Why video games like Control: Resonant, Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave’ and Star Wars: Galactic Racer make for a very memorable 2026, plus thoughts on Magic: The Gathering – Reality Fracture.

The last few months in the 2026 video game release calendar have been an absolute whirlwind. And Grand Theft Auto VI still looms in the distance. Games are releasing so quickly it’s difficult to catch up, so we’ve rounded up a large handful of some of the best to highlight why 2026 might go down in the history books as one of the best around. Let’s get stuck in.

Control Resonant (PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC)

Control Resonant is Remedy at its risk-taking finest. It takes the developer’s beloved 2019 original, then radically changes both its protagonist and the underlying gameplay in one fell swoop. Yet against all odds its easily one of the most creative, entertaining and truly bonkers games you’ll play all year.

Set seven years after the original, Resonant focuses on Jesse’s brother Dylan, who upon waking up from his coma, is quickly tasked with clearing out a Hiss outbreak in the streets of Manhattan. The more open, sprawling nature gives Resonant such a striking visual style that is only amplified by some truly incredible traversal mechanics – Dylan able to hop all around Inception-style layouts. It’s unique, frequently awe-inspiring and beautifully done, especially on PS5 Pro.

This is also matched with the FBC service weapon being swapped out for a transformable melee weapon, which sounds controversial but does well to switch up the series’ formula, even though it can get repetitive at times.

Underlying it all is Remedy’s signature quirk which is once again on full display as the developer continues to build out its expanded universe. It won’t be for everybody, but Control Resonant hits far more than it misses and is an exceptional experience because of it. An easy recommendation that solidifies Control as a force to be reckoned with.

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Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave (Switch 2)

Let’s cut to the chase. This is one of the most in-depth, rich and enjoyable Fire Emblem games of all time.

It’s also a game with truly ridiculous scale that’ll see you sink countless hours as you enter the Dagdan Empire to compete in the heroic games. The winner is promised a wish granted, but your adventures will actually see you jump between four heroes in an attempt to save the world. That’s a very abridged summary, but much of Fortune’s weave enjoyment stems from learning about the world, each of your characters and how they might interact.

The rest stems from the series’ rock-solid turn-based gameplay, which is still best in class. Learning how to maximise your team and power through the opposition is consistently engaging and the new party-focused Clashes allows for an interesting new dynamic.

Pair that with a great soundtrack and exceptional visual style and you have one of the Switch 2’s best games. It is a seriously meaty adventure though and that may prove to be too much for some gamers, but if you’re up for the challenge the Heroic Games presents, it’s hard to imagine you being disappointed.

Star Wars: Galactic Racer (PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC)

Forget the movies because the Star Wars video game world is absolutely thriving right now and Star Wars: Galactic Racer is not exception. An intergalactic racer that draws a lot of comparisons to Burnout 3: Takedown, it’s an absolute surprise hit that should speed straight to the top of your most wanted list.

Galactic Racer offers a relatively simple setup, but does well to lay the groundwork early for a speedy adventure as you chip away at a classic rags to riches tale. As a result, you control a racer joining a very unsanctioned racing circuit known as The Galactic League. It’s all in an attempt to best the infamous champion Kestar Bool – an alien you have some existing beef with.

And speedy it certainly is. Star Wars: Galactic Racer often feels like its moving at a spectacular pace, and the danger that entails around every corner. Simply careen off the track and smack into a boulder and it’s game over. Layering offensive abilities only ratchets up the tension and keeps you on your toes throughout each race.

But at its core, Star Wars Galactic Racer is fast, furious and frantic. Using a roguelike structure to underpin the adventure is is an ingenious idea and you’re bound to lose hours upon hours of your life into it. This one’s an easy Game of the Year contender.

Magic: The Gathering – Reality Fracture

Between Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Marvel Super Heroes and The Hobbit, Magic: The Gathering has delved pretty deep into licensed territory throughout 2026. But with Reality Fracture we get back to a more traditional release, and one of the series last for the year also happens to be one of its best.

It all starts with a pretty interesting narrative arc, focusing on Jace Beleren – the most powerful mind-mage in the Multiverse. Once a heroic saviour, Jace has made the call said Multiverse and gone ahead and decided to create a fresh reality free of all the doom and gloom currently about. A noble quest, but that naturally rubs quite a few people the wrong way and leads to one hell of a battle, drawing upon familiar faces long-term fans will surely appreciate. It’s certainly a tale more skewed to the Magic faithful, but newcomers should still pick up the thread pretty quickly and find a lot to enjoy here, especially as it segues into mechanics.

The main one to take note of is Empower Jace, which sees you placing a number of loyalty tokens on an existing Jace token or creating a new one. Once powered up your Jace token will also allow you additional actions like drawing a card or surveilling, so keeping everybody safe and sound will be a primary strategy to ensure you keep steadily trucking along and causing all sorts of multiversal madness.

This theme also extends well to the art and it’s another exceptional job here. The Shattered Mirror cards are also a particular highlight – designed to represent the strain upon Jace’s reality. The shattered pieces of glass flying across the card feel ripped straight out of a Doctor Strange movie and is indicative of Magic’s art team clearly having a lot of fun.

As a whole package Magic: The Gathering – Reality Fracture is a highly engaging and entertaining set and is just another win for what has been an incredibly strong year for the card game.

EA Sports FC 27 (PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch 2, PC)

The football behemoth is back once again for another outing on the pitch and its about as familiar as you might expect from the annual release.

The big ticket item for FC 27 is the The Grounds – an online focused-open world social hub that sees you building a custom avatar then roaming the streets of one of three larger hubs. Find a friend and you’ll be able to challenge them to rounds of Rush football (consisting of fast-paced, smaller-sided bouts), or jump into various mini-games that’ll see you popping balloons, kicking balls into buckets and more. It’s a fun aside sure, but it never properly captured the attention and admittedly needs a bit more work if it has hopes of sticking around in the years to come.

Outside of The Grounds FC27 remains as polished as you’d expect and is still a wonderful game of football. It certainly feels as though things have been slowed down a little, but for hardcore players that’s bound to be a welcome change to allow greater consideration and strategy mid-game.

Ultimate Team also has some minor tweaks for anybody down the rabbit hole, without reinventing the hugely successful wheel.

That’s the overall sentiment of FC 27 as a whole, and it’s easy to understand why. It might be safe, but it’s also still easily the best game of football around.

Devil May Cry 5: Devil Hunter Edition (Switch 2)

The Switch 2 catch-up ports continue full steam ahead, this time with the likes of Devil May Cry 5 Devil Hunter Edition.

If you’re not caught up on the 20}+ years of Devil May Cry lore, you needn’t stress. Devil May Cry 5 mercifully includes a helpful recap of what you’ve missed, and while it’s no replacement for actually playing the games it’ll give you a decent cliff note experience that’ll see you hacking and slashing in minutes. And that’s the name of the game here as Nero, V, and Dante — band together to defeat a powerful demon called Urizen. Y

What that equates to is a whirlwind rollercoaster of stylish action that benefits from having three unique characters to utilise. Nero, V, and Dante all have their own playstyle, ranging from gun-slinging, to ranged attacks and classic melee bashing, and switching between the trio is a lot of fun.

The game also looks incredible, and continues Capcom’s impeccable run of quality Switch 2 ports that look and perform flawlessly. It’s another remarkable effort that deserves your attention if you’re looking to slay some demons on the go.

Two Point Hospital: Full Health Collection (Switch 2)

Looking for an absolute time sink on your Switch 2? Two Point Full Health Collection might just be the cure you’re looking for – bundling in both the main game and all previously released DLC into one package.

If you’ve never played Two-Point Hospital the premise is simple, build your dream hospital and sink your blood sweat and tears to making sure your patients are happy and you make enough money to keep the lights on. It sounds easier than it often is as you juggle patient happiness, layout woes and doing what you can to diagnose a slew of illnesses. That’s in amongst additional objectives like preventing deaths on the premises for a set period of time.

Two Point Hospital gameplay is often chaotic but deeply addictive, especially as you move from hospital to hospital, each with its own challenge to conquer. That’s not including the frankly ridiculous seven rounds of DLC included in the Full Health Collection, some of which are making the way to consoles for the first time. Nothing dramatically reinvents the wheel but does add a smorgasbord of new illnesses to sort through.

The Switch 2 iteration thankfully runs pretty smoothly, making it handy to play on the go, but it is hampered a little by a 30fps cap and some more cumbersome control method, which makes sense considering the game was originally designed for a mouse and keyboard.

Still, if you’ve ever wanted to jump into Two Point Hospital, Full Health Collection is unquestionably the way to go.