What videogames are you playing in 2026?

[Gradine]

I know I’m missing out but I never got into the console strategy RPGs. Something about the cartoony art style puts me right off (Likewise with jRPGs, though I also dislike traditional jRPG “stand in a row and pick the same moves from a dropdown menu over and over again” combat rather a lot). I’m sure my prejudices are decades out of date but nonetheless the very sight of a cutesy big-headed protagonist sends me into a fit of retching.

Are there any that have been ported to PC that have a more “realistic” art style that I might be able to tolerate? Or the gameplay is just so damn good I’ll be able to power through? Is Triangle Strategy unmissable?

Triangle Strategy, Tactics Ogre Reborn, and Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles are all available on steam and worth playing, in roughly that order (in particular for someone looking for grounded storytelling, if not graphical fidelity)

For an X-Com fan looking for a way to break into an otherwise inscrutable JRPG-style strategy games, you could do a lot worse than Valkyria Chronicles (1 and 4; the others can and should be skipped). They're definitely more realistic looking than the chibi sprites of the above games, but the aesthetic is anime, which can be a turnoff (still, they're much more grounded than you would expect just looking at them) and the gameplay is very reminiscent of modern X-Com.

 

[Kaodi]

After having played this game for over 750 hours my friend and I finally finished our playthrough. Because his character had romanced Lae'zel I decided to make the sacrifice and become illithid so that Orpheus could lead the githyanki to victory over Vlaakith. I did not have any romance because Shadowheart did not really start liking me until after that opportunity had passed.

 

[gban007]

Getting a bit more into LOTRO, as the toddlers get older giving me 30 minutes to an hour most evenings to play a bit. Not quite regular enough timing wise to be able to play with the teens though (oldest is nearly 20 ) which is a shame, as nice world to adventure through with them.
Gone through Rohan helping fight off Uruk hai and Dunlendings (with aid of some friendly Dunlendings), helped at battle of Helms Deep. Now gone through Pathd of the Dead to Gondor, after Aragorn made the passage less deadly, and caught up with Araborn fighting Orcs, Corsairs and Haradrim along the way, to help in retaking Pelargir, noting the undead army made that not too difficult

 

[MarkB]

Getting a bit more into LOTRO, as the toddlers get older giving me 30 minutes to an hour most evenings to play a bit. Not quite regular enough timing wise to be able to play with the teens though (oldest is nearly 20 ) which is a shame, as nice world to adventure through with them.
Gone through Rohan helping fight off Uruk hai and Dunlendings (with aid of some friendly Dunlendings), helped at battle of Helms Deep. Now gone through Pathd of the Dead to Gondor, after Aragorn made the passage less deadly, and caught up with Araborn fighting Orcs, Corsairs and Haradrim along the way, to help in retaking Pelargir, noting the undead army made that not too difficult

I played this a lot when it first came out, eventually lost interest somewhere in the Moria expansion. Was a lot of fun, I liked the concept that the Fellowship's journey through the wilds was as quiet as it was only because there were slews of roving adventuring types running around just over the horizon slaughtering every evil thing that moved.

My main character, Nono Underbog, was one of my favourite characters ever - a silver haired little old lady, matriarch of a tragically-killed clan of hobbits in the northern Shire, very sweet and kindly and also absolutely deadly with a bow.