Microsoft just concluded this year’s not-E3 festivities with a surprisingly great showcase that made up for all of the grim vibes and unfortunate shortcomings of Friday’s Summer Game Fest Live presentation. While the Xbox event wasn’t full of big first-party reveals, we saw plenty of neat-looking games that showed the breadth and depth of the acquisition spree and the Game-Pass-supported Xbox bench, ranging from Double Fine’s next game to the reveal of Call of Duty: Black Ops 7.
The hour-long showcase, followed by a deep-dive into The Outer Worlds 2 (which will be Microsoft’s first $80 game), also included plenty of surprises from outside the world of Xbox. Persona 4 is getting a remake, though Atlus barely showed anything from it. And a personal favorite indie platformer of mine, Planet of Lana, is getting a beautiful-looking sequel. Plus Final Fantasy VII Remake is finally coming to Xbox. It only took nearly six years and Square Enix hemorrhaging money to make that happen. Plus Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer capped everything off with a fun tease for what certainly sounds like a remaster of Halo: Combat Evolved.
