What are the highlights of gaming events season 2025? | Team Talk

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It’s that time again for the period of uproarious excitement formerly known as E3 events season. While the Electronic Entertainment Expo itself may be gone, the legacy of companies taking to virtual stages in June continues, and we’ve had plenty of updates, so much so that there should be something for everyone.

So, without further ado, we hand over to our crack team of gaming event seasoned veterans, who remember every Ubisoft Just Dance performance, every PlayStation extended flute solo, every soaring Reggie Fils-Aime speech, every celebrity cameo, and every ridiculous price point.

​What were your highlights this year? Let us know in the Discord.

by Team PTC

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@pass_controller

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ROG Xbox Ally and The Outer Worlds 2 | James Parry

I try to give all the showcases a fair shake when it comes to this time of the year, but straight away the PlayStation showcase didn’t give me a lot to get excited about, perhaps maybe 007: First Light.

Xbox is where my heart lives, and where I play all my multiplayer gaming with friends. In typical Xbox fashion, for the past few years, the showcase was trailer after trailer and had a decent amount of variety, thanks partly to the sheer number of studios Xbox has either acquired or partnered with to boost the power of Game Pass. In fact, it was the Play Anywhere feature which was the constant for this show, with everything available on PC, and Xbox’s newly announced handheld available if you buy the console version.

Xbox revealed a partnership with Asus to release bespoke branded versions of its Ally handheld called ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X. What I love most about this announcement is its potential. Immediately I can see myself appreciating the pick-up-and play convenience of the device for both Xbox and even PC games, unlocking opportunities to play games more frequently in shorter periods of time, when I might not make it to the sofa to turn a console on.

A few other bits of Xbox news looked interesting, like Super Meat Boy 3D, Aphelion, and Planet of Lana II, the latter a follow-up to a recent favourite, but it was the banner game The Outer Worlds 2, and its accompanying showcase which grabbed me.

I didn’t manage to give The Outer Worlds a proper go when it was first released, and I have really been enjoying Obsidian’s work recently with Avowed, so the sequel might be the perfect opportunity to give the franchise a better go. I always enjoyed the aesthetic and the tongue-in-cheek presentation, so this might be perfect for me.

The Outer Worlds 2 and High on Life 2 | Chris Brand

I can't remember the last time I was as invested in a new IP as I was upon first playing The Outer Worlds. Looking back at our review, I'm reminded that it was a rather short experience, though that only left me wanting more. Obsidian created a rather bleak world and I was fully immersed, already excited for the next game as the credits rolled. Very excited.

Even years later, I'd still count it among my all-time favourite games. Yet, some aspects fell flat. Overall, it was pretty solid, though my biggest gripe was the Flaws system. Unique, but lacking any real depth. Fortunately, the sequel has apparently overhauled this mechanic (along with many others) in a huge way, and the original now seems almost like a glorified tech demo. Almost.

Yet another sequel that caught my eye was High on Life 2. Life (human life, at least) is now being used as an antidepressant, rather than a narcotic. Aliens are determined to find some kind of use for us, despite humanity's attempts to prove ourselves to be more of an effort than we're worth.

My initial impression is that the follow up will be more of the same. But with the added bells and whistles that we expect when a 2 is present in the title.

Even without the new fancy things, I'd be interested in seeing what weird and wonderful characters pop up. Returning me-favourite character, Knifey, was enough to sell me on a sequel. 

Too bad that most games could be coming with a high enough price point that many won't get the recognition they deserve.

Chronicles: Medieval and Wu-Tang: Rise of the Deceiver | Liam Andrews

This was one of the first year’s where I found it too easy to miss most of the live events or shows, but looking through all the announcements there were a couple of games that stood out.

I enjoy a good medieval game, I spent a lot of hours in the first Mount and Blade on Xbox, as well as the two Chivalry games, so Chronicles: Medieval was an exciting announcement for me.

The lack of proper gameplay footage is always a bit disappointing, but from reading more about it, it sounds like it’ll be a mash up of Mount and Blade’s ‘start from nothing and become King’ gameplay and Chivalry’s satisfyingly brutal combat, which would be a brilliant combination.

Tom Hardy’s involvement suggests quite a bit of money is behind the project, and while most of the trailer was pre-rendered and what looked like gameplay was probably running on a supercomputer, it did look very impressive, and I am looking forward to seeing more.
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The other game that caught my eye was Wu-Tang: Rise of the Deceiver. The brief gameplay we were shown looked really cool with Spider-Verse style animation and some eye-catching visuals and effects. Supporting co-op is also a nice bonus, hopefully a release date isn’t too far away.