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I don’t know about you, but November feels like a game of chess. You spend the entire month planning your strategy, moving all of your pieces into place ready to execute the perfect checkmate against Christmas come December. I’m not very good at chess. I know the horse moves in an “L” shape and the Queen knows how to slay, but that’s it. Is this months video game news going to help me?
So my Christmas preparation is nothing short of chaotic. I try to plan it all out but everything usually falls apart before I reach December. It doesn’t help that my eldest son gets hyper-fixated on things for about a week before moving on. At the moment he is obsessed with Mario thanks to Mario Strikers: Battle League Football. But about two weeks ago it was Pokemon and before that it was Batgirl. So I’m not really sure what presents Santa should bring him. He’s written a Mario-themed letter to the big man, but I don’t trust the list to be relevant in a few weeks. That said, a Mario Scalextric set would be awesome, and I’ll definitely play with it even if my boy loses interest.
I’m currently playing: On Switch I’m becoming the best there ever was on Pokemon Scarlet. While on PlayStation 5 I’m replaying Gotham Knights (even though I’ve got the platinum) and The Callisto Protocol.
I’m currently hyped for: Octopath Traveller 2 on Switch and on PlayStation 5 it’s a still horror themed with the Dead Space Remake and the Resident Evil 4 Remake. I’m also chucking Forspoken on my watch-list as it’s looking better and better with every video.
New Games
November hooked us up with WRC Generations (PS4 and Switch), Death’s Door (PS5 and Switch), Cobra Kai 2 (PS5 and Switch), Sonic Frontiers (PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch), God of War: Ragnarok (PS4 and PS5). The second half of the month gave us Atari 50 (PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S), Autonauts (PS4 and Switch) and Hidden Through Time (PS4 and Switch), and Doctor Who (PS4 and Switch). While the end of November saw the release of heavy-hitters Pokemon Scarlet & Violet and Evil West (PS4, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S).
December is on odd one this year, with many games pencilled in to come out after the big day and hoover up that Christmas cash. That’s not say there’s nothing to ask Santa for, we’ve got Cuphead (PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch) and Hello Neighbour 2 (PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch) on the 6th, Dragon Quest Treasures (Switch exclusive) and Jitsu Squad (PS4 & PS5) on the 9th. The highly-anticipated Final Fantasy Crisis Core (PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch) lands on the 13th. After that we’ve got Advance Wars 1+2 (Switch), AEW: Fighter Forever (PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch), SpongeBob SquarePants Cosmic Shake (Switch, PS4, Xbox Series X|S), Alone in the Dark (PS5 and Xbox Series X|S and Joe & Mac: Caveman Ninja (PS4) all releasing on the 31st. Personally I’m sceptical about Advance Wars 1+2 as that keeps being delayed, but you never know, we may get a late Christmas miracle.
Announcements
In other video game news, November saw the release of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, which sold 10million copies in it’s first three days of release. To put they into perspective, God of War Ragnarok became Sony’s fastest selling first-party release to date, with 5.1 million copies in its first week.
Talking of God of War, PETA have requested all violence against animals in the game be removed. Which is as ridiculous as it sounds. Hopefully PETA will bugger off with all of their poor attempts to grab headlines and focus on animal welfare.
The Microsoft/Activision merger bid continues to churn out news. The latest being Microsoft saying they need the merger as Sony has better exclusives than them. While Sony have argued that nothing stands up against Call of Duty and even chucked the Battlefield series under the bus saying the franchise just can’t keep up.
On a lighter note, Microsoft celebrated 20 years of Xbox Live. Which is a great achievement (see what I did there?). And if that wasn’t enough Microsoft have also released hoodies for your controllers. They come in black and white and will set you back $24, which roughly totals £21.95... or about one hour worth of heating in the UK.
Ash Ketchum, protagonist of the Pokemon animated series, finally became Pokemon World Champion. His goal was finally achieved after 25 seasons of the show. Which means he is a 12-year-old with 25 years of experience - the perfect Indeed candidate.
We also got another look at the upcoming Super Mario movie, which just keeps getting better and better. The more voices I hear the more Chris Pratt seems out of place, hopefully he proves me wrong. We’ll find out in April.
Striking Distance outlined six-months worth of post launch content. New Game+ and Hardcore modes are coming in February for free, while season pass holders will be receiving a bunch of cosmetics at the same time. down the line there’ll be new game modes and, in summer, some lovely story content.
And to wrap the month up, we got trailers for the much-delayed Dragon Age: Dreadwolf game and the upcoming Last of Us TV show, which will air on HBO Max and Sky Atlantic on January 13th.
And That’s, That
So, what’s on your letter to Santa? Anything from this video game news list? Let us know on the Zatu socials and I’ll see you in the New Year, take care all.