The best new video games of February 2026

If you haven’t noticed, it’s been a ridiculously busy February for new games. The month started off strong out the gate with Nioh 3 and Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined, but things really spiraled out of control in the second week of the month. We got new Yakuza, Mario, God of War, Rayman, and High on Life games all within a five-day span — and that was barely scratching the surface. Breakout indies like Mewgenics and Relooted competed for players attention, while niche games like Tokyo Scramble and Crisol: Theater of Idols tried to nab a bit of attention in the cracks.

It’s too much for any backlog to handle. Even if you plan to spend a full weekend doing nothing but gaming, you’d still only get through a fraction of the games released this month. So let us help. Here’s a roundup of what our critics had to say about February’s standout games, organized not by genre or release date, but by incredibly niche categories. May it help you determine what to play this weekend.

If you love to parry: Nioh 3

Team Ninja’s latest Soulslike is arguably the first truly great AAA game of 2026 so far. It’s a brutal take on Elden Ring, applying the bloody basics of the Nioh series to a more open-world game with an emphasis on freeform exploration. In his review for Polygon, Ford James praised Team Ninja for its ability to put its own spin on the Soulslike formula: “Team Ninja’s third entry to the series is a more accessible open-world Souls game that, at least combat-wise, has more in common with Sekiro than anything else, and is simultaneously a great entry point to the series.”

If you hate to parry: Romeo is a Dead Man

It doesn’t really matter if a Suda51 game is good or bad: You have to check it out either way. The eccentric developer behind No More Heroes always tends to serve up some kind of genre-pushing action game whenever he steps up to bat, and Romeo is a Dead Man is certainly no different. It’s a balls-to-the-walls blitz of blood and creativity that’s hard to sum up in a blurb. (There’s hack-and-slash action, zombie farming, comic book interludes, and more.) I’ll let Marloes Valentina Stella’s review do the talking: “When this game gets weird, it really gets weird — by the end, you’ll consider it perfectly normal to chat with your own bomber jacket while fondling creepy puppets in an abandoned asylum.”

If you’re young or young-at-heart: Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined

Dragon Quest 7 Reimagained is a remake that will catch you off guard if you’re not paying attention to its title. It’s not a 1:1 remaster of Square Enix’s classic RPG; it completely transforms it into something new. This more kid-friendly take on the notoriously long Dragon Quest 7 tones down the length and difficulty while making it look like an animated movie. “That effort makes Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined a call to action,” Mike McWhertor wrote in his review. “With an infectious enthusiasm, the game beckons a new generation of players to find their inner hero, to save the world through the eyes of those who long for adventure and aspire to make their own destiny.”

If you miss Newgrounds: Mewgenics

Passion projects don’t get much more unhinged than this. A roguelike over a decade in the making, Mewgenics finds Edmund McMillen and Tyler Glaiel applying the crude humor and deep secrets of The Binding of Isaac into a cat-breeding tactics game that’s hard to put down. “It’s a true feat for a game to walk the line between juvenile and complex, and Mewgenics does it deftly,” Deven McClure writes in her review, praising the gonzo project for its seemingly bottomless depth.

If you just want to play ball: Mario Tennis Fever

The Mario sports series has been in a bit of a lull over the last decade, but Mario Tennis Fever serves up something worthwhile. While its Adventure Mode is a major letdown, rallying has never felt more satisfying thanks to more strategic play and the addition of game-changing Fever Rackets. “Mario Tennis Fever is just a superb tennis game,” Oli Welsh wrote in his review. “It’s riotous without being out of control, easy to pick up without being shallow, devious without being unfair.” So long as you don’t go into it expecting a deep story mode, you’ll find a solid sports game that gets surprisingly competitive.

If you’re a Tim Robinson stan: High on Life 2

The first High on Life game was a bit of an acquired taste. It was very much a product of Rick and Morty co-creator Justin Roiland, bringing his brand of bumbling humor to a Metroid Prime-like shooter. Roiland is no longer associated with developer Squanch Games, and High on Life 2 is ultimately better for it. “High on Life 2 is at its best when it’s moving away from Rick and Morty and moving towards Ratchet and Clank,” I wrote in my review, praising its flurry of wildly creative setpieces and fast-paced action. Plus, Tim Robinson reprises his role as Creature for the sequel. Don’t ya love it?

If you love orphans: Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties

For my money, Yakuza 3 is one of the best games in the Yakuza series. What other game has you spending hours taking care of kids at an orphanage before you can start pummeling bad guys? Developer Ryu Ga Gotoku brings us back to Kiryu’s most earnest adventure with Yakuza Kiwami 3, a polarizing remake that makes a lot of changes to the original. “That awkward revision project keeps Yakuza Kiwami 3 from matching the series’ highs,” Jen Glennon writes in her review, “but it’s still an enjoyable romp, in no small part thanks to its truly heinous group of villains.”

If you hate orphans: Reanimal

For Reanimal, developer Tarsier Studios took everything it learned about creating small-scale horror with Little Nightmares and turned it up a notch. The atmospheric game about a group of orphans navigating a creepy world is terrifying, even in its quietest moments. “I’m not sure how grateful I am to have been inflicted with claustrophobia, acrophobia, thalassophobia, automatonophobia, and a few other phobias,” writes Marloes Valentina Stella in her review, “but the profound mixture of horror, awe, and sadness I felt by the end of this cinematographic masterpiece makes it worth the struggle.”

If you want to stick it to the man, man: Hermit and Pig

Hermit and Pig has the kind of one-line pitch that immediately makes you want to play it: It’s an RPG about an old man and his truffle-sniffing pig. Inspired by Earthbound, the indie gem from Heavy Lunch Studio mixes wacky combat with surprisingly brainy writing, as the duo embark on a quest to save a town from an evil corporation. “Hermit and Pig stands out for not making the easy target its focus,” Josh Broadwell writes in his review. “‘Corpo bad,’ yes, but the real standout message is the quiet one about how everyone, even the strange anxious man in the woods, has something to give and can help in small ways. Maybe it won’t fix the problem. Maybe it won’t even work. But it’s something.”

If you crave justice: Relooted

If you only play one game this month, make it Relooted. The stylish heist game doesn’t just offer thoughtful puzzle design and satisfying 2D parkour; it’s also a great history lesson. The game centers around a group of righteous rebels who are out to reclaim stolen African artifacts from rich collectors, museums, and other Western institutions. It’s a sci-fi story, but one rooted in a very real world crisis. “In some ways, Relooted serves as a power fantasy for those who want to liberate the British Museum’s archives, but can’t,” Austin Manchester writes in his review. With over 60 real-world artifacts to heist, Relooted offers a special kind of digital catharsis that we’ve never seen in a game before.