By: Andrew Lindeman

After a fairly slow summer (for anyone who doesn’t own a Nintendo Switch), the fall games season is ramping up to what will be a very busy October and November. With three titles coming out, this will be a huge month for Square Enix and its catalog. Other big releases include an amazing PlayStation 4 exclusive release and an expansion that could upgrade one of the most popular shooter games into an even better experience. While this list is not exhaustive, these are major releases I think people will find interesting.

Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age – Tuesday the 4th  – Developed and Produced by Square Enix — A Japanese RPG with the recognizable art style of Akira Toriyama, the artist behind the famous anime series, Dragon Ball. The most popular game series in Japan is making its first appearance on home consoles in North America since 2005. Along with Final Fantasy, this series set the standard for how the genre plays. While Final Fantasy has become a completely different beast, Dragon Quest is rooted in the tradition and has evolved minimally over the 32 years it has been around. With over-the-top characters and fantasy creatures galore, this game will give you an incredible world to explore.

Destiny 2: Forsaken – Tuesday the 4th – Developed by Bungie Studios – Published by Activision Blizzard — The newest expansion to Bungie’s shared world shooter. A new story, which takes you into the Rift to avenge Cayde-6 and stop a mass prison break, is going to give you plenty of time to try out the new bow weapon. This game will feature sweeping changes to the weapon and armor systems. In an effort to make the grind for loot more entertaining, therefore making all the content worthwhile for the players, the game also adds a new Raid and new multiplayer mode called Gambit. Coming to PC, PS4, and Xbox One.

Marvel’s Spiderman – Friday the 7th – Developed by Insomniac Games – Published by PlayStation — Jumping into the shoes of a Peter Parker who has been Spiderman for eight years, this 3rd person open world action game will give players all the abilities of New York’s friendly neighborhood superhero to swing around Manhattan performing cool tricks, stop petty criminals, and fight against this game’s version of the Sinister Six: Electro, Rhino, Vulture, Mr. Negative, Scorpion, and a mystery villain. My guess is that this mystery villain will be Green Goblin or Doctor Octopus. I could not be more excited for this game, which is coming exclusively to PS4.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider – Friday the 14th – Developed by Eidos Montreal/Crystal Dynamics – Published by Square Enix — The likely end of the newest Tomb Raider trilogy of games. Lara Croft finds herself adventuring to South America to stop the Mayan apocalypse she started while battling a paramilitary force called Trinity. In this 3rd person action-adventure game, players will explore small open maps while stealthily taking down enemies, investigating tombs, and gathering resources to improve Lara’s weapons. The story is seemingly darker than that of the last two titles in the franchise, and will deal with the affects of years of adventures and violence upon Lara’s psyche. Coming to PC, PS4, and Xbox One.

Valkyria Chronicles 4 – Tuesday the 25th  – Developed and Published by Sega — Watercolor art and lighthearted dialogue collides with the gravity of a story set within a fictional European-esque continental war. This Japanese tactical RPG lets the player plan their attacks move by move, turn by turn, forgoing the tilted, aerial view common in most games of the genre, in favor of a 3rd person camera. Each character has class types, and within these classes they have relationship advantages and disadvantages, which makes choosing which characters you take into battles an important strategic decision based upon the characters’ abilities and which characters they work well with. Knowledge of the previous titles in this series is not necessary to be engaged in this game’s story. A three-hour demo is already available, which I suggest checking out. Coming to PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.

Life is Strange: Season 2, Episode 1 – Thursday the 27th – Developed by Dontnod Entertainment – Published by Square Enix — The beginning of a new season for the supernatural coming-of-age series. With two brothers on the run from some violence involving a cop, you will spend time getting to know them through conversation and small interactions while they figure out what to do next. Gameplay in the series so far has been something akin to that of classic point-and-click computer adventures and an interactive movie, so expect more of the same. The season will episodically released over the coming months, but you can buy the season pass to get all five episodes at a discounted price.

Sports Game Round up — NBA 2K19 and NBA Live 19 both come out on Friday the 7th. If the past has taught us anything, 2K19 will be the better option by far. I would suggest reading up a little before buying it, because they did start adding in some pretty egregious micro-transactions to last year’s iteration. NHL 19 comes out on Friday the 14th. It will feature upgraded player motion and a new free-for-all hockey mode. Finally, FIFA 19 comes out Friday the 28th. This year will end the continuing story mode “The Journey,” and will also be adding the license for the UEFA Champions League, which had been held by opposing soccer game series, P.E.S, for years.

One last note: If you are a Nintendo Switch owner, a few classic indies that have been released on other consoles are making their way over to the portable home system. The titles are Hyper Light Drifter, Bastion, Wasteland 2, Undertale, and Towerfall. Make sure to give all of them a look over the month. My personal favorite is Towerfall; it’s frenetic party game multiplayer has all sorts of wild settings and options that keep it interesting for many, many play sessions.

My email is af-lindeman@wiu.edu. Hit me up if you have any video game related questions or if you are just looking for someone to game with. Playing a lot of Fortnite on PS4 and menagerie of single player games on all my consoles.