Mighty Cuphead Adventure, A Wolf Among Us 2, Stellar Blade: Blood Rain and many more games saw new trailers at this year’s Summer Game Fest, but which were the real must-sees?
Even when you know most things have already been leaked (or officially teased) you still can’t help but hope for the unexpected at major preview showcases like Summer Game Fest. And at a number of points, in the show on Friday night, it did deliver, even if the most unlikely reveal was that Tupac is in Sega’s Stranger Than Heaven game, set in early 20th century Japan.
There were other more traditional surprises though, including Resident Evil Veronica, two new announcements from Cuphead creators Studio MDHR, a first glimpse at Alien: Isolation 2, genATLAS from ICO and Shadow Of The Colossus creator Fumito Ueda, and trilogy topper Final Fantasy 7 Revelation.
The whole event went on for two hours, so if you want to see absolutely everything you can just rewatch the livestream but below are the most important and interesting games that caught our eye. Although before you get too excited we should warn that, unlike the State of Play on Tuesday, most of the games were due out 2027 or later.
Mighty Cuphead Adventure
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Believe it or not but Cuphead will be a decade old next year, and developer Studio MDHR hasn’t made anything else but DLC since. But at Summer Game Fest they announced they are making a new hand-animated Cuphead game, although they admitted it’s ‘still in the early stages’, aka years away.
That didn’t have a name, so it may not technically be Cuphead 2, but they did announce Mighty Cuphead Adventure instead, which features 8-bit style graphics – which are a little quicker to create. It still seems similar in style to Cuphead though, but more specifically influenced by 80s games such as Mega Man and Contra, to the point where it’s being released on an actual Master System cartridge.
Unfortunately, Mighty Cuphead Adventure doesn’t have a release date and while MDHR implied it was out relatively soon they work at such a slow pace it’s hard to know what exactly that might mean.
Alien: Isolation 2
Before Summer Game Fest, Sega dropped a teaser for both Alien: Isolation 2 and Crazy Taxi. But while the latter, and other retro reboots like Jet Set Radio, were mentioned in passing it was only the new Alien game that was actually shown. It was pre-alpha footage, so the final game probably won’t be released until at least 2028, but it looks intriguing, with the game set on a colony world with a somewhat Earth-like environment.
The original Isolation had its failings but not in terms of its atmosphere and some of the most terrifying thrills in all of survival horror. If this new game has a more compelling story then it could become some truly special. Despite the original’s abrupt ending, we don’t think there was anything to confirm you are still playing as Ellen Ripley’s daughter, but it would be strange if you weren’t.
gen ATLAS
We’re not sure it was intentional, but the most interesting games of the show all came right at the beginning. Maybe the idea was to reel people in early, because a new game by Fumito Ueda will certainly do that, for those that know his previous work. Especially as he’s now head of his own studio, with no attachment to Sony anymore.
As such, gen ATLAS (formerly known as Project Robot) is being released on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. It doesn’t have a release date yet but the Epic Game Store lists it as ‘coming soon’ and it already has a PEGI age rating, which suggests it could actually be this year.
The trailer confirms that Ueda has a thing about giant monsters but although some of the visuals are reminiscent of Shadow Of The Colossus the gameplay seems to be quite different, since it appears to let you control various giant robots by controlling a flying head that can dock with different bodies.
Stranger Than Heaven
We really can’t offer an explanation for Tupac’s involvement here, except that it apparently came about because Snoop Dogg was already in the game and he arranged it with his son and Tupac’s estate. As already known, the game takes place across a number of periods in Japan’s early 20th century history, including 1915, 1929, 1943, 1951, and 1965 – which seems to be as close to the modern era as it gets.
Although the game shares many similarities with the Yakuza/Like A Dragon franchise, and is by the same developer, it’s not formally part of the series, so there’s not expected to be any cameos from that. Although Tupac was the biggest reveal, a release date for the game was also announced, of January 15 next year.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin
Bayonetta and Ninja Gaiden 4 developer PlatinumGames seems like the last studio you’d ask to make a new Turtles games, not because they’re not one of the best action game developers in the world but because they’ve already made one Turtles game – 2016’s Mutants In Manhattan – and it was rubbish. It was also very low budget, so hopefully this new one, which was technically announced back in 2023, will be better.
There was greater significance to the annoucement than was apparent at the time, as it represents the first game to be published following a merger of Skydance Media and Paramount. That immediately makes them a major force, with games such as Marvel 1943: Rise Of Hydra and an untitled Star Wars game by Amy Hennig, and at least two new Avatar The Last Airbender games.
Crossfire
Although quite a bit of time was spent on this debut game from new studio That’s no Moon, we’re not sure we entirely got the gist of it from what was shown. It certainly looks very good and is pretty much exactly what you’d expect from a developer set up by a bunch of ex-Naughty Dog and Infinity Ward veterans. We also liked how they emphasised it as a ‘high agency, single-player, story driven game’ and seemed very proud of the fact.
The story revolves around two special forces soldiers from opposing sides having to team up, although it wasn’t entirely clear against what. Some kind of science gone mad experimentation was going on, seemingly involving instant healing, but it wasn’t entirely clear. We’re intrigued to know more but at the moment there’s no release date.
Virtua Fighter CrossRoads
Crazy Taxi might not have been at Summer Game Fest but another of Sega’s classic franchises was. This is essentially Virtua Fighter 6 (Sega highlight the VI in the name) although you’d never guess that unless you happen to know who Pai Chan is, and even that only comes at the end of the trailer.
Virtua Fighter’s problem is that while the 3D combat has always been best in class, and superior to any contemporary Tekken, it’s generally less accessible for newcomers and the storytelling and characterisation is extremely basic. It’s impossible to tell whether the former problem is still an issue but the emphasis on narrative is clearly an attempt to address some of the series’ traditional shortcomings. It doesn’t have a release date yet, but it is due out next year.
1666 Amsterdam
Patrice Désilets served as the creative director on the first three Assassin’s Creed games but since leaving Ubisoft he’s struggled to find the same level of success. 2019’s Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey was a major flop and he’s been trying to get 1666 Amsterdam off the ground for years – 16 years in fact, according to what was said at Summer Game Fest.
The project originally began at Ubisoft but he gained the rights for himself and it is now nearing completion. It seems to involve witches of some sort, and certainly has an air of Assassin’s Creed about it, but it was hard to tell exactly what was going on from the brief trailer. That’s no doubt why he made sure a free 30 minute prologue is now available on PC, to explain more of the plot, with the game entering early access next year.
Saw: Genesis
Bloober Team remain an enigma, as until the Silent Hill 2 remake we would’ve said they were very much overrated. That proved to be an incredible game, that’s arguably even better than the original, and yet immediately afterwards they were right back to their usual mediocrity with Cronos: The New Dawn.
Perhaps it’s working with pre-existing properties which brings the best out of them, so maybe Saw: Genesis will be one of their good ones. We won’t pretend to know anything much about the series’ lore, so we’re not sure if the stuff from the First World War is new to the series, but the most surprising thing about the game is that it’s an asymmetric multiplayer game – which the trailer doesn’t at all make clear.
That puts it in direct competition with Dead By Daylight, and all those 80s movie licences like Friday The 13th and Killer Klowns From Outer Space, that only ever seem to last a year or two before the licence runs out.
Star Wars Zero Company
As diehard XCOM fans, and sometimes Star Wars fans, we’re really looking forward to this one, although it’s still hard to gauge exactly how it works, as trying to make a turn-based strategy look sexy and exciting in a short trailer isn’t the easiest thing.
We do wish it had been set during the original trilogy, rather than the Clone Wars, although there are a lot of Rogue One and Andor references throughout, including the Ring of Kafrene in this latest trailer. However, the big draw at the end was the presence of Anakin Skywalker, making it clear that while this is set towards the end of the conflict it is still firmly in prequel territory, in terms of the timeline. The August 27 release date leaked out before Summer Game Fest, which is pleasingly soon.
007 First Light
This was only a blink and you’ll miss it trailer but it did confirm that the first story DLC for the game will feature Lenny Kravitz’s character Bawma. Kravitz was a lot of fun in the role but his exit from the story was fairly abrupt, with a story thread left to unravel, so his involvement in the first expansion makes perfect sense.
Other small updates before that will include new Tacsim missions, a new gadget, a New Game+ mode, and a photo mode.
Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendence
Capcom has been on the run of their lifetime lately but nobody’s perfect and technical issues and problems with the post-game support for Monster Hunter Wilds has caused them a lot of trouble. Ascendence is clearly meant to be the answer to that, with Capcom describing it as a ‘massive expansion.’
It certainly looks attractive, with an archipelago of islands in the sky and some very colourful monsters, with a number of new and returning creatures. Whether that’s going to be enough to placate fans remains to be seen, especially as the main problems with the parent game weren’t obvious at first, but we’ll see next year when it’s released.
Clutch
A new arcade racer by some of the creators of Forza Horizon certainly sounds appealing, and the graphics looked great in this first trailer for Clutch. As they threatened though, there’s a major focus on storytelling in the game and… we already don’t care. Other racing games have tried this before and it never works but perhaps playing it will make you more invested, and they’ll finally crack the formula.
The game’s out in spring 2027, so there’s plenty of time for it to convince people it’s on the right track.
A Wolf Among Us 2
We’re not sure what the mention of eight years was when this game was introduced, but presumably that’s how long this sequel has been in development, because it’s actually 13 years since the first one came out. The original form of Telltale Games has been and gone in that time and the whole concept of the puzzle-less graphic adventure has since been perfected by AdHoc Studio’s Dispatch.
That puts A Wolf Among Us 2 in a difficult position because it still looks the same as the old game did, although Telltale are remastering the original for this year, to try and show that there has been some improvement. What matters most is the writing and voice-acting and from what little was shown in the trailer that did seem good, but this is no longer the sure fire hit it would’ve been if it had released on time.
Stellar Blade: Blood Rain
It wasn’t at all clear what this was for the majority of the trailer, even if its top notch graphics made it clear it was something with some serious talent, and money, behind it. The skintight clothing and gratuitous shots of female posteriors should’ve been a clue though, that this is a sequel to 2024’s Stellar Blade.
The leering attitude towards women is still icky but we can’t deny that the original wasn’t the best 3D beat ‘em-up this side of Bayonetta. Exactly what the connection is to the original game isn’t yet clear, as this is a new protagonist, but in hindsight they are the same sort of The Thing inspired monsters. There’s no release date though and it doesn’t sound like it’s going to be out anytime soon.
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