This was one of the biggest Tokyo Game Shows in recent memory, and console gaming as well as Japanese games in general have clearly made a massive resurgence.

Each year it seems the Tokyo Game Show gets busier and busier , and this year was no exception. Even on the business days, it was utterly packed, but I still managed to play quite a few upcoming games.

One additional point is that the indie section was much larger this year, but I feel this is down to misnaming what “indie” games are now. In that, these are not independently funded and clearly have teams of people working on them.

Broadly speaking, the return of the mid-tier, which made up the backbone of the PlayStation 2 generation , is manifesting through the indie space. Although the terminology of “indie” is not at all accurate here .

My only concern with this approach is that there is basically no way for the bulk of these games to get any kind of meaningful PR or marketing traction. However, the abundance of surprisingly capable games with lower price points will cause issues for AAA games in the very near future, if they aren’t already.

This was inexplicably in the indie section, but is the latest Tengo Project remake of a classic co-op shooter that originated on the NES. This played very well and really shone with two players blasting away at nefarious aliens. Much like Shadow of the Ninja Reborn before it, Final Mission looks genuinely stunning and is probably one of the best-looking pixel art games coming out in the near future.

I’d been wanting to play this for a good while, and the good news is that the game not only looks crazily accurate to the host anime but plays very well, too. Combat is great as you switch between the main characters, which each have their own strengths. The areas you traverse also look like an interactive anime. This is definitely a game worth keeping an eye on.

Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse

This was a very impressively made Metroidvania with quite exacting combat and involved exploration. It was also quite unforgiving, but played excellently. The art style is also wonderful, and the level design was suitably labyrinthine. As you go through the game killing bosses, you unlock various new abilities, which in turn opens up exploration. I can see this being a very good game once it’s finally released in a few weeks.

Muramasa: Revenant Blades

I loved the original Wii game, and this looks and plays wonderfully. While a lot is focused on the intricate combat, which is even better than I remember, much of the game is actually more of an action role-playing game. With lots of exploration through exquisitely beautiful areas and managing your various upgrades. This game also still has the nicest-looking food animations.

The big feature of this update to Earth Defense Force 6 is the massive increase in enemies that you fight on any given stage. This is not to say the original game held back on enormous numbers of aliens to shoot at, but this takes the insect-blasting insanity to whole new levels, and I was also very impressed by how well the game’s framerate held up. I love the Earth Defense Force games a great deal, and this will clearly be a lot of fun once it’s released.

While this is clearly Gundam meets Monster Hunter , although the monsters are giant aliens called Apocalypse, this may be one of the best mecha action games ever made. The mecha handling and controls are extremely smooth and intuitive, with the combat being nicely mixed between ranged and melee using a toggled orbit lock-on. You still have the stun setup from other mecha games like SD Gundam Battle Alliance and Armored Core VI , but this plays and feels a lot more accomplished. Genuinely surprised at how well this played.

It’s been a long while since Ace Combat 7 was released, and Ace Combat 8 has a lot to live up to. The good news is that this is easily as good as Ace Combat 7 , if not much better. The game plays very similarly to the last entry, but the effects and feedback you get are much more visceral. From missile explosions to the hefty gun sounds, and even the way you break the sound barrier, it all feels much more gritty while still retaining that classic arcade cleanliness in terms of the controls and combat. This will clearly be a very special game once it’s released.

Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance

In the demo we played, we fought Alpha Araketa in the new Skybound Eyrie area. The monster has hints of Qurupeco and Valstrax from previous titles, and looks to be an earlier starting monster positioned similarly to Doshaguma in Monster Hunter Wilds . It is another pack monster that flies around in formation with other, less brightly colored Araketa and performs dive-bombs from the sky. In general, this looked and played very smoothly and will be something we’ll be checking out on its release.

Overall, this year’s Tokyo Game Show had a lot of big titles to play and see, with many of those being major Japanese franchises. There was also a much greater emphasis on accommodating overseas players, whereas in the past you always had to play the games in Japanese.

While Thursday and Friday are meant as the Business Days, the Tokyo Game Show will be open to the public on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, which is also a first for the event. You can purchase tickets for the public days from here .

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