furniture. Clothes? Same thing.

What is even more insane is that the game never stops. Your characters are constantly going. You can set a full schedule for the time you are gone and can even text them from your phone to check in. They could have had a full day of hard work and socializing, or maybe another character spread a nasty rumour, causing others to turn against you while you were gone. 

The game does involve AI, and truly wouldn’t work without it, as each character can have full conversations with you via text in-game and on your phone. They also made some notes about other uses on their Steam page.

SEED is the ultimate MMO Simulation, and if it works, it is going to be crazy.

Screenbound

I knew Screenbound was going to be popular at Summer Game Fest 2026, but I didn’t think it would be something I loved. It is a puzzle-solving platformer, and I thought I would be more frustrated than anything, but instead I found myself shouting, laughing and cheering when I finally made it through. The world is bright, colourful and something you truly want to explore, both on your 2D hand-held and in the 3D world.

The mechanics surrounding the game are what make it so unique. You are platforming your way through the world in 3D while also following the world in 2D to uncover hidden secrets like doors and ladders around you. Keeping yourself focused on both is an insane challenge, and I played the easy part, but once you get the hang of it, it’s a blast. Usually I am not a fan of platforming (and I’m all around bad at it), but the combination of 2D and 3D mechanics is unlike anything out there. I highly suggest you try it out for yourself.

The Screenbound demo is available on Steam now, so you can check it out for yourself.

Fable

If you have read anything I’ve written, it is probably not a surprise that Fable made it to my Best of Summer Game Fest 2026 list (well, XBOX Games Showcase). The truth is, I was really worried before we went into the preview. The game had been delayed again, and it was a hands-off preview. I was bracing for the worst. Instead, I got an in-depth look at Playground’s Fable, its people, its world and its systems, and it is something that would have been lost on anyone who went hands-on for 20 minutes.

Playground Games has built a world far more detailed than I could have hoped for, whether that means stocked shelves and decorations covering every corner of a shop, intricate sim-like systems for relationships, businesses and more, or beautiful landscapes I can’t wait to explore. We saw a bit of the combat, and it looked like a refined, flashier version of the previous titles. I am so excited for February 23, 2027. It will be worth the wait.

Marcus Kenneth’s Best of Summer Game Fest 2026

Onimusha: Way of the Sword

I was a little hesitant about Onimusha: Way of the Sword going into Summer Game Fest, but after getting to explore the world and really hone my combat skills against a body horror-looking boss, Capcom’s revival of the long-dormant series feels like exactly the kind of return I have been waiting for. The open-ended exploration, demanding combat, and stunning body horror all came together to create one of the most memorable preview sessions of the entire event.

Every encounter really gave off a sense of danger, forcing me to carefully manage stamina, positioning, and timing while rewarding aggressive play like attacking right before an enemy to pull off an Issen (critical strike). The boss battle was especially impressive, delivering the kind of tension normally associated with Soulslike games while still maintaining Onimusha’s unique identity. Combined with gorgeous visuals and grotesque enemy designs, Way of the Sword felt like a confident statement that Onimusha is back and ready to stand alongside Capcom’s biggest modern franchises.

STRANGER THAN HEAVEN

Stranger Than Heaven was unsurprisingly my favourite game of the show. Take away the weirdness behind all the Tupac stuff, and it showed once again that Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio’s latest project felt refreshingly unpredictable. Every new detail seemed to raise more questions than answers, creating an air of mystery that made it impossible to stop thinking about. The game’s blend of crime drama, historical influences, and the studio’s trademark attention to character and atmosphere gave it a unique identity even among the developer’s own catalogue.

Once again, the Yakuza series is changing fighting formulas, and this is the best one yet, feeling more akin to Dark Souls than anything else. The fights I got to play all felt dynamic and interesting, with the final fight being a boss battle that really tests your skills in feeling the rhythm of combat. Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio is one of my favourites, and my body is ready once again to lose myself in their weird and wacky world.

Grave Seasons

Grave Seasons was one of the few games that completely exceeded my expectations once I got my hands on it at Summer Game Fest. The farming mechanics felt polished and satisfying in a way that immediately reminded me of the best parts of Stardew Valley, but it was the way the game managed to add in its murder mystery on top of that gameplay experience that truly impressed me. Witnessing a murder firsthand, investigating the crime scene, and gathering evidence transformed the town from a cozy farming community into a place filled with suspicion and secrets.

After speaking with the developers about their love of murder mysteries and the strong Persona-inspired influences behind the calendar and day-to-day systems, I left feeling convinced that Grave Seasons is attempting something far more ambitious than simply being another farming sim. 

Hayes Madsen’s Best of Summer Game Fest 2026

MR. RECORDS

​MR. RECORDS is the latest game to continue the recent trend of outstanding musical and rhythm games, but this time around you play a charming little old man who decides retirement isn’t exciting enough — he wants to open a record store. 

One part musical platformer, one part management sim, MR. RECORDS is nothing short of whimsically delightful. Piloting George (the old man) through trippy musical levels feels just as good as playing something like Mario, while psychedelic visuals bombard your senses and a song called The Sausage Blues tells the story of a butcher who simply wants some sausages. By listening to records, you can stock them in your store, then help eager customers find the perfect record they’re looking for — boosting your relationship and learning more about them. 

By far the most charming game I saw at all of Summer Game Fest; even just a short snippet of ​MR. RECORDS was enough for me to be there day one. 

Stars Reach

Stars Reach has one mission in mind – to free MMORPGs from the trappings of checklists, dailies, and killing ten rats to level up. It’s a game that hopes to truly embrace the sandbox beginnings that the genre sprouted from, and the newest game from Raph Koster, creator of Ultima Online and Star Wars Galaxies. 

And while it’s fairly clear that what I saw of Stars Reach was early on, it’s undeniable the vision and hope that’s there. There’s a complex simulation that runs underneath everything in Stars Reach, allowing players to mould a single persistent universe with terraforming tools, freeze ice to traverse, chip away landscapes to turn a lake into a flowing river, or even use fire tools to melt hard ground into sticky mud. There’s a healthy dose of Minecraft’s freedom here, mixed with more of the intentional design and lore-building of MMOs. 

It’s a hard game to describe, but just forty minutes of playing Stars Reach left me eager to see more and unpack this universe. And it might be just the breath of fresh air MMOs need.

Onimusha: Way of the Sword

Onimusha has long been Capcom’s most inscrutable series, starting as quite literally a samurai version of Resident Evil, before each subsequent game would transform into something quite different. But after two years of wondering how Capcom could possibly revive such a discombobulated franchise, I now think Onimusha: Way of the Sword might be its best game of the years – and that’s really saying something. 

Phenomenal, crunchy combat that emphasizes quick reflexes and defensive options. A narrative and vibe that perfectly flip-flops between genuinely horrific and incredibly goofy, and does both well. And a gorgeous visual style that truly captures Japan’s Feudal Era. 

Any worries I might have had about Way of the Sword have evaporated after the hour and a half of the game I got to see and play. Capcom’s been on an all-timer of a hot streak the last few years, and it certainly doesn’t seem like it’s stopping anytime soon.

Make sure to check out www.cgmagonline.com for previews and interviews from these great games and more from Summer Game Fest 2026, and hopefully, in the coming months and years, reviews too!