If there’s a genre of game to expose this writer as a “fake gamer” then boy-oh-boy is it this one. The Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves PR folks were very kind to us as we fumbled through a 30-minute hands-on session with the fighting game. It meant we were able to leave feeling happy rather than hideously embarrassed.
We’ll double down by saying that this writer is no expert when it comes to fighting games… but listening to the crowd response during Fatal Fury’s trailer was certainly a memorable one. You fighting fans are hardcore, and we love it!
During our time with the game, we were able to sample two new characters: Preecha and Vox Reaper. Our favourite was Preecha – and we whacked the absolute willies out of Terry, Rock, and Marco. Honest, we did!*
(*Because we used the new ‘Smart Style’, which is practically stabilisers for poor fighters like Craig.)
Summer Game Fest’s opening showcase may not have struck a chord with all of us, but we were very impressed by Blumhouse Games’ upcoming collection. Despite having 27 million sets of eyeballs watching as the curtains gave way to premiere Fear the Spotlight, we can confidently say they had nothing to fear. Us, however… well, that’s a different story.
Feeling somewhat brave, we sat down with Fear the Spotlight for roughly 30 minutes. We played as Vivienna, a highschooler and bookworm who breaks into her school with rebel best pal Amy to perform a seance – wHaT cOuLd pOsSiBLy gO wRoNg?
We don’t want to spoil the fun, but what we will say is the 90s tropes, VHS aesthetic, and Silent Hill-style puzzles are a perfectly blended combination. Fear the Spotlight avoids all of the old-school controller jank too. Oh, and most importantly, there was a moment in the demo that legitimately made us jump out of our skin. You have been warned!
We weren’t able to play as much of Xbox Game Pass’s Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess as we’d have liked at Summer Game Fest (see: standing booth, jelly legs, LA heat). That being said, it certainly made an impact.
Underneath its flamboyant colours and extravagance, Capcom’s upcoming action-strategy Kunitsu-Gami plays more closely to a hero tower-defense game. You play as Soh, a sword-wielding protector of the Maiden of the Mountain. The Maiden’s primary mission is to cleanse demons from the world… through dance!
Basically: during the day you set up your defences by placing villagers in immediate danger and move your dancing princess toward a cursed Torii gate. At night, this Torii gate spawns monsters in waves. Your mission is to slay ‘em all with the aid of your villager units. When the day comes around again, you can move your happy dancer to the gate and cleanse that sucker. If only all of life’s problems could be solved with a little jig. Sigh.