I put together a recap video covering the best turn-based RPGs released in 2026 so far. I needed to get the channel back on track after missing a few updates, and that’s how this article list came together, something that should be genuinely useful for anyone looking to dive into a new adventure.
In the final section of the list, you’ll find two RPGs set to debut in the coming days. Technically, they’re the only two that haven’t launched yet, but they’re easily among the most anticipated releases of the year.
That said, there’s no denying that the start of the year has been absolutely explosive, there’s already a ton of high-quality, turn-based goodness to dig into, so let’s start.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails beyond the Horizon
- Developers: Nihon Falcom, PH3 GmbH
- Platforms: PC, PlayStation, Xbox
- Release date: 15 Jan, 2026
- Steam Page
I’ll admit this is a series I’m not very familiar with, so apologies for that, but it absolutely deserves its place among the best releases of this early stretch of the year.
Trails beyond the Horizon pushes the Trails storyline forward with another long-form JRPG built around lore, politics, and a big cast. It leans into the series’ usual strengths, which means slow burn setup, dense worldbuilding, and payoffs that land harder if you already know the setting.
This time, the backdrop is the world’s first space launch, with airships and fantasy tech still doing a lot of the heavy lifting.
The combat hook is the hybrid system. Field Battles play in real time, where you pressure enemies until they get stunned, then you can shift straight into Command Battles for the turn based layer.
Beyond the Horizon adds three big levers on top. Shard Commands tie into S Boosts and vary by character and holo core, so your burst options depend on how you build the team. Awakening lets certain characters spike power in Field Battles, including Van’s Grendel transformation. Z.O.C. slows enemies down hard, then boosts attack power and stun damage while you chain actions faster.
Escape from Ever After
- Developers: Sleepy Castle Studio, Wing-It! Creative
- Platforms: PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch
- Release date: 23 Jan, 2026
- Steam Page
Escape from Ever After takes the Paper Mario template and points it straight at workplace satire.
Flynt Buckler storms Tinder’s castle expecting a classic boss fight, then finds cubicles, coffee, and a corporate takeover. Ever After Inc. has figured out how to enter storybooks, strip mine them for resources, and turn fairytale characters into cheap labor. Flynt ends up working alongside his former nemesis because climbing the corporate ladder is the only way to sabotage the whole operation from the inside.
The best part is how hard it commits to “stories within stories.” One stretch can throw you into Lovecraftian horror with a noir murder mystery vibe, then pivot into a fairytale forest being bulldozed by villain versions of the Three Little Pigs.
The rules shift with the book you are in, so the game keeps changing its tone and set pieces without dropping the main thread.
Combat is snappy, turn-based, with timed action commands. Items, badges, and partners widen your options, and party members have their own skills you can equip and upgrade as you go, which helps the fights stay flexible when enemy gimmicks start stacking. Outside combat, the office angle stays mechanical too, with coworker sidequests and even office decoration tied to that climb.
It launched on January 23, 2026, on PC via Steam and consoles, and it’s sitting at an Overwhelmingly Positive user rating on Steam.
Front Mission 3: Remake
- Developers: MegaPixel Studio S.A.
- Platforms: PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch
- Release date: 30 Jan, 2026
- Steam Page
January marked the arrival of the third entry in a storied franchise that, up until that point, had been a Nintendo exclusive. I’m talking about Front Mission 3: Remake, which puts you in the role of Wanzer test pilot Kazuki Takemura alongside his friend Ryogo, then uses one early decision to split the campaign into two routes.
One path has Kazuki teaming up with his sister Alisa, the other pairs him with agent Emma Klamsky as she investigates the covert M.I.D.A.S. project, and both routes orbit the same conspiracy around secret weapons, corporate greed, and nationalist agendas. The story is set in Southeast Asia in 2112, during a cold war between major blocs with peacekeeping forces caught in the middle as the situation escalates.
Combat stays focused on turn-based squad battles built around Wanzers, where fights swing on positioning and how you kit out your machines.
This remake adds rebuilt visuals and animations, a reorchestrated soundtrack, camouflage customization for your Wanzers, and a Quick Combat mode that lets you jump straight into battles. A free demo is available, and the full release hit PC via Steam and GOG plus PlayStation 4 and 5 and Xbox One and Series X|S on January 30, 2026, after its Nintendo Switch launch on June 26, 2025.
Blightstone (E.A.)
- Developers: Unfinished Pixel
- Platforms: PC
- Release date: 20 Jan, 2026
- Steam Page
Blightstone hit Steam Early Access on January 20, 2026, from Unfinished Pixel with Kepler Ghost publishing alongside the developer.
This is a dark fantasy roguelite campaign where a party escorts the Earthglass Crystal to the Infernal Rift to bring down the demon overlord Korghul and shatter the Blightstone. Runs are procedural, and the game leans hard on the idea that failure still pushes you forward through new skills and longer-term upgrades.
The tactics layer is built around grid-free movement in fully turn-based fights, so angles and spacing matter without locking you into squares.
In Early Access, the game is already fully playable across three maps, with five biomes and more than 150 nodes, plus 38 enemies, two mini bosses, and three main bosses. Build variety comes from crystal gems you find mid run, crystal runes you pick at the start, and five hero classes with their own skill and item pools, with meta upgrades tied to the Continuum Forge.
I prepared an overview of the game here.
Wicked Seed
- Developers: Dead Right Games
- Platforms: PC
- Release date: 23 Jan, 2026
- Steam Page
Another promising RPG that I tried and loved is Wicked Seed. A modern-day horror RPG from Dead Right Games that leans on survival horror pressure while still keeping fights tactical.
You play as Ella, moving through foggy forests, underground tunnels, and the alleys of an evacuated city while she digs into her past and the sudden appearance of monsters. The game rewards going off route with hidden upgrades, side stories, puzzles, and gear that feeds straight into how your build functions.
Combat uses a hybrid loop that asks you to read patterns in real time with movement, blocks, parries, and dodges, then shift into turn-based attacks to cash in on positioning.
Flanks increase damage, precision timing can land counter hits mid-attack, and the loadout is vital since you shape your approach through weapons, armor, and accessories. It also goes hard on replay and completion structure.
There are over 150 optional challenges that award points for permanent unlocks like accessories, equipment parts, and costumes, plus higher difficulties that remix enemies and item placement, a built in randomizer, and New Game Plus for continued leveling. There is a free demo on Steam too.
MENACE (E.A.)
- Developers: Overhype Studios
- Platforms: PC
- Release date: 5 Feb, 2026
- Steam Page
MENACE is Overhype Studios taking the Battle Brothers mindset into sci-fi squad tactics. Early Access launched on February 5, 2026 on PC, with releases planned across Steam, GOG, Epic Games Store, and the Microsoft Store.
It drops you into the Wayback system, cut off from the Core Worlds, where pirate warlords, corporations, and fractured governments fight for control while an unknown threat starts spreading. You run a strike force of marines, mercenaries, and criminals from the TCRN Impetus, and the campaign keeps asking you which distress calls to answer and which fires to ignore, with faction relationships shifting based on those choices.
The structure is built around operations. An operation branches through multiple missions, so choices like clearing air defenses first or going for a hostage rescue can change what you can deploy later and how hard the next map gets.
Tactical fights lean on cover, flanking, suppression, and efficient weapon ranges, with the option to bring vehicles like tanks, walkers, troop carriers, and MLRS if you can afford the cost and the supplies. Squad leaders matter too. They have perk trees, promotions, and morale swings tied to what happens in battle, and the game is willing to take them away permanently when things go wrong.
Early Access is already framed as a full campaign loop with 50 procedurally generated mission types used to build operations across three biomes or planets, plus four enemy factions, with upgrades to your mobile HQ, black market gear, and a large pool of leaders to recruit.
Dragon Quest VII Reimagined
- Developers: Square Enix, HEXADRIVE Inc.
- Platforms: PC
- Release date: 5 Feb, 2026
- Steam Page
Dragon Quest VII Reimagined launched on February 5, 2026 on PC via Steam, with console versions listed for PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, and Xbox Series X|S.
It keeps the original hook of starting on Estard, the only known island in the world, then kicks the adventure off when you and your childhood friends find the Shrine of Mysteries and get thrown into the past.
From there, the loop becomes about restoring lands that were sealed away, using scattered stone fragments to open portals into lost eras, solve local problems, and bring those islands back into the present.
The big “Reimagined” changes are about flow and character building. The story is still told as a chain of vignettes with an overarching thread, but the main narrative is streamlined to be more accessible.
The combat was “widely modified” with new vocation advantages, faster battle options, and an auto battle feature. There is also a dual vocation system that lets characters level two vocations at once, which means you can mix abilities and spells across roles without waiting for a second full grind.
If you want a clean way to sample it for a recap, the Steam demo covers the opening through the Ballymolloy storyline, and the save carries over to the full game. It even comes with a small demo bonus outfit for Maribel.
Mewgenics
- Developers: Edmund McMillen, Tyler Glaiel
- Platforms: PC
- Release date: 10 Feb, 2026
- Steam Page
Mewgenics is a legacy roguelite built around a simple loop. You grow a household of cats, build a squad for the day, then send them into turn-based adventures for food, money, and gear. The long game is the bloodline. Cats come back with experience, scars, mutations, and weird traits you can pass down through breeding.
Before a run, you outfit cats with class collars with roles like Fighter, Tank, and Mage, with more classes beyond that. In combat, combos is a thing, and the environment is part of the puzzle. Mewgenics is packed with knobs to tweak too. It lists 1,000 plus abilities, with 75 per class, plus 900 plus items, so builds can swing hard based on what you draft and what your cats inherit.
You can keep a promising kitten for future breeding, or hand it off to NPCs to upgrade your house, which changes what you can do on later runs. If you want a clean headline detail for the recap, it aims for a 200-plus-hour main campaign, 10-plus classes, and 200-plus enemies and bosses.
Disciples: Domination
- Developers: Artefacts Studio
- Platforms: PC, PlayStation, Xbox
- Release date: 12 Feb, 2026
- Steam Page
Disciples: Domination picks up fifteen years after Disciples: Liberation, with Queen Avyanna ruling from Yllian while the realm starts to rot from the inside. The story leans on political pressure and personal doubt, with allies drifting away and an unknown force spreading strife across Nevendaar.
The campaign mixes real-time overworld travel with turn-based tactical battles on a grid. Fights lean on the series staples of strengths and weaknesses, then push harder on unit synergies plus faction abilities, with faster pacing and dynamic battle events. Your squad comes from five distinct factions, and the game expects you to recruit and upgrade units as the map opens up.
Decisions made from the capital shape faction reputation, which changes how other groups react as the story moves. Companions bring combat perks plus world skills that help on the adventure side. The Mountain Clans return as part of the wider conflict, with dwarves that can swing toward ally or problem depending on how Avyanna plays her hand.
It launched February 12, 2026 on PC, Steam and Steam macOS, Epic Games Store, Xbox on PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5.
Dead In Antares
- Developers: Ishtar Games
- Platforms: PC, PlayStation, Xbox
- Release date: 19 Feb, 2026
- Steam Page
Dead in Antares lands on PC via Steam on February 19, 2026, from Ishtar Games with Nacon publishing.
It opens with Earth dying and a crew of ten specialists getting swallowed by a wormhole, then crashing on Antares Prime with their ship in pieces. The core loop is turn-based survival management.
Every day is about food, water, exhaustion, and mental health, plus task assignments and energy use as you rebuild a camp by salvaging the wreckage into workstations and upgraded tech.
When the planet pushes back, combat switches to turn-based tactical battles, and each character has a unique Power Surge ultimate that can swing a fight when things go sideways.
The relationship system is a real mechanic. Bonds grow when two characters work together, thresholds unlock gameplay bonuses, and there are over 135 relationship dialogues to chase. Choices shape friendships, rivalries, and betrayals, with multiple endings on the line. There’s also a free demo on Steam.
Norse: Oath Of Blood
- Developers: Arctic Hazard
- Platforms: PC, PlayStation, Xbox
- Release date: 17 Feb, 2026
- Steam Page
Let’s wrap up this best of 2026 RPG list with a promising title ready to debut in the next few hours. Norse: Oath of Blood is a turn-based tactics game set in Viking Age Norway, developed by Arctic Hazard and published by Tripwire Presents, which I can’t wait to play.
It follows Gunnar, a young warrior forced into exile after his father, Jarl Gripr, is killed by Steinarr Far Spear. The story is built around rebuilding what was lost, gathering allies, and pushing toward revenge, with choices meant to shape relationships and alliances as the campaign moves forward.
The combat pitch is classic tactical skirmishing, where positioning, terrain, and unit synergy are pillars of the combat system. Each warrior brings a distinct tool, with their own skill set, gear, and upgrade paths.
The game features a strategy layer, which is represented by the settlement. You grow a camp into a stronghold by assigning villagers to jobs, managing resources, and upgrading buildings that unlock new units and better equipment. Scavenging and trading feed crafting, and upgrades to places like the smithy and armory are framed as direct combat power, since better gear changes how your squad survives raids and long operations.
The PC version is set for February 17, 2026, with console versions planned for spring 2026 on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.
My article ends here, did I miss something worth? Let me know by getting in touch with me on my social pages and Reddit channel. Have a great start to the week. Ciao
