2026 VIDEO GAMES CATCH ALL THREAD

[RIPPA]

I posted the full thing in the Destiny thread but the June update will be Destiny 2's last live service update

It should be noted that there is zero mention of "working on the next Destiny"

So... yeah....

[odessasteps]

Downloaded Forza. Played for about 15 minutes. Deleted Forza.

still not for me. Looked pretty though. 

[odessasteps]

Started playing Mixtape. Fine so far, but waiting to see if there’s a twist like Lost Records or is it’s just gong to be a 90s (?) slice of life game.

[twiztor]

Super Mario RPG
i finished this game up today. I've been wanting to play it for a good long time (like, WAY too long!) and i had started it up a couple times over the years so i'm glad to have finally knocked it out. 
This is about as basic as RPGs go. You play as Mario, along with two friends who join your team as you go. I kept Bowser (power) and Princess Toadstool (healing) with me for the majority of the time. Final boss gave me a bit of trouble, but otherwise this was pretty straighforward and not overly difficult. Some cool nods to Mario lore along the way. 

[J.T.]

On 5/24/2026 at 4:07 PM, odessasteps said:

Downloaded Forza. Played for about 15 minutes. Deleted Forza.

still not for me. Looked pretty though. 

So what you're saying is that no only do you ignore the life saving properties of hard cover during gunfights, you are also not a good racer.

That's okay because I am also a shit racer.

Edited May 26 by J.T.

[Chaos]

1 hour ago, J.T. said:

So what you're saying is that no only do you ignore the life saving properties of hard cover during gunfights, you are also not a good racer.

That's okay because I am also a shit racer.

I suck at racing games too, but that's why I like the Forza Horizon games. They're borderline cozy games because they don't require you to be an excellent racer.

I'm having a blast with Forza Horzion 6.  Probably the most hours I've logged gaming in a single week in some time.

[odessasteps]

8 hours ago, J.T. said:

So what you're saying is that no only do you ignore the life saving properties of hard cover during gunfights, you are also not a good racer.

That's okay because I am also a shit racer.

It’s been a long time since you saw how bad my driving was in GTA V.

[supremebve]

8 minutes ago, odessasteps said:

It’s been a long time since you saw how bad my driving was in GTA V.

I've yet to see a good driver in any GTA game.  I hate that they make you do races and shit, because the game is designed to drive like a crazy person.  

[odessasteps]

I had more fun making courses in GTA V than driving. I think the only game I liked to drive in was LA Noir. 

[J.T.]

16 hours ago, supremebve said:

I've yet to see a good driver in any GTA game.  I hate that they make you do races and shit, because the game is designed to drive like a crazy person.  

I am an awesome getaway driver. I am a shit racer.

And yes, the courses have zero learning curve and in order to win you have to be an asshole. I resigned myself to PITing my way to the victor's circle a long time ago.

Edited May 27 by J.T.

[RIPPA]

I think I am about done with Hades 2 as I think the only things left for me to do require High Heat and I don't think I want to struggle my way through that. (I am already tired of Madea's poision)

Of course the issue is now I kinda wanna go back and play the original Hades

[odessasteps]

 

[SirSmUgly]

What little Hybrid Heaven progress that I made was lost because I have an old-ass Memory Card Plus for my N64, which means that the battery is dead. Rather than open it up and change it, I went looking online and ended up just buying a Forever Pak 64 after doing a bit of light research: https://4layertech.com/products/forever-pak-64.

I am looking forward to it getting here because I also ran into a copy of Snowboard Kids to replace my long-lost cart that probably a sibling has in a closet box somewhere. It still has its PROPERTY OF BLOCKBUSTER seal on it. I paid almost as much for it as I otherwise could have paid for a physical copy of the new Bond or Yoshi games, so yeah. I mean, the original MSRP was fifty dollars in March 1998, which in 2026 dollars is about a hundred-and-three bucks, so I guess I got a deal on this very used (but still in good condition) copy of Snowboard Kids from that perspective? Anyway, I spent too much money on myself and on games (I also got a couple of GamePro and EGM back issues), but it's cool. I can't wait to dig into SBK and Hybrid Heaven and actually save my progress. 

However, I did buy one more game. For the first time ever, one of Nintendo's Game Trials has led me to a direct purchase. Usually, I download the Game Trial even if it's something that I have zero interest in, run the app, get to the title screen, close the app, delete the app, and the collect my platinum coins, but this time, I played some Ball x Pit. I knew good and well that this game was probably right in my wheelhouse, but I didn't check it out at launch. Now, with a trial and an on-sale price of ten dollars, it was inevitable that a fucking Breakout/Arkanoid roguelite was going to get its hooks into me. 

This game is essentially drugs, but a video game. When I say that it hits like crack for me, I mean that if a neurologist ran a scan of my brain while I played it and then put it next to the brain of someone doing crack, I suspect that at least some of the same parts of our brains would be highly active. First of all, it's fucking Breakout. I love Breakout. You give me a 2600 and Breakout even in the year 2026, and I will have lots of fun. And then there are all the block-breakers that built on Breakout that I love. Arkanoid, sure, but Kirby's Block Ball is a top-ten OG Game Boy game. Holy shit, is it good. It has engaging boss fights!

Guess what other game has engaging boss fights? YOU GUESSED IT! The blocks in this case are advancing monster armies that you need to clear before they get to the bottom of the screen and can freely attack you. They can also attack if you progress up the well, which in this case is a, y'know, pit that reveals a play area like a cave, but if you stand at the bottom of the well, they can't reach you until they get there. Of course, staying at the bottom of the well and firing ammo in the form of various cannonballs is not going to go well for you; you have to be aggressive, fire paths into the hordes so that you can angle a cannonball or five through it, off the cave wall, and slamming endlessly along the top lines of the monster formation to be especially destructive.

The other thing about this game besides it being a fun block breaker - though block breakers are always fun all the time, IMO, even the sort of plain ones, so this is an especially fun block breaker, I guess - is that it masters the art of many P2W mobile games without being a P2W mobile game. There is a version of this game that lives on mobile and sucks dollar after dollar from its users. Rarely have I seen games that are quite this good at Making the Numbers Go Up. There are always numbers that you can drive upward. As you kill monsters in the well, you pick up essence to level up your character and get a weapon upgrade or different type of weapon (cannonballs that pulse lasers, cause 3x3 earthquakes upon impact, crit. when hitting enemies on diferent sides, etc.), fusions to level up or fuse together your shots, blueprints to build new buildings that unlock new characters, and so forth.

Oh yeah, between each run, you are rebuilding the town near the giant pit, and you place buildings and elements for harvesting, and you harvest elementst by shooting your characters like you shoot the cannonballs in the well, and they bounce around and harvest stuff for you to build other stuff. Did there need to be a whole town-building element? No, the game in the pit with all the balls is enough. But they added it so I could see numbers of stuff - ore, wheat, etc. - go up while I'm not in the pit. Also, since this is a roguelite, after each run, your characters gain experience and level up permanently. In the well, Numbers Go Up. Outside of the well, Numbers Go Up.

I have been thinking about this game a whole lot since I bought it last night, let's just say that. It feels good to fire cannonballs and watch them smash the shit out of groups of enemies. The light vertical shmup elements (some enemies and the first boss all shoot back) are just the right amount of challenge without being frustrating. And there are numbers. So many numbers. You are always progressing in your run and also outside of it with every go. 

Fuuuuuuuuck this game hits just right. If any of this sounds like your type of gameplay loop, trust me that you should check this game out.

[twiztor]

2 hours ago, SirSmUgly said:

I went looking online and ended up just buying a Forever Pak 64 after doing a bit of light research: https://4layertech.com/products/forever-pak-64.

i was interested until i saw that it still only had a miniscule amount of memory. boo.

[Casey]

Good news! The SteamDeck is back in stock!

Bad news! The prices just shot up due to "rising memory and storage costs".

New:

• 1TB OLED $649 -> $949 
• 512GB OLED $549 -> $789

Valve Refurbished:

• 64GB LCD - $279 (no change)
• 256GB LCD - $319 (no change)
• 512GB LCD - $359 (no change)
• 512GB OLED - $629
• 1TB OLED - $759

Edited May 27 by Casey

[odessasteps]

 

[Zimbra]

The first Broken Sword game popped up on PS+ so my wife and I have been playing it, so I got to explain the legacy of the Goat Puzzle to her.

I've also been generally sad lately so I'm back on my bullshit (playing through Dragon Quest Builders 2 again)

[Robert C]

On 5/27/2026 at 6:30 AM, J.T. said:

I am an awesome getaway driver. I am a shit racer.

And yes, the courses have zero learning curve and in order to win you have to be an asshole. I resigned myself to PITing my way to the victor's circle a long time ago.

Just remember to always say sorry.  Insincerely, as tradition dictates.

 

[Contentious C]

I've wanted to find a new superhero-themed game for the last 10 years, pretty much ever since Marvel Heroes shit the bed trying to be something it wasn't. 

Well, I finally gave Midnight Suns a try, and it scratches enough of those itches. Just enough exploration, just enough crafting, just enough dialogue, even if Hunter is lame and so is much of the humor. I think it would be a better game, per se, without the generic PC and the ability to pick a main out of the roster, but that would be a lot more writing, voice work, and story planning they obviously weren't going to do. Strat games aren't my style, but I put up with the wonky combat for everything else.

[odessasteps]

Midnight Suns is a weird mix of card game and friendship sim. I had a good time with it, but it was also free. 

[supremebve]

On 5/29/2026 at 12:17 PM, Zimbra said:

The first Broken Sword game popped up on PS+ so my wife and I have been playing it, so I got to explain the legacy of the Goat Puzzle to her.

I've also been generally sad lately so I'm back on my bullshit (playing through Dragon Quest Builders 2 again)

I recommended it here before, but if Dragon Quest Builders 2 makes you happy, play Pokepia if you have a Switch 2.  I've never given a single solitary fuck about a Pokemon, but that game is somewhere between Dragon Quest Builders and Animal Crossing in the best combination possible.  

[odessasteps]

Outer Worlds 2 now has a fancy edition with dlc that’s still part of game pass.

[J.T.]

On 5/29/2026 at 4:22 PM, Robert C said:

Just remember to always say sorry.  Insincerely, as tradition dictates.

*my car goes flying off the highway and gets stuck in the median*

Mis - I'm sorry, bro.

Me - MOTHER FUCKER YOU ARE NOT SORRY~!

*next race*

Mis - WHO THE FUCK PITED ME INTO THE FRONT YARD OF THAT GODDAMN HOUSE~???

Me - I'm sorry, bro.

So now I am only one achievement away from 100% in Helldivers 2. My squad had a shit ton of enemies advancing on us right at the end of our mission, so we threw an Orbital Strike party. We nearly wiped ourselves out, but somehow managed not to kill ourselves and live to board the extraction shuttle. So much napalm.

I now have to complete an Extreme difficulty level Blitz mission in under six minutes in order to unlock the last achievement. This will require me to talk to people and stuff if I want to recruit a team that is solid enough to drag me to success.

Edited May 30 by J.T.

[Cliff Hanger]

21 hours ago, Contentious C said:

I've wanted to find a new superhero-themed game for the last 10 years, pretty much ever since Marvel Heroes shit the bed trying to be something it wasn't. 

Well, I finally gave Midnight Suns a try, and it scratches enough of those itches. Just enough exploration, just enough crafting, just enough dialogue, even if Hunter is lame and so is much of the humor. I think it would be a better game, per se, without the generic PC and the ability to pick a main out of the roster, but that would be a lot more writing, voice work, and story planning they obviously weren't going to do. Strat games aren't my style, but I put up with the wonky combat for everything else.

I really need to get around to Midnight Suns, which I've owned for ages. But I QP'd because I have really been missing Marvel Heroes, a podcast game par excellence. I still involuntarily quote the stupid Taskmaster commercial at people who have no idea what the fuck I'm talking about nearly 9 years after it went down.

[odessasteps]

I am on day 4512 consecutively on marvel puzzle quest, including 2 family deaths, covid, vacations and everything else in the last 12+ years.