Four Best Games From State of Play 2026 and One I’ll Be Skipping

As someone who keeps an eye on pop culture, I’ve noticed a bit of negativity from the recent state of play and Xbox showcase game announcements from many of my favorite content creators. And there were some clunkers in there, such as God of War Laufey, which switches the protagonist from Kratos to his dead wife. A game no one asked for and is receiving mixed reactions, mostly negative.  

But there were some gems that stood out to me that actually have me excited to play. Most of these are sequels so, I get why others may not be as excited, but for me, if the gameplay is great and innovative, then I can give it a pass for being a sequel. And there is one major game people are truly excited about playing that I may pass on.

Dynasty Warriors 3

I haven’t jumped aboard the remastered train that has steamrolled through gaming lately. Silent Hill, various Resident Evil games, Tomb Raider, and Assassin’s Creed are amongst the many games that have been remastered to give them modern graphics and gameplay. From what I see, most people seem to enjoy these upgrades to their favorite titles. I just never got the appeal of playing a game I already played before and still own the original that I can play at any time. That was until now, because I will be buying Dynasty Warriors 3 remastered.

Based on the literary classic, Romance of the three kingdoms, Dynasty Warriors is the long-running Koei series that I’ve played since the very first one. Every new edition brought new modes and abilities and expanded the story until it reached its zenith, in my opinion, with Dynasty Warriors 3.

With a massive roster and storyline that followed closely the events of the books, the third edition was the blueprint that launched the rest of the series, which began to decay in my opinion. The added modes to the story in each addition actually took away from the gameplay, and I always longed for the series to return to its Dynasty Warriors 3 roots, and I finally got my wish.

The remaster will include new modes like Challenge, a Free mode that allows you to create your own story, and a versus mode with a total of 8 stages. I’m interested in trying these new modes and hope they keep the story mode the same but with an upgrade to modern graphics, minus those storymode editions like the random timed events that diminished the experience.

State of Decay 3

State of Decay is arguably the best zombie survival franchise still existing. Emerging during the height of The Walking Dead hysteria that birthed a glut of zombie video games like Dead Rising, DayZ, The Evil Within, and in a sense, Dead Space, amongst others, none of these franchises have endured like State of Decay.

Created by Undead Labs, the State of Decay games have mastered the sense of dread as the world is overrun by powerful zombies of various forms. In each game, you are tasked with creating a community of survivors. You explore an open world, rescuing survivors and building relationships with other communities to trade resources and complete missions. 

Even when you create a viable living space, you must manage resources and injuries as bullets are finite and melee weapons degrade with use. You must decide what to build at your camp, and how to keep your community fed and satisfied, as an upset team member can bring down the morale of your entire camp. Plus, your camp is never safe, as the zombies can form massive swarms that will have you scrambling back to camp to protect it and the people.

Each iteration of State of Decay has introduced new, terrifying aspects you must survive and State of Decay 3 is no different. Plague hearts were the diabolical addition to State of Decay 2. Plague Hearts were found in houses and buildings, and were a place infested by fast moving zombies. You had to clear out each heart to lessen the zombie invasion in a zone, but this was easier said than done. The hearts themselves took a massive amount of ammo to destroy and zombies would swarm your position to stop you. Plague Nests are the new addition in State of Decay 3, which upgrades the plague hearts as they adapt to your tactics.

This is just one of the new additions to State of Decay 3, and I trust Undead Labs to make another great zombie game.  

Silent Hill: Townfall

This is the most controversial addition to my list. Silent Hill: Townfall is a spinoff from the Silent Hill games, set in 1996 in the Scottish town of St. Amelia. It follows the protagonist, Simon Ordell, who finds himself repeatedly waking up in the town, and must put together the fragments of his past. So, a basic Silent Hill game.

However, the controversy is that Simon is black, and the game is set in a Scottish town. Black Scots are only 1.2 of the population in Scotland, and given the current political climate in Europe, it is a hard sell for people to play a black protagonist in a vastly majority white country. Many, myself included, had the same issue when Ubisoft featured a black protagonist in Assassin’s Creed: Shadows that was set in feudal Japan. It was a massive reach for the franchise and sold poorly as a result. 

And the town of St. Ameila could be a problem as well, as it is not actually Silent Hill. How can you have a Silent Hill game based in a town called St. Amelia? This just makes Silent Hill a brand instead of the setting of the franchise, and this could also turn fans off.

However, the gameplay in Silent Hill: Townfall has put it in my ‘wait and see’ category. I will need to see more, but it looks like a classic Silent Hill game with the creepy atmosphere, horrifying monsters, and limited resources. I may be curious enough to play this game once it goes on sale in the future. Had they named it anything else or set it anywhere else, I believe more people would be looking forward to playing this game.

Gen Atlas

Gen Atlas wasn’t announced at State of Play but was at the Summer Game Fest, and this is the game I am most excited to play. One I might actually buy at full price. Gen Atlas is made by Fumito Ueda—the legendary director behind the classic games Shadow of the Colossus, Ico, and The Last Guardian, all 3 that I have played multiple times. You might remember them as Team Ico games.

Gen Atlas follows in those same roots of giant companions and magical worlds with the setting:

You awaken without any memory on a seemingly abandoned, silent planet. The landscape is littered with colossal, ruined structures, deserted facilities, endless plains, and a constantly shifting sea—the forgotten remnants of some ancient, grand design.

 You explore the open world with a giant robot that becomes central to the storyline by working alongside it to traverse the landscape. The trailer has that same feeling of grandeur you experienced in their previous Ico games, which are works of art and genuine modern videogame masterpieces. I really don’t need to see any more of Gen Atlas, as Fumito Ueda is my Christopher Nolan of videogame directors.  Pre Odyssey.

But there was one game people were excited about that I couldn’t seem to muster the same enthusiasm.

Marvels: Wolverine

Marvels: Wolverine is made by Supermassive games, which are known for their fantastic comic book games, Marvel’s Spider-Man 1 and 2. But they also made Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, which is not as well received as the previous two games. But all three were massive financial hits and Wolverine will probably be the same, as we’ve never had a proper game featuring the most famous X-Man.

But there are already red flags about Marvels: Wolverine detailed by EiC Chris Braly, with Supermassive working with the wildly unpopular Sweet Baby inc. who are known to insert their ideology in games.  Sweet Baby inc. is credited with the downgrade of female characters who are made to look more masculine, along with the weird storylines that injected real world politics and LGBT issues in the Spider-Man games.

Just their involvement alone gives me pause with Wolverine as we see how Jean Gray follows Mary Jane’s ugly character design, and, honestly, the gameplay was very basic. The gore of Marvels: Wolverine was great but over the top to the point of being comical, and the mechanics themselves look they can become quite repetitive. I know people will say the Spider-Man games were repetitive as well, but the web-swinging broke up the monotony of the repetitive fights and stealth missions. I’m not sure Wolverine will have that, and how many different ways can you kill someone as Wolverine in a game?

I may be nitpicking, and I will be on the lookout for more trailers because the first one just didn’t spin my wheels like it has for others. 

Did any of these catch your attention? Sound off in the comments!

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