Super Mario Bros. Wonder – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition enhances an already brilliant platformer with sharp 4K visuals, smoother performance and extra content that makes the experience feel fresh again. The core gameplay remains excellent, with creative level design, clever Badge mechanics and the charm that defines Nintendo’s best work. The new Belabel Park expansion and Rosalina’s addition bring fun new ways to play, especially in multiplayer, though some reused content makes the expansion feel less essential for returning players. Even so, for newcomers this is easily the definitive version of one of the best modern platformers.

Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream is a bizarre and charming life simulator that thrives on creativity and unpredictable social interactions. Building and managing your own island full of Miis can be hilarious and surprisingly addictive, especially for players who enjoy slow-paced, relaxing experiences similar to Animal Crossing. The freedom to customize characters and influence their relationships creates a unique “virtual reality show” full of funny and unexpected moments. However, its slow rhythm, repetitive tasks and lack of Portuguese localization can hurt accessibility, especially since understanding dialogue is a big part of the experience. Even with these flaws, it remains a fun and relaxing game for those willing to invest time into their quirky little community.

Mouse: P.I. For Hire charms the player with its visuals inspired by 1930s cartoons and a charismatic noir narrative. However, the simple and repetitive gameplay prevents the game from reaching its full potential as an FPS.

Saros is Housemarque at its best, delivering an intense sci-fi roguelike with stunning visuals, strong storytelling and exceptional use of the DualSense. Its fast, tactical combat evolves the Returnal formula with color-based mechanics, high-risk encounters and rewarding permanent progression. Despite some frustrating progression bugs, Saros stands out as one of the most polished and challenging experiences on PlayStation 5.

Pragmata delivers a refreshing sci-fi experience by blending emotional storytelling with a gameplay loop focused on hacking and adaptive combat. What starts as a familiar premise evolves with strong twists, driven mainly by the relationship between Hug and Diana, which becomes the heart of the journey. Its mechanics stand out by forcing constant adaptation, with breakable weapons and an evolving hacking system that keeps combat dynamic. Progression and exploration also work well, maintaining a steady and engaging flow. It’s not perfect, but Pragmata succeeds by taking risks and delivering something different, resulting in a memorable and solid experience.

Screamer stands out as a fun and refreshing arcade racer, focusing on fast-paced gameplay and creative mechanics like its unique drift system and ability-based racing. The moment-to-moment action is engaging, rewarding skill and timing in a way that keeps races dynamic and exciting. However, the game stumbles with an unnecessary and poorly executed narrative that disrupts the pacing. Despite these issues, its strong gameplay foundation makes it a solid and enjoyable experience for fans of the genre.

Darwin’s Paradox! brings a creative premise with its octopus protagonist and a mix of puzzle, exploration and survival mechanics, but struggles to fully deliver on its potential. The gameplay has interesting ideas, especially in movement and level design, yet feels overly simple and inconsistent in progression. A weak narrative, lack of clear direction and technical issues on PC further hurt the experience. While it has charm in its concept and some clever moments, it ultimately becomes repetitive and fails to leave a lasting impression.

Marathon delivers a standout sci-fi experience with a unique visual identity, deep lore and the signature Bungie gunplay that feels precise and rewarding. Its extraction-based gameplay is intense, highly challenging and often punishing, creating moments of tension and strong payoff for dedicated players. The mysterious narrative and faction-driven progression add depth, while the atmosphere and sound design elevate immersion. However, its difficulty, pacing issues in looting and some design choices make it a very selective experience. It’s an excellent game, but one that clearly isn’t for everyone.

Life is Strange Reunion successfully reconnects the series with its roots, delivering an emotional story that fixes past narrative issues while bringing back meaningful choices and time manipulation. The return of Max and the well-integrated presence of Chloe, strengthens the experience, making the journey engaging and heartfelt. Gameplay remains familiar but benefits from improved use of time travel, adding more depth to decisions. While technical issues, reused environments and some pacing problems hold it back, the game still stands as a solid and necessary step forward for the franchise.

Crimson Desert delivers an ambitious open-world experience with impressive scale, strong visual impact and a combat system that becomes more engaging as it evolves. Exploration is one of its biggest strengths, offering verticality, variety and a sense of discovery that keeps the journey compelling. However, the game struggles with narrative execution, a lack of charismatic characters and several design issues, including inventory management, inconsistent boss fights and performance drops in intense moments. It’s a solid and often impressive adventure, but one that falls short of fully realizing its own potential.

Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection elevates the spin-off series to a new level with a richer narrative, deeper world exploration and a combat system that successfully translates the spirit of Monster Hunter into a turn-based JRPG. The story brings more emotional weight and political tension than expected, while the vibrant art direction and strong soundtrack reinforce the sense of adventure. Exploration remains rewarding thanks to large interconnected regions, monster abilities that influence traversal and the constant thrill of discovering rare eggs. The battle system shines through its strategic layers and monster behavior patterns, maintaining engagement across long play sessions. Although the PC version suffers from stability issues with frequent crashes, the overall experience remains highly compelling. Monster Hunter Stories 3 proves that this branch of the franchise has matured into something truly special.

John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando brings a fresh twist to cooperative zombie shooters by mixing large-scale hordes with semi-open sandbox maps and vehicle-based gameplay. The freedom to explore, gather resources and plan routes adds an interesting layer of strategy beyond simply mowing down enemies. However, the weak narrative, forgettable characters and repetitive mission structure prevent the experience from reaching the same impact as classics like Left 4 Dead. Technical performance issues on PC also hurt the overall experience. It’s a fun co-op shooter with solid ideas, but not the genre-defining return many fans were hoping for.

Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly Remake modernizes the 2003 classic with updated visuals, improved combat mechanics and a more immersive over-the-shoulder perspective. The terrifying atmosphere remains the highlight, with detailed environments and disturbing ghost designs that strengthen the game’s oppressive tone. New gameplay additions and quality-of-life improvements make the Camera Obscura system more dynamic and strategic. While the lack of Brazilian Portuguese support is disappointing, the remake successfully revitalizes one of the most iconic Japanese horror games. It stands as the definitive version of a genre classic.

Planet of Lana 2 successfully expands the universe of its predecessor with deeper puzzles, richer environments and meaningful narrative answers. The journey of Lana and Mui remains visually stunning, supported once again by a beautiful soundtrack that strengthens the game’s emotional atmosphere. New abilities and environmental interactions make the puzzle design more complex and rewarding. While frequent cinematic interruptions occasionally break immersion, the overall experience remains captivating. It may not have the same surprise factor as the original, but it stands as a worthy and creative continuation.

Resident Evil Requiem is a confident evolution of the franchise, balancing legacy and innovation with impressive precision. The dual-protagonist structure works beautifully, with Grace delivering tense, resource-driven survival horror, while Leon brings technical, high-impact action. The atmosphere, sound design and level construction reinforce the series’ identity, and performance on the PS5 base remains solid throughout. Though one narrative thread leaves room for debate and a late-game boss encounter could have added even more weight, Requiem stands as one of Capcom’s strongest recent entries. It respects the past while clearly pushing forward.

Crisol: Theater of Idols draws heavily from Spanish folklore and introduces a compelling risk-reward mechanic where ammunition costs your own health. Clearly inspired by Resident Evil 7, it succeeds in atmosphere, environmental tension and classic backtracking structure. However, the slow-paced narrative, underdeveloped characters and forgettable enemies hold it back from reaching its full potential. It’s an interesting survival horror experience, but one that lacks stronger dramatic impact.

ChromaGun 2: Dye Hard builds on its Portal-inspired foundation with clever, color-based puzzle design and strong level construction. The minimalist narrative stays out of the way, letting the mechanics take center stage, and that’s where the game truly shines. While visual variety is limited and checkpoint placement could be more forgiving, the core gameplay loop remains engaging and rewarding. For fans of first-person puzzle games, it’s an easy recommendation.

Reanimal is a bold evolution of the Little Nightmares formula, delivering a darker, more ambitious and more memorable experience. Its unsettling atmosphere, strong art direction and clever use of co-op mechanics elevate tension and immersion from start to finish. The narrative is deliberately cryptic, encouraging interpretation, multiple endings and post-credits discussion. While its runtime is relatively short, the impact it leaves is lasting. Reanimal feels like the creative freedom the team was building toward, and it absolutely pays off.

Mario Tennis Fever is a fun and polished arcade tennis game, but it plays things too safe. The gameplay is enjoyable and accessible, yet the lack of risk, low difficulty, and overly forgiving court remove much of the tension. The campaign is charming but over-tutorialized, and the visuals feel simpler than expected for a Switch 2 exclusive. With good modes and solid presentation, it works best as a casual party game, but it lacks the depth and staying power to fully justify its launch price.

Romeo is a Dead Man is pure Suda51: chaotic, stylish, self-aware and unapologetically weird. Its time-hopping narrative, genre-blending gameplay and constant mechanical surprises make it a creative joy, even when nothing fully makes sense. Combat is fun and flashy, but enemy repetition, camera issues and mission pacing hurt the experience. Technical problems on PC are the biggest drawback, at times seriously impacting progression. Even with its flaws, it’s another unmistakable Suda51 work that values creativity and personality over polish.

Japanese Drift Master delivers a stylish and surprisingly solid drift-focused experience on consoles. Its Japanese-inspired setting, manga-style story, and well-balanced handling sit nicely between arcade and simulation. Drifting feels rewarding once mastered, and the tuning system genuinely impacts gameplay. However, weak collision physics, rough map design, and lack of online modes hold it back. It is a fun, promising title that could shine brighter with better polish and continued support.

Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties is a thoughtful remake that goes beyond simple restoration. Alongside a refined version of Yakuza 3, the new Dark Ties campaign adds meaningful narrative depth by exploring Yoshitaka Mine’s origins, offering a fresh perspective on the series’ themes. Combat improvements, massive side content, and full Brazilian Portuguese subtitles reinforce the care put into this package. While lighting issues in Okinawa hurt immersion and need patching, the overall experience delivers two dense, rewarding journeys. It stands as one of the most ambitious and generous remakes the franchise has seen.

My Hero Academia All’s Justice tries to expand the series with more content, a large roster, and a story focused on the anime’s final arc, but struggles to truly evolve. While fans will enjoy recreating iconic moments and playing as dozens of characters, the combat remains shallow and overly automated. Technical issues like stuttering and frame drops hurt the experience, especially during fights. The lack of Portuguese localization is also a significant drawback. In the end, it is a competent arena fighter that plays things too safe and feels hard to recommend at full price.

Nioh 3 refines the series by expanding its combat and structure without losing its identity. The ability to switch between Samurai and Ninja styles adds meaningful depth, changing how encounters are approached and keeping combat consistently engaging. Open-ended maps improve exploration and pacing, even though enemy and asset repetition still exists. Technical performance on PS5 shows some instability, and the visuals feel limited by an aging engine. Even so, its combat systems are the strongest the franchise has ever delivered, making Nioh 3 a confident and exciting evolution.

Dragon Quest VII Reimagined delivers a charming and visually stunning remake that captures the spirit of classic JRPG adventure. Its quality-of-life improvements make exploration and turn-based combat far more comfortable, even if the core battles can feel repetitive outside of key moments. The story grows organically, using time and consequence in engaging ways that reward curiosity. Unfortunately, the lack of Portuguese subtitles is a major accessibility flaw for a text-heavy RPG. Even with this misstep, it remains a warm, enjoyable experience that honors its legacy.

Cairn is a demanding and unconventional experience that will either frustrate you or completely win you over. Beneath its brutal climbing mechanics lies a surprisingly emotional and intimate narrative about obsession, sacrifice, and perseverance. The gameplay delivers constant tension and genuine catharsis, even when its imprecise movement physics push difficulty beyond what feels fair. Visually striking and atmospherically powerful, Cairn stands out as one of the most daring and memorable games of 2026.

Code Vein 2 tries to reinvent the franchise by embracing an open-world Souls-like structure, but the ambition backfires. While the combat system is clearly refined, deeper, and more flexible than its predecessor, the empty world design and severe technical issues undermine the experience. Performance problems on PS5 are constant, affecting both exploration and combat flow. The time-travel narrative is more engaging than before, yet becomes predictable over time. In the end, Code Vein 2 shines in combat but collapses under the weight of its own aspirations.

MIO: Memories in Orbit stands out as a visually stunning metroidvania, delivering one of the most striking art directions in recent years. Its watercolor-like aesthetic, paired with strong sound design, creates a memorable and atmospheric journey. While clearly inspired by Hollow Knight, MIO carves its own identity by being more accessible, though some combat and checkpoint design choices can frustrate. The narrative is intentionally cryptic and may not resonate with everyone, but it complements the game’s melancholic tone. Even with its flaws, MIO emerges as a confident, creative, and impressive early highlight of 2026.