After A Quiet Period, It's A Big Day For New Game Releases

As is somewhat typical for the summer months, and certainly during a period of pandemic-driven work-from-home situations, new game releases have been somewhat slow as of late. That's not to say there hasn't been anything new to play, whether it's the surprise launch of Super Mario All-Stars or the newfound freedom to finally try out Final Fantasy XIV, but it feels like it's been a while since a single day was packed with new games like today. September 4 effectively kicks off the big fall rush, which will see the release of not just some major games, but also next-gen hardware (assuming we ever get a price and release date for Xbox Series X and PS5).

The biggest of today's bunch is Marvel's Avengers. After initially drawing the derision of fans who found the look of the game's characters off-putting during its reveal event, the arrival of the game has resulted in a more positive response. Despite the marketing focus having so heavily been on the Avengers themselves and the Destiny-like games-as-a-service aspects of the game, it also includes a single-player campaign starring Kamala Khan that has been well-received so far. It's hard not to take notice of how disparate these two sides of the game feel, as you can read about in our Avengers early review impressions.

There's also Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2, an oddly named title that nonetheless looks to be a successful remake of two games that are still fondly remembered more than 20 years later. Then we have NBA 2K21, the latest annual entry in a series that can easily devour all of your time, and Paradise Killer, an excellent-sounding detective game that you might not have heard of prior to this week.

As if that's not enough, you might have also missed the news that Apple Arcade just added World's End Club, a collaboration between Zero Escape's Kotaro Uchikoshi and Danganronpa's Kazutaka Kodaka. Simply invoke the name of Danganronpa and you're sure to get a group of people who consider it an immediate must-try. (It'll be coming to Nintendo Switch next year if you don't have Apple Arcade.)

That's a lot for one day, especially if your spot in the gaming Venn diagram means that (like me) you want to play every one of these games. And there's not going to be a lot of time for any of it, with Nintendo planning to drop Super Mario 3D All-Stars in the middle of this month. That fills in a month that was looking somewhat bare after two of its most notable games, Cyberpunk 2077 and Destiny 2's Beyond Light expansion, were delayed until November. But never fear, for Spelunky 2 will be with us very soon.

This fall's game release schedule is looking more uncertain than I can remember in years. Many games in the PS5 and Xbox Series X launch windows remain question marks, like the Demon's Souls remake--it was recently rated in South Korea, suggesting its release may not be as far off as you'd think, but it remains without a date, just like PS5 (and Xbox Series X) itself. Whenever all of this is coming, it shouldn't be hard to stay busy in the meantime.