2026 has already been a fantastic year for gaming already. Whether it’s surprise hits like Pragmata or Pokopia, or games from established series like Resident Evil Requiem or Splatoon: Raiders, there’s been something for everyone and we’ve truly been blessed. There’s still four months left of the year though and each of these months are jam-packed with incredible games, many of which I’m very much looking forward to. I can’t write about all of them as this post will end up being way too long, but here are the five I’m most excited for. 

Final Fantasy Resonance (October 22^nd) – Switch, Switch 2, PS5, PC, Xbox Series X/S 

This was one of the biggest surprises of the last Nintendo Direct. I don’t think anyone predicted an HD-2D Final Fantasy game being announced, but it makes so much sense. Final Fantasy is the most iconic series in the JRPG genre, so it’s quite surprising it’s taken Square Enix this long to apply its trademarked art style to its flagship series. It’s fair to say that recent Final Fantasy games haven’t hit the heights that the early games did, so Resonance feels like Square’s attempt to call back to the halcyon days of those beloved SNES games. The game seemingly plays on nostalgia quite a bit as you’re able to summon heroes from previous Final Fantasy games to fight alongside you like Cloud Strife or the Warrior of Light, but it also seems to have enough of its own unique identity to set it apart from those games. Many people have been desperate for a new turn-based Final Fantasy game, something we haven’t seen since Lightning Returns (excluding the very underrated World of Final Fantasy), so the fact that Resonance is turn-based will excite those people (I’m one of these people). I think this has the potential to be one of this year’s sleeper hits – Square haven’t missed with any of their HD-2D games so far, and I can’t wait to play it. 

Control Resonant (September 24^th) – PC, Xbox Series X/S, PS5 

I’m not usually one for horror games (or horror-adjacent games as I suppose Control isn’t really a horror game) but there’s something specifically about cosmic horror that has always fascinated me. Dead Space and Returnal are two of my favourite games of all time – I love how weird and unsettling they are, dealing with characters being pushed to the limits of their sanity and for some reason I really enjoy those stories (maybe I need therapy). The original Control nailed these themes perfectly, and Resonant looks like a continuation of this. You play as Dylan, brother of the main character from the first game, Jesse, and where that game was set entirely in the Oldest House, Resonant takes place in a warped version of Manhattan. I’m admittedly slightly disappointed by this as I liked the more enclosed, claustrophobic setting but it’s still cool seeing buildings contort and streets twist unnaturally. It’s all very weird and like I said, I like weird. Remedy can always be counted on when it comes to creativity so I’m very intrigued to see where they go with this game. 

Kena: Scars of Kosmora (TBA) – PS5, PC 

The first Kena game, Bridge of Spirits, in my honest opinion, is one of the best games on the PS4 and it blows my mind that developer Ember Lab were able to create something so amazing on their first attempt. I was a huge fan of the art style of that game and it’s visually one of my favourite games to look at. The action-RPG gameplay was fantastic too and had a surprising amount of depth (this may look like a kid’s game but don’t be fooled by the art style – on the harder difficulty settings you were really pushed to master the combat mechanics). Judging by the trailer shown a few months ago, Scars of Kosmora looks like more of the same but that’s not always a bad thing. It’s set a few years after the events of the first game – Kena looks a bit older and has become more established in her role as a spirit guide, and where the first game was a very personal coming-of-age story, in this game she seems to be more mature and more proficient as a spirit guide. We still know very little about the game, and PlayStation have been very tight-lipped about it, so we’ll have to wait and see if it actually does release this year. If it does though, I can very much see this being one of my contenders for game of the year. 

Marvel’s Wolverine (September 15^th) – PS5 

Insomniac Games have slowly become Sony’s most important first-party studio. The rate they’re able to push out high-quality games is astounding and when you consider the long development cycles and huge gaps between games from studios like Naughty Dog and Santa Monica Studios, being able to rely on Insomniac to consistently create amazing games shouldn’t be taken for granted. They’ve already released three PS5 games over the last 6 years (which is pretty much unheard of nowadays for a major game studio making AAA games) and that total will increase to four when Wolverine releases in September. The recent gameplay trailer released showed off the brutal combat, as Logan tore apart any enemy that got in his way and drenching himself in their blood. This is what a Wolverine game should be like – violent, gory and bloody. It’s not just mindless violence though – the story in Insomniac’s Spider-Man games was fantastic and I expect the same in Wolverine. Logan is one of the most interesting Marvel characters in my opinion, so I’m looking forward to seeing how this game tells his story. I’m also interested to see how this game inevitably ties into those aforementioned Spider-Man games as they’ve been confirmed to take place in the same universe. Jean Grey and Mystique make appearances so at the very least I’m hoping this sets up an inevitable X-Men game in this universe. 

Ocarina of Time (TBA) – Switch 2 

Without a doubt, the remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is the game I’m looking forward to most this year. The original is one of my favourite games of all time (I wrote about it here: https://starlight-zone.blog/2024/05/03/my-top-5-favourite-games/) and in the eyes of many, is the best game ever made. The trailer shown at the last Nintendo Direct didn’t reveal much – we saw briefly how Link looks in the new art style, and there’s also voice acting now, at least in the opening narration (which shouldn’t be a surprise considering the two most recent mainline Zelda games have fully voiced characters). I’m usually wary when one of my favourite games gets a remake, but I have full faith in Nintendo to do this right. It’s one of their most sacred games, so I just know they’ll give the remake the love and care it deserves. As for what I want from the remake personally (aside from updated graphics and improved gameplay mechanics), I’d like them to expand on the land of Hyrule more. More sidequests, a bigger area to explore, more hidden areas and maybe even some more side dungeons. That’s not to say I want a massive open-world with hundreds of hours of content – I don’t need this game to be Breath of The Wild or Tears of The Kingdom – but by today’s standards, Ocarina of Time’s world is quite bare. They need to strike a balance between keeping everything that made the original so incredible but not modernising it to the point that all of the original charm gets lost. Like I said before though, I trust Nintendo to nail this remake (especially after the success of the recent Star Fox 64 remake). If this doesn’t end up being the best game I play this year, I will be shocked. 

And there we have it – those are the 5 games I’m looking forward to most this year. What are some games you’re looking forward to for the rest of the year? There’s so many others I couldn’t squeeze into this list – Grand Theft Auto VI, Phantom Blade 0, Onimusha: Way of The Sword and Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 2, Gears of War: E-Day to name a few – but there’s just so many games coming out during the last few months of the year. Comment down below and thanks for reading!