Our standout games from Gamescom 2025 might not be what you expect

Gamescom 2025 was quite the experience. It was the year that we finally got concrete release dates for the long-awaited Hollow Knight Silksong and Bloodlines 2, and the year that World of Warcraft added player housing. In many ways, it felt like the show in which myriad gaming ‘loose ends’ were at last tied up, presumably to dodge the specter of GTA 6, but who cares? We won as a result. While you all watched Opening Night Live from the comfort of your homes – likely judging Geoff Keighley’s thoroughly mid shoes – myself and Jamie, two of PCGN’s intrepid newshounds, were running around previewing games and taking names (literally, there were a lot of interviews). After three days of chaos, camaraderie, and a lot of coffee, here are their top six games of Gamescom, and they couldn’t be more different.

You see, here at PCGamesN we pride ourselves on our ability to cover a vast array of PC games. Jamie is a FPS fiend, who spends his nights popping heads, clutching rounds, and, every now and then, getting a game of EA Sports FC in. I, by contrast, am a narrative-driven RPG savant. My time is spent whiling away the hours exploring sprawling fantasy worlds, roleplaying as a vampire, or, on the rare (read ‘not rare’) occasion, hurling abuse at other players in League of Legends. It’s no surprise, then, that our Gamescom picks are markedly different, although they’re still maybe not quite what you’re expecting.

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2

Lauren Bergin: In a shock to absolutely no one, Bloodlines 2 was my game of the show. After waiting a long time to finally catch a glimpse of the next chapter of the iconic VTM saga, I’ve got high hopes for the final release. While you can read my full thoughts in my Bloodlines 2 preview, having played the game’s next quest at Gamescom, the action just keeps ramping up and the mysteries just keep spawning. Now that I know a little more about Pandora, I need to know how she fits into this big, complicated mess that Phyre’s stumbled into. There’s momentum and excitement; I can taste the blood on my tongue and I want more. Plus, the special appearance from White Wolf’s brand manager and LA By Night’s Jason Carl was a welcome surprise – still not finished fangirling, ask Jamie.

Phantom Blade Zero

Jamie Hore: I got to experience Phantom Blade Zero for the first time at Summer Game Fest earlier in the year. The action game, which finds a sweet spot between martial arts-inspired hack-and-slash and soulslike combat, left a big impression on me then. Just a couple of months later at Gamescom, I found myself going wild for it all over again. A more fleshed-out demo awaited me this time, allowing for some proper exploration, which included the reveal of one of the most beautiful world maps I’ve ever seen and some basic but satisfactory traversal. New weapons – and by association, more mouthwatering combat animations – were also present. But the thing that won me over (again) was an incredible boss fight. Despite it being against the same boss I faced during my SGF preview, a decision I made earlier in the demo added a new (and extremely challenging) wrinkle to the encounter that blew me away. I won’t go into details to avoid spoilers, but it’s an early indicator of the level of detail S-Game is adding to Phantom Blade Zero, and despite over an hour of hands-on time, I genuinely didn’t want to leave the booth. If PBZ isn’t already on your radar, it really needs to be.

Witchspire

Lauren: In stark contrast to the moodiness of Bloodlines 2, Envar Games’ Witchspire is a colorful, magical fantasy survival game that takes the spirit of genre stalwarts like Valheim and blends it with vibrant, Breath of the Wild-esque aesthetics. As a self-professed crafting hater, I wasn’t exactly looking forward to an hour of cutting down trees and cooking food, but Witchspire’s forgiving mechanics and cute roster of cuddly, collectible critters makes even the most boring of chores feel interesting. While fantasy often seems like it takes a back seat in other survival adventures, Witchspire has magic infused into its very soul, and I can’t wait to play it when it launches next year.

Anno 117: Pax Romana

Jamie: I’ve played a fair few city builders in my time, but for reasons unknown to science, the beloved Anno series has passed me by. Well, Gamescom compiled 28 years of regret into one neatly-packaged, one-hour demo. Thanks, Anno 117. The new entry takes place at the time of the Roman Empire, and I was given the chance to try the new Albion map, which depicts a harsh but beautiful Celtic region with dense forests, rocky mountains, and precarious marshlands. While building my settlements, business enterprises, and infrastructure was a satisfying, therapeutic challenge, I was left particularly impressed by the new mechanic that lets you decide whether to culturally align with the Romans or the Celts. Do you force the locals into a traditionally Roman way of life, changing the way they dress and draining the swamps to create more buildable land? Or do you embrace and accept the Celts’ traditions by investing in produce they enjoy (like cheese, which I also happen to enjoy) and leave them to farm their sacred lands as they have done for years? Anno 117 was my big ‘pleasant surprise’ of Gamescom, and I’m extremely keen to get back to Albion soon.

Valor Mortis

Lauren: I can openly say that I didn’t quite expect a soulslike game to make it onto my list, but lo and behold, One More Level’s Valor Mortis has done just that. From the creative minds behind Ghostrunner, one of my favorite franchises ever, Valor Mortis is hard-as-nails, fusing the genre’s traditional ducking, dodging, and parrying with smart platforming, while also adding guns. Cast as William, a fallen soldier from Napoleon’s Grande Armée, you have to fight through hordes of plague-ridden monsters at the behest of your former patron, who just so happens to be wittering away in your head (you should probably get that checked). In a world where every second game is a soulslike action RPG, Valor Mortis has managed to stand out from the crowd – and that really is saying something.

Hell Let Loose Vietnam

Jamie: A sequel that we certainly didn’t see coming, Hell Let Loose Vietnam takes the hardcore, super-realistic battles of the first game to Southeast Asia. Despite only a short amount of hands-on time, the Hell Let Loose hallmarks were immediately apparent: precise gunplay that requires trigger discipline; low levels of health forcing you to regularly find cover and take sneaky, covert routes; and amazing and immersive audio that particularly shone when I was pinned down in a tiny shack with enemy bullets whizzing through the window next to me and clattering against the walls. I’m also intrigued by a new balancing act between the military capabilities of the American and Vietnamese armies. If you play on the US side, you’ll get access to powerful helicopters that can transport troops and be kitted out with weapons. But to counter this, the Vietnamese are able to build networks of tunnels, allowing them to not only take shelter underground but also move to new objectives undetected. I can’t wait to see how that shakes out.

So that’s our list of the best PC games of Gamescom 2025. With the Hollow Knight Silksong release date just around the corner, and a whole slew of upcoming PC games to add to your list, it’s going to be a great few years. In the meantime, however, keep an eye on PCGamesN for more Gamescom previews and interviews, and make sure to tell us what your favorite reveal was on our Discord – the weirder the better.