PAX Aus 2025 has wrapped for another year, and we must all now return to our mundane, boring, PAX-free lives (so hard done by). In all seriousness, PAX Aus this year was an absolute blast, but also very tiring. For the first time in years, I was at the show from opening to close every day (even earlier on Friday). Needless to say, I was dead by the time I got home on Sunday. However, despite walking 50,000 steps and operating on minimal hours of sleep, this was one of the best PAXs I’ve been to since 2019 (despite not having fellow contributor Rohan as a media buddy this year). And now that I’ve had some sleep and time to chill, I thought it’d be fun to go through the highlights of PAX Aus 2025.
The first thing I noticed when I walked into the expo hall on Friday morning was just the sheer number of games available to play this year. Over the last few years, the expo hall has been pretty sparse, with mostly PC hardware companies and pop culture booths taking up most of the real estate. This wasn’t the case this year, as industry giants such as Nintendo and Xbox, alongside publishers like Gearbox and EA, made this year's expo hall truly special.
Nintendo had the largest booth this year, with all of their upcoming big releases being playable. These included Pokémon Legends: Z-A, Kirby Air Riders, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment, and Metroid Prime 4: Beyond (and I’ve done write-ups on all of them for your reading pleasure). But it wasn’t just their first-party slate; the booth also had plenty of other games like the recently released Hades 2 and Hollow Knight: Silksong available to play for those interested. This was definitely the best showing Nintendo has had at PAX, and I spent a decent chunk of my time at their booth.
Xbox made their long-awaited return to the expo hall this year (after only having a little pop-up last year), and while it didn’t bring as much as Nintendo, there were still a lot of cool things at its booth. The highlights for me were definitely getting to play Ninja Gaiden 4 and trying out the ROG Xbox Ally X. Ninja Gaiden 4 was a blast to play and has a chance at being my personal GOTY (I was also the first person at the convention to beat the boss). And while I’m still not fully sold on the ROG Xbox Ally X, it was still cool to hold one in my hands. Aside from those highlights, their booth design was eye-catching no matter where you stood, with the “This is an Xbox” branding everywhere. Overall, I enjoyed having Xbox return to PAX Aus, as their presence had been missed over the past few years ( if only PlayStation could come back as well…).
You don’t just go to PAX Aus for the video games because the tabletop scene is equally worth your time. I didn’t get the chance to demo a lot of the games in the tabletop area this year, but the ones I did were phenomenal. My favourite new find was a game called Curses and Covens. The game features one player designated as a Witch Hunter, and the remaining players are townsfolk. Each player (except for the Witch Hunter) has cards in their hand with the goal of having three Witch cards of the same colour in one player's hand before the Witch Hunter can collect five Witches in total. They can swap cards, shuffle their hand, and activate effects to keep the Witches away from the Witch Hunter. At the end of each turn, the Witch Hunter picks two cards to steal, and then the cycle continues. There’s more to the game, but that’s the gist of it. It’s a really fun game that I would highly recommend you check out.
The other tabletop game I tried out was the new League of Legends TCG, Riftbound. This had a massive line for most of the convention, but I was able to sneak in on the last day to see what all the fuss was about. I was keen to try this game out, mainly because a lot of the card art has the same art style as Arcane (banger series by the way). Honestly, I didn’t fully understand what I was doing, as there are a lot of steps to follow for each turn. I did remember that the game ends when one player reaches eight points by winning battles. I definitely want to play this game more so I can properly understand what I’m doing, but I am intrigued nonetheless.
Panels are an easy way to spend an entire PAX weekend if you aren’t careful. Each of the theatres has panels regarding nearly any subject you could imagine. Two that I went to that were a bit out there were a paranormal investigation panel, and a Date Everything panel, where everyone got horny on main. The paranormal panel focused on comparing the game Phasmophobia with real-life paranormal investigations. The panellists talked about their history with the game and paranormal investigating, and it was kinda neat, even if I’m not convinced that ghosts are real.
The Date Everything panel had a completely different vibe, with the panellists and moderator defending why they thought certain characters in the Date Everything game were the best. There were a lot of sex jokes, questionable comments, and one of them admitting they want to have sex with a sentient Gjallarhorn nerf gun from Destiny (I swear I’m not making this shit up). It was definitely a unique way to end my Saturday.
The panel I found the most interesting was the Ghost of Yotei panel, which was an interview with the Campaign Director at Sucker Punch, Rob Davis. He discussed the inspirations behind various aspects of the game, including the story, characters, and environments. He also broke down the design philosophy behind how they structured the game's progression. It was an interesting deep dive into the side of games we don’t normally see, and it gave me a new perspective on the game creation process. The panel was hosted by Back Pocket members Peter Burns, Gus Donald, and Ruby Innes, who asked Rob questions and broke up the heavy dev talk with moments of stupidity (which were appreciated).
The last big panel I saw wasn’t actually a panel, but the finale of The Crown Championship of Cosplay. I decided to check this out on a whim after seeing all the amazing cosplays over the weekend, and I’m glad I did. There were some incredible cosplays, and I didn’t envy the judges who had to pick a winner. Giorgia Costumes took out the top prize with her Rococo Bunny cosplay. All the contestants looked amazing, but I have no qualms with the outcome, as Giorgia had done a fantastic job.
And that has been PAX Aus for another year. I had a blast this year and felt like I made the most of my time this go around. There was a small hiccup when a fire alarm was triggered, and someone got arrested, and some people didn't know what deodorant is, but that didn’t overly detract from my enjoyment of the event. I’m looking forward to doing it all again next year.
Did you go to PAX Aus 2025? Did you enjoy it? What were some of your highlights? Let us know in the comments where we can talk all about PAX Aus 2025.
