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| 10 new games you need to pay attention to in September 2022. |
Starting off with number 10, it is "Metal: Hellsinger," a rhythm FPS.
What does that mean? Well, it's a game that looks a lot like old-school "Doom" with new-school graphics, and if you can shoot to the beat, you're better off. Basically, the more you can be in sync with the rhythm, quote, unquote, the more destruction you will cause. I assume that means more damage. It really looks like a high-paced shooter, though, that incorporates a lot of the elements from the recent "Doom" resurgence more or less, but for whatever reason comes off a little more old-school to me, which is interesting because of the rhythm element just not really being a part of your typical FPS.
It's one of those games where I think it could be really, really fantastic. There is a demo to play. I have downloaded and played it. I don't know that I've played it long enough to really give you an accurate judgment of the game, but what I did play, I did enjoy. The game features a soundtrack from Serj Tankian of System of a Down fame, and it comes out for the Xbox Series, PS5, and Windows, September 15.
And at number nine is "No Place for Bravery,"
a game that wears its influences on its sleeve. There's a lot of "Sekiro," a lot of "Dark Souls" in there. But it does definitely have its own identity as well. It's really a gorgeous-looking game, and they've done an incredibly good job of making a ton of varied, well-animated, cool-looking enemies, and that's kind of what has me most interested in it.
The world is one where these giant monsters have appeared and more or less made it really suck for people, you know? Like I said, it's slightly inspired by "Sekiro" in terms of you see the posture meter, you can bring them down posture-wise, and then execute them, and that's very "Sekiro"-like. But it's also got some platforming that I think probably is going to work a lot better frankly than platforming in "Dark Souls," because it's 2D, and to be frank, it's just way easier to make platforming good in a 2D game.
The game's also designed as somewhat of a Metrovania, so a lot of these things are very interesting to integrate into the Soulslike formula. I'm excited for this. I think it looks like a fantastic game. "No Place for Bravery" is coming to Switch and PC on the 22nd.
And at number eight is "The Last of Us Part I."
So yeah, "Last of Us" has been remade already. The version that we saw on PS4 Pro was actually a pretty good-looking version. However, "The Last of Us Part II" is a significantly better-looking game, and now, "The Last of Us Part I" looks as good. And I know there's gonna be a lot of people who are like, this has been released too many times. I think that there's actually a good reason to release it.
The original and even the remake still has that kind of look from its era, the era before video game lighting really got good. "Last of Us" looks good. Don't get me wrong. It's, looking back, really a good-looking game, but it still has that I'm trying to make the lighting look like real lighting without being able to look. You'll know exactly what I mean if you look at comparison videos between the versions. But at this point we all know the story. It's a sad one, it's a good one, it's really well told,
and now you can pretty much see it the best possible way. I can't imagine a lot of people really haven't played it, but I'll say this, I haven't bought it since the original version, and I'm kind of itching to go through it again. "Last of Us Part I" comes out September 2nd on the PS5.
At number seven is "Valkyrie Elysium."
Now, I don't know if you remember way back, and I mean way back, but the original "Valkyrie Elysium" was released on the PlayStation and really only got major traction, at least as far as I can remember, when it released on PSP in 2006.
It was a game that kind of felt like a platformer that had RPG battles in it. It was actually a pretty sweet game. "Valkyrie Elysium" is the fifth game in this series, and it drops the traditional turn-based combat in favor of an action-RPG-style combat.
Essentially, the point of this game is to stop Ragnarok. To me, it kind of looks like a "Dark Soul's" lite-type formula. You do have some of the more over-the-top Japanese action type elements that are in there, and it overall looks like a pretty interesting game altogether.
Obviously, fans of the original, it remains to be seen just how good it works as an action-RPG, but we'll see when "Valkyrie Elysium" landson the PlayStations September 29th.
At number six is "The DioField Chronicle,"
which is a strategy RPG coming from Square Enix. However, it's not tile-based like what you would expect out of Square Enix. Obviously, it's a Square Enix game, looking at the visual style. The game is much more like "XCOM" in terms of how it works. There's a demo out if you wanna play it. It's great. I would highly recommend it, actually.
An empire is fighting an alliance. It wins and then it turns its attention towards a kingdom called Alletain, and the story focuses on a mercenary group called the Blue Foxes which is affiliated with Alletain..I don't know. It's a decent setup. The gameplay is actually what's very good here. In terms of what you would expect, it's not exactly "XCOM," because there is an obvious JRPG, "Final Fantasy Tactics" lineage that is here.
And I'm gonna overall say, just based off the demo, which is pretty long, it's like a three-hour demo, I didn't get to go through all of it, because obviously, we aren't doing any in-depth content on this game as of yet, but I will say it's great. What I played made me definitely want to play the whole game and I definitely will be when it comes out for the PlayStations, the Xboxes, Nintendo Switch, and PC on the 22nd.
At number five is "Splatoon 3."
So everything we've seen in "Splatoon 3" doesn't seem like it does anything to just totally reverse anything from anywhere else in "Splatoon." It looks like a refined iteration of what we've gotten from the first two games, and I don't think that's a bad thing. I think that it's been a little due for some extra stuff, a new coat of paint, so to speak, for a while now.
I'm happy we're gonna be seeing a variety of new weapons, such as the Ink Vac, which apparently lets you actually take enemy paint that's already laid down and fire it back at enemies. I've unfortunately not had any hands on with "Splatoon 3," so other than what you've seen, I haven't seen any more. It's also got a card game apparently added into it, and it seems likely that there's microtransactions in the game.
My opinion is that it's gonna have something to do with the card game, which I don't know, I could go either way on. Like, some inside-game card games are great, GWENT for instance, but who knows? We'll see. "Splatoon 3" is landing on the Switch on the ninth.
At number four is "Solstice," which you're gonna write off
thinking of "Dark Souls." The name of it just reeks of it. It's a dark-fantasy-looking game, et cetera, et cetera. However, take a closer look.
It's much faster in pace for one, kind of reminding me in some ways of "NieR: Automata" or perhaps some kind of, or you know, "DMC"-inspired lineage, PlatinumGames, Capcom-type stuff, and that is great. For a little extra, the ghost that's following you around is actually your little sister.
She does some assisting in combat but also is essentially the major catalyst for all of the puzzles in the game, at least from what I've read. This isn't necessarily a game that I feel like, wow, I've never seen anything like it. However, it is a refreshing mix of a few different things that I think look really cool together, and I am a sucker for anything that has "DMC" or Platinum as an influence. Very obviously, this does. "Solstice" comes out for PC, PS5, and the Xbox Series September 20th.
And number three is "Isonzo,"
a tactical FPS set in the Alpine Ridge during World War I where the Great War is being fought on the Italian front. If you have played "Verdun" or "Tannenberg," you know exactly what type of game this is. This does, in my opinion, look like the most aesthetically pleasing of the few. I like the Alpine warfare. I like the uneven ground in the mountains. It seems to me a kind of unique place to be doing battle.
And the previous two titles, I think, did a very good job of rendering a location and really simulating great first-person battles within the context of them. "Isonzo" is coming to the PlayStations, the Xboxes, and Windows on the 13th.
And at number two is "Return to Monkey Island,"
a return to the old point-and-click games with the series creator Ron Gilbert at the helm. I don't want to make any assumptions as to exactly what this game will be, on account, to be completely frank, We're talking about a very, very long-removed sequel to some beloved games.
The original "Monkey Island" games are big in terms of adventure games, and there is a lot of pressure on the developers to do this. I do love the visual style they've decided to go with for it, though. If you've ever seen the originals, they looked nothing like this. This is a much more highly stylized form of art, and I think it works really well on account, yeah, there is definitely a charm to the old pixel art.
I don't think it's the kind of charm that you could go back to exactly the same and get the same kind of reaction that say Mario or Sonic yet, So I'm happy they decided to move forward rather than backward in that respect. I do really hope that they're able to live up to the kind of story, puzzles, and situational, contextual stuff that really, them and a few Sierra games were at the full top of that genre. "Return to Monkey Island" is coming to Switch and PC September 19th.
And finally, at number one is "Steel Rising,"
a sort of eclectic, eccentric-looking action-RPG, where the French Revolution has been suppressed by the king, and you, some kind of automation/robot thing, have to take down the army yourself. It's insane looking. It's kind of an alternate-history 1700s setting where there's machines and a lot of crazy-looking stuff. Honestly, it's a really cool-looking game if it delivers without being weird and corny. The combat looks good.
The story looks interesting and like a good setup for a game. And I think I'm definitely gonna give "Steel Rising" a spin when it comes out on PS5, the Xbox Series, and PC on the eighth.