Silent Hill: Townfall is a great horror game that prioritizes immersion, using small details to make you feel like you’re walking the cold and lonely streets alongside the protagonist.
Intelligent Systems delivers supreme tactical combat in Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave with refined mechanics and a plethora of options to choose from, and a story that is uniquely structured in a way that encourages fans to overturn every stone. It’s sure to delight fans of Fire Emblem: Three Houses, but is also independent enough that newcomers shouldn’t feel lost. Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave is the dense, character-rich RPG that I’ve been waiting to play on my Switch 2.
For another consecutive year, the story of NBA 2K is the same: rock solid gameplay is flanked by design choices that range from annoying to infuriating.
Marvel’s Wolverine is an action-heavy superhero game that does an excellent job adapting the iconic mutant.
Madden NFL 27 is a good football game. Coming off of Madden NFL 26, the series is trending in a positive direction. Still, some glaring issues bog down the experience, and it would likely take a significant philosophy change to address them. I’ve been able to find the fun, and I’ll keep my fingers crossed that this momentum carries into next year.
Beast of Reincarnation is a fun action-adventure game, primarily thanks to a robust combat system that kept me experimenting throughout my playthrough. I was also quite charmed by Koo and his relationship with Emma; it’s an area where you can really see Game Freak’s Pokemon DNA shining through. The exploration elements don’t come together, but I plan on coming back to Beast of Reincarnation when I want to slash my way through robots and monsters.
Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game is a rock-solid fighter that manages to honor a beloved IP without compromising any of the sensibilities needed to succeed in this genre.
I’m still having a good time with College Football 27. It’s a fun football game that feels responsive and rewarding. I will probably spend a couple hundred hours in Dynasty mode by the time it’s all said and done. But the publisher has hindered this game with its live service ambitions, and I hope we can keep those shenanigans off campus for next year’s game.
UFC 6 is my favorite game in the series so far. It’s content-rich, looks beautiful, and the actual fighting feels tight and responsive. It’s only bogged down by some smaller flaws, but overall, UFC 6 is a strong contender.
007 First Light is a crowning achievement for IO Interactive and the culmination of the studio’s growth over the years.
Yoshi and the Mysterious Book is a charming and welcome return for one of Nintendo’s most iconic characters. Mario fans looking for a new 2D platformer to chew on may bounce off quickly, but those who buy into the game’s concept will surely be delighted by Yoshi and the Mysterious Book.
Forza Horizon 6 isn’t trying to revolutionize the series. The game modes, customization, and even UI have a close resemblance to the franchise’s recent entries. Instead, Playground Games finds freshness in its Japanese setting, which paves the way for stunning new regions, dope cars, and an overall slickness to everything you do.
Directive 8020 feels like Supermassive’s response to growing criticism around the Dark Pictures series.
When I rolled credits on Mixtape, I was sad that it was over so soon. But then, I was immediately excited at the prospect of multiple future playthroughs where I could toy with all of the quirky minigames and their outcomes en route to seeing everything the game had to offer. It’s how I knew that I truly love a video game.
Kiln is the latest example of one of gaming’s most creative studios executing well on a fresh idea. There may be a couple of aspects that could’ve used more time in the oven, but Double Fine’s Kiln is a cool and quirky addition to Xbox’s 2026 lineup.
Aphelion is far from the next classic Don’t Nod game, but fans of the studio will likely have a good enough time with it. The concept and narrative execution are strong here, but so much of it is bogged down by gameplay segments that made me wish I could skip like a cutscene.
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