As the summer begins to wind down, the fall and winter seasons are upon us, which means major video game releases. While September, November and December are relatively light, at least for me, October looks to be a soul crushing, wallet grubbing month but we'll get to that. Let's go month by month.
In September, while everyone will be delving into the world of Destiny 2, I'll be exploring the worlds of two major Japanese series and finally playing one game that was one of my most anticipated games on the Xbox One.
First up, on September 12th, is Ys VIII, the eighth main series entry in the storied Ys series. I was first introduced to this series with Ys VI on PS2 and that was an average game looking back at it but everyone afterwards has been top notch, especially Ys: Memories of Celceta. I got to play the demo for VIII and it plays exactly like MOC so I'm really looking forward to a massive adventure come September. Need a little hack n slash JRPG goodness to start off the gaming releases. I don't know much of the story or much else and that's how I like to enter most games. No spoilers here! Ys VIII lives up to what I needed, a fantastic hack and slash action RPG experience.
Two weeks later, Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony releases for PS4 and PS Vita, a first for the series after the first two entries only released first on the Vita. I have three favorite visual novel series, Phoenix Wright, Zero Escape, and Danganronpa. PW is still going strong, the Zero Escape series wrapped up last year with a fantastic third entry and now it's time for Danganronpa to take the spotlight. Danganronpa mastefully mixes visual novel aspects with a murder mystery. The gameplay takes cues from Phoenix Wright and it makes for one impactful experience. Both games were so riveting, I binge played them, putting heavy hours into each gaming session I had, neglecting all real world obligations to play through the fictitious world and find out who killed who, how and why. There were some really creative killings in the game and I can't wait to see what else is in store. I've played it for 5 hours and I have to say, SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS killing the supposed main character within the first chapter was mind blowing. Really threw me through a loop EARLY in the game. Let's see if it gets deeper than that.
And it definitely did with the whole, you're playing a game, that's INSIDE a game. It was really Star Ocean 3-ish but it worked. I can see others may not like it but it did the job for me. It was a fantastic series, one that rivals my love for the Zero Escape series. I do feel, though, as with Zero Escape, the third entry is the weakest in the series. I'm not saying that to condemn the game but compared to the second ones in each series, they didn't live up to hype. Great games and I loved D3 ending compared to Zero Time Dilemma. Just saying, but that is a conversation for another post...
On the last Friday in September, Cuphead will finally be released for Xbox One. Cuphead, the only exclusive title I will have played all year on Xbox and I've been waiting for it since E3 2014. Cuphead is a throwback to games of old and is a run and gun game featuring plenty of boss battles. The game looks like a cartoon from the 1930s and looks absolutely beautiful. I can see why it took so long to finally release. This was one of the only games I wanted when I first got an Xbox One so I can't wait to finally see what the game is hitting for in September.
After playing Cuphead over its release weekend and completing the game for the first time, I can honestly say it's the best Xbox One exclusive I've played in years, maybe since Ori and the Blind Forest. Everything about it feels original, even though it's clearly inspired by Contra and cartoons of the 1930s. Every boss battle feels daunting and new and there were many battles where I was struggling for long periods of time. Nothing over an hour but some bosses kept me glued to the screen for much longer than I thought I would. Some bosses, specifically the first one with the Root Pack and the medusa inspired one, were over before they started but out of Cuphead's 19 bosses, (28 counting the 9 in the casino game boss rush inspired by Gunstar Heroes) they were the only ones. Cuphead is a game that demands you be better. You can't slack off and expect to win battles. You must master the movement and patterns of the bosses, parry when you need, select the right type of shots you want, it's all apart of the Cuphead experience. If you own a Xbox, you NEED to play the game. It has the best art style of any game this year and the gameplay to match many of the heavy hitters that have already been released.
October is the busiest month in gaming this year, with 8 major releases coming out in a 17 day span. Middle Earth: Shadow of War on October 10th, Evil Within 2 on October 13th, WWE 2K18 on October 13th or 17th, depending on what edition you buy, South Park: The Fractured But Whole on October 17th, Fire Emblem Warriors on October 20th, and on the single biggest release day in video games this year, October 27th sees the release of Wolfenstein II, Assassin's Creed Origins and Super Mario Odyssey. Of the 8 releases, I'll be playing all 8 definitely but only getting 6 because, hey, I still have to live. Of the 6 I'm getting, I'm definitely most excited for Evil Within 2. EW1 was such an amazing survival horror experience and succeeded in where games like Resident Evil 5 and 6 failed. I expect more of the same with this one. Low ammo. a lot of creatures stalking me and more of those creepy boss battles. Wolfenstein II is a sequel I didn't realize I wanted but there's just something about these old school shooters that I love. Wolfenstein was a surprise for me and I didn't think I would get as into it as I did but the visceral feeling and the storyline kept me coming back. Doom was more of the same so I have high hopes for Wolfenstein II. Super Mario Odyssey will be the first main entry Mario game I will buy on release day. I've gotten many of the RPGs ones on day one but not any of his platforming adventures. I've bought just about EVERY Zelda game since Wind Waker at launch but Nintendo's plumber is a different story. While I've played each console outing Mario has had in the past 20 years, I've never bought one on release day, probably because I'm not the biggest Mario platformer fan (Paper Mario 2 is my favorite Mario game for the record) but Odyssey looks amazing and is returning to the open world feel of Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine, two of my favorite Mario games. Besides, my Switch needs the love. I've played like 4 games for Switch; Zelda, Has Been Heroes, NBA Playgrounds and Mario + Rabbids. That's it. I need to show it some attention. Regardless of your gaming tastes, October has a game for everyone.
After playing 6 of the 8 games I've discussed (I got ACO instead of WWE thanks to Amazon not shipping the game), all I can say is WOW. This month has been the best gaming month of my lifetime or at least since I've been gaming. The amount of heavy hitters is astounding and they've all lived up to the hype. South Park is the one I've given the most time to and I was able to complete it this past week. It's addicting. The new battle system is 10 tens better the Stick of Truth's and I love the parody of the superhero craze. It's a masterpiece of an RPG but I think only South Park fans will truly enjoy it as it's filled with many of the series ongoing jokes and gags. I legit cried when SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS you have to face Jared from Subway in a boss battle. SO offensive but it was hilarious. The Evil Within 2 is open world, which was a bit of a shock to me, and it gives you side quests and such to do as well as the main mission. Though I care always craft ammo, I still feel just as helpless in this one as I did in the original and that's a good thing. That's survival horror. I've enjoyed the two boss battles I've experienced as well and can't wait to rescue Sebastian's daughter. Hopefully. I haven't really delved too deep into Shadow of War. It feels a little too similar to its predecessor and I got distracted by EW2 once the comparisons were clear. Super Mario Odyssey is massive. I knew it was sandbox but this is not what I was expecting. And can we talk about how many Power Moons are in the game? 883! There were only 120 stars in SM64. I think it my first two hour play of Odyssey, I got between 25-35 Moons. That's it! This is going to be a long run. Wolfenstein II is vicious, violent and awesome. Seriously, one of my favorite FPSs ever. The story is so human like, it's so gritty. You actually feel like you're living in this alternate history America and it's terrifying. 7 hours in and I love it. If I had to rank the top three I've played, it would be South Park, Wolfenstein II and Evil Within 2.
December 1st marks the release of Xenoblade Chronicles 2 AKA one of the reasons I knew I had to get a Nintendo Switch. I haven't had an expansive JRPG experience since Persona 5 and that took 80 hours of my life between April and May. The original Xenoblade is an amazing game, one that took over my life twice, once on the Wii and once on my New 3DS, which I bought just so I could finally finish the game years after getting to the end and not completing it. Xenoblade Chronicles X was fun for a weekend but with no real story, it didn't capture me like the first. I'm glad to see 2 is going back to the roots and will feature a turn based, story based game. I don't know anything other than that and I want to keep it at. I'm hoping for lengthy adventure, optional bosses and fun combat. December is going to the month of Xenoblade, that is, if I can finish Wolfenstein, Evil Within and Mario by then. Shadow of War and Assassin's Creed will wait...
Best gaming year ever? Maybe, if you combine it with the absolute onslaught from the beginning of the year, including Game of the Year contenders Nioh, Horizon: Zero Dawn and Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Whatever your preference, 2017 has a game for you, especially in the last few months.
Happy gaming all!!!
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