The gaming world once again converged on Seattle for PAX West 2025. Formerly PAX Prime, this massive video game expo stretched across four full days in the Emerald City. Over one hundred-thousand people attended this year’s event, playing the smallest indies to the biggest upcoming releases from Capcom, Bandai Namco, and Nintendo. With four full days of gaming under our belts, we’ve put together this list of the 10 best games we played at PAX West.
Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake
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We adored Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake when it dropped last year, so you’d best believe we jumped at the invitation from Square Enix to get an early look at the Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remakes. The HD-2D graphics look as great as last time, and all the quality of life improvements like the ability to speed up battles (which is great if you don’t want to spend a lot of time grinding), and autosaves.
In our demo I went head to head with Robbin’ ‘ood and his henchmen in a tough battle that required careful use of my spells to keep the big at bay while I cleared his cronies. It’s exactly the type of chess match that makes a turn based RPG exciting, and the thrill of the hard fought victory felt amazing.
The added element of a party ramps that up even further in Dragon Quest II, and my climb up a lighthouse filled with monsters was nothing short of a diabolical challenge requiring great decision making to stay alive.
You can take on that challenge for yourself when Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D remake arrives on October 30 for PS5, Switch and Switch 2, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.
Valor Mortis
Valor Mortis, from One More Level (best known for the Ghostrunner series), is the perfect example of how a few fresh ideas can invigorate otherwise well trod ground. In this case taking a popular genre like a Soulslike into the first person, and setting it in an alternate history of the Napoleonic War.
This one-of-a-kind demo began with my character awaking as the lone survivor in a pile of bodies, with the few living soldiers I came across shortly thereafter driven mad, requiring a mix of sword and gunplay to fight through. As I pushed further in, the enemies became more twisted, like one strange soldier that ran on all fours.
The toughest test was the boss, a hulking figure that appeared to be made up of other soldiers that congealed together. The fight was nasty, hard as hell, and had my heart pounding as I mixed slashed with quick dodges, gun shots, a bit of fire magic, and the occasional parry. I ran out of time before I could finish the job, and I can’t wait to go again with the final release in 2026.
My Hero Academia: All’s Justice
The single most fun moment at PAX may have been playing My Hero Academia: All’s Justice, developed by Byking and published by Bandai Namco. I’m on my third fight, and I’ve been increasing the difficulty each time. And this time against the trio of Mirio Togata, Tamaki Amajiki, and Nejire Hado, otherwise known as the Big 3, who were playable for the first time at PAX West.
My ragtag team of Endeavor, Sero, and Koji Koda were in dire straits. Their fast tags and perfectly timed counters had me on the ropes fast. I chipped away where I could, but as Endeavor and Sero fell, leaving just Koda and his ability to talk to bugs, all seemed lost until a few counters of my own dropped two of the big three, and perfectly timed Plus Ultra (aka ultimate attack), ended the bout with me barely standing.
All’s Justice boasts a massive roster. Alongside the aforementioned Big Three it has every member of class 1A. This arena fighter covers the entire end of the anime, with a massive roster spanning the entire My Hero Academia story, including variants of the different versions that have appeared.
It’s an ambitious finale to one of the generations most influential anime, and, while no release date has been announced, it will be available across PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Steam.
Octopath Traveler 0
Square Enix’s Octopath Traveler series is proof that just because a game is turn based, that doesn’t mean it can’t be fast. That’s a fact of life in the series, and, from what we played of Octopath Traveler 0 at PAX, isn’t changing anytime soon. Our quick dive through a dungeon had us rapidly firing strikes and skills, storing and spending boost points to strategically enhance attacks in order to break enemy defenses and deal massive damage.
Four frontline characters can be switched with their backline partners on any turn, bringing new weapons to bear while giving fighters a health and magic restoring respite. That feature was first introduced in Octopath Traveler: Champions of Continent, the mobile game Octopath Traveler 0 is generally based on, but make no mistake, this is a fully featured console (and PC) game through and through.
Outside of your adventures you can return to your hometown, which functions as a base you can build up over time. I dropped a new house in anticipation of some companions joining my forces, and added a few trees to pretty it up for good measure.
It’s a fun change of pace from the battling, and an area where I can see myself getting hooked. The wait won’t be too much longer, as Octopath Traveler 0 is set to launch on December 4th for PlayStation5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2, and Steam.
Re:VER Project Tokyo
Picture this: you are a teen on the run from the police, accused of a crime you didn’t commit, with nothing but your wits to help you unravel why you navigate the 2D, 16 bit pixel art style streets of late-night Tokyo. That setup is at the heart of Re:VER PROJECT TOKYO, developed by Nestopi Inc. and published by Toei Animation (yes, that Toei animation).
During my hand’s on demo I was impressed at the commitment to being a true adventure game; it resembled almost a reimagining of an NES classic like Deja Vu as I hid behind signs to avoid the cops, and searched abandoned shops for pieces I could combine into something I could trade for medicine to help a sick friend.
Lofi beats and the Noir infused story had their hooks in me right away, with some survival elements like a hunger and thirst gauge to manage adding additional intrigue when this releases in Winter 2025.
Ambrosia Sky
I didn’t know I needed a mashup of Metroid Prime until I played Ambrosia Sky. Created by the team at Soft Rains, Ambrosia Sky is set in the far future, where mankind has colonized the heavenly bodies orbiting Saturn, some sort of fungal infestation is on the verge of taking over.
That’s where you and your trusty chemical sprayer come in, and I quickly found my zen as I cleared the walls and floors around me in the narrow corridors, eerie sci-fi vibes notwithstanding. In my brief mission I had to work my way towards an inner room, clearing obstructions, taking out pods that fired spores at me, and solving a puzzle by creating a line of electrified spray foam from a light to an unpowered door.
One memorable section had me turn off the artificial gravity and fly across a noxious fume filled room (the grappling hook was especially helpful here). Finally I reached my goal, one of the colonists that seemed to have been close to your character is there, he died in the infestation.
Rather than a sad moment though a cathartic scene plays out as he’s cleared of the fungus, a beautiful shower of greenery fills the screen as he’s laid to rest. Even on the crowded and noisy showfloor of PAX, it was touching. If you are looking for just the right mix of zen, sci-fi mystery, and catharsis, you might want to check out Ambrosia Sky when it arrives “soon” on Steam.
Never’s End
Turn-based tactical RPG’s seem to be undergoing a renaissance of sports, as these next two selections can attest. First up is Never’s End, by Hypersect, a bit of a macabre medieval turn-based strategy game where you, a warrior spirit, possess townsfolk to use as your soldiers in battle.
It’s got a slick semi-pixely semi-cartoony art style, with a map that branches in each cardinal direction from your starting village. What really impressed me though was the deep simulation system running underneath it all. Elements like water can be used, abused, manipulated to your hearts content. Sure, you can light the enemy on fire the normal way.
But what if he’s too far away? Maybe it’s time to take off your shirt and throw it at him though a torch. You can move thermal energy from one tile to another, creating not just hot and cold areas but high and low air pressure zones, creating wind to blow around enemies or cause other interactions.
It’s like the chemistry system in Breath of the Wild, turned to 11, with the creative freedom of the wildest Baldur’s Gate 3 videos you’ve seen, and it’s awesome. The release date is still to be announced, but it will eventually be available on Steam.
Bloodgrounds
The other half of the tactics coin is Bloodgrounds, a bloody art turn-based strategy set in an age of gladiators from the team over at Exordium Games. As a retired gladiator turned patron you alternate between commanding your warriors on the arenas to earn coin, and spending it to develop your city, which in turn allows you to better recruit, equip, and maintain your warriors.
Bloodgrounds is ultimately a roguelite, each foray into combat either ends in victory over several rounds, or your team is killed, and you start again with a fresh squad. Wounds carry over from battle to battle, while a mix giant creatures or favors from gods to earn a fantastical element deal with, and the pixel art blood, gore, and decapitations all look fantastic. There’s a demo out now on Steam, with a planned release by the end of 2025.
Sashimi Slayer
If there was one game that seemed to always draw a crowd, it was Sashimi Slayer, from Shrimp Fried Rice Games. This rhythm game places you in the role of what I think is a shrimp, out on a boat slicing up fish with your sword to turn them into instant sashimi.
The demo on the showfloor was done with a custom sword shaped controller, the angle you tilted lined up the path of the blade and you’d pull it partially out of the scabbard to trigger a high speed slash. If your aim is true and you time it properly to the quirky beat, SLICE! Fresh Sashimi.
Two other buttons trigger a pair of blocks, and I found myself stopping, staring, and listening over and over again. No release date has been announced, but it will come to Steam eventually. As for the sword, they say they are looking into solutions to make it available, though it can be played on more standard control surfaces too.
PAX West 2025 was held in Seattle, Washington from August 29 through September 1, 2025.
