Over the holiday season, we’re republishing some of the best articles from Nintendo Life writers and contributors from2025. This article was originally published in October. Enjoy!
In the magazine business, the back page is where you’d find all the weird goofs that we couldn’t fit in anywhere else. Some may call it “filler”; we prefer “a whole page to make terrible jokes that are tangentially related to the content of the mag”.
The new year is here, and with it comes the promise of video games. After a slow and steady start, native Switch 2 releases are coming in fast and there’s loads to look forward to in 2026 already – and that’s not counting any inevitable surprises that crop up in the next 12 months.
The first two games of the year from Nintendo see a return for an old favourite with Animal Crossing: New Horizons, followed by Mario Tennis Fever. But Capcom is bringing one of the year’s biggest multiplatform games to Switch 2 day-and-date with other platforms, and we’re very excited to see Resident Evil return at the end of February.
Here we go. The picks of mine which made it into the advent calendar weren’t embarrassing enough, so now I get to flick a few extras at you like discarded bits of liquorice I’ve found down the back of the sofa. Open wide.
Good news, everyone! No need to bother with all that GOTY rigmarole next year, as it’s already wrapped and bagged. Commiserations to the losers, and congratulations to Rhythm Heaven Groove! Catch you all again in ’27…
Okay, okay. That’s a little premature, but the fact that we’re getting a brand new Rhythm Heaven/Paradise game puts 2026 ahead of every year since 2016 (which brought us Megamix on 3DS), so anything else on the calendar is just gravy, really.
2026 is a huge year for Persona, with the series celebrating its 30th anniversary. If you’ve yet to catch up on the series, now is the best time to do so. Beyond the standard mainline games, Persona has seen spin-offs here and there, but Persona 5, in particular, has seen a suite of them.
Persona 5 Strikers from Omega Force is actually set after the events of Persona 5, and the recently released Persona 5: The Phantom X brings many new characters into the fold. However, the most interesting spin-off is arguably Persona 5 Tactica, a strategy-based spin-off that is similar to XCOM. If you’ve yet to check out this game, Best Buy has a great deal to pick up a copy for only $10.
Persona 5 Tactica for $9.99
Persona 5 Tactica falls in line with the story of Persona 5, with the game actually taking place during the base game. One day, the party is transported away to an alternate reality called a Kingdom, and these worlds are where Tactica takes place. DLC was also made available for Persona 5 Tactica, in the form of Repaint Your Heart, which brought back familiar faces Goro Akechi and Kasumi Yoshizawa.
In each Kingdom, you control up to three characters and move them around a grid-based map to take down enemies. Many of Persona 5’s unique combat mechanics are implemented here in familiar ways, such as the 1 More mechanic when attacking an enemy and knocking them to the ground.
Noah Hunter is a freelance writer and reviewer with a passion for games and technology. He co-founded Final Weapon, an outlet focused on nonsense-free Japanese gaming (in 2019) and has contributed to various publishers writing about the medium.
Sony has announced the PlayStation Plus monthly games for January 2026, and the new year kicks off with Need for Speed Unbound, Disney Epic Mickey: Rebrushed, and Core Keeper.
As detailed by PlayStation.Blog, these three games will be available to all PlayStation Plus members from January 6 until February 2.
This is also a great time to remind PlayStation Plus members that they also have until January 5 to add December’s games to their library, which include Lego Horizon Adventures, Killing Floor 3, The Outlast Trials, Synduality Echo of Ada, and Neon White.
2022’s Need for Speed Unbound leads the pack on PS5 and will give racers a chance to try out the latest entry in the beloved franchise. Unbound has separate single and multiplayer campaigns and encourages players to “race against time, outsmart the cops, and take on weekly qualifiers to reach The Grand, Lakeshore’s ultimate street racing challenge.”
In our Need for Speed Unbound review, we said it “hasn’t strayed very far from the fundamentals of 2019’s Heat, but its bold new animated style impresses.”
Disney Epic Mickey: Rebrushed is up next on PS4 and PS5, and it’s a gorgeous remake of the 2010 title that first appeared on Nintendo Wii. In this 3D platformer, players become Mickey Mouse and venture to the Wasteland, a realm of forgotten Disney characters. And yes, you do get to encounter Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, who was Walt Disney’s first big character before Mickey.
In my preview of Disney Epic Mickey: Rebrushed, I said, “what impressed me the most about Disney Epic Mickey: Rebrushed is how much it looks and, perhaps most importantly, feels like a 2024 game.”
Rounding out the bunch is Core Keeper on PS4 and PS5, a 1-8 player mining sandbox adventure where you can “harvest relics and resources, craft advanced tools, build your base, and explore a dynamically evolving world waiting to be unearthed.”
Core Keeper is getting a big Void & Voltage Update (and a Switch 2 release!) on January 28, 2026, so this is a great time to jump aboard. The update includes a new biome called Breaker’s Reach, a new boss named S.A.H.A.B.A.R., an Advanced Automation Table, and much more.
Just your very presence makes everyone happy, happy… happy?
Over the holiday season, we’re republishing some of the best articles from Nintendo Life writers and contributors from2025. This article was originally published in August. Enjoy!
Editor’s note. Spoilers for a 20-year-old game inbound…
Enjoy hours of electric, adrenaline-pumping racing action, embark on an epic journey through a realm of forgotten Disney characters and explore a long-forgotten cavern teeming with untold secrets with the PlayStation Plus Monthly Games for January 2026. Need For Speed Unbound, Disney Epic Mickey: Rebrushed and Core Keeper will be available to PlayStation Plus members from Tuesday January 6 until Monday February 2*.
Let’s take a closer look at each of the games.
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Need For Speed Unbound | PS5
Start at the bottom, race to the top in the latest entry in the iconic Need for Speed franchise. With separate single and multiplayer campaigns, this latest edition in the Need for Speed franchise from Criterion Games delivers hours of electric, adrenaline-pumping racing action. Race against time, outsmart the cops, and take on weekly qualifiers to reach The Grand, Lakeshore’s ultimate street racing challenge. Pack your garage with precision-tuned, custom rides and light up the streets with your style, exclusive fits, and a vibrant global soundtrack that bumps in every corner of the world.
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Disney Epic Mickey: Rebrushed | PS4, PS5
Play as Mickey Mouse and embark on an epic journey through Wasteland, a realm of forgotten Disney characters. Disney Epic Mickey: Rebrushed brings the magic of Disney to life in a vibrant 3D platformer. This beautiful remake sends Mickey into a fantastical world where you use paint and thinner to shape your adventure and the fate of this alternate world. Every stroke of your magic brush matters! Use paint to restore beauty and harmony or thinner to alter your environment and uncover hidden secrets. Encounter iconic characters like Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, Walt Disney’s first creation. Collect virtual Disney pins and tackle creative challenges while exploring classic platforming levels inspired by animated films and shorts.
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Core Keeper | PS4, PS5
Awaken as an explorer in a long-forgotten cavern teeming with untold secrets. In this award-winning, 1-8 player mining sandbox adventure, your choices shape an epic journey. Harvest relics and resources, craft advanced tools, build your base, and explore a dynamically evolving world waiting to be unearthed. Level up your skills, defeat legendary Titans, and unveil the power of the Core. Grow your garden, fish in mysterious waters, master a vast array of recipes, raise and care for animals, encounter the Cavelings, and carve out your own unique world in an enchanting underground adventure.
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Last chance to add December’s PlayStation Plus Monthly Games to your library
PlayStation Plus members have until Monday January 5 to add Lego Horizon Adventures, Killing Floor 3, The Outlast Trials, Synduality Echo of Ada and Neon White to their game library.
*PlayStation Plus Game Catalog lineup may differ in certain regions. Please check the PlayStation Store on launch day for your region’s lineup.
I love browsing the eShop, and the clicky sounds as you scroll across it.
The pleasing crispness of the chick! sound goes so well with the Joy-Con button feel. There’s that camera shutter snap! if you scroll across a game’s gallery in quick succession, and on Switch 2 there’s a thumb-cheek pop! when you hover over a 2-wide box. Genuinely, big fan.
