gamescom 2026

The Most Dope Games We've Played At Gamescom 2026

by Game Informer Editorial on Aug 26, 2026 at 03:07 AM

Introduction

Gamescom 2026 has arrived, and everyone here on the Game Informer editorial team has a schedule packed with back-to-back appointments. From Control Resonant to other exciting games like The Witcher 3's upcoming Songs of the Past expansion, we plan to bring you our thoughts as quickly as possible in this roundup.

For smaller games and bigger games alike, keep an eye on this story here, and for some games, we might even break out our write-ups into larger previews for you to read. Wherever you click on Game Informer today, you're sure to find some insightful Gamescom writing, and we can't wait to bring all the German gaming home to you. Without further ado...

The Most Dope Games We've Played At Gamescom 2026

Below, we'll list the games we've played in order of when we've actually seen them. For easier navigation, use the Table of Contents on the side.

Mega Man: Dual Override

By Kyle Hilliard

The first thing I learned playing what is ostensibly Mega Man 12 is that the game is called "Override" and not "Overdrive." A crucial distinction. The other thing I learned is that the game feels great and is optimistically a worthwhile follow-up to 2018's Mega Man 11. I played through three stages leading up to a boss fight with Twinkle Girl. The biggest shift from Mega Man 11 is the Dual Override mode which activates when your health is low and gives you some extra fire power after a flashy (but skippable) cutscene. It feels a bit like a last chance, but doesn't radically give you the edge in the fight. Your health is still low, after all. But emotionally, it feels like a final chance at success in a challenging game, so I liked its implementation. Look out for a larger hands-on preview with more details in the coming days.

Control Resonant

By Wesley LeBlanc

Let me say right off the bat: I am stoked for Control Resonant as a Remedy-verse fan, but I still have not played the game. Unfortunately, that hasn't changed at Gamescom 2026, because my preview of a new section of Control Resonant was hands-off. This didn't inspire confidence in me, especially as Control Resonant marks a big departure for the studio with its melee action combat and RPG elements. However, what I watched the Remedy Entertainment employee play was another exciting look at the game.

My colleague and senior associate editor Marcus Stewart did go hands-on with it at SGF and came away with positive thoughts about actually playing the game, so I do still have hope, but alas. Okay, that's enough about that – here's what I actually saw.

Dylan Faden, the brother of Control protagonist Jesse, is out of the FBC's containment alongside all of the Hiss the Oldest House tried to keep at bay. There have been plenty of looks at the Hiss' role in Control Resonant, but for this hands-off preview, Remedy showed off a Manhattan park area covered in a blue mold, complete with various mold enemies, too. Dylan is tasked with finding a Resonant here – the big bosses of the game.

Curiously, Remedy says you will fight the same first and last boss no matter how you play the game, but that all the Resonants you fight in between can be tackled in any order you choose. In this preview, we're after a moldy Resonant boss, but first, we have to eat some mold to learn more about it.

If you didn't already know, the mold in Control Resonant is "delicious," according to Remedy, and hard to resist. As such, Dylan passes all kinds of bodies who look dead but are actually paralyzed in a euphoric state (because they've willingly eaten the mold). En route to the mold Dylan needs to eat, we pass an FBC Field Content Research facility before shifting gravity so we can climb up a vertical wall.

Up ahead, there's a group of mold enemies. The standard mob enemies are easy to take out, but they're great for farming Dominance, an effect activated by Dylan's combat kit that increases damage after killing an enemy. After garnering some Dominance, we tackle the massive garlic bulb-looking enemy skulking about, placing mold mines in the area. This enemy is about the size of an elephant and shoots mold mines and other projectiles out of its "trunk," for lack of a better term.

Here, Remedy explains that the equipped Dual Blades have a critical chance buff, and that the drill transformation for his transforming Aberrant weapon does some serious Falter damage. Every enemy has a yellow Falter bar below their red health bar – Falter is essentially a Stagger meter. When you fill it up, you can perform an execution by pressing L3 (on PlayStation 5).

After taking this enemy out and clearing out the others, we make our way toward the mold Dylan needs to eat. On the way, we see a traffic barrier behaving weirdly, rotating in a glitchy fashion; Remedy says this indicates a nearby world event, but we don't have time to complete it.

At this point, I ask Remedy if there are real-world locations from Manhattan in Control Resonant. They say no, and that instead of actual named locations, the places within Control Resonant are meant to feel inspired by the real Manhattan, but with a "twisted" Remedy spin on it. We continue forward, fight some additional enemies, and I see Dylan's shoulder button abilities on display; R2 deals fire damage by way of Ignite, while L2 uses the Barrage ability, which pummels enemies with rocks to greatly increase Falter damage. R1 is Push, and it's basically a Jedi force push.

I also learn here that there is no parry and no block – there's just a dodge (and you can perfect dodge to slow down time and deal extra damage). Remedy wants Control Resonant players to be aggressive; that's why you can only heal by defeating enemies, as they drop blue orbs that add health to your HP bar.

A few minutes later and we finally reach the mold for Dylan to eat. He eats it, and we get some strange dialogue choices to select. Remedy says dialogue choices won't change the game's ending – there's only one ending – but that some side quests can have different endings depending on your choices. Plus, your dialogue choices will change how NPCs perceive you. It's not a Mass Effect-like system or anything like that, but Remedy says you will notice NPC perception in their attitude toward you.

After eating this mold, Dylan has an idea of where the Resonant he's after is hiding. We find it underground; it's called the Collective, and it's a giant pile of mold shaped into various frowning faces. During this boss fight, Dylan can't do any damage to the Collective. Instead, you have to attack the Collective's tentacles attached to the walls in the arena. To do that, you need to gravity shift so that you can walk on the walls and hit the tentacles. All the while, the Collective is firing moldy projectiles at you and summoning enemies to slow you down. After damaging all of the tentacles, weak spots open up, and you finally do some actual damage to the Collective.

I don't get to see the fight's conclusion, but I'm excited to do so myself in the final game. It's not the wildest boss, but seeing Remedy's spin on the "attack weak points to defeat the boss" formula is neat. I expect a lot of weird and strange when I play a Remedy game and so far, Control Resonant seems like it's going to deliver all that and more.

Control Resonant launches digitally on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC on September 24. The physical version is planned for October, and a Mac version will launch later.

Nekome: Nazi Hunter

By Wesley LeBlanc

Earlier this year, I discovered a trailer for Nekome: Nazi Hunter, which is how I learned it's a Grindhouse-inspired action game where you brutally kill a lot of Nazis. Immediately, I was in. And now, after playing it for roughly 30 minutes, I'm even more in.

Nekome: Nazi Hunter is absolutely, deliciously, disrespectful to the Nazi's of the 1940s Nazi regime in Germany during World War II. It begins with protagonist Vano Nastasu dressed as a butler within a palace of sorts. Inside, a group of Nazis is seated around a table covered in delicious food. As the Nazis eat, a leader figure praises the group for opening up three more death camps, gloating about their awful acts of violence while eating chicken, vegetables, and more. Vano wheels in a silver platter, removing its cover to reveal a decapitated Nazi head with a knife through its skull.

He then uses a knife engraved with "Nekome," which is Yiddish for vengeance, according to the game, to completely slice off the leader's arm. He then guts his belly before slitting the Nazi's throat. At this point, I take over on the sticks, pressing X repeatedly to deliver all manner of cuts, slashes, and more to the other Nazis in the room – they stand no chance, and I quickly paint the ballroom red.

You can parry with Y and break their blocks, but ultimately, combat is simple, more focused on delivering bloodshed than intricacy. What I play is in a pre-beta stage, and it's evident – it's a bit janky, but not enough to distract me from the delight I take part in as I rip apart Nazis galore.

From here, we flash back to Vano as a child to learn that his entire family is ripped from him at the hands of "Hitler's Hyenas," which is seemingly led by the Nazi leader Vano kills at the preview's start. I'm glad he gets his revenge, because that leader shoots Vano's father point-blank, then his mother, then forces Vano and his brother to fight over a knife to kill each other, reminiscent of the pool stick scene in The Dark Knight. Vano refuses to kill his brother and stabs himself instead. The aforementioned Nazi leader shoots Vano in the back and doesn't check to make sure he's dead.

I flash forward again to see Vano in the future, somewhere in New York City. He's speaking with Harold, a butcher-mentor with a heavy NY accent. He explains to Vano the importance of training before exacting revenge, but Nazis soon storm the room and take Harold out, adding more fuel to Vano's vengeance-filled journey. Searching for Harold's killer, I stalk through a NYC alley to learn there's an American-German Bund group in support of Nazis in 1940s America. I utilize the game's stealth kills here and like the action combat, it's simple (but effective). Turns out, killing Nazis just doesn't get old, at least in this 30-minute preview.

I hope to continue my Nazi-killing delight in the full game when it launches sometime early next year.

Crimson Moon

By Wesley LeBlanc

Crimson Moon is developer/publisher ProbablyMonsters' take on the Soulslike, but instead of aiming for a massive, grandiose FromSoftware-style game, it's aiming for a smaller experience; it's more focused on replayability, especially with a co-op buddy. That's why the game is only $19.99. That said, the 30 minutes I played reflect the game's more scaled-down approach and smaller price of entry.

The game's combat feels reminiscent of other Soulslikes, with light and heavy attacks, blocking, parrying, and dodging. You also have special abilities you can tap into to do heavy damage, and an ultimate-like transformation that turns your Crimson Moon acolyte knight into an angelic being with a huge halberd that hits hard. Despite these similar trappings, the combat looks and feels like something more akin to Kingdom of Amalur: Reckoning. The "heavy metal" fantasy visual design reflects that too, with a touch of classic World of Warcraft fantasy. This art design is what I walked away most impressed with – it's a nice change of pace from the typical dark and brooding gothic feel of the Soulslike.

That said, the game's main appeal is the co-op element, and unfortunately, I didn't get to experience any of that. But I do know it includes drop-in/drop-out co-op, and that loot is not shared. If your buddy takes a sword from a chest, it's theirs. ProbablyMonsters teases that online co-op is in the works and that the team will share more in the future. Despite the emphasis on co-op, it feels like a game built around runs in isolated linear missions, so it should work fine solo.

The game feels janky, but the final build may feel better (though it launches next week, so we'll see). Nonetheless, if you're looking to spend $20 on a Soulslike you can play with your friend, Crimson Moon might be one to keep an eye on.

Kingdom Hearts Collection I~III on Nintendo Switch 2

By Wesley LeBlanc

Have you ever played Kingdom Hearts 1, 2, or 3, or any of the various spin-off-but-still-inexplicably-very-important-to-the-story games? If you have, great! Just imagine playing them on a small handheld made by Nintendo called Switch 2. Square Enix isn't really doing anything surprising or exclusive here for this collection of games – it's just bringing the Kingdom Hearts series to Switch 2 and making sure they run excellently (they do!). That said, there's something special about playing them on a Nintendo console after all this time, considering just how many were released for various Nintendo handhelds over the years.

If you haven't played Kingdom Hearts, the Switch 2 is a great place to do so; just as great as playing through these games on PlayStation or Xbox or PC. Kingdom Hearts IV is due out next year so now is the perfect time to get started (or pick back up on) on this adventure with Sora, his friends, and the various characters from Disney and Final Fantasy.

Cosmo Tales

By Wesley LeBlanc

Cosmo Tales comes from Czech-based Bohemia Interactive, and after playing roughly 20 minutes or so of it, it's a game I'm greatly looking forward to. It launches in Early Access next week, on September 3, before an anticipated Q1/Q2-ish 1.0 launch. The pitch is simple: it's a retrofuturistic 1980s space-age-inspired shooter where you fly around bright and colorful arenas, shooting robots with lasers, rockets, and more.

It's a roguelite, too, so there are pickups to earn after completing each arena bout, like an electrifying Tesla coil, flame-imbued weapons, and more, and you earn XP at the end of each run to further upgrade your various ships. Each ship is based on a car, with many based on the Czech vehicle manufacturer Skoda. The combat and movement is simple, but that's by design because Bohemia Interactive intends for the game to be children-friendly; the team told me it's aiming for it to be your 10-year-old's first roguelite, and I can definitely see what they're getting at.

But don't let that deter you – it's a light and breezy, but crucially, fun, time, and it's all backed by a groovy score. It will launch on PC via Early Access next week, but the team hopes to bring it to PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch 2 for the 1.0 launch next year.

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