Lots of Previews! - Resident Evil 9, Pragmata, Onimusha, and Sonic Racing CrossWorlds

Over the last several weeks, since my last post in mid-July, it’s been a busy time. I’ve gotten into the swing of contributing to Forbes a lot more often (you can follow my author page here) and had a slew of game demo appointments around San Francisco last month. Fortunately, all four of the games I tried were fantastic.

I’m still slowly working on my Sega Dreamcast collection and will have a big update on some new pickups for that very soon.

Capcom invited a bunch of members of the games press to their office in San Francisco, CA, and let us check out three of their upcoming games for 2026. Out of the three, the one I was the most excited to check out was definitely Resident Evil Requiem. I’ve played almost every game in the series, and it’s a franchise I’ve loved for literally decades at this point.

I really loved RE7 a lot, especially playing it in VR back on PSVR, but for me, RE8 didn’t strike the same sense of fear that I found in 7. I also found the mixture of locales and juxtaposition of its different enemies and themes a bit jarring. I prefer the more focused pacing of games like RE2 Remake, 7, and the original, as well as RE0.

You can read more of my thoughts here or check out the video version linked above.

This is another one of the Capcom previews; however, this one is a brand-new IP that isn’t based on a longrunning series. In fact, they originally revealed this game several years ago before it went quiet for some time. A lot of people speculated that it was canceled, but alas, it’s back and looks better than ever.

I’ve always really loved this sort of sci-fi aesthetic that’s really bright and full of life. It seems like a lot of sci-fi over recent years has taken a darker and more horror-adjacent approach in games, but Pragmata is back to a more vibrant and active vibe that has a really cool, almost retro-futuristic aesthetic.

The most interesting part of Pragmata is the way combat is structured. When you’re fighting the robots and machines, the little girl on your back is actually an android that can hack the machines. While you’re blasting away with your different guns, you’ll use the face buttons to navigate little puzzles at the same time to perform the “hack” itself. It’s really active and intense.

Check out the video above for more of my thoughts, or read my full preview.

I don’t know much about the Onimusha series because, for whatever reason, I just never played it growing up. However, I did recently try out the Onimusha 2 remaster and enjoyed it for what it was.

This new game has a more modern gameplay system, a modern camera angle, and much faster-paced combat. There was some speculation that it would be a sort of Souls-like take on Onimusha, but it doesn’t seem like that at all from what I saw. Instead, it’s a more linear action game with a dark, gritty, and gory aesthetic.

Check out my full preview here or watch the video above.

You might have had the chance to try out the Open Network test for yourself and that’s similar to the content I got to try out at this preview event. Sega rented a conference room at a hotel in San Francisco, CA, and invited the press out for demos. What I played at the event was solo only, but I got to try a bunch of different courses and characters, including Hatsune Miku herself.

From what I’ve seen, I really am hyped for this game. I think I liked what I saw more than Mario Kart World, and it’s quickly shot up my list of most-anticipated games for the rest of this year.

Again, my full preview here, and the video with more details is above.

The Trails series is one that I’ve heard a lot about over the years from lots of different people, but I just haven’t ever played any of them. I tried the first game back on PSP years ago and got around 10 hours into it, but fell off at the time.

Now, with this remake, the excitement bug for a big new JRPG has bitten me once again, and there’s a massive free demo out for anyone to try. The demo is fantastic and includes the entire prologue, which covers 5-7+ hours of content. And all of the progress carries over!

I didn’t make a video about this one (yet), but I wrote up some thoughts on why I loved the combat so much.

I grew up as a huge Sega fan. I played tons of Shinobi games on the Sega Genesis as a kid and always loved the likes of Sonic, Streets of Rage, Golden Axe, Phantasy Star, and more growing up. Obviously, I was extremely excited to learn that Lizardcube would be the developers of the new 2D Shinobi game, the same folks who worked on Streets of Rage 4.

The end result is really fantastic, and even though gameplay is a huge evolution and departure from the originals, I think it feels like a really natural iteration. I reviewed the game for Forbes and interviewed the creators as well about its inspirations.

One of my biggest complaints with modern 2D games, especially indie games, is that so many of them are roguelikes or metroidvanias. What happened to the good ol’ action platformer with linear levels? That’s my jam.

And that’s exactly what the new Ninja Gaiden is, just like the games that inspired it. Whereas Shinobi is a modern reinterpretation of a classic series, this feels like a super-charged SNES or GBA-style sequel to the original NES trilogy, and it’s just about perfect.

Check out my full review here.

Cyberpunk 2077 is one of my favorite games of all time. I love the world, the characters, the build variety, the combat, the storylines, and everything in between. It’s not a perfect game, and it took literally years of updates to get to the point where it’s at, but I can’t recommend it highly enough.

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It took me a while to get around to it, but the Phantom Liberty expansion is phenomenal. They took everything that worked best in the base game, condensed it down into a tighter and more well-paced story, and just went crazy.

Definitely check it out! And it runs well on Switch 2 if that’s your preference, although I personally played it mostly on PS5 Pro.

I saved my spiciest take for last. I don’t love Donkey Kong Bananza.

Don’t get me wrong; I don’t dislike the game, but it just isn’t grabbing me or holding my attention at all. The gameplay and exploration feel extremely one-note and repetitive to me in a way that grows old very quickly. I think I’m around the halfway point, nearly done with the Forest Layer, and it’s really a struggle to get myself motivated to play it.

I’m a DK fan and loved the Donkey Kong Country games as well as Donkey Kong 64, and I just don’t think Bananza is a game made for me. And that’s okay.

I’ll keep trying a bit more, but I’m not sure I’ll bother finishing it.

Well, that’s a lot. There is more, too, like Gradius Origins and Shantae Advance, but I digress.

What have you been playing lately? And what are you most looking forward to playing next?

Also, do you like me linking to my writing and videos from Forbes, YouTube, etc? Or would you prefer I just focus on delivering original content for Substack and not linking elsewhere?

Let me know down below!