So, my current favorite game podcast, Into the Aether, because they don’t just play games from the current year, has come up with this idea called Games of the Other Year, where they rank games they played that year but were from other years. The rules are more fluid, but I generally make my own list by following two rules: I have to have either played it for the first time or finished it for the first time, and then I rank them. I’m not going to do full-blown write-ups, but I wanted to post this anyway.

1. Sekiro – I’m amazed I went so long without playing this game. So difficult, so fun.
2. Bloostained: Ritual of the Night – More Metroidvania goodness.
3. Dragon Quest III HD-2D – Continuing from 2024, this game is brilliant.
4. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle – A better representation of what made Bethesda great than Starfield
5. Tunic
6. Metroid: Zero Mission – Since it was a remake of Metroid, and I like Fusion more I never picked this up before now
7. Perfect Tides – I started this when it came out and never went back to it til now. I’m so glad I saw it to the end. Meredith Gran is one of my favorite writers.
8. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 – Like I said about 3+4, I am bad at this, but it is so fun.
9. Risk of Rain 2 – Megabonk brought me here, and it is better. Playing this with my friends in November has been a lot of fun.
10. Yakuza Kiwami 2 – I wish Tiger Punch didn’t get nerfed from Kiwami but I really enjoyed this part of Kiryu’s story

There are some games from 2025 that I wanted to get around to playing more but plan to play more of in 2026.

1. All my PS5 Games of 2020 – 2023 – Since getting a Steam Deck in 2024 and a new PC in 2025, I’m kind of done with my PS5. A lot of the games I loved on there I have bought for much cheaper on Steam and will either play on Steam Deck or on my PC where they’ll run even better than the console (Maybe even a Steam Machine if the RAM prices going up doesn’t make that impossible.)
2. Surprisingly, Monter Hunter Wilds – I know people have said it runs poorly even on really good PC but I was basically done with that game before I got my new rig so I want to see the game in action on it plus by the time I get back to it, they’ll be enough new content updates to get me back in the loop again.
3. Final Fantasy Tactics / Dragon Quest I+II HD-2D – I just know if I were to play more of these games and revise my GOTY list, one of them would definitely be in my top 10
4. Pipistrello and the Curse YoYo – An original indie game that is an homage to the best of Game Boy Advance. It can be punishing sometimes but I really want to beat it.
5. Unbeatable – I’m not really a rhythm game kind of guy but I want to be and this game is so much fun with a really weird story going on.
6. Demonschool – Tactical demon fights in a weird high school on an island with a calendar system, sign me up for more.
7. Lumines Arise – Lumines is one of the best puzzle game series, period, and I want to get into this one even more because the music is awesome.
8. Once Upon A Katamari – Katamari was a game series I heard about on one of the first gaming podcasts I ever heard, maybe from IGN, but I didn’t own a PS2 until about 2006. So this is only the second Katamary game I’ve ever played
9. Constance / Possessor(s) – I want to finish both of these Metroidvanias that I really like but don’t love as much as Silksong. Still a while before that DLC, for it comes out
10. Sektori – I used to love Geometry Wars, so this is right up my alley, it just came out really late into the year.

In 2026, I can’t wait to play as Leon Kennedy and Kiryu Kazama again. I’ve never played Dragon Quest VII, but I can’t wait to see how exactly they have reimagined it because I’ve heard nightmares about how long the intro takes. Pragmata is a Capcom game I am looking forward to, maybe not buying it exactly when it comes out because I want to see how others feel about it first, but I am intrigued by it. A visual novel series I really like, Coffee Talk, is going to have another entry set in Tokyo that I am highly anticipating. Control Resonant looked really cool, so I should probably finish Control before playing that.

In general, I want to know more about what Nintendo is doing for 2026 because right now the only Switch 2 game I am anticipating is Fire Emblem Fortune’s Weave but FromSoftware’s Switch 2 exclusive game, The Duskbloods, might also come out this year, and I tend to check out everything they do, even if Elden Ring Nightreign was not my thing. ArcSystem Works desperately needs to reveal new characters for Marvel Tokon Fighting Souls, cause right now my anticipation is waning on that with so little information. I don’t really know what’s going on with Mina the Hollower, but I was looking forward to that in 2025, and hopefully it comes out relatively early in 2026. The return of Onimusha in Way of the Sword, I’m frothing at the mouth to try, while Wolverine, I am keeping at a slight arms distance because it’ll come to PS5 first, and I might not get it until it comes to PC.

I played the first game of Perfect Tides just in time for the sequel to come out this year, Perfect Tides: Station to Station, and hopefully, that early access for Slay the Spire 2 launches this year. I’m not sure if I’m going to play The Legend of Heroes: Trails beyond the Horizon when it comes to the U.S. or keep playing in order as I wait for Trails in the Sky Chapter Two remake. There are definitely other games than this that I am anticipating for 2026, but these are the ones currently on my mind.

My most anticipated game through is just part of one with Deltarune Chapter 5 set to come out this year and the Hollow Knight Silksong DLC: Sea of Sorrows set to come out in the spring.