What were your Highlights from Summer Game Fest 2023? | Team Talk

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Well, we’ve made it to the other side of the fun of games being released into the wild at long last, apart from Annapurna’s own showcase at the end of the month, and my my, do we have a lot to talk about!

Whichever platform you prefer and whatever genre floats your boat, it feels as though there’s something for you from the various showcases and publishers. Plus, it was great to see celebrations from all the developers, including writers and community managers, who got to reveal what they’ve been working on, in some cases since before the pandemic hit.

So, what’s your highlight been? Is there a game you can’t wait to play? Let us know in our Discord.​

 by Team PTC

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​@pass_controller

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Mortal Kombat, Fable and not enough Nicolas Cage | Chris Brand

​Though E3 has been slain by the King of Smugness and Ruiner of Birthdays, Geoff Keighley, Summer Game Fest started off strong. The lack of Nicolas Cage in Prince of Persia did put me off somewhat but I was brought straight back by Mortal Kombat 1. We're going back to the beginning again, again (again?). I'd wondered where Netherealm Studios could take the story, following Mortal Kombat 11's explosive finale and I'm totally confident that Fire God Liu Kang can make a better world.

The new Kameo system adds an interesting layer but maybe not a completely fresh one. In recent years, Mortal Kombat's towers have featured assists from other characters and this looks like a fleshed-out extension, from what we've seen. With this feature being made a much more prominent part of the game, the rotating towers could be open for new mechanics and modifiers to set them apart.

The full roster (of both playable and Kameo characters) has yet to be revealed but I'm expecting to see at least a couple of new faces and hopefully one of them will resemble Nicolas Cage.

If I wasn't terrified of anything that even edges close to horror, Dead by Daylight would've had me giddy with excitement, instead I spent nights pondering why Nicolas Cage isn't in every game. I was jolted out of this daze by Richard Ayoade – playing as Dave, a vegetable enthusiast – in what could only be Fable. It blindsided me, the moment I dropped my guard. We didn't get a huge info dump or an extended look at gameplay, just enough to know that Fable is definitely on its way.

I guess we all have me to thank for this. I single-handedly made this happen with years of hoping and complaining. I pulled Fable into existence by sheer force of will. Geoff Keighley may have taken a lot from us, but he can't take this.

​Star Wars Outlaws, Microsoft Flight Simulator and Starfield | Liam Andrews

I thoroughly enjoyed this week’s showcases, as they have given me plenty to look forward to, especially the Ubisoft event, with Star Wars Outlaws going right to the top of my most anticipated pile.

I remember this game being announced a while back, and because it was being developed by Ubisoft Massive, the studio behind the two The Division titles, I just assumed it would be a game like those (enjoyable looter shooters) rather than a solo offering. It looks great, and I’m really glad the game has some form of space combat as well as ground-based missions. Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora also looked good and is one I’ll be keeping an eye on.

From the Xbox showcase, I was very happy to see missions and objectives being added to Microsoft Flight Simulator, which will hopefully add some much-needed structure and purpose to gameplay (I got a bit bored just cruising around aimlessly). The rescue missions really reminded me of the old search and rescue games I used to enjoy on PC in the 90s, and I’m looking forward to trying them.
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Lastly, Starfield was definitely the star of the whole Summer Games Fest. I was not expecting such a deep dive into what the game had to offer and was almost tempted to stop watching for fear of spoiling things for myself. It looks like the sort of generation defining game that could be around for as long as Skyrim, and I for one cannot wait to play it.

Clockwork Revolution, Dungeons of Hinterberg and Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 | James Parry

Like Liam, I was impressed with Star Wars Outlaws - though it’s hard to shake comparisons to the Jedi series in terms of its format. Hopefully the galaxy is big enough for both of these franchises to find their place.

Elsewhere I did chuckle as The Crew has decided to have a play in the Forza Horizon ballpark with The Crew Motorfest, more of interest to me was The Division: Resurgence, until I realised it was a mobile title, which left me with updates to two established franchises in the form of Sea of Thieves: The Legend of Monkey Island and Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty, both attempting to derail my carefully constructed timetable for gaming this year.

In terms of new news, there were fresh franchises from some of Xbox’s studio acquisitions including South of Midnight and Clockwork Revolution, the latter of which has a BioShock aesthetic which is reassuringly familiar, but with a time-travel element which could make it particularly fun to explore.

Dungeons of Hinterberg is also looking pretty snazzy, and great to still see smaller games getting some attention amongst the big boys in this competitive industry. The game has some great Devil May Cry vibes to it but with a light, almost cel-shaded style, which I’m excited to explore after the fun of the under-appreciated Hi-Fi Rush.

We did already know about Fable, but we’d only seen a logo so far, so it was nice to see a bit of footage, even if only a few slithers of it could really be considered gameplay. The team has emphasised they want to hold onto the British humour from the origins of the series, so here’s hoping they can pull it off.

Finally, tucked away in the darkness in the Xbox Showcase was the follow-up to Hellblade, a series I’m not familiar with but the cerebral, singleplayer adventure which Senua’s Sacrifice: Hellblade 2 promises is intriguing.