Tokyo Game Show 2026 - Day One

A lot of people went to Tokyo Game Show today. And many of them were carrying unreasonably large bags.

Today was as well-attended as any TGS business day I can recall. The enormous number of attendees is good news for the show, and it's greatly encouraging to see that it still generates this much interest, but it was bad news for anyone who had only 4 minutes until the start of their Final Fantasy VII Revelation demo, and two halls standing between them and the Square Enix booth.

So yeah, a lot of people. I swear they'll let anyone in nowadays, even bloggers. Even fucking bloggers.

Anyway, here's my Day One blog.

My Big Two

I've already played my Big Two. I went to Sega Atlus when the doors opened at 10:00 and got my hands on Stranger Than Heaven. Next, I headed over to PlayStation and secured a demo slot for Final Fantasy VII Revelation. I enjoyed both to varying degrees, but their structure didn't do them any favours. Stranger Than Heaven consisted of three very similar mini-sections spread across three different eras, which did a great job of showcasing the settings and historical periods. However, each had a very limited and repetitive set-up: run over there and fight a gang of thugs. It struck me as very lazy. As for the Revelation demo, it dumped you in the middle of a story beat that wasn't well curated for a timed demo. Still, I mostly enjoyed myself, and I'll be posting full write-ups in the coming days.

Monster Hunter Not So Much Anymore

While rushing between other hands-on appointments, I stopped by Capcom to pick up a demo ticket for what I thought was Ascendance, the new major expansion for Monster Hunter Wilds. When I returned later for my designated time slot, it dawned on me that my ticket was not for Ascendance but was instead for the Switch 2 port of Wilds, with local multiplayer. I'd picked up the wrong slip of paper! Upon that realisation, I made the decision not to bother, and that decision aided me in accepting what I basically already knew: I've significantly cooled on the series. Wilds just didn't do it for me and I'm not sure what it would take to bring me back into the fold. Never say never, though.

Dragon's Dogma II Dark Arisen

As I was already at Capcom, I decided to join the line for a different expansion: Dragon's Dogma II Dark Arisen. While DD2 didn't blow me away back in 2024, you'd have to be a miserable sod not to enjoy clambering all over a towering griffon, stabbing it in the face while it attempts to fly off. In the time allotted, I was able to murder a single griffon, fighting as a nimble thief, and also got a good way through a spectacular encounter with a huge zombie dragon, while playing as an archer. Dragon's Dogma 2 may have been flawed, but it got the basics right, and if Dark Arisen is able to build upon that, then I'll definitely be up for it.

A Crushing Defeat

Mid-morning, the wait for the Wo Long 2 demo stood at a very agreeable 0 minutes. This was likely because there is already a demo available to the general public and also due to the impressive number of demo stations that had been set up at Koei Tecmo's booth. I couldn't pass up that kind of wait time, so I strolled in and was immediately stopped by a staff member who explained that if I defeated the end-of-level boss, I should raise my hand. If I did this, a staff member would pop over and reward me with a free t-shirt. I laughed as he told me this, as I knew that was never going to happen! And I was right. I did eventually reach the big baddie, but given how quickly I died, I'm not sure if he even noticed. On my way out, I was handed a lenticular badge instead of a t-shirt. A lenticular badge for losers. 

Merchandise

I spent the best part of an hour checking out the merchandise area and I successfully spent some money! I picked up a few t-shirts, including Street Fighter 2 and Mega Drive designs, one of which I might wear tomorrow, if they're not creased to fuck. I also bought some Naruto keyholders for my daughter, a Puyo Puyo shirt for the wife, and some tengui hand towels with bright Katamari Damacy designs for the whole family to enjoy. It's not TGS if you don't significantly lighten your wallet!

Tomorrow

Tomorrow, I'll get to Crazy Taxi World Tour and Professor Layton & the New World of Steam. I hear good things about Castlevania: Belmont's Curse and I might dip into Ace Combat 8 if the wait times are agreeable. I also want to have a better look at the indie area, and poke around some of the smaller booths in each hall. If I'm feeling brave, I may pose for pictures at the photo spots at Square Enix, which include a lunging Sephiroth that hangs from the ceiling, where the subject of the photo fills in for Aeris as she's about to be skewered (spoiler warning).

Catch you tomorrow.