Yesterday, I took a look back at the best games I played in 2025, regardless of release date. Now it’s time to look ahead to 2026.

You never know what surprises might be announced during the year itself, but right now, here are my top 5 most anticipated games of 2026!

5. Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream

Tomodachi Life was an incredibly fun game, and I’ve been excited for the sequel ever since it was announced. Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream has a 2026 release window, and I can’t wait. Assuming it’s as wacky and weird as the 3DS game was, it’s definitely one I want to play.

We haven’t seen much about it yet, so it’s possible my feelings could change if it looks significantly different after all… but here’s hoping that it’s still on track for 2026 and that it’s another wild adventure.

4. Over RequiemZ

Of all the upcoming otome games, Over RequiemZ is the one I’m most excited for (yes, even more than the Birushana fandisc). I was already hoping for its localization back when it was coming out in Japan and I keep seeing CGs, because it looks so intriguing. The dark fantasy setting, the weird Wizard of Oz inspirations, and the fact that it has not just bad endings but whole dark paths has me intrigued.

It’s been a while since an otome game has really gotten its claws into me, so I hope this will be the one.

3. Control Resonant

Alan Wake is one of my all-time favorites, Control was great, and Alan Wake 2 was also fantastic, so you can imagine I’m pretty excited for the sequel to Control.

Control Resonant has a different style of gameplay, but the major change is that it’s more of an RPG now, so that’s even better for me. I’m curious about the story and interested in what this might mean for the shared universe with games like Alan Wake, too…

(If it ends up teasing a third Alan Wake game, I’ll go insane.)

It was the big announcement of the Game Awards for me, so I’m really looking forward to it.

Overall, I hope it has the same sort of atmosphere as the first Control, with lots of notes to read and lore to discover about the FBC and AWEs.

2. Yakuza: Dark Ties

Mine game, Mine game!

All right, I still have mixed feelings about the upcoming Yakuza Kiwami 3 + Dark Ties, like I mentioned ahead of the Direct (which turned out to just be a 6-minute trailer, by the way). I wish certain things had been handled differently.

At the same time, I can’t deny that the thought of a Mine game is still so exciting to me. I won’t be playing it at launch, since I’m going to play Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii first and don’t want to burn out by playing too many Yakuza games close together, but I still had to give Dark Ties a high spot on this list.

Not the highest spot, however. My #1 most anticipated game of 2026 is…

1. Danganronpa 2×2

I still can’t believe this exists. A full remake of Danganronpa 2, with a whole new scenario in which the murders play out differently? It sounds like a pipe dream, a game that would never be made, but it’s coming out this year!

Danganronpa 2 isn’t my favorite of the series, but I’m excited to see where this new version goes.

I’m also really curious about whether the new scenario is a non-canon “what if” scenario or if it ties in with the rest of the games somehow. I don’t trust “2×2” to not just mean it’s Danganronpa 4 or something.

Conclusion

There you have it, the top 5 games I’m most looking forward to in 2026. Oh, did you notice a title is missing? Shouldn’t Professor Layton and the New World of Steam have made it onto the list again? Sadly, it didn’t, not only because I lack confidence that it’s actually coming out this year, but also because of how hard Level-5 has been pushing to use generative AI for concept art and brainstorming. There’s no sign that has influenced Professor Layton yet, but it still makes me worry.

Other games that almost made the list are Death Match Love Comedy (again), the Fatal Frame II remake, Monster Hunter Stories 3, and Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave.

What games are you looking forward to the most in 2026?