SEGA used a private summer showcase in Los Angeles to present a broad selection of upcoming games, including the first hands on opportunities for Total War: Warhammer 40,000 and Crazy Taxi: World Tour, alongside another playable build of Stranger Than Heaven.
The event also featured Persona 4 Revival, upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 ports and several games scheduled across 2026 and 2027. The showcase offered a closer look at how SEGA's studios are approaching very different genres, from large scale strategy to open world arcade driving and action focused crime drama.
| Game | Main showcase focus |
|---|---|
| Total War: Warhammer 40,000 | Tutorial battles, cover mechanics and reinforcements |
| Stranger Than Heaven | Three combat encounters across different periods |
| Crazy Taxi: World Tour | Open world driving, fares and minigames |
| Shinobi: Art of Vengeance | Nintendo Switch 2 version |
| Metaphor: ReFantazio | Nintendo Switch 2 version |
| Persona 4 Revival | Shown at the event, but not played in this preview |
Total War: Warhammer 40,000 introduces new tactical ideas
Creative Assembly's Total War: Warhammer 40,000 was available through two early tutorial missions.
The build showed how the studio is adapting the Total War formula to the Warhammer 40K setting, combining the traditional campaign scale of the series with closer tactical combat.
Players controlling Space Marines could use cover to improve their effectiveness against larger enemy forces and call in reinforcements through drop pods. The preview suggested that these systems were easy enough for a newcomer to understand despite the large difference in unit numbers during some encounters.
The project is still early in development, so the demo mainly served as an introduction to the new mechanics rather than a complete picture of the final strategy systems.
Stranger Than Heaven continues refining its combat
Stranger Than Heaven returned with three fights set across different periods in protagonist Makoto Daito's life.
The first encounter focused on unarmed fighting, while another introduced weapons including a sledgehammer and knife. The combat system lets you control different sides of Makoto's body through the shoulder buttons, with attacks changing depending on directional input and context.
The new build also introduced the ability to continue attacking enemies after knocking them to the ground. However, camera behavior and soft lock on remained concerns when fighting multiple enemies at once.
Despite those issues, the preview found that changing weapons and approaches produced noticeably different combinations across repeated playthroughs.
Crazy Taxi: World Tour keeps the series' arcade identity
Crazy Taxi: World Tour continues the familiar formula of picking up passengers and reaching destinations as quickly as possible while largely ignoring normal traffic rules.
The new game brings several mechanics from previous entries into one open world, including the Crazy Dash from the original and the Crazy Hop introduced in Crazy Taxi 2. The Offspring also returns as a major part of the soundtrack.
Beyond regular passenger runs, the demo included activities such as jumping ramps to collect items and using a taxi's momentum to launch a wingsuiter from a cliff.
One SEGA representative said all generative AI content had been removed from the game and that its Steam page was being updated to reflect the change.
The preview did note that the current build does not appear to allow multiple passengers to be collected at once, and repeated character dialogue became noticeable during longer sessions.
Switch 2 receives two established SEGA releases
Metaphor: ReFantazio and Shinobi: Art of Vengeance are also heading to Nintendo Switch 2.
The supplied preview did not describe major new content for either port, with portability appearing to be the main benefit. Shinobi: Art of Vengeance is scheduled to launch for Switch 2 on September 24, 2026.
SEGA's showcase covered a wide range of genres and platforms, but the strongest impressions came from projects that are still evolving. Total War: Warhammer 40,000 is adapting familiar strategy systems to a different battlefield style, Stranger Than Heaven continues to refine its unusual combat, and Crazy Taxi: World Tour is trying to modernize its arcade foundation without losing the mechanics that defined the older games.
Discussion (0)
Be the first to comment.