What better way to commemorate the end of Summer than with a game that combines an incredible fantasy adventure with the drudgery of working retail? NOTHING, THAT'S WHAT! And to that end, we have Moonlighter 2: The Endless Vault! The sequel to indie gem which was *itself* titled Moonlighter! As before, this here is a loot based Dungeon Crawl-em-up where you're an adventurer traipsing through semi-randomized dungeons and then upcycling the various sundry crap you find to stock the shelves of your local RPG Town Item Shop with; the running of which representing the other half of the gameplay loop!
This time it has polygons instead of sprites, but otherwise doesn't look to be reinventing itself overly much; but nor does it need to; the original Moonlighter was pretty fun.
Speaking of two lives that are inextricably intertwined, we have Orbitals! Cookies And Cream-em-up (or a Split Fiction-em-up, if you *insist* an allusion be something people are more likely to have heard of) co-op puzzle platformer with an 80s OAV visual motif! You play as either a Plucky Space Hero Anime Gal or her good Buddy, A Blue Plucky Space Hero Anime Guy who each get one half the screens real-estate to hop and bop on a vast space adventure with. The game requires co-op for two players, so if you're flying solo or have more than one other friend *you're out of luck, buddy*. Go get married or else cut some people out of your life.
Now what if you don't like the idea of co-operation? And moreover, what if the only puzzle you like solving is the riddle of steel? Well GOOD NEWS, we got something for that, too! Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is a Souls-em-up dude-stabber set in the Romance of the 3 Kingdoms and... I'll be honest, I am kind of shocked that this is the only example of that I know of; kind of felt like that'd surely have existed before this. This time, instead of being any of the big name Guys from that story, you're Some Random Schmo and on top of everything else, there's a boatload of demons running around in the aftermath of the war causing a ruckus. So now you've got to *that* whole to-do.
Now if you love the idea of chopping the hell out of demons in a Feudal Pan-Asian setting, but think Oda Nobunaga is *way* cooler than Cao-Cao, we got you covered on that front too! Onimusha: Way of the Sword is the first new Onimusha game in, like 20 years! This one, sadly, does not star Jean Reno. It *does* star a the likeness of Toshiro Mifune, however, so the series legacy of celbrity cameos is still kept intact.
Anyway, this here is a Devil May Cry-em-up where you're a grumpy samurai who has to send everything that just got out of hell back home.
Now if you love the idea of a game wholly dedicated to *chopping monsters* but think three dimensions is entirely too many to keep track of, then Soul Quest is right for you! You're a Sword Lady what is a l'il bit peeved that her hubby dunn got murdered all to crap by the local deities and figured "Well, I guess I should *attack and dethrone God*" is the best way to process her grief. It's got some nice looking sprites and seems to have a real focus on *tricky violence* instead of platforming.
If your biggest issue with platformers is that the games have too many colours and the protagonists have too many bones, maybe Gelatinous: Humanity Lost is for you! This here is a Troid where you're a guy what got turned into a little slime while in the middle of exploring a trap filled mystery dungeon; so now you have to figure out how to escape when you're a l'il Goo Guy who barely has any form of locomotion.
Speaking of games with a Gameboy aesthetic; this has proven to be a great year for people who like Critter-based Zeldas with GBC visuals as, in addition to Mina the Hollower, we now have Isle of Reveries! A game which, unlike Mina, stars a little owl instead of a little mouse. Also it seems to be leaning a bit more on Echoes of Wisdom in that one of the main ways you interact with things is by summoning copies of objects you've previously encountered. And I'm also going to assume it's not weirdly difficult by default.
Either way, it's one of the three Games I'm Most Jazzed For (September 2026 Edition), so picking this up isn't up for debate.
And speaking of mysterious Zeld-em-up games where nothing is as it seems, we have an especially weird 'un; Angeline Era is an early-PS1 lookin' kind of game where you're a little Sword Guy trying to find a legendary lost ship. Which is tricky enough but the game is also just... really overdoing it with Hidden Paths and secret levels and obtuse puzzles and also Bump Combat straight out of Ys.
Visit scenic "A Fantasy World of Vaguely Celtic Folklore" and bump into some monsters trying to figure out where you're supposed to go, why don't you?
OKAY, GO TO BED!
This time it has polygons instead of sprites, but otherwise doesn't look to be reinventing itself overly much; but nor does it need to; the original Moonlighter was pretty fun.
Speaking of two lives that are inextricably intertwined, we have Orbitals! Cookies And Cream-em-up (or a Split Fiction-em-up, if you *insist* an allusion be something people are more likely to have heard of) co-op puzzle platformer with an 80s OAV visual motif! You play as either a Plucky Space Hero Anime Gal or her good Buddy, A Blue Plucky Space Hero Anime Guy who each get one half the screens real-estate to hop and bop on a vast space adventure with. The game requires co-op for two players, so if you're flying solo or have more than one other friend *you're out of luck, buddy*. Go get married or else cut some people out of your life.
Now what if you don't like the idea of co-operation? And moreover, what if the only puzzle you like solving is the riddle of steel? Well GOOD NEWS, we got something for that, too! Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is a Souls-em-up dude-stabber set in the Romance of the 3 Kingdoms and... I'll be honest, I am kind of shocked that this is the only example of that I know of; kind of felt like that'd surely have existed before this. This time, instead of being any of the big name Guys from that story, you're Some Random Schmo and on top of everything else, there's a boatload of demons running around in the aftermath of the war causing a ruckus. So now you've got to *that* whole to-do.
Now if you love the idea of chopping the hell out of demons in a Feudal Pan-Asian setting, but think Oda Nobunaga is *way* cooler than Cao-Cao, we got you covered on that front too! Onimusha: Way of the Sword is the first new Onimusha game in, like 20 years! This one, sadly, does not star Jean Reno. It *does* star a the likeness of Toshiro Mifune, however, so the series legacy of celbrity cameos is still kept intact.
Anyway, this here is a Devil May Cry-em-up where you're a grumpy samurai who has to send everything that just got out of hell back home.
Now if you love the idea of a game wholly dedicated to *chopping monsters* but think three dimensions is entirely too many to keep track of, then Soul Quest is right for you! You're a Sword Lady what is a l'il bit peeved that her hubby dunn got murdered all to crap by the local deities and figured "Well, I guess I should *attack and dethrone God*" is the best way to process her grief. It's got some nice looking sprites and seems to have a real focus on *tricky violence* instead of platforming.
If your biggest issue with platformers is that the games have too many colours and the protagonists have too many bones, maybe Gelatinous: Humanity Lost is for you! This here is a Troid where you're a guy what got turned into a little slime while in the middle of exploring a trap filled mystery dungeon; so now you have to figure out how to escape when you're a l'il Goo Guy who barely has any form of locomotion.
Speaking of games with a Gameboy aesthetic; this has proven to be a great year for people who like Critter-based Zeldas with GBC visuals as, in addition to Mina the Hollower, we now have Isle of Reveries! A game which, unlike Mina, stars a little owl instead of a little mouse. Also it seems to be leaning a bit more on Echoes of Wisdom in that one of the main ways you interact with things is by summoning copies of objects you've previously encountered. And I'm also going to assume it's not weirdly difficult by default.
Either way, it's one of the three Games I'm Most Jazzed For (September 2026 Edition), so picking this up isn't up for debate.
And speaking of mysterious Zeld-em-up games where nothing is as it seems, we have an especially weird 'un; Angeline Era is an early-PS1 lookin' kind of game where you're a little Sword Guy trying to find a legendary lost ship. Which is tricky enough but the game is also just... really overdoing it with Hidden Paths and secret levels and obtuse puzzles and also Bump Combat straight out of Ys.
Visit scenic "A Fantasy World of Vaguely Celtic Folklore" and bump into some monsters trying to figure out where you're supposed to go, why don't you?
OKAY, GO TO BED!
