Even though age limits free time, I’ve always believed that, as much as possible, we should reconnect with the release of responsibilities that summer brought during our youth.

Hobbies play a fundamental role in maintaining that small but important aspect of adult life we ​​call sanity, so finding a specific period where video games take center stage sounds incredibly encouraging.

You might not be able to dedicate 12 hours a day to The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim on your Xbox 360 as you used to, but you can, by choosing wisely, enjoy a series of adventures that will help you make the most of your pseudo-vacations.

Therefore, if you’re looking for something to fill your spare hours with that doesn’t involve completing a battle pass or doing manual labor, I invite you to enjoy these ten best action games you need to play this summer.

10

It Comes in Waves

Surviving Grief

My first recommendation is, to say the least, daring, as it includes a game that lasts roughly half an hour and has virtually no replay value, but I have my reasons for choosing It Comes in Waves.

Over the years, I’ve noticed the difficulties players have finishing games due to their length or how much they demand in terms of narrative and gameplay attention, but this game goes in the opposite direction.

It works like a classic third-person shooter where you navigate an arid landscape, searching for water to survive, bullets to fire, and other scavengers to defeat, because the only thing that matters is reaching the end of the desert.

What happens in between is interesting because of how the scarcity and unexpected dangers make you feel, but what you see at the end is what makes It Comes in Waves worthwhile. It’s short, fun, and leaves you with a lot to think about, so I’m advocating it as a great way to kick off the summer.

9

Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii

Memories and Treasures Lost

Unbridled charisma is often what a video game needs to truly capture your heart, and when you have the backing of an entire franchise, it’s impossible not to see Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii as an infallible acquisition.

Unless you haven’t played any games in the franchise, in which case I’d recommend skipping to the next entry in this article because you shouldn’t enter the series through this installment, it’s a captivating spin-off thanks to all the content and fun it offers for long-time followers of its craziness.

Story-wise, it adds less to the universe and characters involved in the campaign than I’d like, yet since the warm season is also about switching off, every punch, naval battle, and subplot feels incredibly fun when you don’t expect more from the game than it delivers.

Honolulu is a magnificent setting, seeing Majima is always glorious, and the chaos is at an all-time high, so Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is the kind of title that feels even more fitting in the summer.

8

Devil May Cry

Removing the Classics from the Backlog

Summer is among the best periods to clear out that massive backlog of video games you’ve been accumulating for years, and I’m sure the first Devil May Cry is among them.

As the hack-and-slash genre has evolved, people have steered clear of this original masterpiece because of its fixed camera angles, first-person levels, and complex map design, but they’re missing out on a truly impressive experience.

If you make the necessary concessions given the era, it’s easy to appreciate the marvel that Capcom achieved in a time when nothing was written, giving the game sensational combat, epic bosses, and a level of gameplay stylization virtually unprecedented.

Learning all the moves and combos, and then combining them with firearms to create truly destructive dances, is a timeless pleasure, which is why Devil May Cry remains one of the best action games of all time.

7

Romeo is a Dead Man

Eccentric and Bloody

Whether you’ve already played a Goichi Suda game or haven’t yet had the intoxicating pleasure of doing so, Romeo is a Dead Man is one of 2026’s underrated gems that you can’t afford to miss for another second.

It’s certainly not a title for everyone because it combines so many narrative tropes, visual styles, and gameplay systems that it will literally and metaphorically blow your mind in a matter of minutes, though it becomes an unforgettable experience if it’s right for you.

This reinterpretation of the classic Romeo and Juliet fable, both as a hack-and-slash and a third-person shooter, works perfectly, mainly due to how it takes advantage of its charisma, satirizes the story, subverts expectations, and breaks the fourth wall, all at every turn.

The various melee and ranged weapons are satisfying, the enemies demand technique and strategy, the bosses are a spectacle, the soundtrack and particle effects are immersive… Romeo is a Dead Man is delirious, and that’s where its fun lies.

6

Ghostwire: Tokyo

What’s Happening in Shibuya?!

From a young age, partly due to growing up watching Dragon Ball and Naruto, the idea of ​​being able to make hand seals and gestures capable of producing magic fascinated me; a dream that became a reality with Ghostwire: Tokyo.

Although the part about an entire town disappearing and being replaced by terrifying demons and magical cats wasn’t part of my expectations, the truth is that the game combines gameplay elements from many genres with a lot of personality.

From battling yokai with elemental magic to exploring the now dystopian Shibuya, full of charming side quests, secrets, and many rewards, it’s the kind of restrained open world that, due to its specific size and high density, invites you to see everything down to the last pixel.

Combining DOOM’s glory kills, Jujutsu Kaisen’s aesthetics, and Dishonored’s parkour and stealth mechanics produces a glorious result, so much so that you’ll want to kill every demon in existence, and when you succeed, you’ll want to do it again.

5

Furi

A Boss Rush for Posterity

The adrenaline rush of defeating a great video game boss is virtually unparalleled in the interactive entertainment industry, and when they’re as high-quality as those in Furi, a title made for and by these epic battles, the feeling is even more intense.

Because it’s a boss rush, it’s the kind of experience that goes straight for the jugular: no exploration, no levels, and no weapon types. Instead, you have a system with few variables but rich in depth that lives up to the motto “easy to understand, hard to master”, which is refined to extreme lengths.

Each encounter is a stunning audiovisual and gameplay spectacle, switching between melee combat, isometric shooter, and bullet hell, with no time to catch your breath given the sheer number of simultaneous stimuli, especially when it finally clicks and you fuse with your sword.

Considering the story is far better than you’d expect, with superb dialogue, countless enigmas, and a consistently tense atmosphere, Furi can only be described as one of the best indie action games ever conceived.

4

Darksiders

A Sunny Apocalypse

Fusing God of War’s structure with The Legend of Zelda’s emergent gameplay, Darksiders has established itself as one of the last decade’s most exciting action series, especially the first game.

Unlike the second’s RPG elements and the third’s Soulslike nature, Vigil Games opted for a traditional hack-and-slash style where you grow in power as you progress through interconnected levels, using tools that grant you access to increasingly larger areas.

Whether by acquiring new weapons or movement abilities, War becomes an increasingly skilled Horseman of the Apocalypse in his fight to redeem his name, facing magnificent bosses, solving creative puzzles, and overcoming intense platforming sections.

It doesn’t reinvent the wheel in any sense, and you could practically say it lacks original ideas, but its adaptation of Christian mythology is the best this industry has seen, brimming with symbolism within a remarkably solid story.

That change of context and references is enough to make Darksiders feel like an easily distinguishable title, bolstered by the fact that everything in its proposal, without exception, is built with great quality.

3

Mina the Hollower

A Perfectly Modern Antiquity

For many people, myself included, summer is a time of nostalgia because it’s easy to gather significant memories during this season, so I can’t think of a better time to enjoy Mina the Hollower.

As part of the best indie titles of the 2020s, Yacht Club Games captured the primal essence of classic video games, where curiosity, experimentation, and surprise are fundamental to its purpose.

With the refinement of modern techniques, but with an indescribable passion for 8-bit formulas, you feel like you’re on a journey through time, oscillating between the past and the present in the most amazing ways.

Challenging platforming, colossal bosses, secrets everywhere, spontaneous interactions, countless mechanical variations, masterful progression… Mina the Hollower is among the finest expressions of the action (and adventure) genre, taking every characteristic to its highest level.

2

Vanquish

Third-Person Supremacy

In my native language, “summer” means “time to play the best sci-fi shooter ever”, so it’s essential to recommend Vanquish, the most adrenaline-pumping, dynamic, and audacious creation in the entire third-person shooter genre.

If you overlook the fact that the story has as many clichés as humanly possible, you’re glancing at one of the greatest reasons why PlatinumGames reigns supreme within the action-focused studios.

Sliding through giant spaceships while blasting away at countless robots in bullet time is, without a doubt, an intoxicating and addictive experience that never lets up in intensity throughout the campaign, which is short enough to ensure the pace never slows down.

Despite how many times you replay it, your mind will never remember the plot or characters, though I can assure you that your body will never forget the electric rush you’ll feel when you finally give Vanquish a chance.

1

Monster Hunter Wilds

A Passionate Profession

To revert your instincts to their most primal forms, there’s nothing better than playing Monster Hunter Wilds, which immerses you in a hunter’s mindset from which you can only emerge after hundreds of hours of chasing and fighting.

With dozens of complex classes whose mastery requires individual PhDs, and countless armor sets that truly understand the importance of looking cool while battling giant beasts, the game’s loop is simple yet effective.

You go in, fight the most fantastic and spectacular wildlife you’ve ever seen for 15 minutes, loot, upgrade your arsenal, and repeat the cycle until you get bored, which can take much longer than you think, especially if you’re playing with friends.

There are so many majestic beasts with such varied movesets and glorious designs that the simple act of stalking them feels like a privilege, even more so when you can draw your weapon and engage in intense, highly choreographed combat that evokes a significant power fantasy.

If you join a squad, take advantage of the multiplayer mode, and tolerate the game’s grindy gameplay, you can easily spend the entire summer enjoying Monster Hunter Wilds, as it’s clearly a game designed for long-term enjoyment.