11 Promising Games I Played At Summer Game Fest 2025

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a day ago

This year's Summer Game Fest was a weird one. On a show-wide scale, Geoff Keighley's Not-E3 was lacking the the big, juggernaut announcements we usually expect from a June video game showcase. That understated showing extended to the actual 'Play Days' show floor in Los Angeles, where developers gave press and content creators a chance to try out new games. What made the show so odd on a smaller scale was that I was the only person on-site covering the show for Kotaku.
I've been to Play Days the past three years, and for reasons outside of our control, fewer Kotaku writers have been sent to the biggest American games event with each trip around the sun. As just one person, I was only able to see a handful of games during the event. This means Kotaku unfortunately missed out on a ton of really cool projects, games that I was only able to look at longingly as I passed by them at the show.
I hope things are different in 2026, but for now, here are the games I played and saw at Summer Game Fest 2025.
This article will be updated periodically as embargoes lift.
I know Mario Kart World is the kart racer to beat right now, and while I can't say definitively if Sega's latest Sonic Racing game clears that high bar, I can say what I've played of Crossworlds is a blast. The big headliners from the show were the crossover characters announced at the showcase, but I didn't play as Hatsune Miku, Joker, or Ichiban; I was focused squarely on getting behind the wheel as my guy Shadow the Hedgehog. Crossworlds definitely feels a bit lighter and floatier than other kart racers, but what it lacks in weight, it makes up for in a surprisingly deep customization system that lets you create builds for your vehicles tailored to your playstyle. I was able to add perks like starting races with a specific item to give me an edge at the beginning of a lap, reducing damage when I was on the wrong end of an incoming attack, or even using aggressive gameplay to my advantage by granting myself a boost if I collided with an enemy racer. I'm interested to see what the meta turns out to be when Sonic Racing: Crossworlds launches on Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and Xbox One on September 25.
Guacamelee developer Drinkbox Studios' latest game, Blighted, is unlike anything the studio's done before. In the brief time I spent with the action RPG, I was most captivated by its world, in which people can gain memories of the dead by eating their brains. This desecrated land is overrun by horrifying creatures that stand between you and a monster who has begun feasting on the brains of the living and blighted the rest of this world. The game feels reminiscent of Hades' frantic but strategic combat with an isometric view. Its enemy design is its greatest strength, with several of the monsters I faced requiring me to change up my play style and adapt to the moment.
Blighted is launching in 2026.
Dosa Divas is the next game from Outerloop Studios, the team behind Thirsty Suitors, one of 2023's most delightful surprises. Though I only got to play about 30 minutes of the turn-based RPG, I was already drawn in by its cheeky, timely satire. The game follows siblings Samara and Amani as they face a third sister, who has created a fast food empire so pervasive that it has essentially turned the culture of cooking into a bygone era. The people in Dosa Divas have become so accustomed to convenience that good food created with love and intention is dying out in favor of meaningless slop. That sure does sound like, well, every creative medium right now in the wake of AI-generated garbage and America's attempts to eject entire cultures from its borders. A quick and easy approximation of something is no replacement for the potential of the original when it's made with heart and soul. This cathartic premise is enough to grab my interest, but its simple yet engaging turn-based combat is also a fun vehicle to ride as I watch this sibling rivalry play out.
Snap & Grab is one of the more interesting takes on a heist game that I've seen. Rather than executing the crime of a lifetime on your own, the game has you scope out a location to plan a course of action for someone else to take in your stead. As world-renowned photographer Nifty Nevada, I was able to freely take photos at a fancy rich people party, yet instead of merely capturing the festivities, I was actually taking photos of the penthouse to chart out a plan for one of my goons to come in and steal a priceless artifact for me. I had access to most places in the home, so I was able to take photos of where guards would be posted and note potential distractions or weaknesses in the security system. If I could account for all those pitfalls, it'd be a quick grab and dash for my accomplices. As I walked through the penthouse, I noted several other potential setups that I missed in previous runs, so Snap & Grab seems to give you a lot of freedom to chart your own course. I hope it has more surprises in store when it launches next year.
Leading up to my appointment, Mixtape was far and away one of the most talked-about games at Summer Game Fest, and I wasn't disappointed. Beethoven and Dinosaur's adventure game stars a group of teenagers in the '90s creating a playlist for their final night together. Each song on the mixtape is accompanied by what is essentially a playable music video animated in a distinct, Spider-Verse-like, stop-motion-esque art style. Every segment is as unique and memorable as the song that accompanies it. The songs are attached to flashbacks of the group's high school antics, and in just the short time I played, each segment was a rolicking good time full of that kind of 'us-against-the-world' hope you feel when you're a teen who hasn't had that optimism beaten out of you yet. I want it now, but I'll have to wait until the full game is released later this year.
Absolum was probably my biggest surprise of the show. I went in with no real knowledge, and was kinda disappointed when I had to stop playing it for another appointment. Developed by the team behind Streets of Rage 4, Absolum marries those same pitch-perfect beat-em-up stylings with roguelite runs. It's frenetic, stylish, challenging, and has a gorgeous 2D animation style that's lovely to look at. I played as an agile character whose base kit prioritized quick, vicious combos, and a grappling hook that let me close distance and tear through enemies with reckless abandon. But Absolum has multiple playable characters with different playstyles that you customize throughout each roguelite run. What I played felt deep, demanding, and rewarding, and I can't wait to play more when the game launches on PC, PS4, PS5, and Switch.
The old-school Ninja Gaiden games were a blind spot for me for a long time. I played a little of the 3D action titles on the original Xbox and my fair share of Dead or Alive, but as far as the tough-as-nails sidescrollers that started it all, I never saw Ryu Hayabusa's origins. Ryu isn't the main character in Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound, but his apprentice Kenji is taking the lessons he's learned from the OG out into the field with him. Ragebound is a pretty tough and unforgiving sidescroller that can lay you out in a second if you're not careful. Its combat is one pillar of that challenge. But its platforming, in which you scale walls, hang from ceilings, and overall use every surface to your advantage in one way or another, tests your spacial awareness while half a dozen enemies are pestering you (or just one enemy you can't even damage under normal circumstance is menacingly charging up an attack, preparing to take you out in an instant). It feels like a faithful throwback, and your mileage may vary on whether you're up for the task.
If you've ever played something from Supermassive Games, you probably have some idea what you're getting into with Directive 8020. The narrative horror team is delving into sci-fi for the latest entry in The Dark Pictures Anthology, and while I spent probably the least amount of time with it of all the games I checked out (roughly 15 minutes), I did see enough to know Supermassive is still doing what it does best: riffing on different horror genres with difficult choices and consequences for your actions. Directive 8020 shows a space station crew turning against each other in paranoia as an alien force that can transform into anyone infiltrates their group, sowing distrust between them as they try to survive. My time with the game was short but sweet.
Vermila Studios' horror shooter Crisol: Theater of Idols wears its OG Bioshock influence on its sleeve. But rather than a sunken city, it takes place in a worn-down version of Spain haunted by twisted puppets and mannequins that can only be destroyed by bullets powered by your own blood. It's unnerving and atmospheric, and its use of your health bar as your blood-fueled ammo means you have to make every shot count, lest you die while fighting for your life.
The farming sim genre can feel a bit oversaturated these days, as everyone chases Stardew Valley's success. To stand out in 2025, you've gotta have some kind of twist that keeps things fresh. Grave Seasons illustrated that to me in just 30 minutes. The moment that made it click for me was when I was pulling crops out of my garden and found a severed human hand buried in the dirt alongside them. Farming sims are often viewed as a cozy getaway, so Grave Seasons using it as a stage to explore a supernatural murder mystery is the kind of subversive take that carves out space in a crowded market.
Relooted was another interesting spin on a heist game that I played in LA, with its bite-sized robberies feeling like brain-teasing puzzles about meticulously planning one swift run from entrance to exit. The game follows an African crew reclaiming stolen artifacts from Western museums, with each member having a skill that makes them crucial to getting these items back where they belong. Your job as the field agent is to assign your team to different stations, so when you grab an item, you've cleared a path for yourself to book it once the alarms start blaring. Arranging a perfect getaway feels satisfying, and it helps that Relooted's sidescrolling parkour is smooth as hell. I played a few early heists, so I can only imagine how much more elaborate later heists can get, and how crafty I'll have to be to see them through.
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