Gamescom 2025 Highlights

Death, taxes, and some form of Geoff Keighley digital showcase are the three guarantees in life.

This one looks really good. Image via Capcom.

Out of the three major showcases, video-game industry veteran Geoff Keighley hosts (Summer Game Fest and The Game Awards being the other two), Gamescom tends to be the weakest of the three.

Anyways, this year’s Gamescom was fine. Looking at Opening Night Live feedback, it dabbled in the B to C range of Geoff’s Twitter poll, which feels fitting.

I won't recap each of the four days; instead, I'll give you what caught my attention during the entire four-day event.

Ghostrunner team does first-person Soulslike

I personally am at the point where it feels like there are way too many Souls-like games in the wild. Opening Night Live had three new ones surface, at least that I’m aware of, and that’s way too many.

However, I will make a pass for Valor Mortis, a first-person Souls-like by the team that made the Ghostrunner games.

It's very BioShock, Dishonored, and Souls-like coated; a mix I can stand behind. I believe the build on show was in alpha (don’t quote me), but it runs very well. The first-person POV is visceral as the character beheads plague-ridden soldiers, the flame ability and gunplay look satisfying as you pop weak points and light the plague on fire.

The developers face an uphill battle given it's first-person, which leaves room for error. Nobody else has done it, and there’s probably a good reason why.

I’m stoked, and while I’m tired of the saturation of this genre, I will tip my hat off to those who are trying something different.

LEGO is making an Arkham game… wait what?

I’ve never been one for the LEGO games (because I’ve never played them), but LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight will be my first.

If you told me in 2026 LEGO would put together a Batman Arkham game, not Rocksteady, the developers who brought the Dark Knight to video-game stardom, I would’ve called you crazy.

Yet, here we are.

Everything I’ve seen and read about this game screams incredible. There will be an open world to explore, and the combat is the Arkham formula, but with LEGOs. I mean, this is definitely GOTY 2026, right?

In all seriousness, I’ve heard more about this game than anything else from Gamescom, and for good reason.

China continues its strong gaming push with Swords of Legends

Okay, this one's confusing, but Swords of Legends was a game that released in 2010. This is the same name, same team, but a totally different style of game.

Maybe it wasn’t that confusing then…

This looks good, like Black Myth Wukong levels of good, which a sequel was announced for, by the way, and I love the fact that China is putting together such fascinating bodies of work.

SEKIRO ANIME COMING SOON?? SURE, WHY THE HELL NOT?

Much like LEGO Batman, if you told me Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice was going to get an anime, I would never have believed you.

Yet, here we are.

Sekiro: No Defeat was announced, and ironically, Wolf loses in the first 30 seconds of the clip.

There's a lot of controversy with this adaptation, with fans screaming AI. The creator had to speak up to defend that AI is not at work here, but it doesn’t help that the studio behind this work is relatively new, and their website generative AI listings, as caught by Gizmodo.

Personally speaking, I think the art style is okay. It reminds me a bit of the Ghibli AI B.S. that was circulating the web for a bit, so I’m a little hesitant with Sekiro’s anime adaptation.

However, Sekiro is a phenomenal game, and I’m excited to see how a studio can translate grinding for Divine Confetti into a seamless show.

No release date so far, but I believe it's targeting 2026.!

Gameplay reveals galore

Opening Night Live gave us plenty of “world premiere trailers,” which are fine in nature, but it wouldn’t be until the public got their hands on many of these games, did we the fans actually see some good content.

High on Life 2 gameplay arrived, and much like the first game, it plays the same but looks better. Onimusha: Way of the Sword looks so freaking good and is my personal favorite from what I’ve seen.

Meanwhile, Resident Evil fans took Requiem for a spin to demonstrate the seamless switch between first and third-person camera and the new Mr. X.

Dishonorable Mention

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 is charging extra for two playable clans that should’ve been in the game at launch. This is disgusting for many reasons, such as the absurd development hell this game went through and the massive list of gameplay features missing, per Reddit.

Honorable Mentions

• Lords of the Fallen 2 was officially revealed, and while I didn’t put many hours into the first, I’m happy the series is finally getting a sequel all these years later.

• Ghost of Yotei made an appearance to announce that Sucker Punch would be bringing back the Legends mode from the first game in 2026. I didn’t play much of it, but it was pretty cool to chop up enemies with other players. It’ll be free, which is also very nice!

• Hollow Knight: Silksong is real, and it’s dropping Sept. 4, 2025. The yearning for Silksong finally ends, and while I’m not a huge fan, I’m happy for the millions who are.