SEPTEMBER: AVOIDANCE RECOMMENDED.

September’s Slaughter: Winners, Losers, and Wasted Potential

Let’s dispense with the pleasantries. September is over. And frankly, a lot of what released was aggressively mediocre. However, a few titles clawed their way out of the digital landfill, and a couple of hardware developments offered a glimmer of hope. Mostly, though, it was a month of hype failing to meet reality.

Let’s start with the games. Hollow Knight: Silksong finally, finally materialized, and while the critical score (a predictable 93%) isn’t shocking, the launch was a disaster. Server crashes, inexplicable DRM issues, and optimization so appalling even top-end rigs choked on the first boss fight? Unforgivable. Team Cherry clearly prioritized aesthetic over functionality. It looks gorgeous, yes, but playing it felt like wrestling a greased pig in a swamp. 93% my foot. More like 78, generously.

Abiotic Factor proved a surprisingly competent survival horror. It’s derivative – think Dead Space meets Prey – but it executes its formula well. The atmosphere is genuinely unsettling, and the crafting system, while not revolutionary, is engaging. It earns a solid 82%, but don’t expect it to reinvent the genre.

Monster Train 2? More of the same. If you liked the first one, you’ll like this. If you didn’t, nothing here will change your mind. A perfectly adequate 75%. Predictable.

And then there’s The Alters. Oh, The Alters. The marketing campaign promised a mind-bending, philosophical narrative experience. What we got was a clunky puzzle game wrapped in a pretentious story. The premise – creating clones of yourself to solve problems – is intriguing, but the execution is flat. 65% and that’s being kind.

Console-wise, nothing truly landed. Another month dominated by sequels and rehashes. The endless stream of “remasters” continues to insult our intelligence. Apparently, simply making a game look slightly less blurry qualifies as a new release these days.

Hardware offered marginally more excitement. Nvidia’s 4090 Ti finally hit shelves, predictably priced at an obscene level that makes it inaccessible to anyone with a functioning moral compass. While the performance gains are noticeable, they hardly justify the cost. It’s a luxury item for tech enthusiasts with more money than sense.

AMD’s new Ryzen 9 7950X3D is a more sensible offering, providing a significant performance boost for gaming and other demanding tasks without requiring a second mortgage. 80%. A solid performer.

The biggest “innovation” of the month? RGB lighting on everything. Keyboards, mice, headsets, even the power supply. Because clearly, what gaming desperately needed was more flashing lights. It’s a desperate attempt to distract from the lack of genuine creativity.

September, overall, was a disappointment. A few bright spots couldn’t salvage a month filled with overhyped releases, derivative sequels, and overpriced hardware. The industry needs to stop chasing trends and start focusing on genuine innovation. Until then, we’re stuck with more of the same. And frankly, it’s exhausting.