The best and biggest games of September
September's more packed than any month in recent memory, as publishers rush to debut games before Grand Theft Auto 6's November 19th release.
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publishers → rush → release
Onimusha: Way of the Sword
I've played countless video games that put you in the hands of a swordsman cutting down foes.
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that → play → foes
So it's a shock to me too to say that Onimusha: Way of the Sword is the best-feeling action game of them all.
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Onimusha → say → them
Never has a dodge, parry, or frame-perfect counter felt so dang good.
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dodge → feel → ?
Nor have they looked so cool.
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they → look → ?
Capcom developers told Game Informer that their biggest goal was to take the action of cutscenes from previous Onimusha games and turn it into playable gameplay.
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goal → tell → gameplay
Way of the Sword achieves that with fluid animation that makes every encounter feel like a choreographed martial arts movie.
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encounter → achieve → movie
Re-used bosses and a half-baked open world design lead to pacing issues and a kind of unnecessary fatigue.
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bosses → use → fatigue
Capcom usually puts out tightly paced, lean games.
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Capcom → put → games
But just when I think I'm out, Onimusha pulls me back in with an unbelievable spectacle of a boss fight.
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Onimusha → think → fight
The game is another notch on Capcom's belt of great releases this year, and further proof that it might just be the best video game publisher working today.
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it → work → releases
—Vincent Acovino, producer, All Things Considered
Blood of the Dawnwalker
Sprawling open-world RPGs are weighing me down.
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RPGs → weigh → me
They dump hundreds of icons on the map, and three hours later I'm collecting flowers instead of saving the world.
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I → dump → world
Blood of Dawnwalker has offered the cure, and it's all thanks to its clock mechanic.
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it → offer → mechanic
You play Coen, the titular "Dawnwalker," who swings swords and casts magic during the day.
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who → play → day
By night, he shifts into a vampire to tear through enemies, teleport short distances, and climb up walls like Spider-Man.
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he → shift → Man
Time only advances when you commit to major quests, using precious chunks of your finite 30-day timeline.
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you → advance → timeline
At one point I wanted to take down a heavily-guarded encampment.
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I → want → encampment
I felt vulnerable, so instead of rushing in I spent my last daytime slot gathering intel.
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I → feel → intel
Once night struck, I went full bloodsucker, easily scaling the fortress walls and laying waste to the entire battalion.
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I → strike → battalion
To be clear, the clock doesn't penalize exploration.
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clock → penalize → exploration
You can wander freely without burning time.
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You → wander → time
But it forces you to prioritize what quests to commit to, which feels surprisingly liberating.
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which → force → quests
Instead of the "gotta catch em all" of endless bloat, the game rewards you with a focused power curve and sharp narrative arc.
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game → get → curve
—James Delahoussaye, producer, TED Radio Hour
Silent Hill: Townfall
Played in first-person, this Silent Hill spinoff explores the deserted Scottish island town of St. Amelia in 1996.
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spinoff → play → 1996
You play as Simon Ordell, an amnesiac who's summoned to the town to "make things right."
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things → play → town
As you make your way through the fog-shrouded town, you're equipped with a twist on a classic Silent Hill mechanic: the CRTV, a pocket television that can pick up signals for hints and enemy detection.
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that → make → hints
Your weak combat abilities encourage you to be stealthy.
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abilities → encourage → you
You can use glass bottles and abandoned radios to lure enemies away or quickly jump into closets to hide.
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You → use → closets
However, enemies will relentlessly stalk you, even if you manage to avoid detection.
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you → stalk → detection
This is when the novelty of the CRTV wears off, as you can only view one monster at a time and must scan other channels to see the location of others.
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you → wear → others
Sneaking can tilt from thrilling to tedious and time-consuming, especially during times where instant-kill enemies are involved.
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enemies → sneak → times
And while Townfall's tech nostalgia makes it unique, it also started to bother me as I had to shove floppy disks into computers and save the game by manually dialling a phone.
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I → make → phone
Townfall hits the right Silent Hill notes: fog, grotesque monsters and psychological torment.
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Townfall → hit → notes
It's a pity that its mechanics were more likely to annoy than scare me.
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mechanics → annoy → me
You play a sci-fi guardian angel, reaching from a post-apocalyptic present to one of four parallel timelines that each star a colorful gladiator.
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that → play → gladiator
You'll spend more time running errands than you'll spend in the arena, however.
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you → spend → arena
Each week, you'll steer your heroes through a vast map dotted with cities, dungeons, fishing holes, foraging spots and randomized battles.
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you → steer → cities
Keep an eye on the calendar, though, as you'll want to return to the capitol city every week to train your burgeoning army, lead them in service to Roman-ish gods and treat them to extravagant meals.
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you → keep → meals
If you're like me, you'll also nearly bankrupt yourself on gifts to bribe the game's four dozen or so recruitable characters to join your side.
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characters → bankrupt → side
…and 14 more, not listed.
The Aporia
