Last night was the 2025 VGAs but I was out and about so I had to watch the VOD on YouTube this morning. Although it’s called the “Video Game Awards” I’m not really watching for the awards ( I doubt you are either). Claire Obscure ran away with everything which means I might have to consider giving it a shot someday.

As there were a lot of games featured in genres I don’t care for (Souls-likes, anime, and even a WTF competitive shooter, it seems) I blew through most of it. Here’s my personal picks.

The Free Shepherd

There’s a genre of game which occupies both the cozy and the crazy space, and this is one of them. We apparently play as a sheep herding dog who, I assume, must get her flock to safety. Although the gameplay sounds rather mundane, we quickly catch glimpses of otherworldly influences which I am sure are going to make things more difficult for us than just running between points A and B.

I have to admit that a big reason I kind of like this one because the developers are located in Burlington, VT and the studio head teaches at Champlain College, from which my daughter graduated, though not from their massive game design program.

Exodus

Year two of trailers on this one. It’s a sci-fi ARPG from some of the folks (not the studio) who brought us Mass Effect so for those of you who are into that kind of thing, have at you. While I am not a ME fan, I’m always interested in original setting sci-fi RPGs, even with Captain Guyliner in the pilot’s seat.

I read the precursor novel and loved it, and have recently pre-ordered the second book in the series, due out in 2026 before the game’s launch in 2027AON (As Of Now, since you know how game release dates can slip). I am very curious to see how the novels and the game intersect, because right now I’m not quite understanding it though I’m only kind of sad to say that I think the novel is looking like the better treatment of what is a very fascinating setting.

Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic

I am fairly cool on Star Wars as well, but I have fond memories of the old BioWare Star Wars games like Knights of the Old Republic. As this is being billed as a sequel, I’m down for it, though I don’t have any recollection of what the hell went down in those older games, nor do I have the fortitude to attempt to replay them.

Solasta II

I really liked Solasta, but not enough to finish it. Back when D&D 5 released, Solasta game came along and used the SRD rules quite faithfully, IMO, which was kind of a surprise to me since other video games have tried to replicate TTRPG rules and have only come marginally close. The original Solasta was like a “Larian-Lite”, but it suffered from a certain level of jankiness in it’s engine most notable around it’s cutscenes that distracted me from otherwise above-average party and turn-based gameplay. It looks like the developers have upped their game this time, though, as the reveal trailer for Solasta II caught me by surprise as a Solasta game. I’ve wish listed it, but the likelihood that I’ll actually play it is very, very low.

Divinity

Speaking of Larian, they also had a trailer for Divinity, the latest in their long-running…Divinity series. Sadly, their trailer was the epitome of gross. Unnecessarily gross, so I’m not linking it here and I’m really sad they went that route. Divinity: Original Sin was an amazing game, part two improved on the formula, Baldur’s Gate 3 improved further and became legendary, so the studio really could have just splashed up “Divinity…by Larian Studios” and people would have lost their shit instead of their lunches.

Still, I’ve wish listed it.

No Law

If you just sat down in the middle of this game you’d be excused for mistaking it as a DLC for Cyberpunk 2077. An homage? A rip-off? I don’t really care because Cyberpunk 2077 had one hell of a redemption arc to become a hell of a game, so in lieu of additional content for it, also-rans are welcome here at Chez Scopique.

Coven of the Chicken Foot

I mean…I don’t know, but I kinda want to. Playing as an old woman with the eponymous chicken feet, this platformer-slash-adventure game sees us palling around with a shambling creature of some undetermined origin. It’s got a definite cozy vibe, but what the hell, man? Something weird underpins this one and it might be worth checking out just to understand what that is.

4 Loop

From JJ Abrams’ Bad Robot games division comes a co-op shooter with a gimmick. It has that Deathloop vibe here, where players attack, die, return, and re-do in order to progress. I’m always hard-pressed to find a multiplayer game that my local friends are willing to try and since they’re big into shooting things, maybe this will do the trick, though probably not.

Tank Rat

I need more info on this one. According to the label, we play as an AI on a human-dead-machines-rule world which seems to be the go-to setting these days. We head out and collect parts from defeated enemies to create our avatar, a high-speed, high-powered, heavily armed tank. While the gameplay looked frantic to the point where it might be a personal turn-off, it also has an open world competitive shooter vibe to it so I’m not sure if this is single or multi-player. If the former, I’ll keep an eye on it; if the latter, in the bin it goes.

Not One but TWOMB RAIDERS

First we get Tomb Raider: Catalyst which provided us with a cinematic but no story info. Lara gets yet another makeover but keeps the same old nu-Lara wardrobe, the same new tech, and the same dual-wield pistols that we know and love. I really enjoy these action-adventure games, though — start refrain here — I haven’t finished any one of them since Uncharted: A Thief’s End back in whenever that game was released.

We also get a remake of Legacy of Atlantis which is notable for including dinosaurs. I mean, we are talking about Atlantis, so why not dinosaurs.

Control Resonant

Absolute GOTY right here, hands down. MASSIVE fan of the Remedy-verse and Control in particular, though the less we speak of FBC: Firebreak the better. Of all of the games I have played, Control has a velvet-roped place in my heart so when this trailer started my wife heard me shouting HELL YES from two floors away.

In this one, it seems that something has escaped the Oldest House and is warping Manhattan. Director Jesse Faden’s lost brother Dylan is our protagonist this time around, wielding melee weapons instead of the Director’s Gun. It also alludes to Jesse having “gone rogue” for some reason. I am supremely stoked for this entry in the franchise.

Polite Mentions

There are a few other games which I enjoyed, or was made curious about, but not enough to really keep tabs on them.

Audiomech

I am glad to see rhythm games still being made, though I have no love of the hyperkinetic bullet-hell genre. That this game advertises that it can use streaming services as music sources is massive in an age when fewer and fewer people still own their own music. Hopefully this opens the door to more rhythm games which can use online sources.

Gang of Dragon

The whole “Japanese cinematic brawler” genre has a dedicated fan-base, but it’s not my cup of tea. Still, the cinematics of this one look top-notch and I wouldn’t refuse a super-cut of cut-scenes from this or similar games, somewhere, sometime. Might be fun.

Ontos

Do not like horror games, so the fact that this is a SOMA sequel puts it out of arms reach, though it did look very atmospheric and, because it’s sci-fi, I’m a bit disappointed.

Highguard

This is the “is it a competitive shooter?” game I mentioned. I guess it would have to be because even as a multiplayer PvE game I don’t know that the trailer showed enough content to make such a treatment worthwhile. Also, the characters are a bit overtly “modeling agency” gorgeous, which kind of makes it a bit dumb in my opinion. I can’t explain that. But if it were a multiplayer PvE game with some kind of story, there might be something semi-interesting here.