August is usually when the release calendar catches its breath before the fall stampede, but 2026 didn’t get the memo. This month is stacked with returns and firsts: Metal Gear Solid 4 finally escapes the PS3 after 18 years, Elden Ring goes portable on Switch 2, Arc System Works gets the keys to the Marvel universe, and Game Freak ships what we believe is its biggest non-Pokémon game in decades. After a July headlined by Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced and set to close with Halo: Campaign Evolved, the momentum clearly isn’t slowing down. There’s also a strong undercard this month, from the Untitled Goose Game team’s new co-op experiment to a Lovecraftian survival horror sequel.
Personally, I’m planning to spend my month with Star Wars Zero Company and Beast of Reincarnation, though that depends entirely on how deep I still am in Grim Dawn: Fangs of Asterkarn and Halo: Campaign Evolved by the time August rolls around.
See FullCleared’s picks of the top games to play in August 2026 below.
Beast of Reincarnation
From Game Freak, the studio best known as the developer of Pokémon, comes Beast of Reincarnation, an action RPG that could not be further from catching cute monsters. Set in a blighted Japan in the year 4026, players take on the role of Emma the Sealer, who travels the ruined land with her canine companion Koo. The combat splits between them: Emma handles katana strikes, dodges, and parries in real time, while Koo’s abilities are triggered through a command menu that slows time, fueled by the points Emma banks with every successful parry. It’s an odd hybrid on paper, and it’s the closest thing here to a through line back to Pokémon, since Game Freak has said the relationship between humans and animals is what connects the two. Whether the studio can stick the landing outside its comfort zone is the big question, but we’re glad it’s swinging.
Beast of Reincarnation releases on August 4, 2026 for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC, and is available day one with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass.
Big Walk
House House, the Australian team behind Untitled Goose Game, is finally back with Big Walk. As the name suggests, it’s a cooperative online game about walking together across a big, strange landscape, with the twist being communication itself: proximity voice chat, walkie-talkies, and gestures are the tools you use to solve problems as a group. Voices fade with distance, echo down corridors, and muffle through walls, which turns simply staying in contact into part of the puzzle. Nobody expected the goose game folks to follow up with a heartfelt multiplayer hiking sim, which is exactly why we’re interested. If any studio can make simply talking to your friends the core mechanic, it’s this one.
Big Walk releases on August 4, 2026 for PlayStation 5, Switch 2, and PC, and arrives day one on PlayStation Plus Monthly Games.
Lies of P: Complete Edition (Switch 2)
Switch 2 owners who missed one of the best soulslikes of the past few years get their chance with Lies of P: Complete Edition. The package bundles the base game, a Belle Époque retelling of Pinocchio that turned out far better than that premise had any right to be, with the Overture expansion. Neowiz’s combat, weapon assembly system, and surprisingly strong story all made the original an easy recommendation, and having the whole thing portable is a legitimately appealing way to play it.
Lies of P: Complete Edition releases on August 5, 2026 (in the U.S.) for Switch 2.
MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls
Arguably the month’s biggest wild card, MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls hands the Marvel license to Arc System Works, the studio behind Guilty Gear Strive and Dragon Ball FighterZ. The result is a 4v4 tag fighter with the studio’s signature anime-styled visuals, launching with 20 characters split across five teams, including Spider-Man, Iron Man, Captain America, Doctor Doom, Ms. Marvel, and Storm. Fans have been asking for a spiritual successor to Marvel vs. Capcom for years, and while this isn’t that exactly, it might be something better: Marvel filtered through the best fighting game developer working today. If you want to try before you buy, the global open beta runs July 24 to July 26 on PS5 and PC. PlayStation is publishing, which explains the platform list.
MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls releases on August 6, 2026 for PlayStation 5 and PC.
Duskfade
If you grew up on Jak and Daxter or the original Ratchet & Clank, Duskfade is aimed squarely at you. Developed by Weird Beluga Studio and published by Fireshine Games, it’s a 3D action-platformer set in a clockpunk world trapped in eternal night. Players control Zirian, a young workshop apprentice who jumps, dashes, grapples, and grinds his way through realms shaped by the Master Clockmakers, accompanied by his mechanical Cuckoo, on a quest to save his sister. The story is rooted in the narrative designer’s own experience with grief, which gives this nostalgic throwback some real emotional weight underneath the colorful exterior.
Duskfade releases on August 13, 2026 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch 2, and PC.
Hell Let Loose: Vietnam
The hardcore platoon shooter trades hedgerows for jungle in Hell Let Loose: Vietnam, a standalone follow-up that moves the series’ large-scale, communication-driven warfare to the Vietnam War. Expect the same demanding structure that made the original a cult favorite: massive battles, officer roles, supply lines, and matches that reward coordination over aim. The setting shift brings new terrain, weapons, and asymmetry between forces. This is not a casual pick-up-and-play shooter, and that’s precisely the appeal for its audience.
Hell Let Loose: Vietnam releases on August 13, 2026 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.
The Sinking City 2
Frogwares returns to its Lovecraft-soaked universe with The Sinking City 2, a standalone story set in the flooded city of Arkham, rather than the original game’s Oakmont. The Ukrainian developer has been open about building this game under wartime conditions, which makes the project’s existence impressive on its own. Expect investigation elements to remain, but with combat, resource pressure, and creature encounters taking a much bigger role as the city literally rises and sinks around you.
The Sinking City 2 releases on August 18, 2026 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.
Mortal Shell II
The sleeper soulslike of 2020 gets a proper sequel in Mortal Shell II. The original’s hook was possession: instead of building a character, you inhabited the shells of fallen warriors, each with its own stats and playstyle, and hardening your body mid-combo replaced traditional blocking. The sequel keeps that but goes bigger in every direction, trading the first game’s tight, enclosed areas for an interconnected open world and shipping with eight playable Shells. The headline change is that Cold Symmetry has thrown out the stamina bar entirely, so attacking and dodging are no longer limited by a meter, leaving players free to focus on breaking enemy posture. The first game punched well above its small team’s weight, so there’s reason to believe the follow-up can hang with the genre’s heavyweights.
Mortal Shell II releases on August 20, 2026 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.
Star Wars Zero Company
XCOM fans, this is your Star Wars game. Star Wars Zero Company comes from Bit Reactor, a studio founded by veterans of Firaxis, in collaboration with Lucasfilm Games, and it brings squad-based, turn-based tactics to the Clone Wars era. Players lead Hawks, a former Republic officer, and a custom squad of operatives through the war’s shadowy edges, with permanent consequences shaping the roster. Turn-based tactics is a genre Star Wars has barely touched, and the pedigree behind this one is exactly right for the job. This is the game I’m most excited to get my hands on in August, being a massive tactics and Star Wars fan.
Star Wars Zero Company releases on August 27, 2026 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.
Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy
Asobo Studio returns to the world of A Plague Tale with Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy, which shifts the spotlight from Amicia and Hugo to Sophia, the pirate who stole scenes throughout Requiem. Set 15 years before the events of the original game, it follows a younger Sophia to Minotaur’s Island, where her journey becomes connected to an ancient Minoan mystery. Rather than simply repeating the series’ stealth-heavy formula, Resonance places greater emphasis on direct combat, exploration, and environmental puzzles. The Plague Tale games have quietly been some of the best narrative action titles of the past several years, so a prequel starring one of the series’ most charismatic characters is welcome news.
Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy releases on August 27, 2026 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.
Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol.2
This is the one long-suffering fans have been waiting for. Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol.2 finally frees Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots from the PS3, where it has been trapped since 2008, marking the first time the game has ever been playable on other hardware. The collection also includes Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker in its HD Collection form, with online co-op for up to four players and competitive multiplayer for up to six, plus the Game Boy Color cult classic Metal Gear: Ghost Babel as a bonus, along with screenplay books, master books, and a digital soundtrack. Vol.2 has fewer games than the first collection, but MGS4 alone carries the package.
Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol.2 releases on August 27, 2026 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch 2, Switch, and PC.
Elden Ring Tarnished Edition
Closing out the month is Elden Ring Tarnished Edition, which brings the full Elden Ring experience, including the Shadow of the Erdtree expansion, to Switch 2, along with new armor and the ability to customize Torrent’s appearance. The idea of playing one of the best games of the decade on a handheld still feels slightly absurd, and after how much time we spent in this universe through Elden Ring Nightreign and its DLC, we don’t need much convincing to go back to the Lands Between. The only question is how it runs, and that answer arrives August 28.
Elden Ring Tarnished Edition releases on August 28, 2026 for Switch 2.
