4 Awesome Games I Played at Summer Game Fest 2024

Now that Summer Game Fest is over, it’s time to look back at some of the show’s standout hits. I don’t mean the most exciting revelations, but the best games I’ve actually had the pleasure of playing. The SGF room was full of interesting games, some from high-profile studios and others from indie outfits. And there were some games that were surprisingly fun that I only discovered by just picking up a controller and playing.

Although I’ve seen trailers for Capcom’s lush-looking game, I was never quite sure 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 quite frankly delighted to discover that it is a tower defense game. Your job is to protect a shrine maiden as she works to cleanse corruption from the land. The gameplay is divided into two sections: day and night. During the day you go through a village to save residents from the destructive infection. At night, you protect the shrine maiden from demons as she slowly makes her way through the village and cleanses it of evil.

i really enjoyed it Kunitsu-Gami‘s new twist on the genre. The villagers you rescue become part of your army and you assign them tasks to help defend the girl. The Woodcutter is a powerful melee attacker who serves as the first line of attack, while the Monk uses his holy power to freeze demons in place, making them easy targets. Once the battle is over, there is a base building element that allows you to upgrade and unlock jobs and gain new powers for your warrior.

I’m really glad I took the chance to play Kunitsu-Gami. I love strategy games, especially when they’re dressed in such a richly decorated art style. I found myself staring at everyone’s clothes, looking at the details and wondering what meaning each little piece had. It will be released on July 19 on Xbox, PlayStation and PC.

I am not Star Wars person – but Star Wars Outlaws was enough to intrigue my Force-agnostic ass. My hands-on was divided into three parts: ship-to-ship combat, stealth combat, and platforming. Because the kids (i.e. me) long for it Ace fight (Thanks, Bandai Namco!) I decided to try the ship first. Before I left, I had to do a little stealth section to get to my ship, which involved a few hacking mini-games. Most of the time hacking mini games are annoying and terrible (looking at you, Mass effect), but I enjoyed both, especially the data spike mini-game where you rotate a tumbler in 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 air combat games. I also liked that the game doesn’t automatically reorient you if you turn the ship upside down, because it’s space and there’s no up or down. Towards the end of the demo there was a moment where I flew from space to the surface of a planet, and it all looked very seamless, a real ‘you can go anywhere’ moment (although I’m sure there was a game there is cheating on the part of developers).

Before the stealth mission I wasn’t very stealthy; I regularly blew up an enemy instead of distracting him with Nix, my axolotl-like thing. It turns out that Nix is ​​very useful as a distraction and as a retriever. You can have him retrieve the weapons your enemies have dropped if you need some extra firepower. Your main weapon is a simple blaster equipped with special ammunition; the standard blaster setting takes out humanoid enemies, while the plasma setting is effective on droids. During an encounter with a shallow body of water, I thought it would be smart to shoot plasma at the water in hopes of electrocuting the enemies standing in it. Unfortunately, the game didn’t work that way.

The platform part was the weakest part, as it didn’t really do much new. There’s a grappling hook I can use, but other than that, my villain Kay Vess just runs, jumps, and climbs on bright yellow grates and ledges like everyone else. In short, I was once again pleasantly surprised. Star Wars Outlaws launches on August 30 on Xbox, PlayStation and PC.

Arranger is a puzzle game that’s well-suited to mobile use, which might explain why it was prominently featured in the Netflix booth. You play as a messy girl named Jemma, who has a quirky way of moving through the world. As you move your finger up and down or from left to right, the world moves with it, horizontally or vertically, and everything on that axis moves with it. You use that unique movement to solve puzzles or circumvent insurmountable obstacles. To Jemma, a closed door means nothing: she can warp to the other side as soon as she reaches the end of a row or column.

One thing I appreciate about games is that you’re always in conversation with the developers; I enjoy hearing their voice in the way they design their games. There was a point early on where I couldn’t figure out how to solve a printing plate puzzle. Confused, I left the room to find two strategically placed planters. I didn’t know you could move objects from room to room yet, so when I saw the planters I had a very clear (and audible) “Aha!” moment. The developers could have left a planter or other object in my room to make the puzzle easier, but that would have missed out on my knowledge of the game mechanics.

Arranger will be released on July 25 on Switch, PlayStation, PC and mobile via Netflix.

To play Astrobot was happy. Of course, I enjoyed all the games I highlighted here, but Astrobot was the one that made me giggle and kick my feet like a ten year old given free rein in a candy store. A mascot platformer, in the year 2024… maybe we’ll be back, y’all! Astro jumps, kicks off walls and can float in the air, which evokes the feeling of Mario. But even though the game is mechanically similar, Astrobot feels uniquely charming. Astro beeps, beeps, cheers and waves – his enthusiasm and happiness are so contagious that it’s impossible not to crack your grinning face while you play.

Scattered across bright and cheerful levels are robots to the rescue, some representing characters from PlayStation past. I loved panning the camera looking for places off the beaten path and figuring out the best way to get there. Each time I was rewarded with a collectible or a secret bot that needed saving. The different levels also feature different movement options, similar to the special power-ups you might encounter in Mario. One ability that inflates Astro like a balloon, allowing him to float to unreachable areas. Another example involves a dog that acts like a jet engine that shoots Astro through solid glass or bounces him off special platforms.

Astrobot, if for sheer charm alone, is my play of the show. It will release on PS5 on September 6.