20 AA Games We CAN'T WAIT To Play
B1
The double A renaissance is here.
No longer are the times where a game had
either a $300 million budget or a budget
of whatever it costs to eat cup noodles
for two meals a day over the course of a
game's de I don't I don't really think
we can nail down exactly how long that
kind of game takes to make. So I don't
think we can nail down exactly the ramen
budget. But it's no longer like that.
There's a glorious middle class of
gaming reemerging games with ambition
without the corporate brain rut.
Budgets, but not the GDP of a small
countryized budgets. Hi folks, it's
Falcon and today on Game Ranks 20A games
we cannot wait to play. At number 20 is
Castlevania Belmont's Curse. We couldn't
be more excited for this. We're finally
getting a new Castlevania game in 2026.
What's particularly exciting about this
game is it's coming from a developer
with a deep love and respect for the
franchise, Evil Empire, the developers
behind Dead Cells. That game was a
rogike though and and this is not. This
is a traditional Metroid vania. It's
just got some of that punchier Dead Cell
style combat and the pretty distinct art
style. It's pretty different from other
games in the series, but gives the game
a unique flare of its own. It's got the
style of an indie with a budget and
production value of something bigger.
It's a new Castlevania game we've we've
been dreaming of for years. You know,
there's so many ways it could have been
disappointing, and who knows, I guess it
could still be underwhelming, but my
hopes are pretty high for this. This is
a proven developer who's nailed the
formula before, and now they're taking
on a beloved property. I play the
Castlevania DLC on Dead Cells. I don't
see how you could walk away from that
with anything less than confidence in
this. Hopefully, you don't walk away
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At number 19 is Antos. Frictional game
spiritual follow-up to their horror
classic Soma has a strange imagery and
mysterious plot to it, but we've come to
expect that from these developers, and
it looks like they're doing something a
little different this time. The focus
seems to be more on existential dread
and psychological horror rather than
jump scares. Seems like the game's more
about experiments, talking to people,
and exploring this moon base, that kind
of thing, than it is about evading
monsters and hiding in closets. But who
knows, maybe they're just not showing
the cards. Either way, Soma was
brilliant. and another game even
tangentally related from these
developers is really exciting to see.
Moving on to number 18, it's Mortal
Shell 2. The first of these games was an
interesting proof of concept more than a
full game. It's one of those games that
was just begging for a sequel that could
take the experimental ideas introduced
and really expand them into a
significant uh more better game.
Hopefully, that's Mortal Shell 2. The
trailer alone looks like a pretty big
expansion on what the first game did,
though. It looks a lot bigger and bolder
in just about every way. The game has
the same class switching mechanic as the
first where you discover and play as
various shells and their own weapons and
stats which you switch between whenever
you want. And the world looks even
weirder, more bleak than the original.
And that's what I wanted for a sequel.
Could be just as middling as the first
game. That is possible. But the first
game performed pretty well monetarily
speaking and I think they just want to
make a better game. Like it had a lot of
good ideas, but it just never really
fully achieved them. So I think it's
going to be a big step forward. And
number 17 is Bradley the Badger. The
surprise hit of the Game Awards 2025 and
for good reason. It looks super fun and
extremely charming in a way few games,
particularly nowadays, manage to do. It
looks like Gex but actually funny or
conquers Fur Day without being extremely
crass. But most of all, it looks like a
really fun platforming game with a fun
gimmick that you can manipulate and
reprogram the world with. What makes me
confident is the developers pedigree.
The game's coming from a lot of the
people that worked on the Mario and
Rabbits games, which were games that I
mean, they were far better than they had
any right to be. The trailer alone shows
their skill at handling something like
this. This game looks like it'd easily
come off as obnoxious or generic, but
it's got a lot of personality. The humor
in the trailer is actually enjoyable.
Doesn't seem like it's trying too hard,
and it's just charming. Looks like it's
going to be a lot of fun whenever it
comes out.
And number 16 is Outward 2. Like a lot
of recent RPG sequels, Outward 2 seems
to be taking the basic framework of the
original game, which combine RPG and
survival stuff with some crushing brutal
difficulty and and they work together
pretty well to make a pretty rough RPG,
but a a unique and interesting one. One
of the most unique and interesting ones
of the last decade even. The sequel,
like I said, looks like it's taken a
sort of ah let's let's do that, but like
way better. Like in terms of visuals and
overall game polish, looks like a big
step forward. Not like Balders's Gate 3
level step forward, but like looks a lot
better than the first outward in a lot
of key ways. Otherwise, it does look
like it is more outward, which I like I
said think is an extremely interesting
game, except for this looks like it's
making it a little more approachable. I
think that could work wonders for the
series.
And number 15 is the Gothic 1 remake.
The original Gothic is still an all-time
great RPG, but man is it difficult to uh
go back to these days. Just something
simple like swinging a sword is awkward
in this game. And and it's got tank
controls, which yeah, in an RPG, uh
yeah, I mean, it's an early and
important RPG, but only the most
dedicated Eurogen sickos are are going
to want to stomach this thing in its its
old state nowadays. Uh so having a
proper remake is actually pretty
exciting. The original demo from a few
years ago wasn't all that hot, but it
seems like the game's changed a lot
since then. looks like a much more
faithful recreation of the original,
which I mean, you throw in some modern
gameplay concessions and graphics that I
they're not mind-blowing graphics, but
obviously a big improvement over the
original. And it's coming out June 5th.
I think lot of potential. Crossing my
fingers.
And number 14 is Dreadmore. Basically, a
double A version of Dredge. Dredge is
kind of a spooky fishing game. Little
mix of role playing cosmic horror. No,
I'm not massively keen on ripoff games.
Not necessarily because I care about
copying, but if one game does it well,
is it what's the point of making another
game that's exactly the same? This
doesn't look like it's that though. It's
certainly, yes, the idea of the original
game, but it does look a lot uh more
different. Not just a copypaste job,
dare I say it. That's how genres are
born. The spooky fishing genre. Not
necessarily a full genre quite yet, but
uh let's say Dreadmore pulls it off.
Could be. I wouldn't mind either. One
thing I I definitely do like about it's
not all menu based. You can actually
move around your ship and get up and
walk around in the interiors. You get a
gun, you can fight off monsters. You
repair your ship if I I like it. I like
what's going on here. It looks like um
more dredge with more stuff. Lot of
potential here. Game is releasing
sometime quarter 4. And number 13 is
Solasta 2. Uh finally an RPG for
Balders's Gate Obsessives to play after
their fourth playthrough of that game. I
mean, this one's not even far off. if
it's hitting early access March 12th and
they're really stepping things up in
terms of polish and production values
with this game. It's obviously not
operating on the level that Laren is,
but they're going bigger in an attempt
to reel in the Balders's Gate crowd.
Character models are a lot more detailed
than Solasta 1. Uh the environments are
much more dense and detailed. Looks a
little more storydriven. Looks like a
more interesting game. Honestly, Solassa
was great, too. So, that's in no way
bemoning the original. But what makes
this different is it's based on the SRD
5.2 rule set. Much more authentic
recreation of a D and D game compared to
you know what they're going for. A more
uh tactical technical turn-based combat
system. Gives players more flexibility
for what they want to do. Hard to
describe exactly how it's different. Uh
just play the first Salasta though. It
was kind of a dark horse RPG hit. Flew
under the radar a bit, but uh it does
seem like the sequel is poised to bring
more eyeballs in on this series.
At number 12 is Epelion. Don't Nod is uh
it's pure doublea. They made Vampire and
Vanishers and both games didn't have
quite the polish or scope of some of the
big hitters of the industry, but they
managed to swing far above their weight
class. Both great things. I am a sucker
for Vampire with a Y. They do good work.
I am always looking forward to their
next game, and that is purely why Aelion
is on this list. It's a story-driven
action game focusing on two astronauts
trying to survive after a crash landing
on a hostile alien world. Looks like a
lot of set pieces in the trailer, but
apparently there's an entire stealth
aspect of the game as well. Gameplay is
split between exploration, climbing
around on stuff, avoiding ali alien
monster type situations. Sounds simple,
but I have faith in these guys. They
know how to make simple work. As far as
I'm concerned, they have not missed yet
with their double A projects.
And number 11 is Resonance: A Plague
Tale Legacy. The first plague tale was
one of the vanguards of the double A
revival we are currently experiencing.
And while a lot of double A's aren't
necessarily automatically successful or
even good, Aobo Studio remains some of
the best. The Plague Tale stuff nails
it. Now, what I like is some of these
recent DA games, the developers are kind
of stepping out of their comfort zone
and inserting more traditional game
mechanics. Like with Resonance, we're
getting actual melee combat. The story
is moving away from a ratinfested France
to the sunny Mediterranean in a prequel
story that looks pretty different. Might
be a little less miserable. Not counting
on it. They may find a way to make it
much darker despite the sunbaked
setting. I don't know. I'm here for it
though. Aobo Studios is two for two with
these games and I expect this one to be
good when it launches late this year. At
number 10 is Hello Sunshine. This one
looks quite interesting. It's coming
from Red Thread Games, which certain
online obsessives are perpetually upset
about. The games I'm not going to like
pretend are not hit or miss though. I
liked Dreamfall. That's kind of it. I
didn't really like their other ones. I
don't know. I don't even know how many
other ones there are. Dreamfall is
pretty cool, though. This one looks
legitimately interesting, though. It's a
narrative survival game where you
explore desert world using a giant robot
to protect yourself from the sun. During
the day, you can work with the bot to
move floor. During the night, you got to
stay warm and salvage what you can. It's
a good concept with some real visual
flare. could be another dud like a lot
of their other games, but I there's some
creativity on display just in the
visuals alone. I'm interested. The
trailer has me sold on it.
And number nine is Rivage, a new puzzle
game from Raw Fury. The same people that
published Blueprints. Doesn't look like
it's got the mindbending potential of
that game, but as a narrative puzzle
game, it appears pretty polished. I
don't know. I think it's smart that
they're not at least automatically
trying to sell us on the idea that this
is another like, oh, it's going to
subvert your expectations game. It's a
time loop game. Sounds like it could be
awful for a puzzle game because of the
potential repetition. But thankfully,
this game remembers and automatically
solves puzzles for you in later loops.
The actual puzzles seem to be all over
the place, uh, more mist style than
relying on some central gimmick. Don't
mind that. Mist has its place. All
connected by an immersive world. Looks
like it's going to be satisfying to
explore. Not exactly sure what this game
is, but it has aspects of it that I
think look cool.
And number eight is Tank Rat. A sort of
remake/reimagining of Tank Head. Looks
like it takes the basic mechanics of
that game and does something a lot more
ambitious. It's a weird game cuz it's
essentially already playable. You can
play Tank Head now, and mechanically
it's a really cool game, but the actual
core progression itself is a bit
disappointing. This new version of the
game seems to be addressing that with
giant bosses and more distinct levels.
The original version of the game felt
like half a game. So, if this manages to
fill out what was missing, could be an
all-time great. The concept is amazing.
Piloting a tank, salvaging parts from
enemies. It's a brilliant, focused idea.
It just needed a little bit more. Tank
Rat looks like it's filling in
everything the original desperately
needed. Looking forward to it. And
number seven is My Time at Evershine.
We're firmly in DA territory with the
latest My Time at game. One of the
biggest graphical upgrades we've seen
with the series for quite a while,
though. Otherwise, still same mix of uh
Stardew Valley with a little Zelda
combat and dungeon crawling mixed in.
Instead of managing a farm, you're a
builder. You construct machines, tools,
even large scale municipal projects like
roads and dams. Great concept for a game
like this where you're most exploring a
single town because the many additions
you can make give the games a satisfying
sense of progression. The first two were
great. This one looks even better. No
firm release date yet, but it's
definitely one to look forward to.
And number six is Valor Mortise. The
next game from the developers of the
Ghostrunner series looks like a big
departure. They're trading cyberpunk
free running for Napoleonic Dark
Soulsing. And that looks interesting. A
first person souls like is already
novel, but this game seems to mix in
first-person combat with ranged attacks
that do something that take like
advantage of the first person
perspective. The way you use guns, hits
weak points, and shoots projectiles out
of the sky just looks fun and
satisfying. Like their other games, it
seems like it's going to be a snappy and
well-made project. Not sure how big
it'll be, but I'm excited to give it a
shot when it releases sometime in 2026.
And number five is Welcome to
Brightville. The very weird looking
self-published game. It's clearly
ambitious. Any game that calls itself an
immersive sim automatically is, but it's
still hard to tell exactly what this is
going to be. The core concept is easy
enough to grasp, certainly. It's
Bioshock, but in a robot city, but also
it's magic. That's the part that
complicates things. It's a stranger game
than it could have been. Instead of
using guns, you use magic. That's weird
enough, but the game heavily
incorporates music into the experience.
Characters sing in it. It's part
musical. Sounds very eclectic and weird.
Presentation speaks for itself, though.
I have no idea how it'll turn out, but
this is one to watch out for.
And number four is Showa American Story.
Speaking of weird, this has got to be
the most Suda 51 game that Suda himself
didn't make. Looks janky and stupid,
kind of ridiculous, but there's a style
to it that is just flatout intriguing.
Set in America dominated by Japan.
You're on a quest for revenge and
there's motorcycle segments and zombies
and looks like a grabag of bem movie
madness. Could be terrible, could be
incredible or incredibly terrible. I
don't know. Either way, I want to play
it uh when apparently it comes out
sometime this year.
And number three is the lift uh
supernatural handyman simulator. We're
seeing more and more of these hybrid
games that combine job simulator type
gameplay with more traditional
storytelling. In this game's case,
they're taking the handyman gameplay
from something like a house flipper game
and mixing it up with traditional puzzle
solving and a weird setting that
incorporates aspects of like SCP and
Soviet sci-fi from something like
Stalker. All that really matters is it
looks really good. Like it looks really
wellmade. It's got an impressive amount
of presentation, some creative gameplay
mechanics, middle ground between a work
game, a puzzle game, and a horror game.
I think that's my perception anyhow. The
Lift could be one of the more
interesting games to watch out for this
year though, so watch out for it.
And number two is Edge of Memories. Edge
of Eternity was a valiant attempt at
making a big JRPG with a meager budget.
It wasn't great, but they swung for the
fences, and you got to respect that.
With games like that, the hope is that
they learn from their failures and take
the skills they developed on the first
game to make something great for their
second, and that's what it seems like
they're doing. I obviously can't say for
certain how it's going to turn out, but
the trailer gives me some uh hope. The
combat looks great. Production values
are a lot more impressive than the first
game. just looks allaround better. And
it might not be like the best JRPG of
all time, but definitely a big step up
that hopefully will be everything the
original game could have been when it
actually comes out, which is happening
sometime later this year.
And finally, at number one is Darksiders
4. The King of DoubleA finally returns
to continue where the original left off
back in 2010. The game ended on an
all-time cliffhanger, and everyone
assumed it would never get resolved, and
well, it is. Very little is known about
this game, but at least from the little
we've been given, it seems like a return
to form for the series, bringing back
The Legend of Zelda inspired mix of
combat, traversal, and puzzle solving
from the first two. Apparently, you'll
be able to play as any of the four
horsemen, and each has their own unique
abilities and weapons. The first two
Darksiders games are some of the best
Zelda-like games we ever got. There's a
huge amount of expectation for a fourth,
and it's unlikely they'll be able to
deliver on the hype of 16 years of
expectation. But as long as they're able
to make a game that's at least as good
as the first two, I will be satisfied.
What about you, though? Leave us a
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