There are plenty of games coming out in 2026, and many of them look impressive. There's a new Resident Evil, another reimagining of Tomb Raider 1, and a 007 game that reminds me of the oft-forgotten James Bond Jr. animated series. All will probably be decent, and some may even dictate my guide writing duties.
However, in thinking about the games I wanted to highlight here—those few that I could make a concerted effort to play around my workload—I decided to narrow them down to a few, mostly lesser-known games that might escape the public eye. Sorry Bond, Lara and Leon Kennedy, you've had enough attention already.
Sinking City 2
I like Frogwares as a development studio. It's not just the Ukrainian team working hard to make games while their country is being invaded, but also their efforts in 2019. Sinking City remains the largest video game inspired by Call of Cthulhu. I will always remember wandering the flooded streets of Oakmont on a boat, pondering the dialogue of the Dagon-spawned fish-man NPCs while investigating crime scenes.
Sinking City 2originally scheduled for release in winter 2025 but pushed back to 2026, it replaces the open world of its predecessor with the realm of true survival horror. Early builds I've seen promise something similar to recent Resident Evils, albeit with all the dark, mind-corrupting undertones of Lovecraftian terror that make the Cthulhu Mythos what it is. While the expansive map and more erudite exploration of the first game may be missing, narrowing the scope of the sequel could be a good move. Frogwares games are admirable but tedious, and a more thorough approach can do wonders in eliminating unnecessary bugs. Plus, we could use more third-person Cthulhu survival horror that isn't called Alone in the Dark.
Phantom Blade Zero
This is perhaps the loudest game here, as Phantom Blade Zero has been on the minds of everyone who loves character-driven games since the trailer first dropped two years ago and kicked ass with what the developers call a “kung fu punk” aesthetic. But since there are quite a few Chinese games localized for international release these days, I worry that some might dismiss Phantom Blade Zero as just another Soulslike riding on the tail of Black Myth: Wukong.
Fortunately, impressions from our own Edwin indicate that this wuxia romp is more Ninja Gaiden inspired. You play as a warrior in a badass conical hat with 66 days to live, who must use a ton of gut-cutting moves to fend off the assholes who want to kill him, all while looking stylish. Get ready to wield cool weapons like snake-themed dual blades, a chakram, and a sword whip as you blast your way through enemies that look like they came straight out of the 1993 Hong Kong film The Heroic Trio. Anyone who has read my Advent Calendar entries this year knows: Ninja Gaiden in you. I'm also into Hong Kong cinema, so there's more than enough inspiration here to elevate this martial arts epic above its peers in my eyes.
Mortal Shell II
When it comes to Soulslikes, I can't help but have a soft spot for Mortal Shella game that slavishly imitated the atmosphere of Dark Souls but added original twists to the mix, most notably four unique “shells” (aka bodies) that your stolid foundling could inhabit, each with its own skill tree. These projectiles replaced the stat system in most other Souls games and gave Mortal Shell a compact, choose-your-fighter look. This was compounded by the game's relative brevity—about a dozen hours spread across multiple areas, and the dungeon designs borrowed more from Zelda than FromSoftware.
I'm one of those people who thinks Elden Ring is too huge and would rather have a smaller, more focused Soulslike that I can actually finish. Mortal Shell II feels larger and longer than the first game, but developer Cold Symmetry still calls it a “compact” open world, which makes me hope it will be more in the vein of, say, The Witcher II rather than III. There also seem to be about eight projectiles to choose from this time around rather than four, which is a jump but not anything too earth-shattering. Fingers crossed that this will be a focused Souls game rather than a bloated one, and it will once again demonstrate how a small team can emulate the greats while showcasing their own talents.
Dark Rites of Arkham
Look, it's another Cthulhu game! But this is a pixelated mystery inspired by yesteryear, not survival horror, and it's also being created by Postmodern Adventures, a one-man Spanish developer that has quietly released some of the best adventure games of the last few years. His previous attempt English ghosttook us on an eerie journey through Edwardian England and Scotland and made 2024 Choice Box.
Dark Rites of Arkham looks just as good, putting players in the role of an archetypal Cthulhu-era private detective who wanders Arkham and finds some ghostly connection to the Salem Witch Trials. Many Postmodern Adventures games contain slavish details of real-life historical occult events, and I'm looking forward to seeing how 1600s witchcraft is combined with eldritch horror. First of all, it will be interesting to see how The Dark Rites of Arkham stacks up against The Sinking City 2, which is also set in Arkham. Despite the obvious graphical differences, it's quite possible that I'll choose this indie work over the big-budget one – if this year 100 best games What proved anything is that I really do love my point-and-click classics.
Wolfhound
This side-scrolling Metroidvania crossover between Wolfenstein, Metal Gear Solid and Metal Slug makes our list. the most anticipated games of 2025but never saw the release last year. A 2026 debut for Wolfhound seems more likely, and the game continues to look great if the latest PAX West trailer is anything to go by.
What we have here is a pixelated marvel that clearly channels the SNES and Mega Drive feel, although the chiptune music and tilesets in action remind me of something like the Virtual Boy, but in gorgeous colors rather than a garish mixture of red and black. Starring a goofball named Chuck Rossetti who, if you squint, looks like the guy from Wolfenstein, Wolfhound tasks you with infiltrating an Axis base in the Bermuda Triangle, which is, of course, filled to the brim with a horde of Hitler's most twisted experiments. You will face battles with Nazis who have turned into monsters with tentacles. Plus, at least one mechanism is visible in the trailer! We're hoping I can put this in my advent calendar or pick box for this year instead of pushing it to 2027.
