The PS5/Xbox Series X/S generation has seen a surge in high-quality AAA action RPGs compared to previous generations. Action RPGs are the modern-day equivalent of the seventh generation’s action adventure titles in terms of popularity, blending cinematic gameplay with deep, branching narrative (or vice versa).
While the first half of 2026 was painfully vacant, the second half of the year is squashed with blockbuster action RPGs that should entice any and every fan of the genre. For newcomers and veterans alike, below is our list of the top 5 new action RPGs one should play in 2026.
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The Blood of Dawnwalker
- Release Date: September 3, 2026
- Platforms: PC (Steam), PS5, Xbox Series X/S (Xbox Play Anywhere)
- Publisher: Bandai Namco Entertainment
The Blood of Dawnwalker is an ambitious open world RPG from Rebel Wolves, a newly formed independent studio comprised of former The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077 developers. It’s a dark fantasy vampire RPG with a unique time-management system that adds more weight to players’ every action or inaction.
In terms of combat, The Blood of Dawnwalker offers the best of both worlds, allowing players to control Coen, a vampire by night and human by day. Coen is on a quest to take down vampire lords in the fictionalized countryside of 14th-century Europe and protect his family.
During the day, he can use melee weapons such as swords to slay enemies. Whereas at night, he gains access to a suite of traversal and combat vampiric abilities that completely alter the flow of gameplay. Additionally, Coen can turn into a wolf, which the developer Rebel Wolves has confirmed is a homag to one of Count Dracula’s shapeshifting powers in Bram Stoker’s original novel.
Phantom Blade Zero
- Release Date: October 28, 2026
- Platforms: PC (Steam, Epic Store), PS5
- Publisher: S-Game
Since its reveal at PlayStation Showcase in 2023, Phantom Blade Zero has garnered players’ undivided attention for its sharp visuals, unrelentlessly fast combat, and refreshing “kungfupunk” Wuxian setting. The long wait is almost over, as the game’s much-awaited release date draws near.
Phantom Blade Zero’s story follows an elite assassin, Soul, who’s on a quest for vengeance and answers after being wrongly framed for the death of his master. Soul’s journey takes him through a bleak, semi-open world drenched in rain and blood, as he faces former comrades and unravels unsettling conspiracies in the sixty-six days he has left to live.
Despite a strong emphasis on narrative, Phantom Blade Zero is an action game at heart with over-the-top combat sequences and boss encounters. It features over thirty unique primary weapons from long swords to daggers for Soul to wield alongside twenty unconventional Phantom Edges in the secondary slot that include cannons, flamethrowers, axes, etc.
Nioh 3
- Release Date: February 6, 2026
- Platforms: PC (Steam), PS5
- Publisher: Koei Tecmo
Nioh 3 is the most expansive game in Team Ninja’s soulslike series to date. Unlike Nioh 1&2, it features numerous open-field areas brimming with optional enemy encampments and boss battles. It’s a sequel that doubles down on gameplay with more loot to acquire and builds to craft.
In Nioh 3, players can simultaneously build and switch between two character builds: Samurai and Ninja. Each offers unique gameplay experiences and is beneficial in different combat encounters, and switching between them is greatly encouraged in the game’s most tedious encounters.
Despite all these new additions and changes, Nioh 3 is still a pretty straightforward sequel with similarly designed enemy encounters and story beats sprinkled with whimsical cutscenes like the previous games in the series.
It’s also the only game in this list that is currently available to play. Players looking to learn about the game might want to check out our Nioh 3 impressions after spending 50 hours with the game.
Beast of Reincarnation
- Release Date: August 4, 2026
- Platforms: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S (Xbox Game Pass, Xbox Play Anywhere)
- Publisher: Game Freak
Beast of Reincarnation is a rare “one-person, one-dog” action RPG from Game Freak, the creator of Pokémon. It takes place in the ever-shifting wilderness of post-apocalyptic Japan afflicted by a mysterious plant corruption.
Players take on the role of Emma, the game’s amnesic protagonist with the ability to fuse with plants and manipulate her hair to traverse various terrains. Joining her is a wolf-like dog Koo, who’s a malefact, a dangerous creation of the corruption. Together they journey across this post-apocalyptic world to hunt down other malefacts and cleanse the corruption.
Beast of Reincarnation features a methodical combat system that emphasises parrying enemy attacks. Koo is essential to battle, and Emma can use him to unleash skills via a command menu to deal devastating attacks or inflict buffs or debuffs.
Control Resonant
- Release Date: September 24, 2026
- Platforms: PC (Steam, Epic Store), PS5, Xbox Series X/S (Xbox Play Anywhere)
- Publisher: Remedy Entertainment
Control Resonant is a standalone sequel to 2019’s Control. Unlike the first game, Dylan Faden is the game’s protagonist who wields a unique shape-shifting melee weapon called The Aberrant. This isn’t just Remedy’s first melee-focused game (that plays much like Devil May Cry and Bayonetta) but also its first RPG.
Control Resonant breaks free from the brutalist confines of the Oldest House to expand into the warped, open-ended streets of Manhattan. While The Oldest House is still an explorable space, much of the game takes place outside it.
Since it’s an RPG, players can expect more nuanced buildcrafting, an expansive skill tree, and weapon shapes for the Aberrant. Control Resonant also puts much emphasis on boss battles. These are visually frightening multi-phase encounters with unique Resonants, defeating which unlocks new powers for Dylan.
While Remedy insists it’s not mandatory to play Control beforehand, fans of that game should expect to see plenty of references and throwbacks to the game. It goes without saying, but familiar faces such as Dr. Darling and Control 1’s protagonist Jesse Faden also make an appearance in Control Resonant.
That sums up our top 5 new Action RPGs to play in 2026. While these are all high-profile games, all four upcoming releases are fairly squashed together with only a few weeks (days in some cases) of downtime between them.
For fans of cozy RPG titles, we recently curated a list of the top 5 new Cozy Games to play in 2026 that might be worth checking out.
