Summer Game Fest 2024: The 4 best games

With Summer Game Fest now over, it’s time to take a look back at some of the show’s standout hits. I don’t mean the most exciting discoveries, but the best games I’ve actually had the pleasure of playing. The SGF space 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 discovered just by picking up a controller and playing.

Although I’ve seen trailers for Capcom’s lavish-looking game, I was never 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 frankly delighted to discover that it was a tower defense game. Your job is to protect a shrine maiden as she works to purge corruption from the land. The game is divided into two sections: day and night. During the day, go through 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 cleansing it of evil.

I liked it a lot Kunitsu-GamiThe return of the genre novel. The villagers you rescue become part of your army and you assign them jobs to help protect the girl. The lumberjack is a powerful melee attacker that acts as your first line of offense, 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 element that lets you upgrade and unlock jobs and get new powers for your fighter.

I am very happy that I got a chance to play Kunitsu-Gami. I love strategy games, especially when they’re dressed up in such a fancy art style. I found myself looking at everyone’s outfits, looking at the details and wondering what the significance of each little piece was. It releases on July 19 on Xbox, PlayStation and PC.

I am not one Star Wars person – but Star Wars Outlaws it was enough to intrigue my Force-agnostic ass. My practice was divided into three parts: ship-to-ship combat, stealth and platform combat. Since the kids (ie me) want a lot Ace Combat (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 that involved some hacking mini-games. Usually, hacking mini-games is tedious and terrifying (looking at you, Mass Effect), but I enjoyed both, especially the spike data mini-game that involves turning a table 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 how 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. At the end of the demo, there was a moment where I flew from space to the surface of a planet, and everything looked very smooth, a real “you can go anywhere” moment (although I’m sure there’s some trickery by the developer included).

For the stealth mission, I wasn’t very stealthy, often blowing up an enemy instead of distracting them with Nix, my pet axolotl-looking thing. It turns out that Nix is ​​very useful as both a distraction and an attractor. You can pick it up to pick up the weapons your enemies have dropped for when you need a little extra firepower. Your main weapon is a simple pistol equipped with special ammunition; the default blaster setting takes out humanoid enemies, while the plasma setting is effective on droids. During an encounter involving a shallow water feature, I thought it would be wise to shoot the water with plasma in hopes of electrocuting the enemies standing in it. Unfortunately, the game didn’t work that way.

The platform section was the weakest part because it didn’t do 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 pleasantly surprised once again. Star Wars Outlaws releases on Xbox, PlayStation and PC on August 30th.

Arranger is a mobile-friendly puzzle game, which might explain why it featured prominently in the Netflix booth. You play as a messy girl named Jemma who has a strange way of moving around the world. As you slide your finger up and down or sideways, the world moves with it, horizontally or vertically, moving everything on that axis along with it. You use that unique move to solve puzzles or overcome impassable obstacles. For Xema, 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 how you’re always in conversation with the developers; I love hearing their voice in how they design their games. There was a point early on when I couldn’t figure out how to solve a pressure plate puzzle. Confused, I left the room only to find two strategically placed planters. I didn’t know you could bring objects from room to room yet, so when I saw the planters, I had this “Aha!” 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 mechanics.

Arranger out on Switch, PlayStation, PC and mobile via Netflix on July 25th.

Playing Astro Bot he was happy. Of course, I’ve enjoyed all the games I’ve highlighted here, but Astro Bot it was the one that had me giggling and kicking my feet like a 10-year-old given the freedom of a candy store. A mascot platform, in 2024… we can come back, everyone! Astro jumps, launches walls, and can hover in the air while evoking Mario’s spirit. But even though the game is mechanically similar, Astro Bot it feels uniquely charming. Astro squeaks, screams, cheers and waves – his enthusiasm and happiness are so infectious that it’s impossible not to hurt your face smiling while playing.

Scattered across the bright and cheery levels are robots to rescue, some representing characters from PlayStation’s past. I really enjoyed looking at the camera looking for places off the beaten path and figuring out the best way to get there. I was rewarded every time with a collectible or a secret bot that needed rescuing. The different levels also contain different movement abilities similar to the special powers you might find in Mario. An ability that inflates Astron like a balloon, allowing him to float to unreachable areas. Another involves a dog that acts as a jet engine that rockets Astron through hard glass or returns it from special platforms.

Astro Bot, just for sheer charm, is my show game. Launches September 6th on PS5.