The Biggest September 2023 Video Game Releases

Is it a total bummer that we've gotten Mega Man 11 from Capcom, yet Mega Man X hasn't gotten an all-new entry yet? At least the lauded Japanese publisher/developer is transitioning its mobile spinoff of the sadly ignored sub-series into an offline version without any gacha elements to speak of. Mega Man X DiVE Offline will feature a sizable playable roster of "Maverick Hunters" and "Reploids" to take control of through the game's story, challenge, and event modes. Classic side-scrolling run 'n gun action is at the heart of this game - running around with the likes of X, Zero, and Axl to put down their robotic foes with basic attacks and "DiVE Trigger" super attacks sounds and looks like a total blast. Unlocking new characters, armor, and assorted gear without having to drop some money down on microtransactions should pull in Mega Man X fans who avoided the free-to-play version of this game.

Bethesda Game Studios are ready to make history once again. It did so several times before thanks to its massive open-world action RPGs based in the medieval fantasy realms of The Elder Scrolls and the post-apocalyptic worlds of Fallout. Now players will be sent to the far reaches of space for a grand adventure that will transport them to over 1,000 planets and put them in contact with a wide assortment of galactic explorers. Starfield looks to be the biggest game of the 2023 Fall season and one of the most anticipated releases for Xbox owners. First- and third-person combat/exploration, addictive resource harvesting, mind-blowing interactions with weird alien wildlife, deep conversations with potential crewmates, and so much more are promised to players that invest their time and energy into this massive space opera.

Find out more about this game right here.

We got a remake! And it's actually a new and improved version of a Nintendo DS farming simulation that has its fair share of fans. Rune Factory 3: A Fantasy Harvest Moon is now getting refreshed for release on the Switch and PC via the upcoming Rune Factory 3 Special. Alongside all the original version's features (which include action RPG combat, relaxing activities such as farming & fishing, and the chance to woo one of 11 bachelorettes), this remake adds in something pretty cool called "Newlywed Mode." Fans can now look forward to throwing themselves headfirst into new quests after getting wed to one of the ladies we previously mentioned. Oh, and there's a new super hard difficulty mode called "Hell" for all the veterans out there, too. GOOD LUCK!

The legend of Final Fantasy VII has grown significantly since the original game's release back in 1997 on PS1. Spinoff titles, animated movies, and a remake have gifted fans with more backstories and action-packed adventures with the likes of Cloud, Sephiroth, Zack, and more. If you want to relive those legendary treks through the world of "Midgar" through a more modern scope but with old-school turn-based gameplay, then this mobile release will likely please you the most. Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis retells the events of FF VII and Crisis Core: FF VII through episodic installments. With completely remade graphics that harken back to the original game's visual stylings, the return of the "Active Time Battle" system, and a roster full of fan-favorite characters, FF VII: Ever Crisis is setting itself up to be the most sought-after mobile game on this list of the biggest September 2023 video game releases.

One thing that became quite clear to us during the last couple of PlayStation State of Play and Nintendo Direct presentations is that farming games are back in style. Speaking of all that, there are three marquee releases coming straight from that thriving genre and the next one we're mentioning here is Fae Farm. On your own or with three other adventurers on the enchanted island of "Azoria," you'll be responsible for a litany of everyday tasks. You'll fend off magical foes while out in the world, tend to your blossoming homestead, interact with fellow islanders & possibly get wed to one of them, and discover new locales as the seasons change around you. Fae Farm already has our money cause we just want to craft a whole lotta potions, take care of some cute critters, and customize our spacious homes!

The annual sports simulation release cycle continues with a new lineup of football, soccer, hockey, and basketball games. And the one that always gets the most play is the NBA 2K franchise. This year marks the arrival of NBA 2K24, which is honoring the greatness of Kobe Bryant with a collection of beautiful special edition characters. Speaking of Bryant, players will be able to relive his most iconic moments on the court in the brand-new "Mamba Moments." And on the signature modes front, the return of "MyCAREER," "MyTEAM," and "MyNBA." The coolest new addition for this year's installment of NBA 2K is something called "ProPLAY," which is reportedly supposed to directly translate real NBA footage into actual gameplay via authentic on-court animations and movements. Oh and before we forget...NBA 2K24 IS GOING TO HAVE ONLINE MULTIPLAYER CROSSPLAY!

It might be worth putting two of your most reliable online buddies onto this intriguing-looking three-player co-op shooter called SYNCED. As a trio, you and your crew of "Runners" will have to make your way through a techno-apocalyptic futuristic world and fight for your continued existence against rampaging "Nano" foes. After defeating them, you'll be able to use certain Nanos as companions that can assist you with their special abilities in battle. Outside of combat, you'll get to take refuge in your "Haven" and strengthen your weapons & gear for future matches. Explosive gunfights, high mobility, and dynamic superpowers that are essential to your team synergy all combine to present a co-op shooter that deserves your attention on this list of September 2023 video game releases.

If you're addicted to dating sims but want a bit more action included in between all those dialogue sessions, then keep an eye out for this next game on our list of the biggest September 2023 video game releases. Due to the severe after-effects of an anti-aging drug called "Eternights," its users suffer the consequences and transform into rabid beasts. Your unnamed male avatar gets caught up in the middle of fighting against all those archaic monsters and participating in daily conversations with the last remaining female humans who quickly become your companions. Your time spent in Eternights will consist of exploring dungeons, cutting down your foes with a magical arm that can transform into a blade, conversing with ladies who might become your future lovers, and even competing in dancing minigames.

For those who've reached the end of their journey in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, now you can look forward to returning to them to embark on a whole new adventure. The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero Part 1: The Teal Mask will take your young Pokémon trainer on a school trip to the land of "Kitakami," which is home to all sorts of creatures that aren't present in the base game's "Paldea" region. An all-new Legendary Pokémon named Ogerpon will make its presence felt during this DLC expansion as you attempt to get to the bottom of all the mysteries connected to an old Kitakami folktale. Prepare to embark on a new journey attached to the local legend of the "Loyal Three Pokémon!"

So the first Super Bomberman R wasn't exactly a massive critical hit upon launch. But after a series of fan-requested updates, Konami's beloved multiplayer franchise eventually earned itself another solid series entry. Now Super Bomberman R 2 is attempting to build upon its predecessor with a lineup of new modes that will give local/online players more bombing mayhem to enjoy. The new battle variation called "Castle," the classic "Standard" approach to blowing your friends off the battlefield, a clash between two teams of bombers called "Grand Prix," and the 64-player "Battle 64" mode guarantee this game will be one of your new go-to multiplayer games for the year. The new & improved story mode and stage editor look to provide solo players with other pieces of worthwhile content that'll keep them busy offline.

When it comes to unexpected game announcements, this remastered collection tops our list for the biggest September 2023 video game releases. The cult classic GameCube JRPGs Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean and Baten Kaitos Origins are getting refreshed for the Switch with a host of welcome features for longtime fans and series newcomers. The card-based "Magnus" combat system has always been the biggest appeal of the Baitan Kaitos franchise, plus its plot focus on watching over the game's main protagonist as a "guardian spirit" has always presented something unique for your usual JRPG narrative. Both of those series attributes and more will be improved via the ability to turn off battle encounters altogether, skip cutscenes, increase the exploration & combat speed up to 300%, utilize auto-saving, and so much more.

The resounding success that is Niantic's Pokémon Go has resulted in the mobile game publisher/developer applying its augmented reality (AR) mechanics to IPs such as Harry Potter, Pikmin, and even the NBA! Capcom is now jumping into the AR mobile gaming craze with Niantic by attaching its uber-popular Monster Hunter franchise to the studio's signature mobile game formula. Monster Hunter Now will send players out into the real world to track down massive beasts with their customizable warriors. Just make sure you're ready for some vigorous battles with series regulars, such as the Great Jagras, Rathian, and Barroth monster types. Equip a sword & shield, hammer, long sword, or whatever else your heart desires to emerge victorious from the big monster hunts in Monster Hunter Now.

At the end of Mortal Kombat 11, Raiden passed along his godly powers to Lui Kang and helped him grow in power to become the all-powerful "Fire God." With "Kronika's Hourglass" in his possession, Fire God Lui Kang restarted the entire universe's timeline to usher in a new era of peace. But as we all know, there's always something sinister hiding in the darkness to disrupt a long period of harmoniousness. Enter Mortal Kombat 1, the latest reboot in NetherRealm Studios' long-running fighting game series that features a whole new world of familiar characters with altered origin stories & new looks. Bloody, gory battles complemented by "Fatal Blow" maneuvers are still the name of the game here. But a new focus on assist-based attacks from "Kameo Fighters," exciting air combos, a sped-up gameplay feel, and the return of 3D MK-era characters make MK1 worth seeking out for diehard series fans.

Find out more about this game right here.

Be sure to check out our review for this game right here.

Ubisoft's open-world racing game series The Crew has steadily grown into a solid piece of work - we can't deny how fun it is to instantly switch between air, land, and sea vehicles while perusing through a beautiful open world. Now we're finally set to dive into the latest series entry and this time, speed freaks will get to carry out their on-road and offroad dreams on the island of O'ahu in Hawaii. For fans of the Forza Horizon games, you might want to dive into The Crew Motorfest - you'll find yourself participating in various events attached to an ongoing festival, linking up with a fellow "crew" of online competitors, and unlocking over 600 vehicles over time. Racing game fans need to keep their eyes peeled for this one when they factor in marquee September 2023 video game releases.

Wait... are two racing games to look forward to on this list of the biggest September 2023 video game releases? YESSIR! And this one should appeal to arcade racing game fans that still champion titles like NASCAR Arcade and NASCAR Rumble. NASCAR Arcade Rush looks to offer a more over-the-top alternative to NASCAR's more grounded simulation games. Landmark racing circuits such as Talladega Superspeedway and Daytona International Speedway are reimagined here to produce whacky thrills that can be experienced among the following modes - the "Career NASCAR Cup Series," Quick Race, Time Attack, head-to-head local multiplayer, and 12-player online multiplayer. And of course, you'll get to hit the track in your favorite NASCAR stock cars that are highly customizable - feel free to tinker with their paint schemes, rims, spoilers, visual effects, suits, helmets, and more as you create the championship-winning vehicle of your dreams.

The legendary Italian novel The Adventures of Pinocchio (authored by the great Carlo Collodi) probably activates the part of your brain that houses all those warm memories from the Disney animated film. Neowiz Games and Round8 Studio are taking that tale and offering a much darker take on its famous lying puppet by placing him within a highly anticipated "Soulsbourne" experience. Lies of P wears its Bloodborne inspirations on its sleeve and we're actually thankful for that - since Sony and FromSofwtare haven't given us a remaster for the first game or even a sequel at this point, we hope this spiritual successor will fill the void left behind that game's absence. As Pinocchio, you'll travel through the corrupted city of "Krat" and have to vanquish an army of biomechanical baddies. An arsenal that includes 30 weapon types, sub-weapons that are activated via a special mechanized arm, slick dodging mechanics, and more will be at your disposal as you defend yourself from Lies of P's unrelenting foes. This game's narrative-based "Lying System" has us pretty intrigued as well...

The Trails, which itself is a part of The Legend of Heroes series, first delivered The Legend of Nayuta: Boundless Trails for the PSP as a Japanese exclusive back in 2012. Now the epic adventures of Nayuta and his friends are getting remastered for release on PS4, Switch, and PC for fans of the Trails franchise living outside of Japan. This action RPG incorporates fast-paced real-time combat empowered by varied weapon skills and season-based magic. Plus the refreshed portions of this remaster come in the form of HD visuals, an improved music presentation, the implementation of 60fps, and beautiful new illustrations to gawk at.

This roguelite first-person shooter has some top-notch developers behind it - we're talking about the sort of talent that's been attached to classics such as Painkiller, Bulletstorm, and The Vanishing of Ethan Carter. Witchfire will drop you into a dark and dreary fantasy realm where the followers of the Church are in constant war with some very real and powerful witches. Vatican sorcerers do their due diligence in this epic struggle by sending you, a witch hunter referred to as a "Preyer," with enough firepower and dark magic to help them gain the upper hand. Prepare for a grandiose witch hunt that will push you to the edge and test your resistance against the dark forces that want to consume you.

Iconic bank heist films such as Point Break and Heat must have inspired Starbreeze Studios to put the wheels in motion for its Payday games. Now that we're up to the third entry in the series, fans can get back to putting their grand theft plans into motion and watching them go as smoothly as possible or fall apart in just a few minutes as mayhem ensues. The original crew from the first game and two newcomers hit the scene to hit up major financial institutions and even art galleries to study every part of their surroundings and eventually take all of its money/art in one fell swoop. When things go awry, gunfire will erupt, police officers will spring into action, and a great escape scenario has to be put into play as you and three other "Heisters" attempt to leave the scene.

Earlier this year, Capcom gave the survival horror world another one of the greatest Resident Evil remakes of all time with a new and improved version of Resident Evil 4. We're sure all of you have already completed your mission as Leon S. Kennedy by retrieving the president's daughter from a village full of crazed diseased cultists. But now's the best time to return to the game's main locale that's plagued by the negative influence of "Las Plagas." For this story expansion, you'll get to step into the shoes of Ada Wong and make a play at completing her highly confidential mission. Expect to explore the same locales Leon ran through while also getting to use Ada's grappling hook-like "Hookshot" to access higher destinations. And for those of you who were pissed about the laser hallway sequence being nonexistent in the RE4 remake, don't fret - that famous scene is back in fine form for this upgraded rendition of Separate Ways!

"War never changes..." That quote is abundantly clear when you feast your eyes on the medieval fracas that break out onscreen during the exciting trailers revealed for Warhaven. Players will have six different soldier classes at their disposal and get inspired to hop onto the battlefield for plenty of chaotic matches pitting two teams of 16 warriors against each other. Proper teamwork will surely come into play as you and your mates rely on weighty melee combat to gain an edge over the opposition. The option to use cannons to blast enemies from afar and also tap into the overwhelming powers as an "Immortal" to do some really devastating damage has us super excited to dive into Warhaven. With a nice selection of game modes in place, such as Team Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, Onslaught, and Dominion at play here, this free-to-play multiplayer experience looks and sounds like it'll be a banger.

While a lot of FIFA game fanatics were saddened to learn that Electronic Arts' partnership with the international governing body of soccer came to an end, we're sure their grief quickly dissipated once they learned about this new soccer simulator. Now we're due to return to the field in the newly rebranded EA Sports FC 24, which should provide a fun alternative for sports simulation fans who aren't too keen on hitting the basketball court in the latest NBA 2K game. The tentpole features of this latest bout of digital soccer are "HyperMotion V" technology that makes the onfield action look super realistic, the "AcceleRATE 2.0" system that focuses on seven different player movement archetypes, and unique player on-pitch abilities called "PlayStyles." Crossplay capabilities will be available to players who want to compete online across this game's PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC versions.

Cyberpunk 2077 has been experiencing quite the resurgence among gamers thanks to a wealth of bug fixes, welcome gameplay updates, and the debut of a shockingly great Netflix anime series based in the game's futuristic world. Now that world will be greatly expanded thanks to this sizable expansion dubbed Phantom Liberty. You'll step back into the role of the cyber-enhanced mercenary V as you embark on a new mission that gives off heavy spy thriller vibes. The new locale of "Dogtown" will become your new base of operations as you get embroiled in a brand new campaign featuring actor Idris Elba playing an important role as the debuting Solomon Reed. While this new piece of content will be paid DLC, the "Update 2.0" mechanics arriving on the same day as it launches are completely free and will spread out to Cyberpunk 2077 as a whole. We're talking new weapons, a new "cyberware" character upgrading system, a new perks system, and intense vehicular combat.

The next title on our list of the biggest September 2023 video game releases is a game dedicated to celebrating the 25th anniversary of the farming simulation series, Harvest Moon. Harvest Moon: The Winds of Anthos puts the weight of the world on your shoulders as you step into action to reunite the good people and assorted towns attached to the world of "Anthos." Due to a devastating volcanic eruption, the "Harvest Goddess" and the "Harvest Sprites" are lost while the world they once protected falls into disarray. With your helpful buddy Doc Jr. by your side, you'll attempt to fix your newfound home. That entails farming across various biomes, tending to a farm full of standard & more exotic forms of wildlife, and going on mining expeditions to discover ore & other useful materials. Love is in the air obviously as you can choose to work your magic on five different bachelors and five different bachelorettes during your farming journey.

IT'S HAPPENING...IT'S FINALLY HAPPENING! One of the most-played tactical first-person shooters of all time (we're talking about Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, obviously) is getting a substantial upgrade courtesy of the "Source 2" development engine. Highly improved visuals & audio, upgraded online networking capabilities, better "Community Workshop" tools, and so much more are being implemented into the greatly anticipated Counter-Strike 2. Combat will be altered in a major way now that smoke grenades play a bigger role in masking players, plus the overhauled map layouts will force longtime CS:GO players to switch up their traditional game plan and adapt to their new locales. Here's an important note - Counter-Strike 2 will be offered as a free upgrade to players who already own CS:GO, plus all of the old game's items will transition over to this new one.

The Dragon Quest franchise stands right next to Final Fantasy as one of Japan's biggest mainstream properties. We're talking major to the point where millions of fans stop whatever they're doing to fully immerse themselves in the latest series entry. So if you didn't know, there's actually an anime based in the world of the JRPG juggernaut called Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai. And now, it's getting its very own video game adaptation that features the same anime art style and focuses on fast-paced action RPG skirmishes. Players will get to go on an epic quest to vanquish the forces of evil with Dai and his band of heroes called the "Disciples of Avan." The 1:1 replication of the game in comparison to the anime's monumental moments is impressive and has us excited to actively be a part of Dai's riveting combat encounters.

We never figured the phrase "My Hero Academia got a battle royale game!" would make it onto our 2023 gaming bingo chart, but here we are. This free-to-play battle royale extravaganza throws eight groups of three players onto the battlefield to use their superpowered heroes or villains of choice to emerge as the last team standing. You'll need to get accustomed to which character archetype suits your playstyle the most - those styles come in the form of "Strike," "Assault," "Rapid," "Technical," and "Support" fighters. With a roster that includes fan favorites such as Izuku, Bakugo, Kirishima, Yaoyorozu, Shiozaki, and more, My Hero Academia fans will have plenty of iconic characters to choose from in their bid to go "PLUS ULTRA!" and body the competition.

For fans of Jeppe Carlsen's work (which includes the indie gaming triumphs LIMBO and INSIDE), feast your eyes on his latest body of work called COCOON. This trippy puzzle adventure game revolves around the concept of traveling with an orb on your back and leaping into that orb's world to interact with whatever locale it houses within. Your brain power will be utilized in full when the time comes for you to utilize an orb's power to perform assorted actions in another orb's expanse, such as uncovering hidden pathways and firing off projectiles to activate switches. The world-hopping you'll do across COCOON's vibrant worlds will present gameplay scenarios that challenge you via battles against guardians and instances of puzzle-solving.

The "Holy Grail War" has always been at the epicenter of the long-running manga/anime series Fate/stay night. Fate/Samurai Remnant, which is being set up as an action RPG developed by Omega Force (the studio behind all those action-filled Dynasty Warriors games), will transport players to the Keian era of feudal Japan while that same war rages on. The legendary samurai Miyamoto Iori comes into play here as he explores the districts of Yoshiwara, Kanda, and Akasaka while fending off his enemies along the way. You can look forward to exciting battles that keep you on the move as you utilize dual katanas, their powerful stance changes, and rely on your "Servant" to pull off extra flashy attacks. You can even play as Iori's Servant during certain combat encounters with other spiritual foes!