Want to check out some recent games from 2025 and 2026 that may have slipped by? It happens all the time when big games come out. Players can often go for the big new shiny AAA experience and ignore anything smaller for various reasons. The price might be too high initially, it might be part of a series they haven't played before, or the game might look scary.
10 Great Game Critics Barely Reviewed
Underrated doesn't even begin to describe these incredible indie games that have barely received any reviews.
Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist and The Legend of Heroes: Trails Beyond the Horizon are two fairly new games that can stand next to the biggest games in the industry. They're not perfect action games, but they're a lot of fun alongside these other choices.
Rearrange the cases in the correct US release order.
Start
Rearrange the cases in the correct US release order.
Light (5)Medium (7)Hard (10)
Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound
Two souls, one body
Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound is a NES-style 2D action platformer Ninja Gaiden game with a few twists to make it feel more modern. Players will start with Kenji, who is a fellow ninja within the Hayabusa clan. Then there is Kumori, a female ninja and rival of the Dragon Ninja clan. After a chance occurs, the two characters merge and share a body. When players want, they can switch between the two with each character having multiple specialties, such as Kenji being better at close range, while Kumori is better at range.
Players can collect items and then purchase upgrades from shops, and there is a world map that contains mission information with some non-linear progression. The action and platforming are top notch, the graphics are a pixel fan's dream, and it has some great assistive features to make it more accessible to a wider audience. Ninja Gaiden 4 may have been the big return for the series in 2025, but ninja fans shouldn't ignore Ninja Gaiden: Rageboundbecause it makes many things better.
Ender Magnolia: Bloom In The Mist
A Metroidvania Persona
Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist is a 2D Metroidvania with RPG elements. Players will take on the role of Lilac, who suffers from amnesia. She has the power to bond entities known as Homunculi to her person, which in turn allows players to use them for combat or exploration purposes. It's kind of like getting Personas in Persona series, except in an action game.
10 Brilliant Games We Should Never Have Ignored
Indie games get ignored all the time, even when they get good reviews, but these games are too good and should never have joined that club.
Players can learn to tackle surfaces or air dashes, for example, and each new power-up will open up the map in multiple ways, as there's some non-linear exploration involved. Some homunculi have close range attacks while others can be shot from afar. Most of them can be upgraded to improve or unlock new attacks in a simple but important upgrade loop. Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mistlike the best Metroidvania games out there, manages to tell an atmospheric story that builds its world through interactions and stunning visuals.
Absolutely
A Brawler With a Roguelike Twist
Absolutely is an old fashioned beat 'em up with a roguelike framework. Players can choose to play two heroes at the start, but as they progress, more will be unlocked. Galandra has a large sword and is gifted in some magical abilities, while Karl is short and excels in his fists and shooting games. Each unlocked character has basic attacks and skills that need time to recharge through various gauges. Players can get temporary upgrades to improve their powers on runs, along with permanent boosts in the hub world.
Unlike many roguelikes, Absolutely has less randomization on maps, as players will retread territory every time they restart, but there is a cool feature to keep things interesting. Players can make branching decisions on runs, leading to different locations each time, sort of like Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow Over Mystarawhich could have inspired Absolutelybecause it's one of the best brawls of all time. It's a small thing to make runs more unique, but what should really be highlighted are the striking hand-drawn visuals.
The Legend Of Heroes: Trails Beyond The Horizon
The best of both RPG worlds
The overall Track series are hard to get into, because the names are very long and it's hard to know which ones directly connect to others. The Legend of Heroes: Trails Beyond the Horizon is the latest game in the series, and it is a sequel to another The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak 2which can prevent newbies from jumping in. That said, it does an admirable job of getting beginners up to speed, and it has some cool RPG design choices. First, when jumping into dungeons, players can determine their routes with a sort of map that divides the rooms.
Top 10 crowd-pleasing games of all time, ranked
If there's one thing almost all players seem to agree on, it's that these games are quality titles with very few flaws.
Players can then explore larger spaces where enemies roam in real-time, which players can engage in action combat. Players can decide to slow down the pace and have turn-based combat instead, making it a very flexible combat system. With tons of characters, gear, and abilities, there are many deep progression methods within The Legend of Heroes: Trails Beyond the Horizon to make the game rewarding. It may be scary, but there's never been a better time to check out this series.
BlazBlue Entropy Effect
From Fighter to Roguelike
BlazBlue Entropy Effect is a 2D action roguelike extracted from the fighting game series BlazBlue. The game is basically a simulation where players can choose an avatar from among several and unlock others along the way. There are tons of iconic characters to choose from, each with distinctive weapons and powers. Ragna has a large sword and is slow but powerful, while Noel is more agile with his incredibly large weapons.
There are also guest characters like the hero from Dead cells. Regardless of who players choose, maps will be randomized each time and will be filled with monsters and temporary upgrades, ranging from new powers to stat boosts. Make it as far as possible, die and repeat. The action is as fluid as the main fighting games, and it's visually appealing too. Besides, you don't need to know anything about BlazBlue before you play BlazBlue Entropy Effectso go ahead and give this 2D roguelike a try.
The 10 Most Original Indie Games of All Time, Ranked
From word puzzles to ball shooting games, these indie ideas are crazy and completely original, even for the indie game market.
