Hey it’s October already! Thanks to @Left_Empty for the thread reminder (again). :P
What has been your primary game this past month? It could have been a recent title, a new discovery, or something from your backlog. Or perhaps an old favorite you returned to years later? Honorable mentions are also welcome, these would be other games that you enjoyed this past month, but not the one you spent the most time enjoying.
For September my game of the month is:
Deathloop - I am nearing the end, most leads figured out, and I have the skills upgraded and locked in that I want. Let’s hope the story ends in an interesting way.
Honorable mentions:
Antihero - I got a few rounds of this in as usual, free time has been very limited.
What game defined September 2021 for you? What was your Game of the Month?
It’s never too early.
My games of the month were X-Plane, Baba is You and Beast Breaker, with a preference for Beast Breaker.
I played a bunch of arcade games again, and I slept a lot. I’m happy.
Hey hey, more AI War 2 goodness mostly, but near the end of the month I had something pop up saying Imperiums: Greek Wars was releasing a DLC so I fired up a new campaign as Macedon to see how the finished product turned out a year on and had a very nice time with it. Never ceases to amaze me how well diplomacy works in this series.
Certainly, Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous chewed up nearly 100 hours of game time in September so that’s the ‘game of the month’ for me. Still rolling through it at 107 hours and a while to go yet.
Life is Strange: True Colors on the PS5 was a standout, most of it completed in September. Finished it today and it’s just such a beautiful game with believable characters, interesting mystery, and a setting that makes me wish I was there.
Last was my usual foray into Animal Crossing: New Horizons which is still winding down to retirement this year after playing it since release every day.
King’s Bounty 2 …I have a very strange relationship with it because I totally love the way it looks. I love its vibrant colors, its world/map design and the overall feel of it. It’s really nice escapism. As is the gameplay without much to think about but whom to fight next, what troops to buy and how to spend gold and skill points. Plus the heart-warming vistas and some non offensive talking: What else could I ask for in my tactical fantasy RPG? I have played it for 40 hours this month and I think I will need ten more to finish it.
Definitely Red Dead Redemption 2, which I finally finished after around 2 years of on and off play. It was great, as everyone knows, and I was also happy to be done with it to move on to something else in that long term slot.
Since, I’ve put a lot of time in Ashes of Singularity, which I never gave enough time years ago but am somewhat hooked right for now as I make my way through all the campaigns. It is a bit short on personality, but the graphics and battle size are fun, and there is some real challenge (at least for me). I expect this will be my top game for a few more weeks to come.
GemCraft: Frostborn Wraith. Is this a tower defense game, or an incremental, or a puzzle game? I’m not sure, but it seems to scratch all 3 itches. I’m finally getting close to wizard level 150, and have lots of open options to get more levels, or open staches, or open up more maps. Maybe some of all of them?
We need a like button. I did like the previous GemCraft more, but this one is good fun. It did get too difficult for me and I couldn’t progress eventually.
My game is Diablo 2 Resurrected. It might not have a modern UI or all the features of newer ARPGs, but it is still good fun on the Xbox.
I’d played a lot of Cloud Garden in early access, but I thought the new stuff added near the end was well done and a lot of the clunkier gameplay things were ironed out. It really only does one thing, but it does it very well.
SOLAS 128 is a pretty incredible puzzle game. It got too clever for me at the end, so I needed a walkthrough to get some tips (wish they didn’t stop the hint system in the final area). But it was still really satisfying actually. Can’t imagine designing that game.
UnderMine - Switch - By far my most hours in September. I heard that the Switch version finally got patched so that it doesn’t crash every few runs, and picked it back up. It’s a relaxing roguelite and I’m over the hump where items and upgrades don’t matter much to the success of my early runs, so other games have a tough time competing for any spare 30 minute blocks of time.
Honorable Mentions:
Eastward - Switch - This game is delightful, but the combat is an awkward slog. I progressed through a chapter every few nights and have almost reached the end.
Magic: The Gathering Arena - PC - I’ve never played Magic, but have played tons of its descendants. I was interested in learning more about modern play and it is very compelling. But I found the TCG aspect too overwhelming for me to commit any more time or money.
Spirit Island - Boardgame - I got the itch to dive back into solitaire SI and ended up going deep on a few spirits that I hadn’t played before. Consistently amazed by how much more considered this game feels at every level than its peers.
GuildWars 2 - never played it before, just got my first character (engineer) to lvl 80. I suck at it, but the PvE is pretty forgiving and I’m enjoying exploring, participating in timed events, jumping puzzles and map and personal story completion. Got the current expansions to do something else once I’ve finished these.
I have learnt not to attempt group events with no one else nearby. Not yet tried dungeons, WvW, the other dungeon-like thing or PvP. Looked at some of the theory-crafting skill rotations with 27+ steps for my character and, no, I don’t think I’ll be able to do that.
Also, my 5 year old daughter and I played through Teacup together on the PS4. She liked it so much that she wanted to immediately play it all over again.
