Gaming content has become pretty depressing these days. We have literally had news of massive layoffs, price increases, or the end of physical games happen pretty much weekly in recent months.
Despite it all, good games just keep coming out about as often as the bad news hits. There are a large combination of factors as to why gaming is in rocky waters right now, but regardless of what happens, I still have quite a bit of faith that we are going to continue to have a large amount of great releases coming consistently for the foreseeable future. Frankly, one of the problems that gaming is facing right now is that there are just too many good games out there, which makes it really easy for high quality ones to slide under the radar in ways that wouldn’t have been as possible in the past.
This is also exactly why I continue to value the time I put into this blog so much. Even if my impact is small, anything I can do to help promote a game that I think is great is worthwhile to me. It’s harder than ever for a game to make it, and every little bit counts. Even if I only sell a dozen people on a game, there’s always a good chance that some of those people will sell others on the game, and those few sales I contributed to will actually lead to many more.
As I have said many times, this is why I view ranking as so valuable. Most games that I review are going to get a decent enough review score, because I’m usually going to play games that I think look really interesting or that are already getting great review scores. If most games I play are at least getting a 7.5 or higher, those reviews lose some of their impact.
However, even if someone is constantly giving out good scores for every game they play, a top 10 list never loses its value. The limited number of spots force us to reveal the games that we truly loved, and thus, they tend to be the best sources to find game recommendations, in my view.
And with that, it is finally time for my mid-year top 10 check-in. Here are the top 10 games I’ve played in 2026 so far (through the end of June). This is a very weird list, with multiple games that I would not have expected to be so prominently placed on here at the start of the year. I do think it is in part because 2026 hasn’t been quite up to par with the past three years in particular in terms of game quality, even though every game on this list is still very good. I won’t be surprised if all but the top three are off this list by year’s end.
With that, it’s time to rank!
10. MIO: Memories in Orbit
This is a bittersweet one to rank, as the developer of the game, Douze Dixièmes, recently ceased operations. It’s a shame because they showed off tons of talent and promise here, and I think they were due to create an even better game after this.
MIO is a Metroidvania with a beautiful art style and heavy Hollow Knight influences. This can lead to some intense platforming, fighting, and exploration. Unfortunately, MIO is a little worse than Hollow Knight in pretty much every regard, which can make a few elements of the game more frustrating than fun. But there are undeniably some high highs with all of these elements as well. It’s not perfect, but it understands what makes these types of games fun, and it has some great ideas with its level design and boss fights in particular. It has a pretty fun soundtrack as well. I hope all of these devs are able to land on their feet and continue to create at other studios in the future. Despite some issues, I think this game should be a strong mark in their favor on any resume.
9. Librarian: Tidy Up the Arcane Library
As a father to a four-year-old and a one-year-old, I experience cleaning up a massive mess every single day. Within hours, my house goes from clean to a disaster, and then I go through the process of putting it all back together again.
So you wouldn’t think that I’d have any interest in reliving this type of experience through a video game, but somehow, Librarian: Tidy Up the Arcane Library just does it for me. This is a game about entering a library that is a total mess and slowly putting away every book on the correct shelf, one by one. After a bit of work, you unlock spells that help the process go much quicker.
I couldn’t get into Powerwash Simulator at all the few times I have tried it. Librarian has a similar appeal, but there’s some very light puzzle solving that is really satisfying and adds another layer to the experience beyond the simple “this is looking cleaner now” gameplay. I think that is what takes this experience to another level. The light RPG elements with the spells are a nice touch as well. I never expected to enjoy a very simple $6 game so much.
8. Pragmata
Even as the hype around Pragmata continued to build, my interest in it was next to zero. Every time I saw a clip of the combat, I just couldn’t wrap my mind around how it would be fun. The mix of hacking and shooting seemed extremely odd to me.
But in practice, it’s shockingly fun and just makes sense almost immediately. There’s a really satisfying risk/reward element to every encounter. If you spend more time hacking, you can set yourself up to do a lot of damage, but spending a lot of time hacking also gives enemies more of a chance to close the distance on you. From there, the actual shooting is pretty satisfying, with excellent sound and visual design built around it.
The formula is pretty different, so it’s understandable that there are a few awkward elements to both the combat and platforming. I also came away incredibly disappointed with the characters and the story. But I love that a major developer was able to take a bit of a chance on this one, and it actually worked out. I’d love to see what they can do with a sequel.
7. Resident Evil Requiem
The first half of Resident Evil Requiem would probably sit at #3 on this list. The opening areas of the game are so fast-paced, and then the sanatorium level is literally survival horror perfection. Usually, Resident Evil games lean more into action or survival horror depending on the game, and I really enjoyed the decision to put a bit of both in this game.
Sadly, I think as the game goes on, it becomes apparent that the survival horror elements are a fair bit better than the action ones. But even the survival horror elements of the game run out of a little bit of their steam as you continue to play. Requiem has some of the best level design that I’ve seen in this genre early on, and it slowly goes downhill the longer you play. I still enjoyed my time with it a fair bit, but it is admittedly disappointing to have it this low after how much I loved it early on. But it’s still a must play if you love this series or genre.
6. Mewgenics
In my BigNerdGaming Awards, I felt like the most packed category so far this year was “Best Combat.” I have played a lot of games with fantastic combat this year, but the one that ranked at the top is a turn-based SRPG. Mewgenics genuinely might have my favorite SRPG combat ever. It avoids a lot of pitfalls that I see in this genre thanks to its smaller arenas and tons of different movement abilities. There is an amazing amount of depth to building up your team, and it has some of the most creative boss fights that I’ve ever seen in an SRPG. The roguelike elements during runs also keep things interesting. You can never just settle into a certain strategy and do things the same way every time once you figure it out. Every run in Mewgenics ends up being a wildly different experience.
I logged about 30 hours into this game and don’t regret a minute of it. However, I felt pretty content after that stretch of time because I hated the breeding and progression systems so much. As much as I love the combat, it always felt like a grind to get to the point where I was actually ready to battle. The system has a bit too much randomness and a pretty clunky interface that I didn’t enjoy. But the combat is so good that I was still able to enjoy the heck out of it, and get essentially a full game’s worth of playtime out of it.
5. Replaced
Replaced is easily one of my biggest surprises this year. The game had a fair bit of buzz and amazing visuals, but that buzz died down soon after release, as the game was criticized for its mediocre platforming and a few other things.
I definitely agree with many of the complaints. The platforming in particular is just obnoxious for a variety of reasons. But the highs from the combat, atmosphere, and even the storytelling were more than enough for me to overlook some of the flaws.
Replaced essentially has 2D Batman combat. It starts out pretty simple, but the game keeps adding just enough new elements to keep it engaging throughout. I fully expected to be bored of the combat by the end of the game, but I was genuinely engaged by it from start to finish.
But the real element of the game that solidified its place here was the story. Around the halfway point of Replaced, something happens that shifts the story a bit in a way I didn’t expect, and I found myself absolutely locked in until the finish. The main character, Reach, also ends up being very compelling in ways I didn’t expect. The visuals are also a huge bonus. This is one of the best looking pixel art games I have ever played. The vibes are off the charts here. Obviously, Replaced isn’t for everyone, but I think that if you are able to click with it, it might surprise you the way it did for me.
4. Saros
The combat in Saros is unbelievably good in so many ways. Housemarque is easily one of the most talented action game developers in the industry right now, in my view. The mix of third-person shooter with bullet-hell mechanics and extremely fast and exciting movement gives both this game and Returnal a feel that no other game has. The visual effects and sound design are also on a level that few developers can reach, and the boss design is really strong. Every encounter in Saros is so intense and satisfying. It rules.
Unfortunately, the game is held back a bit by a lot of mistakes that felt extremely preventable. There are too many weapons that are simply not effective enough in most scenarios. I wish I could mess around with the shotguns more, for example, but since you can only carry one gun at a time, they often don’t make sense. The roguelike elements are also a bit frustrating. It’s crazy how often I felt forced to skip upgrades because almost all of them come with downsides, and many of those downsides were a bit too punishing to be worth it. Luckily, the story doesn’t take up too much time, but way more emphasis is put on it than should have been given its quality.
But despite all of that, whenever I had a weapon that I enjoyed, and I started zipping around the map and taking out one enemy after another, it was pure bliss. I really hope Housemarque ditches the roguelikes and just makes a more standard third-person shooter next time around. But with the talent they have, even with some qualms, I will always be back for whatever they come out with next.
3. Nioh 3
There’s a lot of debate out there about whether there should be easy modes in Soulslikes. I am someone who is very much in the camp of thinking that Souls devs should have options for players. But if those options aren’t going to be there, putting your Souls game in an open world seems to be the next best compromise.
Nioh 3 is the first 3D soulslike that I have ever completed. One of the biggest reasons for that is that the series of smaller open worlds that you can explore gave me a lot of freedom to tackle things in any order I wanted, and I had the ability to get stronger and “grind” without feeling like I was actually grinding.
But the other reason for that is that Nioh 3 has combat that is really freaking good. The game has an incredible amount of weapons, combos, and skill trees that you can play with. I took a much more simple route and didn’t dive into that stuff as much as many others, but the enemy designs and core combat are both so good that I didn’t need to go particularly deep to have a blast. There are countless boss fights in this game where I was fighting for my life, but simultaneously in awe of the incredible amount of different attacks that each foe was throwing at me. The epic music playing during each encounter also had me enthralled.
I don’t think I’ll ever forget my reaction after finally striking the last foe down. I’ve said many times that part of the reason Soulslikes don’t always appeal to me is because I’m not one to celebrate a win after failing 20+ times before that. I think there’s a sports mentality in me that is tough to let go. I did not pump my fist or cheer when I rolled credits on Nioh 3. When I landed my last strike and saw the boss crumble before me, I just started chuckling. Perhaps it was relief that I had finally reached this moment. I vowed early into Nioh 3 that it would be my first 3D Soulslike completion, and I’m truly glad that it was good enough to force me to fulfill that vow. This game may have unlocked a whole new world for me in the future, and that means something.
2. 007 First Light
I think that one of the best ways to truly innovate in the video game space these days is to just mash multiple genres together. It’s so hard to come up with truly unique concepts (and get them funded at AAA levels) that it’s often the best method in my view.
007 First Light is a great example of this. There’s a bit of Hitman, Max Payne, Uncharted, Batman, and Yakuza here in different ways. But it all flows together and has a few extra twists that truly make this feel unlike anything else out there. I feel like there are small tweaks that could be done to make every element of the game a touch better, but they swing for the fences on literally everything so hard that I didn’t care all that much.
Meanwhile, the game also has pacing, characters, dialogue, and a story that make me strongly believe that this would have been a massive hit if it had come out as a movie instead. We are so fortunate to have gotten a story like this in a video game.
The fact that this game is so good despite doing so many different things makes me feel like a sequel to this game could have close to the kind of glow-up that Uncharted 2 had compared to its first game. 007 First Light is a lot better than the first Uncharted game, but man, I desperately need IO Interactive to continue to make Bond games so I can see how this formula evolves. This was an incredible experience.
1. Paranormasight: The Mermaid’s Curse
Paranormasight: The Mermaid’s Curse being #1 is a plot twist that might be worthy of being in a Paranormasight game.
I genuinely had next to no interest in this game. I like visual novels well enough, but they aren’t something I run to unless the hype or reviews are off the charts. While I wouldn’t say the hype was that high for this game, there was enough hype from the right people for me to say, “Screw it,” and give it a go.
I was in a weird place with the game for the first several hours. There’s a twist that happens early on that stunned me a bit and dragged me in right away. There’s also a diving mini-game that I found to be super addictive. But then the pacing does start to drag in spots in ways that I couldn’t believe. There’s one section of the game that is just a giant tourist info dump that was a bit much.
But man, when the game picks back up again, it is unbelievably good. I love the format of the storytelling so much, as it masterfully flips around between different points in the days where the story takes place and lets you see different perspectives for many of the game’s events. But it all stays very cohesive throughout, and once it gets going, it does not stop being awesome.
As much as I was enjoying the game, there were a few moments that I found curious. Things that felt just a touch off, but I wasn’t 100% sure why. It later turns out that there was a reason I felt that way, and that’s because there was something I did not know yet. The Mermaid’s Curse has one of my favorite plot twists of all time. It’s done in such a clever way, and it brings every last thing together. When I finally realized what was happening, I was in disbelief at how well the entire thing was set up. There are usually a couple of moments in video games each year that I know I will never forget, and The Mermaid’s Curse has the one moment in 2026 so far that I know I will always remember. If you like visual novels at all, please give this series a try. (Hi, Hana).
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