Actually had stuff to play in September, so that’s nice. Still going through FF16 and Echoes of Wisdom and UFO 50, though FF16 is a bit on the backburner. There was also a really bad state of play, which is business as usual for Sony.
So anyways I’m going through the October releases now. There’s a large number of them. This month I’m highlighting 29 multiplats, 2 Switch games, 3 PC releases, and even a phone game. There are a lot of games so I chose to not highlight a few ports and stuff that didn’t seem particularly interesting, just to keep this list manageable.
There are a few interesting releases in all that, which makes sense considering the sheer amount of games. There’s only 3 or 4 I’d say I’m sure I’m getting, but there’s many maybes, and a lot of games that might appeal to different people. Not actually a terrible month.
Disclaimer: I only list games that I think are worth mentioning. This includes games I’m personally interested in, games that will likely be popular, highly advertised games, some more niche stuff I may notice and such. This is not just games I care about myself, I highlight as much as I think makes sense. Of course, I can’t see the future, so I may be missing games and I may be listing games that may get delayed.
MULTIPLATFORM RELEASES
MechWarrior 5: Clans 10/03 (PC, PS5, Xbox X/S)
MechWarrior is not a series I’ve played that much. I think I played a bit of the first game and never got far into it. They seem cool though. This is a standalone sequel to MechWarrior 5, I assume this means they reuse a lot of the mechanics but it’s a new story. I watched some gameplay and it looks good.
Sword Art Online: Fractured Daydream 10/03 (Switch, PC, PS5, Xbox X/S)
I’ve never played an SAO game (despite being a fervent hater of the anime who has watched every season of it so far to see how much more stupid it would get), none of them looked like something I’d give much of a shit about. This looks okay from what I’ve seen, it’s online co-op and you can play with both guns and swords and there’s loot and giant monsters to fight and shit.
Victory Heat Rally 10/03 (Switch, PC)
This is a retro-style racing game that give big Rad Racer/Top Gear/Outrun vibes, but with added Mario Kart-style drift boosts. Looks pretty cool.
Until Dawn 10/04 (PC, PS5)
This game is very shitty. I almost didn’t put it on the list, but I did just to point out that it’s garbage and you can now experience the garbage on PC… For full price for some reason… game’s old, and shitty, sell it for 5$.
SpongeBob SquarePants: The Patrick Star Game 10/04 (Switch, PC, PS4, Xbone, PS5, Xbox X/S)
Based on the one trailer I saw for this, this just looks like Goat Simulator but with Patrick. Not interesting to me, but Goat Simulator used to be a big let’s player game, so this might be a big streamer game… Also is it just me or Patrick’s voice sounds completely different in the announcement trailer compared to him in the show back when I was in high school (like, the 90s or whatever)?
Zero the Kamikaze Squirrel 10/04 (Switch, PS4, Xbone, PS5, Xbox X/S)
This is part of the Aero The Acrobat series, which has been getting these ports recently as well. It’s really just one of those very generic, not-that-great mascot platformers that the era just had a ton of. At least it’s not TOO overpriced. They’re also not advertising this at all, I couldn’t even find a trailer for this release.
Silent Hill 2 10/08 (PC, PS5, Xbox X/S)
I’m not a horror game guy, I do appreciate many of the classics though despite not having played them directly. I will continue saying that I hate these constant remakes and shit when they could just put out an emulator running the rom of the game on every current platform instead of, according to fans of the original in this case, ruining the game on purpose. Yeah comments on this one haven’t been super positive. Just go to archive.org and download the original and play that. It’s great.
Undisputed 10/11 (PC, PS5, Xbox X/S)
Because EA are stupid idiots, there hasn’t been a Fight Night game in a long time, and Champion, IMO, was lame compared to FNR4. Fight Night Round 4 came out in 2009. So I guess the people behind Undisputed were thinking they should do something about boxing games just not existing anymore and made their own. I have been following this project for a while, I bought it in Early Access last year and it’s finally coming out. I didn’t even play it much in Early Access, I just wanted to support it. I will try to jump into the full release some more, but the little I did play of it so far was pretty good though. We’ll see what around a year of extra development brought to the game.
Metaphor: ReFantazio 10/11 (PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox X/S)
This is a new JRPG by the Persona/SMT people at Atlus. It’s more medieval fantasy-style, compared to the more contemporary/post-apocalyptic styles of Persona/SMT, and is apparently completely separate from SMT (though it does have some spells that are the same name). I looked at a bit of demo footage, it showed some attacking outside of the turn-based battles to kill certain enemies, but some enemies needed to be taken out in turn-based battles instead. The combat itself looks like the same kind of stuff you see in SMT and Persona, so it should be really good. And visually it looks great. Also impressions on the demo seem extremely positive, so I’m very hyped to try this out.
DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO 10/11 (PC, PS5, Xbox X/S)
182 characters… I think some of them are different forms, though the big list of characters includes like 112 characters not counting forms (and forms seem to have different stats and movesets) and I think this number doesn’t count costumes like Jackie Chun. That’s pretty crazy. The game itself looks cool. It’s a new Tenkaichi (Sparking! being the subtitle of the tenkaichi games in japanese), which has been dead since at least 2011. I don’t tend to buy fighting games anymore but man I kinda want to get this.
Starship Troopers: Extermination 10/11 (PC, PS5, Xbox X/S)
This is a co-op FPS with base-building elements, obviously set in the Starship Troopers universe so you can do your part killing the insect scum. I’ve only looked at a few short clips of this, it looks decent enough.
Transformers: Galactic Trials 10/11 (Switch, PC, PS4, Xbone, PS5, Xbox X/S)
This is a transformers… racing game? You race in the vehicle forms but you can transform into the robot forms and shoot at enemies and shit. Doesn’t look awful but doesn’t look great either.
Blazing Strike 10/17 (Switch, PC, PS4, PS5)
I’m not seeing a lot of hype for this but I thought it was worth highlighting. It’s an entirely new fighting game, with 2D pixel graphics reminiscent of 90s fighting games, and it gives me big KOF vibes. Looks pretty cool.
Unknown 9 : Awakening 10/18 (PC, PS4, Xbone, PS5, Xbox X/S)
I’ve seen this name a few times but not really the game itself until… just a few minutes ago. I’m seeing basically no hype for this at all. It seems to have some interesting ideas with possession, stealth and what looks like a kinda-okay combat system, but it looks really janky and awkward. It’s not really clicking with me based on the overview trailer released 2 days ago, but I’ll have a look at some reviews and impressions, at least, if anyone plays it.
Also it’s this weird cross-media thing with comics, novels and podcasts to get the full story which is… weird for a game that isn’t getting hype. Like, if this game isn’t good and successful, the “world of Unknown 9” that the cross-media shit is promoting is dead. It’s dumb.
RetroRealms: Ash vs Evil Dead and RetroRealms: Halloween 10/18 (Switch, PC, PS4, Xbone, PS5, Xbox X/S)
Those are sidescrolling pixel platformers, one where you play as Michael Myers, the other where you play as Ash Williams. They are separate releases though there are packs with both games. If you preorder either game you get DLC characters, Laurie Strode in Halloween and Kelly Maxwell in the Evil Dead game. These look fine, the action gameplay looks smooth and they’re very bloody. Very random, a lot of old series are getting random game releases recently, like Karate Kid last month or Killer Klowns from Outer Space a few months ago which no one played (it got a higher peak than Concord, but that’s not saying much).
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants Unleashed 10/18 (Switch, PC, PS4, Xbone, PS5, Xbox X/S)
It’s a 3D beat ’em up with shitty platforming and it looks like crap. There you go. Had no idea that was even coming out before making this list. There’s been a lot of these random TMNT games, but where’s Last Ronin?
Card-en-Ciel 10/24 (Switch, PC, PS4, Xbone, PS5, Xbox X/S)
This is kind of a game after my own heart, as it’s a Megaman Battle Network-style game, in a way. It is a turn-based combat game though, so the MMBN comparison is mostly visual. Attacks come in different AOEs and ranges, with some attacks that might make you move around and such. It’s a deckbuilding thing, with seemingly roguelite elements according to the tags on Steam. Looks pretty fun, I am buying this.
There is a demo for this one that I haven’t checked.
Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven 10/24 (Switch, PS5)
Another remake. I haven’t really played the Romancing SaGa games, I assume they’re pretty good. This looks solid from what I’ve seen, though it’s not the only way to play RS2 on modern platforms. I don’t know if the graphics are the only real difference or if there’s anything new to it.
This also has a demo.
Romance of the Three Kingdoms 8 Remake 10/24 (Switch, PC, PS4, PS5)
I never played the RoTK series, but it is a big classic one. Not only strategy, but it seems to have unique combat mechanics and stuff like negotiation and shit that is presented in interesting ways. I don’t know what’s particularly special about 8 for it to warrant a remake over the rest of the series (8 originally being on PS2), or why it warrants a remake at all when the original game exists and should just be made available. Those seem like cool games though, I just know I wouldn’t have fun with them.
Shin chan: Shiro and the Coal Town 10/24 (Switch, PC)
There was another Shin chan game a little bit ago. It looked like a very calm casual… thing. This looks like much of the same kinda deal. If you’re into Shin chan, this is probably decently interesting.
Sonic X Shadow Generations 10/25 (Switch, PC, PS4, Xbone, PS5, Xbox X/S)
Sonic Generations is one of the few good Sonic games made after 3&K. This remaster adds some Shadow-related… stuff. I didn’t pay too much attention to it really. Feels like a bit of a waste considering Generations frequently goes down to prices from 1 to 5$, so this feels like a bit of a ripoff if the extra content isn’t extensive. I’ll see how impressions are, maybe there’s more to this than it sounds, but it feels like a bit of a stupid release.
Ys X: Nordics 10/25 (Switch, PC, PS4, PS5)
Hey it’s a new Ys. Ys 9 was kinda disappointing overall. Kinda just… generic. This one does look like an improvement though, with boat combat, and pretty interesting movement options in dungeons. I’m honestly probably gonna give this one a chance.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 10/25 (PC, PS5, Xbox X/S)
No idea why people are still buying this series. I have nothing to say about this shit. Last good one was made in 2005.
Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration Expanded Edition 10/25 (Switch, PC, PS4, Xbone, PS5, Xbox X/S)
This edition adds 39 extra games to the Atari 50 collection, giving it a total of 154 games. That’s pretty wild. If you have a previous version of the game these will be available as DLC. Definitely seems to be worth grabbing at this point.
Clock Tower: Rewind 10/29 (Switch, PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox X/S)
Fuck Limited Run Games.
So anyways, Clock Tower is a classic SNES horror adventure game where you run from Bobby (aka Scissorman), with multiple endings, some fucked up shit, and some very cool ideas both from a gameplay and story perspective. This is the first official english translation of this (people have been playing fan translations before that), which I hope isn’t crap (considering how low-quality localization is in most games, I’m very worried about it). If you never played this it might be a bit of an awkward game to play, but it’s really good.
Life is Strange: Double Exposure 10/29 (PC, PS5, Xbox X/S)
This is a weird sequel to the first Life is Strange (playing as the girl from that one). It doesn’t treat either ending of the first game as canon, instead you talk to a friend and just choose which one happened, but it tells its own story that doesn’t seem to take the original into account at all. I don’t know, doesn’t look too interesting.
Shadows of the Damned: Hella Remastered 10/31 (Switch, PC, PS4, Xbone, PS5, Xbox X/S)
This is a game I recall finding very cool back when it originally came out. I… don’t really remember much about it. I remember a bit of the gameplay and some of the weird stylistic elements, but I honestly don’t even remember if I played it the whole way through, or what the story was. I will say, regardless, that this is worth checking out if you missed the original release. It doesn’t seem to change much compared to the original, like at all. The graphics are barely updated, so they really just kept it as-is, from what I’m seeing.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard 10/31 (PC, PS5, Xbox X/S)
This is Bioware’s third time fucking up Dragon Age. I didn’t find Inquisition THAT bad, but it was clearly very inferior to the original. 2 was just bad. This looks worse than either. Like it’s actively aggressive against the fans of the original. The combat looks awful, the characters look like complete crap, the reveal trailer for it gave it a very Fortnite-like feel…. Just don’t buy Bioware or EA games. They don’t deserve your money.
SWITCH RELEASES
Super Mario Party Jamboree 10/17
It’s a new Mario Party. I legit haven’t played this series at all since 3 (I think I played one game of 5? Maybe?). I dunno, this looks fine, I’m sure plenty of vtubers will play it and I’ll experience it that way.
Yakuza Kiwami 10/24
Yakuza is a series that should’ve been on Switch for a long time just to give that portable option… This is just very mistimed since Steam Deck and other portable PCs just do that now. Yeah if you never played a Yakuza game go for it, but I’d honestly recommend getting these on PC on the cheap and eventually play them on a portable PC thingy if you want the portability.
PC RELEASES
NBB.EXE 10/01
There comes me randomly highlighting something probably no one has heard about. This is a game that is based in parts on the mechanics of Bomberman, being a top-down game where you place bombs on the ground to attack. But with some jumping and dashing and such for platforming. This looks pretty cool.
Hell of an Office 10/03
There’s been a lot of this style of game over the year, and this is of course another less known game I’m highlighting. This is a first-person platforming/parkour game with a heavy speedrunning focus, with the main gameplay mechanics being rocket jumping and air dashes. It looks pretty fun.
Rivals of Aether 2 10/23
I actually got into the current playtest for this. I only tried a few of the characters, but it’s looking solid. Rivals of Aether is that one really good Smash Bros clone. This one has 3D graphics (the first one was pixel 2D stuff), a few new characters, and free DLC characters for everyone as long as the game is supported. The gameplay itself adds some new gameplay elements, such as a smash-style shield (not identical in functionality), grabs/throws, ledges to grab when you recover, and some new special attacks when getting up from a knockdown or going up from a ledge. Having played a few matches of the playtest, this game is very good. I will be grabbing this, largely to play it with a friend.
PHONE RELEASE
Pokemon Trading Card Game Pocket 10/30
This is a new version of the pokemon TCG where you get a few pack openings a day, and you can battle in a simplified version of the game (the energy card system is different, you only need 3 “points” to win (no prize cards) and the bench only has 3 spots). The card packs you open are not from real sets. The first set in the game, Genetic Apex, features cards from all sorts of real sets, such as Meowth from Jungle (one of the first sets) and modern-looking EX cards. Also Genetic Apex is like 3 mini-sets, rather than one whole set, as each booster pack art (charizard, mewtwo, pikachu) has different possible cards.
I will give this a try, though the lack of codes to get packs like in PTCGL is a negative to me (that’s the reason I haven’t gotten into the One Piece TCG). It does look like they’ll have overpriced microtransactions instead, not sure how far 25 gold gets you but that’s 5$.
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