Games

New Game Releases 09/16/25 – 09/22/25

Top Releases:

  • Dying Light: The Beast (PC/PS5/Series X|S) – Releases Sep. 19th
  • Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter (PC/PS5/Switch) – Releases Sep. 19th
  • Skate. (PC – Early access) – Releases Sep. 16th
  • Class of Heroes 3 Remaster (PC/PS5/Switch) – Releases Sep. 18th
  • QQQbeats!!! (Switch) – Releases Sep. 18th
  • Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree (PC/PS5/Switch/Series X|S) – Releases Sep. 19th

We’re halfway through September which means that it’s time to start putting out the spooky games, I guess. Our top release is the survival horror game Dying Light: The Beast, which developer Techland describes as a smaller, more intimate game than the mainline Dying Light titles. In this spin-off, which initially began life as DLC for Dying Light 2, players take on the role of retuning protagonist, Kyle Crane, who now has superhuman capabilities from years of experimentation on his body. Oh, and if you’re wondering if you’re gonna parkour everywhere, um…yeah, you’re gonna parkour everywhere.

Dying Light: The Beast (PC/PS5/Series X|S) – Releases Sep. 19th

Developed by: Techland
Published by: Techland

While there are a lot of games coming out this week, it’s a bit less high profile than what we can expect over the next couple months. Still, I know there are people dying to play Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter, a remake of the 2004 title. Personally, I’ll probably skip this as I’ve put a lot of time into the original, but if they remake the second chapter, Trails in the Sky SC, I’ll be all over it.

I normally don’t highlight early access games, but EA’s Skate. is one of those games that a lot of people have been waiting a long time for, so now is your chance to finally check it out; for free, even! We’ve also got another RPG remake, remaster to be more specific, with the first person dungeon crawler Class of Heroes 3 Remaster. Rounding things out are a couple more Japanese developed titles, the rhythm game QQQbeats!!! from Taito, and the rouguelite hack & slash Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree from Brownies Inc., the team behind Doraemon Story of Seasons.

Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter (PC/PS5/Switch) – Releases Sep. 19th

Developed by: Nihon Falcom
Published by: GungHo Online Entertainment America, Inc.

Skate. (PC – early access) – Releases Sep. 16th

Developed by: Full Circle
Published by: EA

Class of Heroes 3 Remaster (PC/PS5/Switch) – Releases Sep. 18th

Developed by: ACQUIRE Corp./Zerodiv
Published by: PQube

(Switch) – Releases Sep. 18th

Developed by: Taito
Published by: Taito

Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree (PC/PS5/Switch/Series X|S) – Releases Sep. 19th

Developed by: Brownies Inc.
Published by: Bandai Namco

Ports and Expansions:

The post-apocalyptic FPS Atomfall is back with a brand new expansion called The Red Strain. Details on the expansion are being kept pretty tight, despite developer Rebellion promising more info “shortly before release”. As of this writing, Sep. 15th at 12pm PT, there has been no new info. What we do know is that the expansion takes place at a top secret test site called Moriah, which has been overrun by strange, red vegitation.

ALSO! The city building/survival sim Frostpunk 2 is coming to consoles!

  • Atomfall: The Red Strain (PC/PS5/Series X|S) – Releases Sep. 16th
  • Frostpunk 2 (PS5/Series X|S) – Releases Sep. 18th

Everything else:

Notable Releases from 10, 20, and 30 (and sometimes 40) years ago:

Games:

In notable releases, like we are seeing in 2025, our games of yesteryear are also of the spooky persuasion. From 2015 we’ve got Soma, a survival horror puzzle game from developer Frictional Games, bests known for the Amnesia franchise. Like Amnesia, Soma is light on combat and heavy on exploration and using stealth to stay alive. Trapped in an underwater research facility at the bottom the North Atlantic Ocean, you are one of the last remaining humans on the planet, at least, that’s what you’re told…

Soma received mostly positive reviews from critics, giving particular praise to its story and chilling atmosphere. Some critics believed it had less scares than Amnesia but that it was, overall, a much better game. Perhaps there were less scares because, as critics were quick to point out, this style if cat & mouse, hide from the monster type of game was starting to become an overused trend.

Overused or not, Soma was a hit for Fractional, with the game outselling Amnesia: The Dark Descent in its first two weeks of release, going on to sell over 1 million copies by 2021. At the annual Golden Joystick Awards, Soma would receive three nominations, Best Original Game, Best Storytelling, and Best Visual Design but would lose all three (the winners were Overwatch for Original Game, and The Witcher 3 for the other two). Despite the positive sales and accolades, Fractional would not revisit the world of Soma, sticking with their cash cow, the Amnesia franchise, releasing two more games in that series in 2020 and 2023.

From 2005, we’ve got the game Indigo Prophecy or, as it was known in the rest of the world, Fahrenheit. This was the second game developed by Quantic Dream and was the mainstream breakthrough for both the company and its founder, David Cage. Like Soma, Indigo Prophecy is a survival horror game that eschews traditional action based gameplay for a larger focus on story, stealth, puzzle solving, and one of the most prolific game design choices of the next ten years, quick time events.

Set in modern day New York City, players take on the role of Lucas Kane, just as he comes out of a trance like state in which he has murdered another man. Unable to recall his actions, Kane contacts a spiritual medium who helps him to unlock his missing memories. With a cast of 60 stuntmen and actors, Indigo Prophecy made liberal use of motion capture for their performances. The game’s final script, written by Cage, was over 2,000 pages long and required extensive direction and planning to ensure that there were no hiccups in production.

With such a strong emphasis on actor performance and script writing, Indigo Prophecy is clearly more along the lines of an interactive film than it is a video game, with the more “game-like” aspects detracting from the experience. While the game was certainly enjoyed by critics, there were some that found its stealth sections to be tedious, and the need for so many quick inputs to be cumbersome and lacking in fun.

While it had it’s share of criticisms, Indigo Prophecy was still a highly regarded game in 2005, being called one of the best games of the year by multiple outlets. Cage had said, in describing the game, that he wanted to make something that felt mature and gave adults a reason to either get back into video games or introduce them to games for the first time. With over 1 million copies sold, Indigo Prophecy was certainly a hit and led to three further games from Quantic Dream (all critically acclaimed), Heavy Rain, Beyond: Two Souls, and Detroit: Become Human.

Moving on to 1995, while not necessarily a “horror” game, we’ve still got some spooky elements here in the Super Nintendo title Castlevania: Dracula X (known as Vampire’s Kiss in Europe). Released around the same time as the Sony PlayStation, Dracula X probably didn’t get the attention it deserved at launch. Another reason why it may have been overlooked, the game is a remake of a 1993 PC Engine CD-ROM title, called Castlevania: Rondo of Blood.

However, a third reason why Dracula X might have been overlooked was that it was a critical flop, with many outlets calling it inferior to the PC Engine’s Rondo of Blood. Another point of contention, the high degree of difficulty; not even the “fun” kind of hard, it was the brutally unfair kind. I hate those! Critics in the 90’s were just not impressed with Dracula X and called it inferior to the series’ other SNES title, Super Castlevania IV. The graphics were considered subpar and the gameplay felt straight out of the 8-bit era, according to them.

However, Dracula X has received more positive feedback in later years, with a particular love for its bright, colorful graphics in comparison to the drab Super Castlevania. While Mode 7 was seen as a technological marvel in 1995, it was no longer impressive to modern critics and they did not seem to be bothered by its exclusion. Still modern critics do continue to call the game unfairly difficult and admit that the level design isn’t very good. The good news, though, is that you, the gamer of today, can play Dracula X on your fancy modern console as it was included in the Castlevania Advance Collection; hooray!

From 1985, we’ve got our least spooky release of the bunch. In fact, the goal of the game is to be the least spooky as possible, I’m talking about the genre defining RPG Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar. Developer Richard Garriott, AKA Lord British, was already riding high on the success of his previous three Ultima games, but was finding that the 1980’s “satanic panic” was coming for his beloved series, with over-zealous parents lumping the game in with other fantasy RPGs, namely Dungeons & Dragons.

To parents, these games promoted evil, requiring players to kill everyone and everything in sight, all while promoting a life style that praised the black arts. To show these parents that his games could be more than their fears, Garriott opted to shake things up with Quest of the Avatar, making it so that players would aspire to be a paragon of good by completing heroic deeds, thus improving their virtue score. However, with players still able to exercise their free will, they could embark on a mission of evil, making it far more difficult to become virtuous and, thus, unable to attain the final goal of becoming the Avatar.

When it released, Ultima IV was a smash hit with both critics and players. The amount of freedom and choice in the game was unheard of in 1985 and it made Ultima IV feel like the start of a new era in role playing games. In the magazine Computer Gaming World, it was voted as the best adventure game five years in a row, after a five year dominance by the game Wizardry. By 1990. nearly half a million copies of the game had been sold, making it one of the best selling PC games of its era.

Hailed by critics of the era as one of the greatest PC games of all-time, Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar showed that you didn’t need to kill in order to succeed at a video game, even in adventure titles. It was truly groundbreaking upon launch and, in the eyes of many, finally let you “role play” in a role playing game, allowing the player to decide how they were and what their story was. Garriott would follow-up this new “Age of Enlightenment” Ultima sub series with two more entries (V and VI), before releasing Ultima VII, Ultima VII Part 2, Ultima VII, and, the series finale, Ultima IX (not counting Ultima Online).

Movies:

In notable films, 2015 gave us the crime thriller Sicario, from director Denis Villeneuve and writer Taylor Sheridan. Set in the world of drug cartels and the law enforcement who hunt them down, Sicario is a gripping film that, like many good crime stories, blurs the line between good & evil, finding that brilliant gray area where everyone on both sides of the law like to live.

Hailed by critics as one of the best movies of 2015, Sicario would end up on nearly three dozen critics “Best of…” lists and earn three Academy Award nomination (Best Cinematography, Best Original Score, and Best Sound Editing). The film would continue Villeneuve’s successful transition into Hollywood filmmaking, following the also very well received Prisoners, leading to the films Arrival, Blade Runner 2049, and Dune. Sheridan, already a well known character actor, would go on to write the screenplay for Hell or High Water, which was a Best Picture nominee in 2016, as well as Sicario: Day of the Soldado, before creating your dad’s favorite TV show, Yellowstone, in 2018.

From 2005, we have the movie A History of Violence, from another film auteur, David Cronenberg. Based on the 1997 graphic novel of the same name, A History of Violence found Cronenberg making a kind of, I guess, “normal” movie. In the film, a small town husband & father named Tom, played by Viggo Mortensen, becomes a local hero after killing several men who attempt to rob the diner he owns. At least, that’s what Tom would have you believe.

You see, Tom is actually a former hitman for the mob, well, at least that’s what the mob believes. When Tom’s story goes national he gets on the radar of a Philadelphia-based crime boss who decides to pay this small town hero a visit. From there, the violence and the lies only escalate, creating major tension between Tom and his wife & children, until everything reaches its inevitable boiling point.

While A History of Violence was hailed by critics as one of the best films of 2005, audiences were a little less enthused. As you can imagine with a David Cronenberg film, there is an overwhelming amount of gore, some bizarre sexual moments, as well as a somewhat slow pace, which had mainstream audiences wondering just what the hell the guy from Lord of the Rings was doing in such a weird movie (which again, is probably the most normal movie Cronenberg has ever done).

The film would receive numerous awards and nominations from just about every show and festival you can imagine, including two Academy Awards; Best Supporting Actor for William Hurt, and Best Adapted Screenplay for Josh Olson who would, unfortunately, not find much success in Hollywood after, only having one other screenplay produced, the poorly received 2024 Netflix film, Trigger Warning

From 1995, we have yet ANOTHER critically film, David Fincher’s breakthrough Seven, starring Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman. A brutally graphic crime thriller, Seven tells the story of two detectives on the trail of a serial killer who, as the title of the film alludes to, murders his victims who he believes showcase one of the seven deadly sins. Initially hated by the studio, Seven went through 13 revisions and three directors before landing, by accident, in the lap of David Fincher who wanted to make sure that the most fucked up version of the film, including its controversial ending, were guaranteed to be in the final cut of the movie.

Before Seven, most Hollywood films had shied away from the truly depraved when it came to crime & violence. While you, of course, had violent films in the past, I think it was the juxtaposition between crime & religion that really got people irked, and it wasn’t just audiences. Several of Fincher’s regular crew members, and even actor friends (including Gary Oldman) turned down offers to work on the film. There was a sense that the film was “evil”, and perhaps shouldn’t see the light of day.

The marketing for Seven was difficult for studio New Line Cinema who had to somehow convince the moviegoing public that this depraved film about a sadistic serial killer was worth their time. There was a sense that horror films did not do well with the mainstream audience that New Line wanted to attract, and it certainly didn’t do well with the young female fans of Brad Pitt, or the older “prestige” crowd that Morgan Freeman drew. To help, New Line shifted the focus to the sins themselves, making each murder its own character. As a kid, I remember reading an Entertainment Weekly article about the film which specifically highlighted the actors from each murder (well, almost all of them…), and there was nary a mention of Pitt or Freeman.

Initial test screenings were pretty grim, particularly towards the shocking ending. Fincher and Pitt were adamant that it not be changed but did finally concede to shoot an epilogue that put a cap on the story, as Fincher just wanted the film to cut directly to black after the shocking, final moment. Pre-release tracking had Seven failing to make much of a splash at the box office but, to everyone’s surprise, it opened at #1, beating the highly anticipated Showgirls and the feel good comedy To Wong Foo. Seven would go on to have the highest September opening of all-time, beating 1991’s Freddy’s Dead, and would sit in the #1 spot for five weeks.

Considered a “sleeper hit”, Seven would go on to gross almost $400 million worldwide, becoming the ninth highest grossing film of 1995 in the United States, between Casper and Die Hard: With a Vengeance. Critics loved the film as well, calling it one of the most intelligent and well made thrillers of all-time. Seven substantially raised the profile of Brad Pitt who, while no slouch at the box office before this, became a true, bona-fide movie star afterwards.

Director David Fincher, who was almost thrown out of Hollywood for the poorly received Alien 3, would become one of the most sought after directors, following up with a nearly unstoppable string of hits, The Game, Fight Club, Panic Room, Zodiac, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Social Network, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Gone Girl, Mank, and The Killer. All of these would be named among the best films of their respective years and would receive numerous Academy Award nominations. Seven itself was nominated at the Academy Awards in the Best Editing category (losing to Apollo 13).

A cultural touchstone, Seven is certainly one of the biggest movies of the 1990’s and is one that helped define the era, as well as every film that came after it. Suddenly, “evil serial killers who do crazy shit” movies were popping up like crazy; The Bone Collector, Murder By Numbers, Copycat, Insomnia, Taking Lives, Twisted, Saw, and on, and on, and on. I’ve purchased Seven at least four times in physical format, VHS, DVD, regular Blu-ray, and 4K Blu-ray. David Fincher tapped into something visceral and primal with Seven, and in the process he made me, and many others, a life long fan of his.

Our last film, from 1985 is, of course, yet another critically acclaimed film, Agnes of God, from director Norman Jewison. Set at a convent in Quebec, Agnes of God tells the story of a psychiatrist, played by Jane Fonda, who is investigating the murder of an infant by a young nun named Agnes. Fonda’s character, who was appointed by the court, must determine if Agnes is fit for trial, as the young woman claims that she has no recollection of being pregnant, nor how babies are even made. What ensues is another taut thriller, one with possible supernatural overtones (not really…but maybe…nah, just kidding), in which Fonda’s character finds her career in danger as she gets closer to the truth.

While Agnes of God didn’t receive nearly as much praise as our other notable films this week, it was a box office success and received multiple awards and nominations, including three Academy Awards nods for Best Actress (Anne Bancroft), Best Supporting Actress (Meg Tilly), and Best Original Score. I recently watched the film, wanting to dive deeper into Jewison’s catalog, and was really taken by it, finding it to be a highly engrossing thriller. His previous film, 1984’s A Soldier’s Story, is also worth a watch as well. Go find those hidden 1980’s gems!

Albums:

I feel like I’ve been writing forever, so let’s just speed through these albums (apolgies to the artists who gave everything they had to make them). 2015 saw the release of Honeymoon by the sultry songstress Lana Del Rey, her fourth studio effort. Eschewing traditional televised interviews and performances, Del Rey opted to only give print interviews and relied heavily on social media to promote the album. Hailed by critics as one of the best albums of 2015 (except by me, because I think she sucks), Honeymoon continued the singer’s massive success, solidifying her as a major force in the music industry.

From 2005, we’ve got PCD, the debut album from The Pussycat Dolls (or if you’re being medically accurate, The Vaginacat Dolls). With six singles, the album was all over the airwaves in 2005, with major hits like “Don’t Cha” and “Buttons”, making the album a staple of slumber parties, high school dances, weddings, baseball stadiums, movie trailers, TV shows, and that YouTube thing everybody was talking about in 2005. The album was despised by critics but was, of course, a major success with listeners, who propelled the album to the #8 spot on the Billboard Top 200 and over three million album sales. Don’t cha wish your album was hot like PCD?

From 1995, we’ve got our third female led album, Tails from singer/songwriter Lisa Loeb and her band Nine Stories. The big hit single off of the album was “Stay (I Missed You)”, which was released a year earlier as part of the soundtrack to the Ben Stiller film Reality Bites. A critical and commercial success, Tails peaked at #30 on the Billboard Top 200 and was certified Gold by the end of 1995. Ditching Nine Stories after the success of Tails, Loeb would go on to have a long prolific career afterwards in both music and film. There was a girl I had a crush on in high school who wore glasses like Lisa Loeb; that’s all I got on this one.

Closing things out this week, from 1985, we’ve got a Stevie Wonder classic, In Square Circle, featuring the hit single “Part-Time Lover”. His 12th studio album, In Square Circle was a critical and commercial hit, spending 12 weeks at #1 on the Billboard Top R&B Albums chart and peaking at #5 on the Billboard Top 200. Wonder would win the Grammy for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for the album, and would go on a media blitz to promote it, including a stint hosting Saturday Night Live and shooting one of the best fake commercials the show has ever produced.

Soma (PC/PS4) – Released Sep. 22nd, 2015

Notable Film Release: Sicario – Starring Emily Blunt, Benicio del Toro, Josh Brolin, Daniel Kaluuya, Victor Garber, and Jon Bernthal
Click here to watch the trailer
Notable Album Release: Lana Del Rey – Honeymoon
Click here to listen to the album

Indigo Prophecy (PC/PS2/Xbox) – Released Sep. 20th, 2005

Notable Film Release: A History of Violence – Starring Viggo Mortensen, Maria Bello, William Hurt, and Ed Harris
Click here to watch the trailer
Notable Album Release: The Pussycat Dolls – PCD
Click here to listen to the album

Castlevania: Dracula X (SNES) – Released Sep. 1995

Notable Film Release: Seven – Starring Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Kevin Spacey
Click here to watch the trailer
Notable Album Release: Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories – Tails
Click here to listen to album

Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar (PC) – Released Sep. 16th, 1985

Notable Film Release: Agnes of God – Starring Jane Fonda, Anne Bancroft, and Meg Tilly
Click here to watch the trailer
Notable Album Release: Stevie Wonder – In Square Circle
Click here to listen to album

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