Today as part of Summer Game Fest we had the first look at the next 12 months of gaming coming our way from Microsoft and its partners. The vast majority of the games shown will be available day one with Game Pass and there was a lot to see.

While the event was surely flashy, there was not a ton I was excited about. Starfield was the highlight and did not disappoint but out of the large pile of games really only Flintlock: Siege of Dawn, Ereban: Shadow Legacy and The Last Case of Benedict Fox caught my attention.

Redfall looked really average, although Arkane rarely does wrong so I will wait and see. The other big mentions like Diablo 4 (not exclusive), a weird Hideo Kojima non-reveal (please everyone stop saying ‘the cloud technology’) and too much Forza/Flight Simulator failed to excite me.

There is at least a lot coming out for Game Pass, but very few true exclusives aside from Starfield. Most said Console Launch exclusive, meaning it is timed and PS5 will get it eventually. The show was well executed but failed to really wow me aside from the four titles I mentioned.

Starfield

By for the most anticipated Bethesda title in years Starfield did not fail to deliver. far superior visuals, deep character creation and skills system and hundreds of procedurally generated planets were all expected but Todd Howard showed us much more.

Customizable spaceships and space combat was excellent to see, I was expecting a vanilla offering like The Outer Worlds but this was deeper than expected. The space flight and combat seemed sluggish and slow, but I feel these are bigger ships and not fighters, but we will wait and see.

Multiple factions, base building, NPC relationships, deep multi planet single player story was all stuff I was hoping to see and Bethesda delivered. My favorite thing, and I kid you not, was an actually good looking third person mode out of the box. Normally it looks awkward, but this just looked great.

I truly hope this is not another Fallout 76/Elder Scrolls Online and the game is brilliant out of the box, but I am not holding my breath. The game looks so damn ambitious so I hope it will be all they said, but fool me once Todd Howard 🙂

Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn

This was the game of the show for me. It felt like God of War, Horizon and Arcanum(old RPG) had a video game baby together. It just looked so badass I just wanted more immediately.

This is a a wholly-unique RPG setting: a gunpowder fantasy world where the gods, long thought to have abandoned humanity, suddenly return, casting open the door to the afterlife in their wake and releasing their army of undead from within.

As humanity’s survival is at risk, their fate is left up to Nor Vanek, a member of the Coalition army on a personal quest of vengeance, her foxlike companion, Enki and the power of magic and gunpowder.

The lead character Nor Vanek has such a cool range of abilities and powers and they all seem to flow into each other. The switches between powers, melee and ranged was dynamic and fun to watch.

I am hoping the story and scenario of Flintlock is as good as this early reveal seems. Really looking forward to this when it releases early 2023.

Ereban: Shadow Legacy

I don’t know much about Ereban yet, but I found the visual style fascinating and got a really good Sly Cooper vibe from it, but darker. The combat looked fun, the world interesting and it caught my attention right away.

This promises to be a fast-paced stealth platformer game where you become Ayana, the last descendant of a forgotten race. As Ayana we harness mystical shadow powers, high-tech gadgets and avoid or kill to uncover the truth about her past and the key to saving a dying, morally grey universe.

The story itself seems to be something we have seen before, but the vibe, animation and setting seemed very interesting. This will also release early 2023 and I am eager to see more about this game.

The Last Case of Benedict Fox

Some slightly bad voice acting aside this stylish game looked really interesting when it fist popped onscreen at the showcase. Very indie game feeling, but with some really cool hook sand production values.

The concept is to descend into a limbo of decaying memories as Benedict Fox, a self-proclaimed detective bound to his demon companion. Use that unholy bond to explore the minds of the recently deceased in search of clues as you uncover the mysteries of a massive, decrepit mansion — the site to a young couple’s grisly murder, and the disappearance of their child.

Gameplay wise it is billed as a Metroidvania with new skills being learned to further open up the mansion as it is explored. The paranormal detective merged with a demon is something we have seen in various fashions before, but looks really cool in execution here.

The Last Case of Benedict Fox is one to look out for when it releases early 2023.