Possibly setting the tone for 2026, January sees a steady flow of Japanese RPGs and longer gaps between other major new releases. There are far fewer games than last January, that’s for certain.
Things kick off with a console release of tinyBuild’s rooftop leaping post-apocalyptic camp builder I Am Future, along with eastasiasoft’s electrifying pixel art puzzler Gridz Keeper, and Kemco’s latest traditional RPG Hero Seekers, which will offer dungeon crawling, strategic party management and turn-based battles.
Then on 15th January there’s NiS America’s RPG The Legend of Heroes: Trails Beyond the Horizon, which boasts a mixture of real-time and turn-based combat, and a storyline led by three different protagonists. It’s also the first ‘big’ retail release of the year – things are looking very dry on that front, incidentally.
Focus’ MIO: Memories in Orbit comes to all formats on 20th January, including Xbox Game Pass. Playing as a nimble robot, it’s a case of exploring a forgotten and overgrown ark while battling machines gone rogue. The press release describes it as a Metroidvania, giving an idea of what to expect. Similar sounding is SPEAR, in which an NPC wields a makeshift weapon to battle glitches and save their own game.
A couple of horror games are due on PlayStation and Xbox formats. Apartment No 129 is based on a real-life event that involved two young girls performing satanic rituals, while The 9th Charnel is a dread-filled first-person psychological survival affair with a mysterious setting.
Over on the Switch 2, Animal Crossing: New Horizons gains a new edition that sees the online player count swell to 12, also adding mouse support – ideal for creating new decorations – and a megaphone to call for attention. The end of the month then sees the superhero workplace comedy Dispatch – which managed to make a few GOTY lists – on both Switches. There’s the deck-building roguelike Fairy Tail: Dungeons before these two, due at the start of the month.
Bandai Namco are presumably holding Code Vein II back to coincide with the first payday of the year. This vampire-filled surprise sequel has a new build system that involves sucking blood from enemies to gain new skills, all while trying to prevent the world from being destroyed.
Square-Enix’s Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade comes to Switch 2 and Xbox Series on 22nd January, including FF7R EPISODE INTERmission – a side story starring Yuffie Kisaragi. The Xbox version also includes the original FF VII as a pre-order bonus. Its arrival has been a long time coming, with the Switch 2 version particularly anticipated.
22nd January also sees the release of the J League and K League focused SEGA FOOTBALL CLUB CHAMPIONS, powered by the Football Manager engine and supporting crossplay across mobile, console and PC. Let’s hope it’s better than the most recent Football Manager entry.
A few indies are due around the same time, including the open-world mountain biking sim MAVRIX by Matt Jones, and the top-down shooter/music maker hybrid Look Mum No Computer – starring a YouTube tinkerer. We can doubtlessly expect our weekly dose of Arcade Archives and EGGCONSOLE retro re-releases. Those with a particular penchant for retro games may also want to look out for The Last Ninja Collection, which has a few bonus games such as IK+ and Bangkok Knights.