It was a weird year for Tokyo Game Show for its 30th anniversary. It was designed as the biggest event ever, the first to be five days in length, yet its last day was canceled due to an oncoming typhoon. It’s supposed to be representative of Japanese gaming, yet due to political tensions, mobile gaming was almost entirely absent as many Chinese developers who work on some of these titles were not in attendance. Meanwhile the presence of Grand Theft Auto VI in the fall release calendar meant that a lot of games either released before the show or have strategically positioned themselves as early 2027 releases, leaving a lighter showcase.

That being said, it doesn’t mean there was nothing to show at this year’s event. A few upcoming titles from major publishers and developers made a commanding statement on the showfloor, while a number of standout indie games made a strong impression as titles to watch in the coming year. Here’s a rundown of three of the top games we played at Tokyo Game Show 2026.

Mega Man: Dual Override

Beginning on the major publishers showcases at this year’s event, one of the most expansive booths at Tokyo Game Show belonged to Capcom, who found a fine balance between new upcoming titles and updates to highlighting a little of what is on the horizon for the company. One of those upcoming new games is Mega Man: Dual Override, the latest mainline 2D platformer in the series in spite of disavowing the tradition of numbered sequels for a subtitle that hints towards the game’s core gimmick.

Rather than limiting players to just Mega Man, players will also be able to play ever level as Proto Man, while the game replaces the typical ability to equip a defeated boss’ weapon with chips, that can be equipped before a stage to modify your abilities, alongside an override ability that allows you to use a more powerful attack after charging up a meter from other attacks. Chips were not included in our demo of the game as a result of being limited to just one stage, Twinkle Girl, an instant favorite thanks to her white-and-blue design that immediately contrasts Mega Man with an anime-like cuteness.

Her attacks match this aesthetic, once you reach the end of three stages, which is no easy ask. Even if the game’s name removes numbers to make the game accessible, it isn’t reducing difficulty for these players compared to prior entries. I honestly found the mid-boss of the stage, a robot with nearly-prophetic levels of movement, more challenging to the point of at times feeling a tad unfair.

That’s merely a balancing issue that can be fixed. Otherwise, the movement, speed to retry, and care taken in designing each level is everything you could want from a new game while stepping away from the insistence of some older titles to restrict themselves to the limitations of before. Where some recent Mega Man games have felt afraid to do anything new, this honors that old while stepping forward, and makes it worth a watch as it plans its Spring 2027 launch.

Persona 4 Revival

Perhaps it’s because of spending much of this year immersed in the world of Persona, playing both their games and attending multiple music concerts for their iconic soundtracks, or perhaps it’s because Persona 4 remains the only one of the three most prominent titles in the series I’ve yet to play. But Persona 4 Revival feels like a very polished and enticing remake of the series’ most beloved game.

In recent years as the wait for Persona 6 continues, Atlus have chosen both to make their own original RPG (Metaphor: ReFantazio) and work on remakes of beloved prior entries in the Persona series. Persona 3 Reload was a fun remake of the original, though did make some changes to the tone that I personally found weakened the impact of the core story. Persona 4 Revival feels like an attempt to both listen to the feedback from Reload and give extra polish to this experience, and it shows. Given the opportunity to jump straight into a dungeon and battle, these are mechanically identical but remain timeless, given a stylistic push with the improved hardware.

Where it shines is when we get to the narrative cutscenes of the demo. The game thematically digs deep into the insecurities of its characters to allow these characters to awaken what it means to be true to yourself (their persona), and witnessing Chie Satonaka’s scene praying on her insecurities on her confidence and self-worth play out really pushes this to the fore. Impressing most is the animation of this sequence, drilling into these emotions in a way that reflects back on the player. There’s a vigor to the scene that makes the old feel new again. And the new songs hit just as strongly. This remake could be something special, and far above prior efforts.

Mask It

If you had to edit the news, how would you do it? How would you do it if your goal was to bring people to read your article? You’d definitely want to check it over, make sure any edits were performed, ensure communication between editor and writer as you wade through the process without waiting for a response that could impact an article’s delivery, polish, or processing time. And you’d want it to be accurate. But what if that last point wasn’t a primary concern for you? 

Mask It points to the current crisis in misinformation and the rise of AI by encouraging anything for a click. Censor an article or its images as you please to create the most eye-catching version of a piece, even if such censorship suggests a lie over the truth. If it gets people talking, that’s good enough. The game wraps a story about the life of the news writer assigned to the task, but at its core it’s a commentary on how the news has evolved in our times. It’s a fascinating concept, though still early in development - the idea only was conceptualized initially as a Game Jam project at the start of the year, and still has a long time to go until release.

What was most exciting was that, for all this year’s TGS did lack in some areas as a result of the oncoming specter of GTA6 leaving a lineup of games that were either already released or long-from-completion, the games that did make their appearance offered a sense of variety and intrigue no matter what your interest. If you play RPGs, indie titles, platformers, there’s a lot on the horizon. Even if you don’t care about driving around American suburbia.