Today, your friends at Boss Rush kicked off PAX West 2025 in Seattle, Washington. The weather was sunny and comortable at 83 degrees, truly the best time of year in the Emerald City. Metro and graffiti highlighted the PAX West theme (similar to East 2025), and the show in Seattle was split between expo halls: Arch–where the indie games and AAA developers’ booths were set up, and Summit–where the tabletop games, merch, panel talks, arcades and more are waiting for PAX West visitors. Here are our highlights for PAX West on Friday, August 29, 2025.
The Boss Rush Network team attendance at PAX West 2025: Ed (Vice President), David (Editor In Chief), Pat (Chief Gaming Officer), Jou Lee (Senior Writer), Courtney (Social Media Manager), and Sofi (Associate Writer). Each day, we’ll share our highlights from all the action at PAX West.
Ed (Vice President)
Day 1 of PAX West 2025 was filled with excitement and a ton of games. David and I started out with Nintendo, and I must say, Kirby Air Ride and Pokémon Legends Z-A are top-notch games you do not want to miss out on the Switch 2. I got my hands on Final Fantasy VII Intergrade, and it was enticing and fun. I almost beat the boss in the demo, but my time ran out (dang you 15 minutes of play!) I enjoyed Hades 2, which is going to be a hot indie game when it releases on Switch 2. So much goodness!
I also had some amazing interviews and demo sessions with titles like No Stone Unturned, Tokyo Xtreme Racing, Blocks For Babies, Rogue Labrynth, and more, just to name a few. I also ran into Collin, who is the lead designer of Royalty: Free-For-All, and Jakub from Hank: Drowning On Dry Land from PAX East this year (he was so happy to see me, and I was so happy to see him). I congratulated him and the team on their new trailer and cannot wait to see more of the game in the future. I also got to play The End Of The Line: New Age and was thrilled to see how this game not only played, but the passion put into this game from the director and the team.
Got to snag some games from iam8-bit and from Limited Run Games. I also got to talk to the Creative Director for Starseeker: Astroneer Expedition and talk about the game, his career, and what to expect from the game. He’s not just a veteran in this industry, but an icon.
Snackwise, I had a delicious cherry danish, some lovely café mocha coffee, some firewood pepperoni pizza, and a sugar-free watermelon Red Bull. With me going to Trivia Night, I’m looking forward to seeing who wins and which questions I’ll get, as well as some that will boggle my mind. I have to say, Day 1 was successful, and I’m looking forward to more.
David (Editor-In-Chief)
As Ed mentioned, we got the opportunity to check out the Nintendo Switch 2 booths during media hour, and while we missed the Silk Song line (whoops), I did get the chance to play the upcoming Pokémon Legends: Z-A; what a fantastic experience. I love the changes the franchise has made to the battle system and believe this game is going to be HUGE. Afterwards, Ed and I headed over to the second Nintendo booth to play some of the other big-ticket items on Switch 2. After playing both Final Fantasy VII Intergrade and Elden Ring Tarnished Edition, I’m a bit surprised about the negative press the Switch 2 received at Gamescom. The games played smoothly and the experience was so good, it made me want to replay Elden Ring on my Switch 2, despite the hundreds of hours I’ve poured into the Xbox Series X version.
After knocking out a few articles, I spent the afternoon walking the two expo halls to discover new games and exhibits I might have otherwise missed with a fully planned schedule; indeed, walking PAX without an agenda is actually my favorite way to take in the convention. I discovered an adorable platformer called Mr. Sleepy Man, which I’ll cover tomorrow and also re-connected with Dr. Anthony Bean at Geek Therapeutics, where I learned about his latest book The Psychology of Bluey.
But my absolute highlight of the day was finding a copy of Alien 3 for the SNES. My original copy was stolen decades ago, and I’ve wanted to reclaim it many times over. Each time I attend PAX, I comb through the used games hoping to find it; and this year, I scored big time at the Dial Up Games booth. It was boxed and still had the user manual! Can’t wait to play!
Pat (Chief Gaming Officer)
I’ve had enough excitement today to last me the entire PAX. The highlight was sitting with Ben Starr and having an hour long conversation about games and his career. But mostly we talked about games. Did you know that he’s a massive survival horror fan? Stay tuned to Boss Rush for that interview and find out what his favorite drink preference is…
Jou Lee (Senior Writer)
PAX West 2025 is my first big convention, and boy, did it blow me away! I really only explored one level, checking out merchandise and stopping by a few places. My first demo was from the Academy of Interactive Entertainment with Afterlight. It was delightful, and I was astounded at how it only took a week to develop! I also checked out Project ATOM by JNG Studios and found it packed, for good reason! It was a great game with enough customization that no two characters looked the same! As a nice detour for myself, I stopped by the San Sound booth and was blown away. I decided to try out their tech with a remastered sound for Attack on Titan. It was a phenomenal experience! Overall, it was a fruitful first day that had me reeling from my introduction to PAX West.
Sofi (Associate Writer)
PAX west 2025 is my second time attending PAX and it’s kicked off to a great start with getting to play a demo of Resident Evil: Requiem. After wrapping up my review I went off to explore the exhibit hall by hunting down a specific copy of Chrono Trigger for the PS1. Unfortunately I couldn’t find any copies but I did make some friends in the Red Bull Creator room. All and all a good start to my weekend at PAX.
Are you at PAX West? Come find us and say hi! If not, please continue to follow our adventures (and shenanigans) tomorrow!
The Boss Rush Podcast – A Podcast About Video Games
The Boss Rush Podcast is the flagship podcast of Boss Rush Media and The Boss Rush Network. Each week, hosts Corey Dirrig, LeRon Dawkins, Stephanie Klimov, and Pat Klein, as well as their friends, fellow content creators, developers, and industry veterans come together to discuss their week in gaming, including what they’ve been playing, a randomly chosen rotating weekly segment, the Boss Rush Banter of the week, answer community write-ins, and more. New episodes are released every Thursday. Members of The Boss Rush Network’s Patreon will receive the exclusive Pre-Show at any tier along with other perks.
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