Of course, we’re always happy and eager to share the games we think are worth being excited for each and every month. But when you’re staring down the barrel of a month like October—which is shaping up to be a wallet buster and the true start of what we’d call a gamer’s “busy” period—we think a bit of advance notice is the least we can do.
There isn’t any one day that stands out like the February 22 that delivered us Anthem, Crackdown, Days Gone, and Metro Exodus, the joy seems to be evenly spread this time. There are obviously a lot of brand new titles, but there are also quite a few exciting ports coming to Nintendo Switch after a long, long wait.
Here are all of the games coming in October, why they’re worth your time, and where you can find them for the best price.
Nier: Automata The End of Yorha Edition
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Release Date: October 6
If you’re feeling like a dose of existential dread, Nier: Automata is the ticket.
Although the game has been out on other platforms forever, the game’s Switch port is being handled by Virtuos, the team who has handled a heap of ports including Dark Souls and Dying Light.
It’s hard to know whether it’ll feel right at a capped frame rate, especially given one of the game’s real strengths is its quick, unrelenting combat, but time will be the judge of that.
No More Heroes III
Platform: PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
Release Date: October 6
With a near-perfect score, James declared No More Heroes III the series’ best game so far.
Given its hang-ups were due to the technical limitations of the Switch hardware, we’re hoping this game’s overly stylised best might still be ahead of it.
Marvel’s Midnight Suns
Platform: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
Release Date: October 7
Best Price: $78 on Amazon
As someone who has been known to enjoy Firaxis’ back catalogue, the idea of an XCOM game staffed with Marvel superheroes is an exciting prospect, to say the least.
Said superheroes being the Midnight Suns is even cooler, given the focus on dark magic and the supernatural.
I’m not entirely sold on the dealt-out, randomised abilities during combat, as it adds an element of uncertainty to things, but there are few things I appreciate more than tight, tactical combat and that’s Firaxis’ bread and butter.
No Man’s Sky
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Release Date: October 7
No Man’s Sky is up there with the best comeback stories in video gaming.
Sean Murray, at one point, was the poster boy for developer deception, being accused of overpromising and misleading consumers. Overhype might have played a role, but it doesn’t change the fact that No Man’s Sky had a less than ideal launch.
Fortunately, the game has since become a genuine classic of space exploration, incorporating and delivering on all of the things the game’s initial reveal promised.
And with the port said to include all of the game’s updates since launch, I’m particularly interested to see how the Switch holds up under the weight of a near-limitless galaxy.
A Plague Tale: Requiem
Platform: PC, Switch, PS5, Xbox Series X/S
Release Date: October 18
Best Price: $79 on Amazon (PS5)
After the absolute surprise packet that was A Plague Tale: Innocence, we’re super excited to dig into its sequel, Requiem, when it launches later this year.
The plight of the de Rune siblings captured the hearts of audiences, while the focus on stealth fed into the game’s theme of survival in the face of adversity during the French Inquisition—and rats, a lot of bloody rats.
We’re excited to sling a few rocks and crack some skulls when A Plague Tale: Requiem launches on Xbox Game Pass.
Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Release Date: October 20
Best Price: $74.90 on Amazon
It’s an unlikely pairing that delivered one of the most refreshing Mario games in recent memory with Kingdom Battle.
Its sequel, Sparks of Hope, is set to expand on the basic principles of the first by doing away with the grid-based combat and exploring the outer reaches beyond the Mushroom Kingdom.
The soundtrack is also being composed by an absolute dream team made up of Grant Kirkhope, Gareth Coker, and Yoko Shimomura.
Persona 5 Royal
Platform: PC, Switch, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
Release Date: October 21
One of the greatest role-playing games of all time is slipping its PlayStation bindings to release across several platforms, which should be seen as a celebration because the more people that get to enjoy this game the better.
Balancing the minutiae of school life while invading the “Mind Palaces” of Tokyo’s most nefarious menaces, uncovering their motives, and exposing their sins for all to see is a compelling hook that endures throughout a journey lasting 100+ hours.
Add to the mix a downright hot acid jazz-fusion soundtrack, and it’s a hell of a good time you’d never see coming.
Scorn
Platform: PC, Xbox Series X/S
Release Date: October 21
It might be heavy on the phallic imagery, but Scorn is shaping up to be one of the most interesting and visually-stimulating horror shooters. With an oppressively grim art direction that calls to mind the works of both H.R. Giger and, with Crimes of the Future fresh in my mind, David Cronenberg, there’s sure to be a wealth of unsettling flesh to absorb here.
The game is set to launch for Xbox Game Pass, which is an incredible boon for the service.
Gotham Knights
Platform: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S
Release Date: October 25
Best Price: $79.90 on Amazon
Somehow, Warner Bros has made a Batman game without Batman seem somewhat compelling.
In the wake of Bruce Wayne’s death, the team-up known as the Gotham Knights comes together to watch over Gotham in his absence. The game introduces co-op to the tried and true Arkham formula while adding a lot of role-playing elements to deepen the experience we’re all familiar with.
High on Life
Platform: PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
Release Date: October 25
Described as a comedic Metroidvania biopunk shooter, Justin Roiland’s High on Life is an absurd, luminous sci-fi romp where your guns actually crack wise at you.
Comedy isn’t exactly commonplace in video games. Even if Roiland’s brand doesn’t hit for everyone, High on Life is sure to be refreshing at least.
With a cast including comedians like I Think You Should Leave’s Tim Robinson, a skit series I’ve watched conservatively one hundred times, I’m expecting more than a few belly laughs from High on Life when it releases on Xbox Game Pass.
Signalis
Platform: PC, Switch, PS4, Xbox One
Release Date: October 27
As one of Kieron’s picks from the recent Steam Next Fest, Signalis feels like a relic pulled from the vault of classic horror. There’s a reverence for games like Parasite Eve and Silent Hill that’s evident in Signalis’ design, right down to the option of old-school tank controls.
Given Scorn is a thing that exists, Signalis isn’t exactly the most unnerving game of the month, but there’s something to love about its authenticity as dyed in the wool horror game.
Star Ocean: The Divine Force
Platform: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
Release Date: October 27
Confirmed only last week as releasing in October, Star Ocean’s sixth instalment, titled Star Ocean: The Divine Force, definitely seems to be another expectedly epic role-playing odyssey from developer Tri-Ace, whose work on the saga dates back nearly three decades.
With dual protagonists, each with their own perspectives on the game’s story, we’re sure the franchise is going to go to some new and exciting places when we revisit it in a few months.
Bayonetta 3
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Release Date: October 28
The scantily-clad witch returns this October, ticking the fast-paced action shooter box for Nintendo this holiday period.
It feels like it’s been a long time coming since its reveal a handful of years ago, and we’re hopeful that PlatinumGames can reassert themselves as the masters of a genre they’ve perfected more than once before. Through the game’s Infernal Summons, we’re going to get a taste of what never was given it’s a feature pulled from the spectacularly cancelled Xbox One exclusive Scalebound.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II
Platform: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
Release Date: October 28
Best Price: $78 on Amazon
After getting to see Modern Warfare II in person during a studio visit to Infinity Ward, I couldn’t be more eager to step back into the boots of Task Force 141.
The game’s live-action trailer, in particular, sets the tone for what to expect from this sequel’s globetrotting adventure. It sets up the promise of the team and the expectation that they’ll yet again save the world, and I’m down for the ride.
The campaign looks phenomenal, and I particularly love the direction the team is pushing the multiplayer in, going so far as to target the player bases of Rainbow Six: Siege and the ailing Battlefield.
Resident Evil Re:Verse
Platform: PC, Xbox One, PS4
Release Date: October 28
I don’t get Resident Evil as others do. I’ve played a handful, enjoyed a few, and still, I don’t quite understand who this multiplayer spin-off is for.
Although it won’t be the best Resident Evil thing released on the day, it’s coming nevertheless. It should be a nice stroll down memory lane for long-time fans of the franchise, given the competitive deathmatch mode is expected to feature characters from Resident Evil’s storied past.
Fortunately, Re:Verse is free if you bought Resident Evil Village.
Sons of the Forest
Platform: PC
Release Date: TBA
After being delayed into October from March, Sons of the Forest is a sequel to one of the more unsettling, horror survival games I’ve seen.
Isn’t yet dated, but if Sons of the Forest does launch in October, players can expect a cannibal-infested hellscape, a unique rolling-seasons feature that places great importance on foraging for and storing meat through the cruel winter when food and resources are most scarce.
Survival games breed anxiety in me at the worst of times, add to it mutated creatures with a penchant for human flesh and it might be all too much for me. Heck, I don’t enjoy camping.
Kingdoms of the Dump
Platform: PC
Release Date: TBA
Although its references to landfill and garbage are almost guaranteed to be extensive to an extent that goes far beyond ‘on the nose’, Kingdoms of the Dump looks far from trash.
Developed by a pair of custodians, which serves as an explanation for the game’s theme, Kingdoms of the Dump is heavily inspired by the likes of Earthbound and Chrono Trigger—perhaps two of the most iconic 16-bit role-playing games to emerge from Japan during the Super Nintendo era.
Here’s hoping it lives up to expectations, there’s always plenty of broom for games that pay homage to the classics. The last one I can really think of is Undertale, so it’s bin too long.
What a list.
And that’s not even considering many of the games expected to launch in the last quarter of this year that aren’t yet dated. Games like Somerville, Hogwart’s Legacy, or Sonic Frontiers all need to wedge in somewhere.
Then you’ve got to consider that not much more than a week after October concludes, there’s a little-known game called God of War: Ragnarok coming out that folks are a little bit keen for.
Boy, oh boooy.
