Last week was a wild one. It all started with the launch of the Nintendo Switch 2 on Thursday, June 5th (or Wednesday at midnight for some of us). That Wednesday also happened to be the day that PlayStation decided to premiere their Summer Game Fest State of Play. Summer Game Fest continued throughout the weekend with showcase after showcase after showcase. How will we all keep track of all of the new games?

On Wednesday, I picked up my pre-ordered Nintendo Switch 2 at my local Best Buy at midnight, but I’ll share more on that experience later on. I also left on a short vacation on Thursday, so it was tough to keep track of all of the SGF showcases. After returning on Saturday afternoon, I finally finished watching Geoff Keighley’s Summer Game Fest and last night I was able to watch the Xbox Games Showcase — there are still a few others I plan to view (Day of the Devs, IGN Live, and more).

I planned on creating one mega post on the three big showcases I mostly paid attention to — PlayStation State of Play, Summer Game Fest, and the Xbox Showcase — but I decided to give each of these their own short TOP FIVE treatment.

I planned on watching the PlayStation State of Play on Wednesday (at 5 PM my time) before leaving the house on my Epic Switch 2 Adventure* (again more on that coming soon). I had too much to do and ended up watching the State of Play in short bursts on my vacation. This was one of the heavier State of Plays with plenty of big game announcements, but I’m sticking to a TOP FIVE list of “first look” games (or games I’m seeing for the first time).

Let’s go over my TOP FIVE from last week’s PlayStation State of Play:

1 | Romeo is a Dead Man

“Romeo Stargazer is a man stuck between life and death who chases space-time’s
most wanted fugitives as FBI special agent Dead Man.”

-from the PlayStation Blog

Romeo is a Dead Man is the new game from Grasshopper Manufacture, creators of the Travis Touchdown series, No More Heroes. These guys sure know how to give their protagonists a cool name. I haven’t played any of the No More Heroes games, but I’ve admired them from afar. They all seem to be the most ridiculous games in the best way possible.

The Romeo is a Dead Man trailer began with some strange, twisted anime-type opening and showed off some slick action gameplay. Romeo is a Dead Man isn’t coming out until 2026, so that gives me some time to explore some of the previous Grasshopper Manufacture titles.

2 | Hirogami

“Explore a beautiful but fragile origami world as Hiro, a master of the art of ‘folding’,
and take on animal forms to traverse the landscape, solve puzzles, overcome
enemies, and save the realm from a deadly digital threat.”

-from the PlayStation Blog

The Hirogami gameplay reminds me of Death’s Door, but set in a more colorful origami world. I love the bright and vibrant tones of this game. I’m also a fan of trying out different styles of gameplay, when you take on the form of different paper animals.

Hirogami is set to release in early Fall on September 3rd, 2025.

3 | Tides of Tomorrow

“Tides of Tomorrow’s vibrant post-apocalyptic world interweaves your choices
and a previous player’s decisions for a truly unique experience.”

-from the PlayStation Blog

Tides of Tomorrow is the upcoming sophomore game from DigixArt, creators of Road 96. I initially thought of Road 96 as close to the Telltale The Walking Dead games where you make narrative choices. I haven’t played it so I’m not sure if that’s 100% correct.

Either way Tides of Tomorrow seems like a total deviation from that previous game. I’m a big fan of developers going in a different direction, and Tides of Tomorrow seems to be doing something new and different in the multiplayer space.

Tides of Tomorrow is coming to PlayStation on February 24, 2026.

4 | Sea of Remnants

“Form a specialised crew to answer any challenge that lies beyond the horizon, upgrade
your ship to ride out any storm and return home with your spoils to Orbtopia, a pirate
city that’ll evolve based on your swashbuckling decisions.”

-from the PlayStation Blog

There’s been a great amount of pirate-themed games in recent years, but Sea of Remnants features a new puppet-like species of pirates in a punk-themed world. The trailer began showing off this beautiful world to explore, then jumped into some stealthy takedowns and action-packed RPG combat. I’m excited to see more of this game in the coming months.

Sea of Remnants is set to sail in 2026.

5 | 007: First Light

Discover the events that lead a young maverick to become the
best MI6 agent and the world’s most iconic spy.

-from the PlayStation Blog

This one rides the line of a “first look” game, because yes I knew it was coming, but this was our first real look at anything — other than a few teasers. I really can’t wait to see what the team at IO Interactive (Hitman series) does with the world’s top spy, Agent 007 (A.K.A. Bond, James Bond).

From this trailer I can see the DNA of Hitman’s Agent 47, but with more fluidity in 007’s movements. In the Hitman games it’s more about getting in and out without being seen. You set traps, sneak up on targets, or use a silenced weapon.

I like that this is a new James Bond origin story, which is perfect for a new video game franchise. It looks to be more of an action-packed, cinematic spy game. 007: First Light is set to release in 2026.

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Honorable Mention

I’ve already talked about my excitement for Ghost of Yōtei and Everybody’s Golf: Hot Shots after a previous State of Play.

One game that stood out was Marvel Tokon Fighting Souls, although I’m not really a fighting game guy. The trailer looked amazing and I’m a huge Marvel fan (who isn’t?). Anytime they take some established franchise I already love (Marvel, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, or anything Disney-related) and make it into a video game I am immediately interested — even if it’s not a genre I’m into. Also, Project Defiant (the new PlayStation designed fight stick) makes me want to get into more fighting games. It’s the perfect pairing.

I have to talk about Final Fantasy Tactics: The Invalice Chronicles or my buddy will be mad at me. As someone who recently has been trying out different Final Fantasy games for the first time, I am looking forward to this different kind of entry into the series. 

Digital Eclipse has been killing it with their documentary-style video game collections. They started off with two that weren’t really on my radar — The Making of Karateka and Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story — before creating Tetris Forever (a franchise I am very familiar with). Now, they are diving into the history of Mortal Kombat with Mortal Kombat: Legacy Collection. This is definitely another series I have seen evolve over time since the very beginning.

There were plenty of others that did not make the list, but I’m still keeping an eye on (like Lumines: Arise, Baby Steps, and Pragmata). You can watch the entire showcase right here: