CGMagazine had a full team on the gamescom 2025 show floor, and we worked hard to go hands-on with as many titles as time would allow. We spent the week running the massive halls of the Koelnmesse and saw everything from a massive World of Warcraft: Midnight portal to a Zenless Zone Zero Aston Martin. We played extraction shooters, strategy games, horror titles galore and cozy games so cute we couldn’t handle it.
After playing more than 50 titles over four days, CGM has chosen its picks for Best of Gamescom 2025. These games left us craving more hands-on time, pushing us to ask developers questions and, in some cases, begging for release dates. Whether it was a fresh take on a genre like The Blood of Dawnwalker, a long-awaited return like Hollow Knight: Silksong, or a title so unsettling it hasn’t left our minds like REANIMAL, these are our choices for Best of Gamescom 2025.
Borderlands 4
Played by: Dayna Eileen
Developer: 2K Games
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I know that Borderlands 4 is one of the most anticipated games of 2025, and fans of the franchise are devoted to it. What I didn’t expect was that 30 minutes of tense, sweaty-palmed action while I fought waves of enemies in the Borderlands universe would be among the best moments of gamescom 2025. Thanks to NVIDIA, I was able to play the game on an RTX 5090 with DLSS 4, and it ran flawlessly.
2K Games is at its best with Borderlands 4. During my short playthrough, I jumped from island to island, clearing each one before moving on to the next. Naturally, I chose Vex the Siren and used her ability to summon Reapers and Spectres to help take out enemies. I couldn’t believe how much fun I had, even when I died, and I’m already looking forward to the game’s full release on Sept. 12.
Gods Death & Reapers
Played by: Dayna Eileen
Developer: Wolcen Studio
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Coined as an “ExtrAction RPG” by Wolcen Studio, Gods Death & Reapers aims to bring a new twist to extraction games. With multiple difficulty levels and a fully solo campaign, I’m curious to see how the full release plays out. Wolcen has also said there will be ways to save certain items, such as crafted gear, from being lost during a run. Gods Death & Reapers is already showing impressive detail. The enemies I’ve faced so far were gruesome, and the world felt dark and cold, with an atmosphere reminiscent of Diablo IV.
The game is rooted in mythology, beginning with Norse and later expanding to Egyptian, Aztec and Greek maps and stories. I had the chance to play through the Norse setting, and if the developers plan to make the other three sections as detailed, the game will offer a substantial amount of content. Each mythology introduces new stories, enemies, artifacts, items and maps. After going hands-on and reviewing the roadmap, I’m eager to see what Wolcen delivers. The first closed beta for Gods Death & Reapers is scheduled for winter 2026.
Hollow Knight: Silksong
Played by: Eduard Gafton
Developer: Team Cherry
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After years of waiting, Hollow Knight: Silksong is real and, yes, we’ve even played it. The good news is that fans of the original are really going to like what they see here, as everything is simply faster, more polished and more plentiful. The bad news is that Silksong is far from a transformative experience: those who didn’t jive with the original Hollow Knight or the Metroidvania genre as a whole are likely to remain still unconvinced.
What might make matters more complicated in this sense is the explosive hype regarding everything Hollow Knight Silksong. The 15 minutes with the game assured that what’s on show is extremely fun and responsive, but is it going to be good enough to make up for what feels like a lifetime of frenetic speculation and often hilarious memes? Could any game ever do that? We’ll find out when Hollow Knight Silksong releases on September 4th.
Keeper
Played by: Eduard Gafton
Developer: Double Fine Productions
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During the behind-the-scenes documentary for Psychonauts 2, Double Fine studio head and legendary game developer Tim Schafer mentioned that the next game his team will be working on will be something “weird” and something that “could never be accepted by a publisher”. Enter Keeper: a puzzle adventure about the bond between a sentient lighthouse and a spiritual seabird coming from the mind of creative lead Lee Petty, who’s previously helmed projects such as the sci-fi Metroidvania Headlander.
During a closed-door appointment, Tim Schafer introduced three disparate short clips of Keeper, with each showing a different locale and a distinct gameplay mechanic. Despite not going hands-on with the game, those clips convinced me that Double Fine is yet again crafting a gorgeous and delightfully weird experience. Definitely keep an eye out for Keeper before its expected release on October 17th.
LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight
Played by: Eduard Gafton
Developer: TT Games
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Following LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, which covered the story of the nine mainline Star Wars movies, TT Games’ latest, LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight, arguably the best surprise to come out of Opening Night Live, is attempting to remix 87 years of stories following the Caped Crusader into one cohesive story campaign. What’s more, Legacy of the Dark Knight features an open-world Gotham for Batman and the Bat-Family to stop crimes, solve Riddler challenges and more.
After getting about an hour of hands-on time with a demo of the game, which consisted of a mission in Ace Chemicals and an open-world segment, it became immediately apparent that Legacy of the Dark Knight, from the free-flowing combat to the vehicular traversal, has more in common with Rocksteady’s Arkham games than the previous LEGO Batman entries. In short, while it is early, as LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight is set to launch sometime late next year, it does seem like TT Games might just deliver the Batman game we didn’t know that we needed AND the one that we deserve.
Monsters Are Coming! Rock & Road
Played by: Dayna Eileen
Developer: Ludogram
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Monsters Are Coming! Rock & Road had me literally squealing during my appointment at gamescom 2025. Imagine the chaos of Vampire Survivors, but with added resource collection, tower defence and the challenge of making it to the end of the run while protecting your town hall from damage. In this game, the character you control isn’t the main focus — the town hall is. If it falls, the run ends. If your character dies, the town hall simply summons another minion to defend it, forcing you to place a gravestone of shame on one of your city tiles.
Each map challenges you to guide your town hall safely to the Arch while fending off the monsters that swarm it. Levelling up gives you new weapons and upgrades, and also lets you add fresh spaces to your town hall, whether they’re weapons, boosts or the dreaded grave marker. Strategy is key to reaching the Arch and keeping your town alive. There’s so much happening at once, but every decision feels meaningful — and I can’t wait to learn when Monsters Are Coming! Rock & Road will finally be released.
REANIMAL
Played By: Brendan Frye
Developer: Tarsier Studios
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REANIMAL lingers like a fever dream: an unnerving, unforgettable title from Tarsier Studios that trades the dark fairy-tale whimsy of their last game for raw, relentless dread. At gamescom 2025, it was without question one of the best games I saw at the show, and a title I can not stop thinking about. Two masked orphans pick their way across a hellish island, solving deceptively simple puzzles as the world’s wrongness seeps in through every camera angle, lantern flicker and breath of silence. Co-op does not blunt the edge; it sharpens it, as staged perspectives corral attention toward grotesque tableaux and masterfully timed audio swells. Worse still is the sudden void before a single jarring sound spikes the pulse.
REANIMAL’s imagery is viciously memorable: rooms writhing with skin-things, keys pried from human husks, and creatures whose dripping forms feel sickeningly alive. It is art direction with teeth that gets under your skin, framed by deliberate restriction and immaculate lighting that makes the unknown as much a threat as what is seen. If the full game sustains the demo’s suffocating tension and morbid inventiveness, REANIMAL will not just disturb, it will define a new benchmark for horror on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S, Nintendo Switch 2 and PC next year.
Scott Pilgrim EX
Played By: Brendan Frye
Developer: Tribute Games
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Scott Pilgrim EX is here with a pixel-powered love letter to Toronto: joyously chaotic, slick and confidently new while channelling the spirit of the 2010 brawler. Tribute Games leans into a fresh story from Bryan Lee O’Malley, opening the city with hub flow, mission hops and neighbourhoods that feel lived in, from the Beaches to the suburbs, all fizzing with playful nods and arcade DNA. Co-op shines as shared cash fuels a smart buff system that expands build options without losing the comic’s scrappy charm, and moment-to-moment combat pops with crunchy feedback and expressive move sets.
New playable additions, including Lucas Lee and Roxy, bring distinct styles. Taking Roxy through a 30-minute session showcased how variety, pace and personality snap together seamlessly. Scott Pilgrim EX is bright, stunning and polished—exactly the kind of brawler that begs a replay with friends. If the full map lands like this slice, 2026 cannot come soon enough on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S, Nintendo Switch 2 and PC.
The Blood of Dawnwalker
Played by: Dayna Eileen
Developer: Rebel Wolves
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I’ve been itching for something different — an in-depth action RPG that isn’t just another sequel, prequel or reskin of the same formula. Rebel Wolves may have delivered exactly that with The Blood of Dawnwalker, a new action RPG featuring mechanics that could shake things up. You play as Coen, a newly turned Dawnwalker, who has 30 days to save his family. The first key mechanic is a time limit: quests and decisions move the clock forward, meaning you can’t do everything in a single run. You need to prioritize.
The second mechanic is a day-and-night cycle that changes your abilities. At night, your vampire side dominates, giving you claws and teleportation. During the day, your human side takes over, wielding swords and magic to survive. Some quests can only be completed during the day or night, while others are open to either, enhancing replayability. With striking visuals, intriguing mechanics and a layer of mystery surrounding the story, The Blood of Dawnwalker is shaping up to be an action RPG worth watching — and I’m eager to dive deeper.
The Outer Worlds 2
Played by: Eduard Gafton
Developer: Obsidian Entertainment
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When Obsidian’s The Outer Worlds came out in 2019, CGMagazine’s reviewer, Brendan Quinn, called it a “perfect showcase” of what the studio “could do under their own steam”. In a similar vein, then, the hour of hands-on time with the sequel, The Outer Worlds 2, was a perfect showcase of the lessons that the studio learned following some of their releases, including 2025’s Avowed.
By all accounts, The Outer Worlds 2 takes everything that the original did and does it bigger and better. Notably, the gunplay is vastly improved, and stealth is finally a viable (and fun!) way of playing the game. The writing, too, which is, by and large, always great in an Obsidian game, is sharper as well, and the decision to go for a “less silly, darker tone” has proved to be a good one so far. Nevertheless, there will still be a lot of goofing around when The Outer Worlds 2 launches on October 29th.
Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2
Played By: Brendan Frye
Developer: The Chinese Room
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Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 finally feels real, and I should know: I played it. Hands-on, the shift to The Chinese Room reads as confidence, not compromise, preserving the seductive pull of Seattle’s undead politics while tightening the craft where it counts. Playing as an elder reawakened, the opening frames the city as a conspirator, with rain, glass and neon staging factional pressure that bleeds into every choice and encounter. Combat rides on disciplines with tactile weight and readable risk, letting scenes breathe before snapping into violence.
Dialogue remains the series’ lifeblood, branching with consequences that echo across alliances and the ever-present Masquerade, the code that conceals vampires’ existence. Character building invites experimentation without diminishing clan identity, and the performance capture carries the dry wit and weary gravitas fans expect. Running on a laptop with NVIDIA’s RTX graphics and Deep Learning Super Sampling 4, visuals impress without losing mood. If the polish seen here holds, Paradox Interactive’s long wait pays off: a careful resurrection that honours the cult classic and stakes its own claim in 2025.
For more thoughts about the titles we’ve played at gamescom 2025, including The Blood of Dawnwalker, Resident Evil Requiem, God Save Birmingham, Europa Universalis V, Invincible VS. and more, click here. Until next time, danke gamescom!
