Discussion The 2026 Game Thread: You Will Own Nothing and Be Happy Edition

[GodisanAtheist]

It's that time of year folks, pick 12 games from your existing game library to download, install, and play this year.

They're all just licenses that publishers can *yoink* away at any time so might as well enjoy them.

And don't give me none of that GOG lip, they just got sold and who knows how long they'll be around for (or the quality of their service).

Currently Playing/Completed:

WH40K: DoW2: Retribution (RTS)(Completed)
Psychonauts 2 (Platformer)(Completed)
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty (DLC)(Completed)
Cyberpunk 2077 (FpRPG)(Completed)
Guardians of the Galaxy(TPS)(Currently Playing)

My List of 12:

Doom Eternal (FPS)
Slay The Princess (???)
Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak (RTS)
Ori and the Will of the Wisps (Metroidvania)
Persona 4 Golden (JRPG)
Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun (TBS)
RoboCop: Rogue City (FPS)
Company of Heroes (RTS)
Hue (Side Scroller)
Greedfall (RPG)
Quantum Break (TPS)

 

[Artorias]

Current list for 2026:

Yakuza 0
Axiom Verge
Total War: Warhammer 3(Realm of Chaos Campaign)
Red Dead Redemption - Undead Nightmare
Creaks

Going to copy my updated 2025 list for tracking purposes.

List for 2025:

Disco Elysium
Firewatch
Hollow Knight(Started 2025)
Oxenfree
Resident Evil 4(2005) PC Edition
Resident Evil 7
Resident Evil Village
Space Haven(Started 2025)
The Riftbreaker(Started 2025)
Cyberpunk 2077(Started 2024)
RDR Remaster
Fallout 4(Started 2024)
Prey
Dying Light
Hades(100% achievements)

 

[GodisanAtheist]

Fired up Psychonauts 2. Talk about a game out of time, in the best kind of way.

Straight up feels like a top tier early 2000's platformer, the kind of game everyone stopped making 15 years ago cause brown mil-sim was in.

Picks up immediately after the events of the first game, and despite the vastly improved graphics it sounds and feels like it was released 15 minutes after the original (despite actually being released in 2021).

If you miss old school 3d platformers you can do a helluva lot worse than Psychonauts 2.

 

[SteveGrabowski]

It's that time of year folks, pick 12 games from your existing game library to download, install, and play this year.

They're all just licenses that publishers can *yoink* away at any time so might as well enjoy them.

And don't give me none of that GOG lip, they just got sold and who knows how long they'll be around for (or the quality of their service).

Currently Playing/Completed:

WH40K: DoW2: Retribution (RTS)(Currently Playing)
Psychonauts 2 (Platformer)(Currently Playing)

My List of 12:

Doom Eternal (FPS)
Slay The Princess (???)
Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak (RTS)
Ori and the Will of the Wisps (Metroidvania)
Persona 4 Golden (JRPG)
Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun (TBS)
RoboCop: Rogue City (FPS)
Company of Heroes (RTS)
Hue (Side Scroller)
Greedfall (RPG)
Quantum Break (TPS)

Amazing, P4G is probably my most played game of all time. My favorite Japanese joke from P4G is the name of the bookstore: 四目内堂書店 which reads Yomenaido Shoten, or the Yomenai Company Bookstoore as in the owner's name is Yomenai. But yomenai is also how you say 読めない, which means "I can't read", so it sounds like the "I Can't Read Company Bookstore" in your inner monologue lol.

 

[SteveGrabowski]

12 games? I'll try for 8:

1. Clair Obscur - Expedition 33
2. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
3. The Legend of Zelda - Echoes of Wisdom
4. Stellar Blade
5. Elden Ring Shadows of the Erdtree
6. Metaphor Refantazio
7. Shin Megami Tensei V Vengeance
8. Horizon Forbidden West

All on PC except SMT V on PS5 and Zelda on Switch 2.

Put off Shadow of the Erdtree until doing a gpu upgrade since I didn't want to drop to 1080p on my 6700 XT after I had gotten used to playing the base game at 1800p with RSR to 4k. Similar for Rebirth, put it off so long on my PS5 because the nearest neighbor upscaling was so bad. Looks worlds better with DLSS 4 though on my 5070.

 

[Stg-Flame]

I have no list. I had plans to upgrade my PC, but... yeah.

I'll likely treat this year like we did in 2020. Just finish up the backlog stuff and watch the world burn.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

I have no list. I had plans to upgrade my PC, but... yeah.

I'll likely treat this year like we did in 2020. Just finish up the backlog stuff and watch the world burn.

-Make a list bruh. Make a list and check it twice.

What's on that backlog that looks like it needs to be experienced.

 

[JujuFish]

This one was a long time coming. For my first game of 2026, I finally played and beat Super Metroid. I thought I had played this some when I was a kid, but it was completely unfamiliar to me. So, I booted up the original Metroid, and that is what I had some memory of.

Had a great time with Super Metroid. Wasn't sure where to go a few times, but I like exploring so that added to the fun. The main downside is that, for me at least, Space Jump and wall jump were both very finicky.

 

[JujuFish]

After spending 50 hours in Silksong, I find myself really appreciating a 10 hour game, too. Not that it isn't great having so much content, but the main reason I didn't play act 3 is just because I was kinda ready to move on.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

This one was a long time coming. For my first game of 2026, I finally played and beat Super Metroid. I thought I had played this some when I was a kid, but it was completely unfamiliar to me. So, I booted up the original Metroid, and that is what I had some memory of.

Had a great time with Super Metroid. Wasn't sure where to go a few times, but I like exploring so that added to the fun. The main downside is that, for me at least, Space Jump and wall jump were both very finicky.

-Super Metroid is a core memory for me. Complete experience from a visuals/music/gameplay/minimalist but emotional story telling perspective, the whole thing.

Went out and bought an SNES cartridge of it for a little too much money a few years ago just to have around.

Easy to see how it (along with Castlevania) spawned a whole genre of games.

 

[JujuFish]

Super Metroid is the 3rd Metroid I've beaten, after Fusion on the GBA and Dread on the Switch. They've all been bangers. I hope MercurySteam is allowed to make a sequel to Dread (assuming they want to, of course).

 

[mikeymikec]

As a result of xmas 2025, I have Hades 2 and Stray to play. I've made a start on the latter. I ought to try Baldur's Gate 3 again some time too.

 

[Artorias]

Super Metroid is the 3rd Metroid I've beaten, after Fusion on the GBA and Dread on the Switch. They've all been bangers. I hope MercurySteam is allowed to make a sequel to Dread (assuming they want to, of course).

Yeah, I played Fusion, Zero Mission, then the original Metroid which was included in Zero mission after you beat the game.

Dread brought back so many memories, really fantastic game. I've still yet to complete the Metroid prime remastered which is also great.

 

[Fallen Kell]

I have no list. I had plans to upgrade my PC, but... yeah.

I'll likely treat this year like we did in 2020. Just finish up the backlog stuff and watch the world burn.

I just finished upgrading my computer (started December 2023, and just finally bought/installed the last 2 components I didn't replace, the power supply and graphics card). Still not thrilled with the fact that I am using a 12V-2x6 connector, especially on a card that could have been powered by 2x PCIE 8-pin connectors (and the motherboard power, which is 75W). But the card I got at least has a connector sensing circuit to ensure all the pins are connected, and cuts the power to the card if it detects a problem.

In terms of games on my 2026 list:

Active playing:
Helldivers 2 (this will probably stay off/on for a while as I still find it both fun and hilarious at times with what happens)
Mechwarrior 5: Mercenaries (finally playing this as I have a GPU that can give it justice, as the 1060 I had over the last year was just barely enough (it was the card in my HTPC that I upgraded to a 3060 TI), and the 770 I had before that from my old build was listed as the minimum...)

On the list:
Red Dead Redemption 1 & 2
Cyberpunk 2077

 

[Ranulf]

Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak (RTS)

Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun (TBS)

I couldn't get into either of these. Kharak was an ok rts but I only made it to mission 5 or 6 before losing interest. Just not the same as the space games. ST is ok but not my type of game overall. The pirate one the same devs made later was the best out of the three games (desperados being the other).

The Riftbreaker(Started 2025)

Probably one of my favorite games in the last 4-5 years. Very easy to get lost in base building around the whole planet in between slaying zergs.

I gave up on Mech5, it seems to really favor playing co-op with real people. Some say the Yaml mods and the clan dlc make it better. Yet another game I wish I'd waited like 3+ years on before getting.

My list: Xcom2, Rogue Trader, BG3, maybe cyberpunk. I doubt I'll get around to any of them long enough to finish them.

Honorable mentions: Outer Worlds1, Starfield StarWars Genesis Mod.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

I couldn't get into either of these. Kharak was an ok rts but I only made it to mission 5 or 6 before losing interest. Just not the same as the space games. ST is ok but not my type of game overall. The pirate one the same devs made later was the best out of the three games (desperados being the other).

-Honestly I struggle with RTS games nowadays, unless they have a "hero driven" campaign. Just too easy to sink a huge amount of time into a mission and still lose because of cheating enemy AI or mid-mission objective changes, only to burn an hour and not progress at all.

 

[Ranulf]

-Honestly I struggle with RTS games nowadays, unless they have a "hero driven" campaign. Just too easy to sink a huge amount of time into a mission and still lose because of cheating enemy AI or mid-mission objective changes, only to burn an hour and not progress at all.

Yeah, that has been a big issue for me and xcom like games. I enjoy them but then I sink an hour or more into a mission and it all goes boom for some reason.

 

[Fallen Kell]

I gave up on Mech5, it seems to really favor playing co-op with real people. Some say the Yaml mods and the clan dlc make it better. Yet another game I wish I'd waited like 3+ years on before getting.

I have been having a blast in Mechwarrior 5. I am playing modded, with YAML and several related paks for additional weapons and mechs, as well as vonBiomes and vonMissions to add more map/map variety as well as additional missions (especially Solaris style arena combat missions). There is certainly still some issues with them that they need to work out, but it is certainly fun (the biggest issue in some of the vonMissions arena combat has to do with "free-for-all" events where everyone should be attacking everyone, but it simply turns into everyone attacking you if you or a lancemate fires a weapon, so you have to simply wait it out a bit for the other mechs to damage each other a bit before you start firing, otherwise you will be fighting all of them all at once, and you simply can't do that in several of the maps where 11-15 other mechs all can be actively shooting at you without any cover).

That said, it does get to a point in a campaign where you have some decent mech builds, and you really can't optimize much more other than for perhaps specializing for particular mission types. I have my 100 ton killing machine that I personally use, and I can't give it any more DPS than it currently has (which is pretty significant, with max tier 2xAC/5-RF and 4xMedium-SB lasers, along with heatsinks and ammo (~1500 rounds) to fire both AC/5's and 2 of the 4 Medium lasers at their max fire rates). I believe each AC/5 RF has over 16dps (assuming you hit all the shots in optimal range or less, but the falloff on longer range shots is very low on this weapon, meaning it basically hits hard at upwards of 1200m). It basically just mows off armor and structure of anything that shows up in line of sight, and for closer in brawls where a hill/rock obscured the target from long range, the 4 medium-sb lasers just add to the rapid deconstruction (they can essentially be chain fired in series sustained for ~2 minutes with the AC/5 RFs without overheating, which is about 110 seconds more than needed to kill any one opponent and can mow threw a full lance at once without problems).

Been playing many 4vs4 arena combat missions solo as well as many missions. The most difficult mission I ran into was the final mission in the Rasalhague line, as there are forced combat situations where there are simply too many enemies that pop-out at once where you can not cut down on how many enemies can get shots on you at once (I had to give up on legging, and just focus on either headshots or center torso destruction if the headshots miss).

 

[GodisanAtheist]

Beat the Imperial Guard campaign for DoW2 Retribution.

Fun and easy enough, nothing to write home about. One of those "one size fits all playable factions" type thing which is fine, the Imp Guard campaign seemed to fit into the plot fairly nicely.

I'll leave it installed and at least goof around with a few other factions and definitely play more Last Stand, which is fantastic when it works.

 

[Stg-Flame]

Beat the Imperial Guard campaign for DoW2 Retribution.

Fun and easy enough, nothing to write home about. One of those "one size fits all playable factions" type thing which is fine, the Imp Guard campaign seemed to fit into the plot fairly nicely.

I'll leave it installed and at least goof around with a few other factions and definitely play more Last Stand, which is fantastic when it works.

According to Steam, the last time I played DoW2 was in 2011. Was that the squad-based Warhammer game or was that still a true RTS with individual unit management? I recall one of them turned into a Company of Heroes type game where the enemy dropped gear for you to equip on your units but I can't remember which one that is and the Steam screenshots don't feature any in-game media. It's all just pre-rendered crap.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

According to Steam, the last time I played DoW2 was in 2011. Was that the squad-based Warhammer game or was that still a true RTS with individual unit management? I recall one of them turned into a Company of Heroes type game where the enemy dropped gear for you to equip on your units but I can't remember which one that is and the Steam screenshots don't feature any in-game media. It's all just pre-rendered crap.

-Yeah DOW2 is the one that mostly got rid of base building in lieu of micro based gameplay around a limited number of squads. The campaign does involve a lot of "loot" and war gear for your hero characters.

It wasn't what a lot of people wanted after DOW1's more traditional base building swarm tactic gameplay, but is a truly excellent game in its own right.

DOW3 is when the game went full MOBA and the only units that really mattered where your heroes.

 

[Stg-Flame]

-Yeah DOW2 is the one that mostly got rid of base building in lieu of micro based gameplay around a limited number of squads. The campaign does involve a lot of "loot" and war gear for your hero characters.

It wasn't what a lot of people wanted after DOW1's more traditional base building swarm tactic gameplay, but is a truly excellent game in its own right.

DOW3 is when the game went full MOBA and the only units that really mattered where your heroes.

The only thing I remember about that game is that there was one mission where you were met with endless enemy waves and with the right squad setup, you could leave your PC on overnight to farm a massive amount of loot. I need to try that one again.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

Ok, finally started Cyberpunk 2077 (base edition, no PL).

It's. Ok. I guess. It gives me the option to play as a corpo fem boy which is... I mean hey I can so will.

Takes a while to get going, after 4 hours it feels like the plot is actually starting to pick up with the "heist gone wrong" that you can see coming from a mile away.

I watched Edgerunners a while ago and find myself wishing CP2077 followed the same format of street rat finds family, then found family gets eaten alive by NightCity.

The core plot of CP2077 is slow to get going and I deeply suspect it isn't going to be nearly as interesting as it's going to want to be. Maybe it will scratch the itch, but we'll see.

All told it feels like a big step down in the narrative and storytelling department from Witcher 3 at the moment.

 

[Stg-Flame]

(base edition, no PL).

Well that's just a goddamn tragedy if I ever read one.

The core plot of CP2077 is slow to get going and I deeply suspect it isn't going to be nearly as interesting as it's going to want to be. Maybe it will scratch the itch, but we'll see.

All told it feels like a big step down in the narrative and storytelling department from Witcher 3 at the moment.

Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk are on-par with one another for storytelling, but for wildly different reasons. Witcher 3 doesn't ever take itself too seriously and keeps the tone in line, not only with the books, but with itself. It's consistent across the board from start to finish and every single character is fleshed out as well as every single side quest is unique. There's none of that boring Skyrim bullshit where you have to go into the 40th copy/pasted dungeon to go do the same exact thing you've done 39 times before.

Cyberpunk has a lot of copy/pasted activities (mainly the police scanner stuff), but those are optional. The game has amazing side quests that actually have branching paths with wildly different outcomes, but it also has wildly different playstyles that can all be insanely overpowered when done right. The main story in Cyberpunk can get tossed to the wayside every now and then if you decide to start jumping into side activities, but there hasn't been another game in a long time where I took such an emotional hit at the ending as I did with my first ending and the ending of Phantom Liberty. I didn't even know I was becoming emotionally invested in the characters until things started wrapping up. They're both amazing games for storytelling and atmosphere, but from two ends of the gaming spectrum. I've replayed W3 countless times over the years and I've completed CP2077 twice and will be doing a third run this year.

 

[Ranulf]

DOW3 is when the game went full MOBA and the only units that really mattered where your heroes.

Heh, I remember many people said it wasn't a MOBA yet the design clearly led in that direction. TotalBiscuit came out of retirement on Sega games to review it and trash it but he swore it wasn't a moba game.

The game had 9 maps total on launch. 3 of each player size, 1v1, 2v2 and 3v3. The main mode had three sections, gates/forts effectively to destroy to win the game. Just like most mobas.