It’s October, which means we’re in the thick of the fall and gaming’s busiest release season. In most years, October serves as the annual climax of the release schedule — but not this year. That’s because November sees the release of Grand Theft Auto 6 and, for Nintendo fans, the equivalently huge deal that is the Switch 2 remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
Nevertheless, October will be plenty busy enough for Switch 2 owners. The deluge of ports continues, along with some tasty Switch 2 upgrades for existing Switch games, including the two Octopath Traveler games and Minecraft. Nintendo has its traditional monthly exclusive in the form of a massive casual/family gaming comeback; Square Enix brings another retro RPG to the system; and a huge AAA multiplatform arrives on Nintendo, on day one, for the first time in a very long time. Here are our top six picks for the month.
1
Order of the Sinking Star
Release date: Oct. 8
October’s most notable game is this indie puzzle game, developed by Jonathan Blow, the creator of Braid and The Witness. Blow is a prickly, problematic person, and there are some questions about authorship and credit with Order of the Sinking Star, which is based on several other sokoban (block-pushing) puzzle games. But Blow’s genius as a designer of puzzles is undeniable, and this game is set up as a nearly bottomless well of fiendlishly clever head-scratchers.
2
Dragon’s Dogma 2: Dark Arisen
Release date: Oct. 9
Capcom is the Switch 2’s number one fan, it seems, and the publisher won’t rest until it’s brought all of its current- and last-generation hits to the Nintendo console. Next up is this unusual action-RPG, which has some rough edges as well as some intentional friction in its design that some players bumped on, but which makes it a brilliant generator of unexpected adventures. The Switch 2 version of Dragon’s Dogma 2 gets the new Dark Arisen update and expansion from day one.
3
Resident Evil 2, 3, and 4
Release date: Oct. 16
The Capcom charm offensive continues just one week later with Switch 2 ports of the acclaimed Resident Evil remake series. Resident Evil 3 is the weak link here, if hardly a bad game. Resident Evil 2 and 4 are truly amazing new takes on the greatest survival horror games of all time, which don’t so much update the original games as imagine what they would be like if they were made today. Must-play stuff ahead of next year’s Veronica.
4
Nintendo Switch Sports Resort
Release date: Oct. 22
Here’s Nintendo’s big Switch 2 exclusive of the month: Switch Sports Resort, the return of the Switch Sports motion-control sports game series, which follows in the footsteps of 2009’s Wii Sports Resort by taking the action to a cheerful vacation island and throwing in some appropriate pastimes like jetski, skateboarding, table tennis, and… thumb wrestling, for some reason?
5
Final Fantasy Resonance
Release date: Oct. 22
At long last, Square Enix brings us a Final Fantasy game in the HD-2D style. But Final Fantasy Resonance is neither a remake of one of the canonical 2D classics nor an all-new game. Rather, it’s a ground-up adaptation of the mobile game Final Fantasy Brave Exvius, or its first story arc, anyway. The hook is that you can recruit and use a panoply of classic Final Fantasy characters, Cloud Strife included, as summons.
6
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4
Release date: Oct. 23 (campaign early access from Oct. 16)
As promised by Microsoft when it acquired Activision — and pretty much required by regulators when in order to wave the acquisition through — here is the legally mandated return of Call of Duty to Nintendo platforms for the first time since the Wii U’s early days, right alongside the PlayStation, Xbox, and PC versions. (Given the Switch 2’s power and success it probably would have happened anyway, but never mind that.) Everyone’s hoping for a return to form after last year’s lackluster Black Ops 7; Infinity Ward will likely deliver.
