Three notable games are close enough to release that previewers have started showing their hands, but too far out for final scores: Onimusha: Way of the Sword, The Blood of Dawnwalker and Star Wars Zero Company. None had an OpenCritic or Metacritic average when we wrote this, so it's a preview roundup. A preview isn't a verdict, but you can look for what every writer mentions unprompted, the worry that keeps surfacing between compliments, and the small detail that might define the game after thirty hours. (We covered the reviews later in our Onimusha and Star Wars Zero Company roundups.)
Onimusha: Way of the Sword previews
Capcom's revival launches September 4 according to IGN's release tracker, on PS5, Xbox, Switch 2 and PC. The final preview wave landed August 6, and the consensus is specific: it isn't a Soulslike in Onimusha armour but a stylish action game that uses boss pressure carefully and lets you breathe between fights.
Esra Krabbe at IGN Japan describes the tension. Regular enemies fall with theatrical ease, while bosses demand patience, defensive timing and real learning. It balances two pleasures: overcoming something hard and looking impossibly cool doing it. Many modern action games pick one; Onimusha lets you move between both.
The big mechanical point is defence. IGN breaks it into three separate ideas. Parry opens an immediate counter. Deflect works more like a stamina-breaking tool. Issen, the classic Onimusha flourish, is a risky, frame-exact strike that can erase normal enemies. Several journalists at the event stopped trying Issen on bosses because the risk was too high. That's less a complaint than a warning.
PlayStation Blog focuses on structure. After the demo's Kiyomizu-dera Temple duel, Musashi reaches the Oni Refuge, a surreal floating space where the Oni Bow is both weapon and light puzzle tool. Kyoto opens into a larger hub with rifts to seal, demonic fog to clear, gear upgrades, soul absorption and gimmick bosses. Daidara, a giant Genma, can consume souls before you do. Rasho-gan fights around mystical threads and body horror. Byakue grows wilder as its own blood drives it.
Polygon's headline is the warmest: after two hours, it became the writer's most anticipated action game of 2026. With IGN's more detailed caveats, the picture is that critics love the combat, and the open spaces and repeated rescue events are what to watch. When reviews land, check whether Kyoto is a meaningful place or just connective tissue between better boss fights.
The Blood of Dawnwalker previews
The Blood of Dawnwalker is a different risk. Rebel Wolves is led by former Witcher 3 developers including Konrad Tomaszkiewicz, and that comparison will follow it everywhere. IGN's tracker lists September 3 on PS5, Xbox and PC. The pitch in every preview: a vampire RPG whose open world is authored, not padded.
In IGN's feature, Matt Purslow spoke to the team, and creative director Mateusz Tomaszkiewicz said he has a "personal vendetta against filler content." That's a line preview cycles love, but the details back it up: an open world built from connections, where quests feed into the region's lore, the vampire court, anger and infamy systems, and Coen's shifting identity.
The hook is the day-night split. Coen is human by day and more vampiric at night, which IGN says changes fighting, exploration, traversal and quest options, with some routes and stories only open at night. Enemies won't fully scale to your level, so progression feels real and you may wander into trouble before you're ready, which has a pleasant old-RPG feel.
Other coverage lines up. Tom's Guide says its opinion flipped after four hours and Witcher 3 fans should pay attention. Game Informer frames combat as what the game still has to prove. Eurogamer, from 90 minutes, sounded cautiously excited about a possible breakout RPG. CGMagazine focused on Coen's duality as how the game defines destiny, not just a mechanic.
Nobody seems bored. The question is whether vampire identity, open-world quests, non-scaling regions, gothic folklore, handcrafted content and combat can meet without collapsing into busywork, and feel like one game rather than five good pitches in a cloak. When reviews land, check combat feel and quest density. If the world rewards curiosity without checklist fatigue, this could be September's RPG to beat. If the combat is merely adequate, the Witcher shadow grows.
Star Wars Zero Company previews
Bit Reactor's tactics game launches August 27 on PS5, Xbox and PC per IGN. PC Gamer, Rock Paper Shotgun, Xbox Wire, StarWars.com, EA and RPGFan have covered it, mostly focusing on its XCOM-like structure.
The encouraging part is restraint. Fraser Brown at PC Gamer seemed relieved by the 30-to-40-hour estimate from Bit Reactor's Q&A. It's a linear campaign with no New Game Plus, branching story, romance paths or official mod support. Some tactics players will find that thin; anyone tired of RPGs ballooning into second jobs may find it merciful.
Rock Paper Shotgun had fun with squad details. Tel-Rea, the Jedi Padawan, is powerful but can die permanently, and you only get one of her. You can also field a squad of astromechs, exactly the kind of silly option a Star Wars game should allow. There are 12 classes including four exotic ones, a shared Advantage resource, optional Operations, expiring missions, map scouting, and mission types designed to discourage the slow overwatch crawl that flattens tactics games.
The danger isn't that it looks too strange but too familiar. XCOM is the obvious reference, and several leads have tactics pedigree. Previews suggest the studio knows the genre's habits well enough to push back: more mission variety, less stalling, more squad identity and enough Star Wars texture to keep battles playful.
The caveats are clear too. A linear 30-to-40-hour campaign has to nail its mission design, with fewer side systems to hide in, and no New Game Plus or mods may limit the long tail for players who treat tactics games as forever games. When reviews land, check whether there's enough tactical friction to stay lively throughout.
Which to wishlist
- Onimusha: Way of the Sword: the cleanest preview momentum, if action combat is your thing. Watch the exploration.
- The Blood of Dawnwalker: the biggest upside and the messiest promise, if you want a gothic RPG that might respect your time.
- Star Wars Zero Company: the clearest pitch, a focused Clone Wars tactics campaign with permanent mistakes.
If your wishlist lives in Perthro, add a reason beside each one. "Check whether Onimusha's exploration holds up" will be more useful in September than a cover on its own.
