There are dozens of good reasons to attend PAX East every year, and one of them is for the cosplay alone. It is wonderful to see everyone connect over their favorite characters whether they are just admiring the work of others, or strutting their best alternate selves through Boston’s convention center. Here are Boston Aperture’s top five cosplay finds from PAX East 2023 in Boston.
#5 – Lady D. and Karl
In fifth place is a combo cosplay of Lady Dimitrescu and Karl Heisenberg from the popular horror series Resident Evil. Heisenberg, the metal-moving-mutant -human-genius wielding his signature hammer while the vampire-like mutant Lady Dimitrescu stands tall and poised in a stance nearly identical to the game. The attention to detail on these cosplays and props is incredible, unquestionably earning its spot on this list.
#4 – Grillmaster Soldier 76
This amazing cosplay of Overwatch’s Soldier 76 in his summer-themed “Grillmaster 76” skin is a well crafted and funny cosplay which deserves to be on this list. Soldier 76 is an iconic character in Overwatch, a competitive and casual team based shooter, and gaming in general, this skin being a crowd favorite that fits his dad-like personality. With Overwatch 2 recently being released and millions of old players going back to play it again alongside new players it is great to see some beautiful cosplays of these iconic characters here at PAX.
#3 – Wario
Probably the funniest Cosplay I saw at PAX this year was this Wario, Mario’s rival, with a great sign referencing Wario’s gold mine, a Mario Kart track and his signature line “Wah!” Even though the cosplay isn’t as crazy as others on the list, the joke and sign really bring the whole cosplay to another level.
#2 – Killjoy, Phoenix, and Yoru
The more the merrier in cosplay. It is always a treat to either go as a group cosplay or meet others dressed as characters from the same game or series. All three cosplayers are dressed as characters from Valorant, a popular FPS (First person shooter) game with special agents, each with their own abilities. Here we have the tech-genius Killjoy, flame wielding Phoenix, and dimension-traveling Yoru. I thought these cosplays really popped out from all the colors and unique details on each person’s clothes, and with PAX being such a huge social event it is fun to see these kinds of interactions between cosplayers.
#1 – Cloud Strife and Tifa Lockheart(s)
Probably one of the most iconic gaming characters, Cloud can be seen in this picture wielding his iconic Buster sword (which would look amazing on display after PAX is over) alongside his childhood friend Tifa Lockheart, another very famous character from the series. From the clothes and hair to the beautiful large sword he’s seen with this cosplay alone would definitely make it on this list, the combo with tifa making a near perfectly executed cosplay. Final Fantasy, one of the largest and most popular game series stars both Cloud and Tifa in a multitude of games, their character designs also being well known. I think that the execution of these three costumes were some of the best I’ve seen this year at PAX and hopefully next year will be full of cosplays that are as great as this year’s!
