November Might Be Light On Major AAA Games, But Don’t Underestimate What’s Releasing
2023 has seen some truly remarkable game releases, including the likes of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Baldur’s Gate 3, Diablo IV, and Resident Evil 4’s remake. Curating your potential top 10 favorite games for 2023 will be quite the challenge, and despite only having a few more months left this year, the release calendar isn’t slowing down soon. November might be unusually light in terms of major AAA releases, but it’s looking like an incredible month for RPG fans in particular.
October has some heavy hitters, most notably Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, Super Mario Bros. Wonder, Assassin’s Creed Mirage, and Alan Wake 2. Sonic Superstars and Forza Motorsport are big-name launches as well. While October’s releases have the AAA audience down, November doesn’t have the same number of major game releases it typically does. The industry juggernaut Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III does launch on November 10, but otherwise, November largely caters to a different audience, particularly those who like playing Japanese RPGs.
November kicks off with Song of Nunu: A League of Legends Story from Riot Games. The publisher has been working with third-party studios to create spin-offs of the League of Legends brands in order to bring in new audiences. Rime developer Tequila Works is the latest example, as it launches the adventure game, Song of Nunu.
Square Enix’s Star Ocean: The Second Story R launches on November 2, and it’s a remake of the 1999 PlayStation game. It has a 2.5D aesthetic similar to other games Square Enix has been releasing over the past few years like Octopath Traveler, Live a Live, and Triangle Strategy. However, this is the first time the 2.5D aesthetic has been applied to a game with real-time action combat rather than turn-based, so it’ll be exciting to see how it translates.
On the same day, The Talos Principle 2 and Thirsty Suitors are releasing as well. The former is the much-anticipated sequel to the 2014 game and is sure to melt as many brains once again. Thirsty Suitors has garnered some attention for its quirky aesthetic and turn-based gameplay. With an emphasis on South Asian culture, this Annapurna-published game definitely stands out.
It seems so soon that we’re getting another WarioWare game, as the latest one, Get it Together, was released in 2021. However, WarioWare: Move It has received positive previews so far and people are saying that it might low-key be a great exercise game.
Sega’s Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name follows series protagonist Kiryu as he becomes a secret agent. It’s rare to see two games in the series launch in the same year, as Like a Dragon Ishin was released in February. Yakuza fans are eating well, as it’s not long until Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth launches in January 2024.
The excellent action RPG Tales of Arise received a surprise story DLC announcement last month titled Beyond the Dawn. Since this is the first time a Tales game got story DLC instead of a full sequel, it’ll be really interesting to see what direction it’ll go when it launches on November 9.
In terms of other notable releases, closing out the month are Persona 5 Tactica and the remake of Super Mario RPG on November 17. The former is a spin-off game which has tactics gameplay unlike the real-time combat of 2021’s Persona 5 Strikers. Similar to Like a Dragon Gaiden, Persona 5 Tactica will hold over its series fans until the hotly anticipated Persona 3 Reload launches in February.
Super Mario RPG has been stuck on the SNES since 1996 and has been revered for its writing and turn-based gameplay. While it has been available on Wii and Wii U through the Virtual Console, a full 3D remake will help revitalize the spin-off, hopefully leading to future entries like other Mario spin-offs like Paper Mario and Mario & Luigi.
November 2023 may not have the typical blockbuster line up as last year, which included the likes of God of War Ragnarok, Sonic Frontiers, Call of Duty: Warzone 2, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, and World of Warcraft Dragonflight. However, there’s no shortage of games to look forward to next month if you look beyond the biggest AAA names.
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