September 1 – Starfield (Early Access) (Xbox Series X|S/PC)
September 1 – Bomb Rush Cyberfunk (PS5/PS4/Xbox Series X|S/Xbox One)
September 6 – Starfield (Xbox Series X|S/PC)
September 6 – Enchanted Portals (PS5/Xbox SeriesX|S/Switch/PC)
September 6 – Baldur’s Gate 3 (PS5)
September 7 – Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis (iOS/Android)
September 8 – NBA 2K24 (PS5/PS4/Xbox SeriesX|S/Xbox One/Switch/PC)
September 9 – Cyberpunk 2077 Patch 1.7 (PS5/Xbox Series X|S/PC)
September 12 – Mythforce (PS5/PS4/Xbox Series X|S/Xbox One/Switch/PC)
September 12 – Touhou: New World (PS5/PS4)
September 13 – Pokemon Scarlet & Violet – The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero Part 1: The Teal Mask (Switch)
September 14 – Monster Hunter Now (iOS/Android)
September 14 – The Crew Motorfest (PS5/PS4/Xbox Series X|S/Xbox One/PC)
September 14 – Summum Aeterna (PS5/PS4/Xbox SeriesX|S/Xbox One/Switch/PC)
September 14 – Baten Kaitos I & II Remaster (Switch)
September 19 – Lies of P (PS5/PS4/Xbox Series X|S/Xbox One/PC)
September 19 – Mortal Kombat 1 (PS5/Xbox Series X|S/Switch/PC)
September 20 – Witchfire (PC)
September 21 – Payday 3 (PS5/PS4/Xbox Series X|S/Xbox One/PC)
September 22 – Avatar: The Last Airbender: Quest for Balance (PS5/PS4/Xbox Series X|S/Xbox One/Switch/PC)
September 26 – Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty (PS5/Xbox Series X|S/PC)
September 26 – Harvest Moon: The Winds of Anthos (PS5/PS4/Xbox Series X|S/Xbox One/Switch/PC)
September 28 – Disney Speedstorm (PS5/PS4/Xbox Series X|S/Xbox One/Switch/PC)
September 29 – Cocoon (Xbox Series X|S/PC)
Given it’s a little dreary on planet Earth at the moment, it’s all but natural to look to the stars wistfully and dream of freedom. Starfield may just be the panacea for those seeking exotic worlds better than the one they’re standing on, but perhaps if we instead chill right here for 54 years or so we might stop dreaming and accept the impending glorious cyberpunk dystopia prophesied by CD Projekt Red. Whether you’re a starry-eyed cosmonaut or aspiring gutterpunk, September has you covered. Read on to see what’s got WellPlayed’s intrepid dreamers flexing their jorts this month.
Jordan
I would be lying if I said I was done playing Baldur’s Gate 3, so I really have no idea where I am going to be able to find the time to play the slew of games that are releasing this month, yet here I am. No rest for the wicked, I guess.
I love a good sci-fi game. I mean look, I’m so starved for good space games that I willingly play Star Citizen; I am on some serious copium. So it comes as no surprise that I am incredibly excited for Starfield. It looks like it shares a fair chunk of overlap with the aforementioned controversial Kickstarter space MMO, and I will almost always value a tightly designed single-player experience over an MMO. Sure, Bethesda has been on a downward trend for a while (you can only re-release Skyrim so many times), but that doesn’t mean that the studio is not able to produce top-tier experiences. I don’t expect Starfield to blow me away as much as other games like Tears of the Kingdom or Baldur’s Gate 3 did, but I am still incredibly excited for it nonetheless. Now I just need to figure out whether I want to pay $170 for the early access on Steam or just to stomach through the garbage-tier Xbox App on PC using Game Pass. Also, remind me to tell you the stories about the various hilarious glitches that I have encountered in my time playing Star Citizen, you would swear I was playing a Bethesda game the entire time.
The other big hitters come in the form of Lies of P, Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty which looks to potentially make the CD Projekt Red-developed RPG worth my time, and the first expansion for Pokémon Scarlet and Violet which just looks to add more to the cool-yet-heavily flawed experience that was Generation 9 Pokémon.
Shoutouts also go to Witchfire, The Crew Motorfest, Monster Hunter Now, and Cocoon, but I doubt I will be able to get to anything beyond Starfield and Lies of P. Baldur’s Gate 3 is just too big.
Mark
If you’re a regular reader of this column, you’ll know that I’m always shouting out the best indies. Last month was no different, despite the looming shadows of Armored Core VI and Baldur’s Gate 3, and with this month largely all about Starfield, you’d be forgiven for thinking that this behemoth of a release will clog up the schedule for everyone else. Oh, what a fool you are, because this is the video game industry, it never slows down!
First thing’s first, Baldur’s Gate 3. Wait, Mark, that’s an indie? Well, technically yes, random reader who just asked that question. You could call it a AAAndie, if you must. The fact that Larian Studios went from well respected RPG developer that nearly folded to now practically owning 2023 in the same year a new Zelda drops to critical acclaim is certainly no mean feat. Impatiently, I waited for the PS5 release as all my friends boasted about their steamy digital sex lives, but the wait is almost over for console-loving me (sorry, PC master race), and I’m eager to get work in creating the ultimate Bard. You better believe he’ll sing you to death if you cross him.
There’s a bumper crop of titles to follow across the rest of the month, led by another potentially big name indie in Lies of P, coming to us from an otherwise unknown team of dedicated Dark Souls lovers out of South Korea. I’ve got my fingers crossed this is going to deliver, if only because I love the underdog story of a development team no one has heard of before making bank. Likewise, I have high hopes for Cocoon (another Annapurna published beauty, no doubt) and Bomb Rush Cyberfunk, which technically came out on Switch last month but hits everywhere else in September, and my Jet Set Radio sequel aspirations are all the happier for it. Oh, and if all that has your blood pumping and you need something to calm your soul, I think you should keep a close eye on Fae Farm, especially if you (like me) have fond memories of Stardew Valley.
Nathan
I’m packing my jorts into a suitcase and shall become a vagrant gamer, following my nose as the sweet Spring scents guide me towards happiness. Na, I’m just jealous my partner is more interested in romancing all the starting NPCs in Baldur’s Gate 3 rather than me. Let’s jorts.
This old boy has had a recent PC upgrade and can’t wait to see some glorious worlds rendered within. Cyberpunk 2077 is asking for a second chance, with huge improvements across the board arriving with its upcoming Phantom Liberty expansion. I also want to see if the aging tools behind Starfield still have what it takes to impress and strike awe as they did with Skyrim a decade ago.
The couple of nerdy Nathan picks this month will be Anonymous;Code and Baten Kaitos 1 & 2 HD Remaster. Briefly, the former is a lengthy, mysterious sci-fi visual novel in the series that brought weebs the phenomenal time-bending Steins;Gate. The latter is a niche Gamecube card-driven JRPG from the studio that made Xenoblade Chronicles. I never owned a Gamecube and always wanted to play this.
Finally, the team picks that I’m hoping are good. Mostly for team morale. Payday 3 should get a bit of attention here at WellPlayed. Whether the co-op heist game has the pizzazz to remain competitive in this crowded multiplayer space is my key concern. On the other end of the spectrum is the Pinocchio Souls-like Lies of P. I thought this game was an industry joke, but I keep reading headlines suggesting this may be the closest we get to more Bloodborne. Huge if true.
Oh, this month’s farming game is My Time At Sandrock. Thank you.
Ash
I am a gentle soul, but for some reason I hunger for blood and dated 80s film properties. These things sustain me, uplift me – arouse me? Nah, strike that last one. But they do excite me.
September offers me both these things, starting with a big ol’ bucket of blood courtesy of the latest entry into the Mortal Kombat mythos …Mortal Kombat 1. Wait. *checks script*. Yeah, they really did call the twelfth Mortal Kombat the number one. Wow.
But real talk, thanks to a healthy injection of wibbly wobbly time bullshit, we get to enjoy a whole new timeline – full of familiar faces that are rejuvenated and refreshed, and ready to get bruised and beaten in new and exciting ways. The folks at NetherRealm understand that the very nature of a fighting game will always be conflict, so finding creative ways to incite it will form the backbone of their sure-to-be-stellar cinematic story. And when I grow bored of that, cartoonishly gorey finishing moves will surely keep me engaged.
Then, to deliver on my odd addiction for 1980s film franchises, Teyon is still promising that RoboCop: Rogue City is expected in September. The ponderous and brutal shooter looks like some kind of kryptonite to the expectations of modern day FPS players, with its deliberate pace laughing in the face of all the sprinting, sliding and wall-running that is going on nowadays. I feel like the slavish dedication to the spirit of the ye olde films is a gamble, but we will see when I get my hands on it.
Wait, nevermind. It’s been delayed until November. Well, thank Christ it wasn’t sent to October. Maybe I’ll check out Starfield then. Looks kinda neat.
Adam
I am terrible at fighting games. Does that stop Tekken 3 from being one of my favourite games from my childhood? Absolutely not. Has it stopped my partner and I getting way too excited for every Mortal Kombat release since Mortal Kombat 9? Definitely not. Will we be getting stuck into Mortal Kombat 1 in September, punching, kicking, disembowelling, decapitating and eviscerating each other until the sun swallows the earth? You bet your arse. The resetting of the MK universe gives this new entry a really exciting energy, and the 3D-era kharacters are getting their time in the spotlight, so bring on the guts and gore, I say.
The other game making blips on my radar couldn’t be further from the blood and viscera. Cocoon is a gorgeous puzzle game that lets you play as a teeny tiny little beetle that can pick up and carry entire cosmic realms on its back, entering and exiting them on a whim in order to progress. Well, maybe there are a few similarities, that’s kinda terrifying now that I think about it. Existential dread aside, I’ve been waiting on Cocoon since it was revealed, so I’ll be all too happy to battle about in the coming weeks.
The month will almost exclusively be punching and puzzling, but if I do find some extra pockets of time, I’ll be heading to hell for Hellsweeper VR, a co-op action game that sends you to the pits of Hades to slice, dice and shoot all manner of nasties, all with a friend by your side. If I sneak in a bit of Party Animal with mates, I certainly wouldn’t be sad either. We shall see.
What games are you keen for in September? Do you feel the looming presence of October, leaning in to steal away all your spare time? Let us know in the comments or on social media.
