Spider-Man swings between buildings in a screenshot from Marvel’s Spider-Man game.
© Insomniac Games
Games

These are the amazing games you need to play in September

September sees the arrival of some blockbuster titles. So what should you pick up this month?
Written by Jamie Stevenson
7 min readPublished on
Make no mistake, September 2018 is a big month for gaming. With long-awaited blockbusters, hit franchise closers and monolithic sports sims all dropping this month, it’s fair to say we’re spoiled for choice. So what are the games you should be looking to pick up? We’ve taken a look at the hottest releases in September.

Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age (September 4, PlayStation 4)

Released last year in Japan, Dragon Quest XI finally makes its way to the west and boy, is it worth the wait. This simple-but-sprawling single-player JRPG captures the immense charm of the series, while still containing the brilliantly tense turn-based battles fans will be hankering for. While the story may be relatively unsurprising (your silent hero is tasked with saving the world), the game more than makes up for it with the depth and variety of the world on offer.
With an absolutely ludicrous amount of loot to plunder, a beautiful array of beasties and a colourful, immaculately detailed world, Dragon Quest XI proves to be another stellar entry in this classic series.

Marvel’s Spider-Man (September 7, PlayStation 4)

One of the most eagerly anticipated games of the year sees Marvel’s iconic web-slinger return to our screens. Peter Parker’s alter-ego has had a myriad of video game adaptations, but none have ever lived up to 2004’s Spider-Man 2 in terms of actual web swinging. That looks to change with the upcoming PS4-exclusive Spider-Man game, painstakingly crafted by the folks behind the wacky Sunset Overdrive, Insomniac Games – and it looks as close to the comics as we’re ever going to get.
You’ll be thrust into an array of spandex suits, each with different abilities, as you take on New York City and the evil Mr. Negative, as well as Parker’s dual life and all the great powers and great responsibility that comes with being Spider-Man. Insomniac’s superhero romp should deliver the definitive wall-crawling experience when it dangles onto your console in September, and we can’t wait for it to arrive.

Little Dragons Cafe (September 7, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch)

Initially pencilled for release last month, the new game from Yasuhiro Wada, the creator of Harvest Moon, was inspired by monolithic RPG Monster Hunter World, though with an emphasis on befriending instead of slaying monsters. Harvest Moon was an enormous hit for Wada and if the glimpses of Little Dragons Cafe are anything to go by, he could well be onto another winner.
The game tells the story of two children taking over their mother’s café when she falls ill. Combining restaurant management sim, where you have to manage all ingredients, recipes and staff, with fantasy exploration of the game’s island, players will soon realise that running a cafe while raising a dragon requires a degree of multitasking.
The game’s a mixture of familiar games that have come before it, including Wada’s own creations, and it’s set to be a warm-hearted blast and something that Switch users should absolutely get excited about.

V-Rally 4 (September 7, PlayStation 4, Xbox One)

For the last 15 years the iconic racing series V-Rally has laid dormant – a fact made even more baffling by the sheer quality of the last instalment. Indeed, the series was firmly established as one of the most realistic, comprehensive and thoroughly enjoyable racers available before its untimely pause.
Thankfully, French developers Kylotonn Racing Games – the team behind WRC 7 and TT Isle of Man – and publishers Bigben are bringing this classic back for another tear around the track.
Featuring 50 models of rallying and extreme motorsports vehicles for players to collect, upgrade, customise and master, and an in-depth career and online mode, fans and newbies to the series alike should have more than enough to occupy their time. With tracks from Africa to Sequoia Park and Japan, and game modes like Extreme-Khana, which tests your precision and drifting skills, and Buggy, which tests your wits, and reactions, in an all-terrain vehicle, V-Rally 4 looks to have been worth the wait.
While the game’s initially hitting PS4 and Xbox One, and reaching PC later this month, Switch users will have to wait just that little bit longer to get their port. Either way, it’s almost time to buckle up.

NBA 2K19 (September 11, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC)

The latest instalment in 2K Sports’ enormously successful series has a lot to live up to. NBA 2K18 was a huge hit, both critically and commercially, and with good reason – it’s one of the best, most realistic sporting sims around, and represents the most fun you can have shooting virtual hoops outside of the NBA Street series.
Thankfully, it looks like 2K19 will be hitting the same heady heights as its predecessor, introducing new gameplay mechanics to make the on-court action even more realistic, matching the ebb-and-flow of the sport perfectly. The Takeover system, in particular, can change the course of a match – seeing a player wrestle control of a game to dominate proceedings. With updates to features like the ever-popular MyLeague Online and an expansive story in the form of MyGM: The Saga, this is as comprehensive a package as one can hope for. Put simply, we can’t wait to dunk on our friends with NBA 2K19.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider (September 14, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC)

After a lengthy absence, 2013 saw Lara Croft come back with a bang. The superb reboot of the series, followed up by the even-better Rise of the Tomb Raider, saw our favourite English cave crusader gain a new lease of life, with a two-hander heavy on exploration, moody visuals and brutal combat, once again establishing Ms Croft as one of gaming’s most durable figures.
In September, the final part of this trilogy arrives, with Lara growing into her role as a one-woman army, having been tasked with bringing down cults, paramilitaries and evil explorers. The new game features incredible new locations, a world away from the snowy expanses of the previous title, with elements taken from Incan, Mayan and Aztec cultures to create a fictional ancient Peruvian city (and jungle) for you to explore.
The game looks incredible, and with new, metroidvania-like mechanics, updated survival skills and even more fiendish, tomb-related puzzles, we fully expect this series to go out with a bang, rather than a whimper.

Life is Strange 2 (September 27, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC)

Max and Chloe’s story in Arcadia Bay barely reached its end in the first Life is Strange before developers Dontnod began talking up their follow-up to the smash hit sci-fi adventure. Thankfully, there was no talk of changing just what made the original so special – namely, an incredible story, a beautifully built world and a unique atmosphere – and instead they emphasised the desire to take the series in a new direction, while embracing all these aspects.
Life is Strange 2 tells the story of Sean Diaz, a teenager living with his younger brother Daniel and his father in Seattle, Washington, when a horrific incident forces him and Daniel to flee and take a road trip across the USA to Mexico. The relationship between the brothers forms the core of the story, with your choices as the older brother influencing how Daniel behaves and reacts in different situations. With the promise of supernatural elements (but no time-reversing), a plot that should prove no less moving than its predecessor, and characters as richly drawn as they are involving, we can’t wait for Dontnod to lead us on another journey.

FIFA 19 (September 28, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC)

This feels like a big year for FIFA. The monumentally successful series has reclaimed the Champions League license, giving players the chance to experience the most prestigious club tournament in the world with a full array of licenses and the slick gameplay EA delivers on a yearly basis.
With key changes to the gameplay, including a new 50/50 system which makes tackling seem more tactile, and a shooting mechanic which could prove as effective as it is hilarious (howlers are just as likely as screamers), FIFA 19 shows that EA are unwilling to rest on their laurels and prove once again that they deserve their place at the top of the football sim table.