This year’s Summer Game Fest had plenty of titles in our coverage here at RPGFan, and you may have read some of our hands-on impressions — If you haven’t yet, make sure to check out Sea of Remnants, Stranger Than Heaven, and Petal Runner. There was a trio of games I played a bit less than some of the others, but are still worth spotlighting, so if you’re ready for impressions on a beautiful creature collector (Aniimo), cozy farm horror (Grave Seasons), and a soulslike dungeon crawler (Crimson Moon), let’s dive right in.
Aniimo
From Pawprint Studio, free-to-play monster-catching RPG Aniimo is an action-focused, Pokémon-like featuring tons of magical creatures, beautiful open environments, and the ability to transform into these creatures to battle and navigate the world through Twining.
This demo dropped me in with a party of midgame-level Aniimo to get a feel for the game’s mechanics, as I battled and captured wild Aniimo, completed quests, collected loot in the overworld, and more. Battling entailed either attacking as one of your Aniimo or commanding them, with each creature having different type affinities, stats, and abilities assigned to each button.
Exploring the overworld felt reminiscent of Pokémon Legends: Arceus, with the ability to turn into Aniimo to glide, swim, climb cliffs, and the like. Capturing also worked similarly, as I was able to free-throw capsules at wild Aniimo to catch them. There were even research logs to complete!
I eventually ran into a raid boss-style encounter, in which combat entailed dodging MMO-esque attack indicators and bringing down a large health bar. It took me a while to win the fight, but I imagine this feature will be a lot of fun in a multiplayer setting, with friends teaming up against challenging bosses.
Thank you to Pawprint Studio for the chance to try this game out! Aniimo is set to launch in Q3 2026 for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, PC via Steam and Epic Games Store, and mobile devices (Android and iOS). Interested players can also sign up for the closed beta test now on the game’s official website.
Grave Seasons
There’s nothing quite like snuggling up with a cozy farm sim. Especially when bodies start falling! Grave Seasons is a horror adventure from Blumhouse Games and developer Perfect Garbage that delivers a supernatural murder mystery within the confines of a farm sim: farming, romancing, fishing, moving to a new town, and all.
I got to play some of Grave Seasons‘ introductory sections during this demo, which included character creation, settling into the farm, meeting some townsfolk, and investigating a mayoral murder.
Right off the bat, character creation posed a great opportunity to admire the gorgeous pixel art. I love this aesthetic, and the portrait pop-ins for NPCs were another great touch. The character customization options were a bit limited for purposes of the demo, but I was informed that the full game will have plenty more available.
I then learned the basics of farming, which seemed like standard farm sim gameplay with plots of land to shovel, seeds to plant, and sprouts to water. Even during this tutorial section, however, the demo did a great job of maintaining a sense of unease under the surface of the wholesome gameplay. For instance, your home has a mysterious basement that is sure to play a role in the dark antics to come.
Speaking of dark antics, for the end of the demo I got fast-forwarded a couple of days to when the game’s murders kick in! I arrived at a gruesome scene with the dead mayor. After investigating the area for clues, I explored town briefly to meet with the townsfolk and see their reactions to the news. I was informed that the murderer’s identity will be randomized with each run, which will open up interesting possibilities for character dynamics in the full game.
Grave Seasons definitely intrigued me! Cozy and chilling tones make for a challenging balancing act, so I’m curious to see how the full game manages it. Thank you to Blumhouse Games for the chance to try the game out at Summer Game Fest! Grave Seasons was recently delayed from its August release to sometime this fall on PC via Steam, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PS5, and Switch! Learn more in their recent dev update on Steam.
Crimson Moon
From developer ProbablyMonsters, gothic action RPG Crimson Moon combines Soulslike combat with roguelite elements to create an infinitely replayable dungeon crawler with solo and co-op options available. I managed to fit two runs in during this Summer Game Fest demo, and I had a great time navigating the environments and experimenting with the battle system.
When beginning a new area, the objective was to clear all enemies to open the gate to venture further. A progress bar indicated how many enemies I had killed and how many remained. The starting enemies were simple enough and could be downed with some hack-and-slashing, but some tougher varieties emerged the deeper I got into a run that required more strategic dodging via timed rolls, parries, and the like.
A variety of weapons were available in this demo, including a sword and shield combination, a spear, and a staff for magic spells. My favorite was the classic sword and shield for its swiftness and defensive capabilities, though the staff was also fun to experiment with and cast AoE attacks against enemies. Swapping between weapons was as simple as a button press, which made experimenting with them even easier.
After defeating a monster, there was plenty of loot to collect from its remains, not to mention the treasure chests and items scattered throughout the dungeon itself. Loot included weapons and armor that could be equipped on the fly during a run, throwing knives, and health replenishing items.
Finally, upon clearing an area of enemies and finding the exit, I was presented with the choice of one of three perks before moving onto the next section. These perks included effects like certain attacks or parries having a chance to inflict burns and other offensive bonuses.
With the demo only allowing me time for two short runs, I’m left curious about how these roguelite elements, progression, and multiplayer co-op will play out in the full version. Nevertheless, I’m excited by what I saw here! Thank you to ProbablyMonsters for the chance to try this title. Crimson Moon will launch in September 2026 on PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S.
Seafaring puppet pirates, cozy horror (!?) farming sims, monster collectors, and more promising titles in the RPG space showed up in full force at this year’s Summer Game Fest. Thank you to the team at Summer Game Fest for the opportunity to attend and try these upcoming games, and stay tuned to RPGFan for more coverage to come!
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.