This year’s Summer Games Fest brought a surprise in the form of a reveal of the next game from Stellar Blade developer Shift Up much sooner than. The game is Stellar Blade: Blood Rain and looks to continue on the high octane action delivered by the highly popular 2024 game.

The game revealed in a highly stylized and action packed trailer shows a new protagonist exploring a dystopian cyberpunk world fighting grotesque monsters with Stellar Blade’s signature stylish flair. While the first game focused on swords as its main form of offense and defense, Blood Rain seems more melee focused showing the new playable character throwing around some fisticuffs and a gratuitous moment in the form of our new protagonist removing her jacket to showcase the game’s jiggle physics.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhdh_LspRHk

Developer Shift Up has confirmed the game is in “early development” and while the first game was PS5 exclusive, don’t expect Blood Rain to be as exclusive as this entry will not be published by Sony, and Shift Up “will transition to a first-party service model. This will allow us to lead marketing strategies that fully reflect the distinctive identity of the Stellar Blade IP, and we expect to communicate the unique appeal of its universe to players more directly and effectively.”

For some idea of what to expect, read our review of the first Stellar Blade.

A lot of fantastic-looking indie games were featured at 2026's Day of the Devs: Summer Game Fest Edition showcase this year, but Mr. Records from developer Neil Broadhead and publisher Wired Productions was a particular standout in a post-Mixtape world.

Mr. Records is about an old man named George who runs a vinyl record shop and can transport himself to another world when he listens to music. In a Moonlighter-like setup, players must manage the record shop during the day, matching music to customers for whom it would be a good fit. At night, however, George and the game's players are whisked away to a different world where they have to jump and react to what's coming at them to the beat of a song.

Unlike Mixtape, all 45 songs in Mr. Records are original compositions by Charles Bardin and Valentin Ducloux. The pair have previously composed games like Headbangers: Rhythm Royale and A Musical Story. Its Day of the Devs segment features many of these tracks, including 'Shine', 'Power of Imagination', 'The Sausage Blues', 'First Glance', 'Pieces of You', and 'No Need for Men'.

Although the lack of licensed music means Mr. Records won't play into nostalgia as much as Mixtape did, the game still looks like it will explore the meaning music has for people and how it allows us to make connections. With an art style reminiscent of Thank Goodness You're Here, a split gameplay concept like Moonlighter, rhythm-based action like Rhythm Heaven, and a deep focus on our emotional connections to music like Mixtape, Mr. Records seems like an appealing blend of some fantastic games.

The developers expect Mr. Records to be about four hours long, split between what the developers call "musical journeys," managing the record store, and chilling in George's bedroom. Songs will have both normal and hard versions to give the game more replay value.

Mr. Records is slated for release on PC sometime in the first quarter of 2027. Make sure you check out GameSpot's Day of the Devs roundup to learn about everything that was announced.

Street Fighter 6 has unveiled its new roster of fighters for its fourth year during Summer Game Fest 2026, and Final Fantasy 7's Tifa is joining the fight.

Although no gameplay footage was shown during this announcement, the AVALANCHE member's appaearance will be based on her new design in the Final Fantasy VII Remake series while Materia will also be a mechanic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dxDjF_dOXc

Also announced in Street Fighter 6's season 4 roster are three all-new characters in the series: Bosch, Yasmine and Arjun. This will make this season's roster the first with no returning characters in the series.

Bosch, nonetheless, will be familiar, as he was a new character in Street Fighter 6 who was your player-character's rival in the game's World Tour mode. Yasmine is set to release on August 3, Arjun in the fall, while Tifa is planned to release in early 2027, and Bosch in Spring 2027.

Square Enix has officially unveiled Final Fantasy Revelation at Summer Game Fest 2026. The final chapter in the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy takes an open-world approach that has you flying the Highwind airship all over the planet, and is set to release simultaneously on all platforms in Spring 2027.

The trailer didn't reveal too much about the story of Revelation, but did suggest that a big part of the game will be about chasing down and destroying WEAPONS--giant monsters created by the planet in FF7 to protect it from calamity. Check it out below.

https://youtu.be/PH3ox5krci8?si=RFdRmqM-zTsv2gO_

In addition to the trailer, Square Enix provided a closer look at Revelation's gameplay, including how you'll use the Highwind to move around the open world. When you reach a destination, you'll leap off and parachute to the ground, making it easy to quickly get anywhere you want to go.

Revelation is also seeing more adjustments to the Remake trilogy's battle system. You'll still be able to swap between characters on the fly and swap between real-time fighting and accessing menus to fire off magic spells or use items--but in that second Tactical mode, you'll now be able to fire off a number of orders to all your party's characters, creating powerful synergies between attacks and magic. We'll also see characters like Cid Highwind and Vincent Valentine fully join the party in Revelation.

In the months leading up to its reveal, Square Enix and the team working on the game had begun to tease players with new ideas and locations for the threequel. A trip to Wutai is on the cards--and maybe even space--is on the cards, snowboarding is making a return, and the popular card game Queen's Blood will also be expanded in Part 3. As for the game's title, director Naoki Hamaguchi revealed back in January that a name for the final chapter had been locked in, and Square Enix is also looking to tighten up the overall story.

The previous game in the series, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, was first released as a timed exclusive on PS5. It rolled out to PC a couple of months later, and it eventually made its way to Switch 2 and Xbox Series X|S this year.

Rebirth saw even greater deviations from the original storyline of Final Fantasy 7, as the narrative introduced a new multiverse where multiple timelines exist simultaneously, new plot beats for characters like Zack Fair, and changes to the ultimate fate of Aerith following the showdown with Sephiroth at the Forgotten Capital.

A new Sonic Racing: Crossworlds trailer has unveiled some unexpected crossovers, including with classic anime Neon Genesis Evangelion. All 52 users who have written Sonic/Eva fanfiction on the hosting website Archive Of Our Own took a collective breath in.

The brand deal was revealed as part of a Sonic 35th anniversary hype reel at Summer Game Fest 2026. The trailer showed other, perhaps more predictable collaborations like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Mutant Mayhem, upcoming fighting game Avatar Legends, and monster icon Godzilla.

This story is developing.

After multiple years in early access, the legally distinct Pokemon-like game Palworld is getting its 1.0 version very soon.

Palworld 1.0 will launch on July 10, developer Pocketpair announced during Summer Game Fest today.

"We would like to express our deepest gratitude to our passionate community who has stayed with us through this journey. We are fully committed to delivering a deeper, more evolved, and definitive Palworld experience worthy of a full launch," the developer said.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKum7LqFi1s

Coinciding with the 1.0 announcement, Pocketpair announced that Palworld is currently 25% off on Steam, bringing it down to $22.50.

Palworld originally launched on PC and Xbox in January 2024, becoming a gigantic success and breaking records. It came to PS5 in September 2024.

Palworld is not available on Nintendo Switch. Nintendo sued Pocketpair in 2024 on patent infringement accusations. The game was updated in 2025 with "compromises" due to the legal matter.

If there's one title that's defined my life in gaming, it's Virtua Fighter. I've adored the series since I was a young arcade-going teenager, and even now, 30 years later, I'm still going to fighting game events across the country to support my favorite game series of all time. My affection for the gameplay, the characters, and the overall design of Virtua Fighter has only grown over this time, but there's still one thing I've always wanted from VF: a proper focus on story. And now, it finally, finally looks like I'm getting that in Virtua Fighter Crossroads, which had a new trailer debut at Summer Game Fest.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9_pg896v6s&feature=youtu.be

Yes, there is lore in the manuals. Yes, there's the Virtua Fighter anime, and it's pretty fun. Yes, there's Virtua Quest, which I did play through--more than once, even! But Virtua Fighter has always been first and foremost about the fighting, with character personalities being evoked through fisticuffs moreso than dialogue. Most of the games don't even have endings beyond a credits roll--a fact that's made the series a hard sell to my brother-in-law, who loves the wild lore of the Mortal Kombat titles.

But with RGG Studios at the helm, that's changing. I'm finally going to get a chance to see the characters I've loved for decades developed, their stories expanded, their motivations and personalities explored. That's really exciting. Plus, with the game being set some time after Virtua Fighter 5, the writers have a lot to play with in terms of character development during that lengthy gap. I'm eager to see how all of my old favorites look after the timeskip--including, of course, my best girl Vanessa--and how their fighting gameplay has evolved to match their narratives.

I'm still kind of weirded out about the F-bombs in the trailer, though. I'm not totally sold on the design of the new guy, Cielo, yet either. But I have a lot of hopes. And if this is what will get more people coming to tournaments and digging deeper into VF's top-class combat, I'm all in.

Welcome back, Virtua Fighter. I've never been more ready.

I loved 007 First Light when I reviewed it a few weeks ago, but I was glad Bawma, the pirate portrayed by Lenny Kravitz, didn't get much screen time. Unfortunately, he's getting more screen time soon, as IO Interactive has announced during Summer Game Fest that a new story mission is on the way, and it focuses on the surprisingly rizz-less Bawma.

https://twitter.com/summergamefest/status/2063022230255374414

IO didn't mention whether the new mission comes with a price tag, though sitting through more of Kravitz's janky line reads is a high enough price, I feel.

Alongside the new Bawma mission, the game's content roadmap for 2026 has been revealed, with several other beats to look forward to if you can't get enough of IO's original take on Bond.

007 First Light roadmap

The game's side mode, TacSim, will be adding new challenges and upgrades, and similar to your favorite TikTok pranksters, Bond will be getting his very own smartglasses as a new gadget.

007 First Light roadmap

The Switch 2 version is still on the way, as well as photo mode, new game plus, and a technical upgrade that will allow for path tracing. You'll also want to have the game ready to boot up on October 5, as IO will be celebrating James Bond Day with an in-game reward.

A brand-new story and gameplay trailer for Star Wars Zero Company was shown during Summer Game Fest Live, giving us our first real look at the turn-based-tactics game's narrative and its cast of original characters. The trailer showcased gameplay for the upcoming Star Wars game as well, including how your choices can shape the roster of your squad.

In a nice surprise, the trailer ends with the reveal that Anakin Skywalker will be in the game as well, likely as a prominent unit that will work alongside the titular Zero Company in certain missions. Narratively, that does make a lot of sense. Anakin was known as a bit of a rebel during the Clone Wars who engaged in unorthodox tactics and led missions that bent or outright broke the rules of engagement, and it sounds like Zero Company was built around values like that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxLUZ1omFA8

Star Wars Zero Company is in development at Bit Reactor, and its gameplay style should feel familiar if you've played the recent XCOM games. Hawks, the leader of a gun-fire-hire group called Zero Company, must get them to set aside their differences in order to take down a galaxy-killing threat.

The game takes place toward the end of the Clone Wars, right before the events of Revenge of the Sith. As seen in the new trailer, the war has begun to create cracks in multiple organizations and begun splintering both sides of the civil war. Zero Company itself is composed of individuals mostly from the Republic, but there are a few ex-Separatists in there too.

Patrice Desilet, the creator of Assassin's Creed, has announced 1666 Amsterdam at Summer Game Fest. It's his first game in seven years.

1666 Amsterdam is a third-person, dark, story-led action-adventure where you play as Noa the Collector, who has the power of witchcraft to investigate demonic entities during the day before facing them at night.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nUzNiiCi2Q

Interestingly, this means the Assassin's Creed creator has a witch game going head-to-head with Assassin's Creed Hexe, also a witch-focused game.

While there is currently no release window confirmed for 1666 Amsterdam, you will get to play it before Ubisoft's upcoming title, as Panache Digital Games has also dropped a prologue demo of the game on Steam and Epic Games Store, which offers around 30 minutes of gameplay.

The studio's last game was Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey, originally planned as an episodic survival game, though the studio lacked the funds to fulfil that vision.

As part of Summer Game Fest, developer Innersloth announced a brand-new Among Us game--it's called Among Us Story: On Guard.

"Live life as a Crewmate in this dangerous narrative adventure through space. As Guard, you're in charge of shipwide security and everything is fine. Until there's a MURDER?! Prove your innocence before the Impostor gets to the rest of the crew… and you," reads a line from the game's description.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkQrwf8sfaY

The game invites players to "meet the Among Us universe in a whole new way" by playing as the Guard, the person responsible for security on the ship. Players need to identify the impostor and also complete tasks by uncovering clues. 

There isn't much more to go on right now, but you can wishlist the game now on Steam. A free demo will be released on June 15.

Also at Summer Game Fest, Innersloth announced that all 10 episodes in the animated Among Us TV series are now streaming on Paramount+.

After a domain for Guild Wars 3 was updated, fans began to believe an announcement for the anticipated MMO sequel was imminent. The game was officially announced as part of Summer Game Fest 2026. A beta is set to launch in Fall 2027. Guild Wars 3 will release on both PC and PlayStation 5, making it the first game in the series to be playable on console.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITPzxITngqA

Technically, the Guild Wars 3 domain was purchased way back in 2004, before the original game was released (thanks GamesRadar). However, eagle-eyed fans spotted that domain got an update on June 5, 2026, just one day before Summer Game Fest started.

The trailer specifies that the footage is in-engine, though no specific UI or gameplay elements are shown. In it, an armor-clad character rides a massive, multi-colored, and horned mount. The same character bounds up a steep stone wall with magical boots and witnesses a flying axolotl-like creature. Some other examples of player-characters are briefly seen, including a bear wearing plate armor, a little goblinesque creature (probably an Asura), and a humanoid woman.

Both the original game and its sequel have had a long run. Since its initial release in 2012, Guild Wars 2 has gotten continual updates, including an expansion titled Visions of Eternity in October 2025. Gear Wars Reforged, a remaster of the first MMO, launched in December 2025.

As part of Summer Game Fest today, developer That's No Moon--a studio founded by former Call of Duty and Naughty Dog developers--announced its first game, and it's not what anyone expected.

The game is called Crossfire, and it's the latest attempt from Korean publisher Smilegate--which funded That's No Moon--to make Crossfire popular in the West. That's No Moon recruited a big name, The Boys and Call of Duty actor Claudia Doumit--to star in the military shooter.

The developers at That's No Moon understand that Crossfire is going to be divisive, and they are OK with that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCqw26hm0ko

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Crossfire launched back in 2007, and has been very popular in South Korea. In fact, it was the most popular FPS on the planet for a period of time.

A Crossfire game for the West, CrossfireX, was released in 2022, but shut down a year later. Alan Wake developer Remedy built the game's single-player.

The new Crossfire game, which is simply titled Crossfire, is in the works now for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S. The game does not have a release date yet.

That's No Moon was founded in part by Taylor Kurosaki, who previously worked on the Call of Duty and the Uncharted franchises.

At Summer Games Fest, the newly announced Paramount Games Studio has revealed that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin--previously in the works at THQ Nordic's Black Forest Games--is now in development at Platinum Games.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_RnIOj126E

This isn't the first TMNT game from Platinum, though we're hoping that it will be better than the studio's previous attempt. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhattan was met with largely negative reviews in 2016, in stark contrast to the studio's usually excellent action games.

Unlike some of the more family-friendly takes on the TMNT, The Last Ronin takes place in a dark future where the Foot Clan reigns and three out of the four turtles are dead. That leaves the remaining brother to take up the arms of his fallen siblings for one last battle against Shredder's grandson.

The Last Ronin was originally published in 2020 and it marked the creative reunion of TMNT creators Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, who collaborated on the story for the first time in decades. The miniseries was scripted by Eastman and Tom Waltz and illustrated by Esau Escorza, Isaac Escorza, Ben Bishop, and Eastman. It proved to be so popular that additional Last Ronin comics have been published and a novelization was released earlier this month.

In 2023, The Last Ronin's video game was announced and described as a God of War-inspired single-player game. The Last Ronin was also in development as a live-action film before Paramount canceled the project in late 2025.

A celebrity-filled cast grows even more.

Stranger than Heaven, the new game from Sega's RGG Studios, already has a star-studded cast with big names from both the Eastern and Western music and acting scenes. One of the latest cast additions, however, is definitely a head-turner: the likeness of beloved rapper Tupac Shakur. Tupac was a beloved musician before his murder in 1996, and his popularity has only grown since.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVDWs_yaf2Y

Snoop Dogg, who also plays a major role in the game, commented on Tupac's addition during the Summer Game Fest presentation, saying "The Tupac estate, my son and myself ... we work very closely together, so it just made sense to put him in this game. His likeness, his spirit still lives on."

Tupac isn't the only departed cast member taking a role in Stranger than Heaven, as the likeness of beloved Japanese actor Bunta Sugawara (of Battles Without Honor or Humanity fame) is also appearing in-game. In addition, several famous Japanese actors and voice actors were newly announced to be appearing in the game in various roles: Takashi Ukaji, Takaya Kuroda, Kohei Tsuji, and Yasukaze Motomiya. A release date of January 15, 2027 was also confirmed.

Following a tease earlier this year, Alien Isolation 2 was officially revealed during a new trailer that debuted as part of Summer Game Fest.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mi2dJHeCAh0

Like the original Alien: Isolation, which released in 2014, the sequel is being developed by Creative Assembly, published by Sega, and directed by Al Hope. Just under two minutes long, the trailer provides a glimpse at a mysterious, rainy planet (presumably where the game will take place) and the voice of what seems to be Weyland-Yutani's CEO can be heard chastising someone for an expensive mistake.

"That's something the company rarely forgives," she continues. "This is your last chance, do you understand?"

"Yes," replies a second female voice who sound an awful lot like Amanda Ripley. "I understand."

An abandoned flamethrower can be seen lying on the ground, still burning, as a close-up shot of a Xenomorph slithering through the shadows sets the stage for another pulse-pounding survival-horror experience. Aside from the Xenomorph, the trailer doesn't offer a look at any other characters, but it's hard to imagine playing as anyone other than Amanda, daughter of Ellen Ripley and protagonist of the original game.

The wait for Alien Isolation 2 has certainly been a long one, with the previous game releasing all the way back in 2014. Since then, there's been something of a resurgence for the Alien brand--we've gotten multiple films as well as the excellent Alien: Earth series, for which Season 2 is currently in production.

Per the trailer, Alien: Isolation 2 will launch on PC, PlayStation 5, Switch 2, and Xbox Series X|S, and is currently available to wishlist on Steam, though it's listing page doesn't appear to have gone live at the time of writing.

StudioMDHR has announced that it's developing not one but two new Cuphead games during Summer Game Fest 2026. One of these will be a hand-animated game, although there are no further details, nor confirmation that it will follow in the same animation style of the original game, which was inspired by 1930s cartoons.

Given that the world-premiere trailer was accompanied by a special bulletin created by Toronto’s Stop Motion Department & Continue Agency, it may be a hint that the next game will be a stop-motion game.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReKPvy2vDBs

What we do know is that the second game, being developed by a smaller team within StudioMDHR, is a retro-inspired platforming spin-off titled Mighty Cuphead Adventure.

A few brief seconds of gameplay shown via a CRT TV indicate the 8-bit title will feature run-and-gun stages as well boss fights with familiar faces. While Mighty Cuphead Adventure is confirmed for console and PC, it's not just emulating 8-bit games as Studio MDHR has confirmed that it has been built with clasic Assembly language. This means that hardcore retro fans will be able to play the game on a physical cartridge on the Sega Master System.

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We received a fresh look at the next game from Shadow of the Colossus creator Fumito Ueda at Summer Game Fest. Previously teased as Project Robot, the game is now titled Gen Atlas. A new trailer focused heavily on the sense of scale that you might expect from the acclaimed game director.

Though the trailer was light on story or gameplay details, it did show snippets of elements we might be able to expect from it. What appeared to be a flying mech head used a beam to lift up a mech body and attach to it, and later a mech was seen carrying and swinging a giant pillar. We also saw some ways that smaller human-scale characters will interact with the mechs, such as a humanoid character shooting at creatures from a moving tank, or climbing up a mech that was in motion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etqFoXpIecw

Shadow of the Colossus also notoriously dealt with scale, as you would climb giant beasts to exploit their weak spots. This game appears to express similar ideas, though with a mechanized-robot component. The shooting combat also looked notably more similar to third-person shooters than we've traditionally seen in Ueda's games.

Shadow of the Colossus was critically acclaimed when it first released on PlayStation 2, and then again when Bluepoint Games released a remake on PS4 in 2018. Ueda's last game for Sony was The Last Guardian, after which he left to found his own studio called GenDesign.

If you're planning to buy either Madden NFL 27 or EA Sports College Football 27, EA has a new subscription service that may appeal to hardcore football fans. By paying $150 for the new MVP+ membership, players get the deluxe editions of both games, access to beta releases, and a lot of extra features throughout the year.

EA has shared the complete benefits of MVP+, as reproduced below:

EA Sports College Football 27 Deluxe Edition

Membership-only Rewards:

7 Day Early Access
Beta Access (June 4-7)
Monthly Ultimate Team™ Pack (12, one delivered at the start of every month)
All Mascots unlocked in Mascot Mashup
83 OVR BND Cornerstones player (Choice of 1 of 4)
150 Dynasty Coach Points
Exclusive Dynasty Skill Tree | Rainmaker
500 Road to Glory Skill Points

Deluxe Edition Rewards:

4600 College Football Points
Exclusive Early Access Solo Challenges
81 OVR BND Cover Athlete Player Item (Choice of 1 of 3)
1 Upgradable Ultimate Team Player Item

Madden NFL 27 Deluxe Edition

Membership-only Rewards:

7 Day Early Access
Beta Access (June 11-14)
Monthly Ultimate Team Pack (12, one delivered at the start of every month)
4 Superstar Skill Points (Core, Physical, Specialty, and Mental)
Season 1 Player Item

Deluxe Edition Rewards:

4600 Madden Points
Exclusive Early Access Solo Challenges
Cover Athlete Elite Ultimate Team Player Item
500 Franchise Points
1 Superstar Legendary XP Boost
1 Ultimate Team Evo Item

Although EA plans to make the MVP+ a subscription service for next year's Madden and College Football games, players do have the option of declining to automatically renew. Doing so won't result in losing either game or any of the benefits because all of it is paid for upfront.

This deal is only available in the United States and Canada for Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5 users. EA Play and Game Pass Ultimate subscribers can also get a 10% for their MVP+ membership.

Players Alliance--a group that is staunchly opposed to EA's pending buyout by investors including Saudi Arabia's PIF--issued a statement that condemns the MVP+ subscription for its "aggressive monetization."

"EA's new MVP+ membership is another attempt to rip off gamers by adding a yearly subscription on top of games that already push aggressive monetization.  This is an anti-consumer practice that turns everything from basic game features to bonus perks to early access into another recurring charge for people who already paid for the game. Gamers are watching EA turn more of gaming into a recurring charge, and the proposed private equity buyout will only accelerate that trend by saddling the company with $20 billion in debt. If EA wants gamers to keep supporting its games, it needs to pull out of this deal and stop nickel-and-diming its customers."

Resident Evil Requiem is only a few months old, but Capcom is already lifting the veil on its next game--the long-rumored Resident Evil: Code Veronica remake, now titled as simply Resident Evil Veronica. Revealed at Summer Game Fest today, this new spin on the classic Resident Evil game follows months of rumors pointing to its existence.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JNv2CwmoRA

Capcom has been fairly consistent with Resident Evil releases over the last couple of years, alternating between brand-new entries in the main series and remakes of the older games.

Resident Evil: Code Veronica has been conspicuously absent from the library of updated Resident Evil games, as release-wise, it was expected to arrive after 2020's Resident Evil 3 Remake. Instead, Capcom followed that game up with Resident Evil Village in 2021, the remake of Resident Evil 4 in 2023, and this year's best-selling Resident Evil Requiem.

Originally released in 2000 for the Sega Dreamcast, the survival-horror game followed Chris and Claire Redfield on a new mission, several months after the Raccoon City Incident. The game hasn't aged too well, thanks to its outdated gameplay mechanics, but its storyline, gothic themes, and memorable antagonists in the form of the Ashcroft Twins made it a cult classic.