Three August games, three different risks. Big Walk turns online co-op into a long, silly hike with friends. Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls asks whether Arc System Works can make a modern Marvel tag fighter that survives serious fighting-game scrutiny. The Sinking City 2 moves Frogwares' Lovecraft series from sprawling detective work towards survival horror.
As of July 25, none of the three has an OpenCritic or Metacritic score, so this roundup covers what previews and hands-on impressions say and what to look for once reviews land. We followed up afterwards with our Big Walk and Sinking City 2 review roundups.
Big Walk previews: a co-op hike, not a checklist
Big Walk is from House House, published by Panic, due August 4, 2026 on PC, Mac, PS5 and Switch 2. The Untitled Goose Game team has made a co-op puzzle adventure about walking around a big island with friends. The previews don't read like normal co-op coverage: nobody's talking about loot or boss phases. They talk about space, voice chat, hand gestures, and whether doing very little together can still feel designed.
IGN places it near the current wave of proximity-chat friend games, but warmer and less hostile than the horror side of that scene. The demo had players hunting key items, describing symbols to each other, stacking bodies to reach high places and solving puzzles while communication was deliberately awkward. If the first hour is representative, it suits players who want low-stress online chaos more than a strict puzzle gauntlet.
Game Informer gets at the intent. House House calls it a "walker-talker" and deliberately leaves distance between objectives. Nico Disseldorp described the walking as negative space, where players make their own fun. Plenty of co-op games are afraid of silence. Big Walk is betting that silence, bad jokes, getting lost and someone dropping an important object in the wrong place are the game.
Video Games are Good, previewing at Panic HQ, says it supports up to 12 players, will likely run 10 to 15 hours and has a definite ending. It has small frustration guards, like an ocean that returns lost items to shore. Anyone who's watched a co-op puzzle night collapse because one physics object went missing will appreciate that.
The concern is access, not charm. Game Informer says there's no public matchmaking; you bring your own group. That suits a game about social rhythm but narrows the audience. It could be magic with four close friends and much harder to love alone. Watch for whether the walking still feels good after several hours, whether pairs get enough out of it, and whether no matchmaking reads as confidence or a wall.
Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls previews: Arc System Works goes 4v4
Marvel Tōkon is from Arc System Works for PS5 and PC, launching August 6, 2026. As a 4v4 tag fighter, it has to give Marvel fans spectacle and survive players who can spot weak systems in twenty minutes.
IGN's coverage of the playable Evo build listed Captain America, Iron Man, Storm, Star-Lord, Ms. Marvel and Doctor Doom. Director Kazuto "Pachi" Sekine thanked players for the reaction to the reveal and said the team wanted feedback on the first trial. Evo isn't a gentle room: if movement, assists, defence or match flow feel wrong, the crowd finds out fast.
Eurogamer covers the roster. At Evo 2026, Marvel Games, PlayStation and Arc System Works revealed the Samurai Outriders team: Robbie Reyes' Ghost Rider, Blade, Deadpool and Loki, confirming 20 launch characters: Storm, Magik, Wolverine, Danger, Spider-Man, Ms. Marvel, Star-Lord, Peni Parker, Captain America, Iron Man, Black Panther, Hulk, Doctor Doom, Magneto, Green Goblin, Carnage, Ghost Rider, Blade, Deadpool and Loki. Eurogamer compares that with Street Fighter 6's 18 and Tekken 8's 32. In a 4v4 game, 20 characters make a lot of team combinations; the question is whether each one changes how a team plays.
Eurogamer also recalls an earlier preview calling it "exceptionally accessible." That cuts both ways. Marvel fighters need a low enough floor to enjoy the fireworks and a high enough ceiling that the fireworks don't hide shallow decisions. Arc System Works has the animation skill and genre history; the open question is readability, since a 4v4 Marvel game can turn into noise fast. Watch netcode, training tools, assist design, team variety, and whether the single-player Episode Mode has substance for Marvel fans who don't want three weeks of getting folded online.
The Sinking City 2 previews: from detective sprawl to survival horror
The Sinking City 2 is from Frogwares, launching August 18, 2026 on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. Push Square reports a one-hour Steam demo is out now, though not on PS5. PC Gamer describes the sequel as more focused than the original, closer to "H. P. Lovecraft's Resident Evil" than a free-roaming mystery spread across a whole town.
The first game had ambition, mood and plenty of rough edges, trying to be a detective game, an open world and Lovecraft horror at once. The sequel cuts some of that sprawl. PC Gamer's build had room to explore within levels, but not a whole town, which sounds like a sensible correction if the goal is tension.
Game Rant is more conflicted. Its build covered about 90 minutes across two semi-open areas, and the writer left with equal promise and concern. The combat focus surprised them, and exploration was mostly driven by supplies: health items, ammo and the survival-horror habit of checking every room to stay alive. That may play better moment to moment, but risks losing what made Frogwares' detective work distinctive.
Push Square adds context: most development has happened in Ukraine since January 2023, with a team of more than 90 working through power cuts, air-raid sirens and colleagues called up to serve. That shouldn't excuse the final game, but it's part of how the sequel came to exist.
PC Gamer is encouraged by the tighter direction, Game Rant worries it's becoming more conventional, and Push Square frames it as much more survival horror. A cleaner, scarier sequel could finally make the series click; a more ordinary one could lose the odd detective flavour people remember. Watch whether combat can carry the new focus, whether investigation still matters, and whether Arkham feels like a place with secrets rather than a corridor with monsters.
The August watchlist
- Big Walk: the safest emotional bet and the hardest practical one. Wonderful with the right friends; getting that group together is its own puzzle.
- Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls: the loudest, with Marvel, Arc System Works, Evo attention and a roster people will argue about immediately. Fighting games get honest fast, so vague praise won't survive.
- The Sinking City 2: the most interesting tension. A sharper survival horror game that may cost the series some of its odd detective identity.
