Most Interesting Games September 2024
Over the course of the past month, we've had a lot of really great new releases!
The Legend Of Zelda: Echoes Of Wisdom (Nintendo Switch)
The Legend Of Zelda: Echoes Of Wisdom came out on September 26th for Nintendo Switch! This is basically the 1st time you get to play Zelda in any mainline Zelda game, which means it offers a female playable hero to change things up for once. I may get around to writing my own review once I've had time to play through the whole game, but until then, I'm linking to an IGN review for those interested.
I have played the first few hours of this awesome game already, and I must say I really like the puzzles. The combat is pretty weak, and the dialogue is slow and repetitive, but it's a cute game that feels pretty welcoming. If you're a long time fan of the franchise, this is a must-buy title. Duh. However, if you're new to the franchise, I recommend playing The Legend Of Zelda: A Link To The Past before Echoes Of Wisdom. If you start with this game, you might not appreciate the references to the past games and likely won't appreciate the art style as much. It's still a great time, though, and it definitely caters to newcomers with the tutorials.
Age Of Mythology: Retold (PC)
Age Of Mythology: Retold released September 9th for PC and was a day one Game Pass title. I'm biased as I'm a long time fan of the franchise, but this was an excellent remake. If you have Game Pass, this is an easy recommendation, but otherwise, it may be wise to wait for a Steam discount.
Black Myth Wukong (PC, PS5)
Black Myth Wukong, released August 20th, was a massive success story! I really didn't expect it to do so well. It was a forgettable title to me for the longest time, and from what I've seen, it doesn't really interest me very much, but my favorite people can't say enough good things about it, and it got raving reviews as well as some really funny mods. I would have included this game in last month's article, but I honestly just didn't pay much attention to it. Now, I'm looking back and thinking maybe I should give it a try someday.
Palworld (PS5)
Palworld released a long while ago (beginning of 2024) on Steam and got its PS5 port on September 24th! If you're a console gamer with a PS5 and an interest in a really well made Pokemon/survival mash-up, this was a good month for you!
Go Mecha Ball (Switch, PS5)
Go Mecha Ball also released around the same time as Palworld and got ported to Switch and PS5 on September 26th! I'm unsure when the Xbox port released, but I assume it was earlier. Regardless, it's a great game! Check it out on Steam!
Tiny Glade (PC)
Tiny Glade's demo caught my eye a few months ago during a Steam demo fest, but it was too limited to really sell me on the idea of building a small castle in a "tiny glade". I'm not sure if the full game adds enough to the mix to make it worth a purchase, but it's definitely a relaxing toy. The full version released on September 23rd on Steam for a launch sale price of $13 USD, so it's right in that middle range of being not too expensive but also not really in the add-on purchase range where you have a few dollars to waste.
EcoGnomix (PC)
EcoGnomix hit Steam on September 30th. This indie title really stood out to me as a city builder with roguelite elements mixed in. It also has a nice art style and interesting city building mechanics. I may pick this one up soon!
Freeland (Meta, SteamVR)
Freeland looks promising despite its mixed reception. It's another social VR app similar to Neos or VRChat. I haven't had the opportunity to try it out yet, but I'll be sure to try it soon. Freeland released September 19th.
OVRLRD (SteamVR)
This mech game looks really promising but went under the radar at its Early Access release on September 9th. It looks very rushed, but I'm keeping my eye on this one.
Sugar Mess - Let's Play Jolly Battle (Meta, SteamVR)
Sugar Mess: Let's Play Jolly Battle is a weird title for multiple reasons, but it released on Steam on September 25th. It released several months earlier on Meta Quest store and PSVR2. I played the game using a Quest 3 on SteamVR, so I cannot speak to its support of older SteamVR hardware at this time. However, I noticed absolutely no performance issues.
Sugar Mess is a bit of a minigame game, meaning it doesn't focus on a single gameplay mechanic. It features a casual wave shooter mode that gets progressively more difficult to pass as well as a bunch of lesser game modes which mostly act as filler. The boss fights are pretty creative, though!
You can catch my video review of this game if you're interested, but to save you time, it's a 3/5. That score establishes a fair middle ground for all future review scores on my channel.
We've also had a few interesting teasers and updates for upcoming games!
Starship Troopers Continuum (Quest 2+, PSVR2)
The @SonyPicturesVR Twitter/X account teased Starship Troopers Continuum on September 25th and came out with the actual trailer on September 30th. It was pretty awesome to see the original Starship Troopers movie's Rico actor reprise his role for the trailer teaser, but unfortunately, the VR game trailer only had his voice. The game shown in the trailer footage has me concerned that this is a cash grab. The multiplayer features might make this a fun experience, anyway. The game is scheduled to release on October 17th on Quest 2 and Quest 3. It will be released on PSVR2 later on October 31st.
Starship Troopers: Extermination (PC, Xbox, PS5)
Starship Troopers: Extermination is slated for an October 11th release. Granted, it's already available in Steam Early Access. I've been planning to pick this game up close to its release to do a full dive into it in its 1.0 state on my Twitch channel.
Metal: Hellsinger VR (SteamVR, PSVR2)
Metal: Hellsinger VR had a demo recently which I still haven't played, but the actual full VR port is scheduled to release on October 3rd! That's 3 days away! I'll likely skip this release and grab the game at a later time, when it's discounted or bundled, because I already played the non-VR version, but I'll try to make time for the demo soon to see if it changes my mind.
NBB.EXE (PC)
This precision platformer, releasing October 1st, has local coop support and looks incredibly fun for a party setting. It can be bought at launch for $12 on Steam.
Exploding Kittens VR (Meta)
Exploding Kittens VR is slated to release October 3rd as well! Unfortunately, it's a Meta exclusive. I'd think twice about grabbing anything social on a closed ecosystem like Meta. You might have a friend who isn't in the Meta ecosystem who can't play. That said, I really like how this game looks! If it goes on a deep discount or releases on Steam later, I may pick it up. Otherwise, I'm sticking with the IRL card game.