As October begins, spooky season gets well and truly underway, and the gaming calendar jolts to life as well, bringing a host of high-profile releases and indie darlings alike.
Admittedly, October isn’t quite the triple-A bonanza that is November, but October 2023 is just as jam-packed as you’d expect with games that are going to threaten to take over your life (assuming Starfield hasn’t already done that, of course).
Without further ado, let’s take a look at the best PS5 games heading your way in October 2023. Don’t worry, you’ll have plenty to choose from!
Assassin’s Creed Mirage (October 5th)
If you’re not a fan of massive open-world RPGs, then you might feel like Assassin’s Creed has lost its way in recent years.
Ubisoft has finally heard the criticisms of those who think this way, and Assassin’s Creed Mirage is intended as a “back-to-basics” game that echoes the simpler, less numbers-driven style of earlier instalments.
Whether this works or not remains to be seen, but we’re excited to explore Baghdad alongside Basim and revisit the glory days of Assassin’s Creed.
Sword Art Online Last Recollection (October 6th)
Sword Art Online has birthed a whole bunch of video games on PlayStation systems, but Last Recollection is promising to be the biggest and most feature-packed of them all.
Its story revolves around the anime’s War of the Underworld arc, and as you play through that story, you’ll unmask the nefarious Dark Knight and battle your way through the Dark Territory.
As well as Kirito, you can look forward to a massive roster of playable characters and sub-scenarios from the Sword Art Online world.
Lords of the Fallen (October 13th)
After September’s Lies of P, here’s another Soulslike that hopes you’re not too fatigued with the genre to delve into an all-new decrepit kingdom and uncover its dark secrets.
Unlike 2014’s Lords of the Fallen, though, Hexworks and CI Games’ reboot looks like it’s got a lot going for it.
The world design has been vastly improved and no longer looks like bad Warhammer fanfiction, and the dual-world gameplay brings an intriguing new spin to what is becoming a rather well-worn genre.
Sonic Superstars (October 17th)
Although there’s a great deal of love for the 3D Sonic oeuvre amongst Sonic aficionados, casual fans and onlookers often agree that the side-scrolling games are the best the franchise has to offer.
Sonic Superstars is Sega’s attempt to recapture the magic of those glory days. It’s being co-developed by Sonic Team and Balan Wonderworld studio Arzest, but don’t worry; none of that latter game’s utter lunacy appears to be present in this charming-looking platforming adventure.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (October 20th)
After the excellent one-two punch of Marvel’s Spider-Man and Miles Morales comes this sequel, in which the two Spider-Mans (Spider-Men?) team up to take down new villains together.
You’ll be able to switch between Peter Parker and Miles Morales on the fly (no pun intended), although some sections will require you to control them at predetermined points.
All in all, this sequel looks like everything a sequel should be; it’s the first game, but bigger, better, and more impressive.
Cities: Skylines 2 (October 24th)
Many PC gamers may scoff at the idea of a city-builder on consoles, but the genre’s console heritage actually goes back a fair way. After all, SimCity got itself a SNES port in the early 90s!
Obviously, Cities: Skylines 2 is a great deal more advanced than SimCity, but the PS5’s architecture looks like it’ll be able to handle the game’s increased complexity and visual fidelity with aplomb.
If you love Cities: Skylines, you’ll almost certainly love this followup, which looks to offer a vastly expanded and improved city-building experience over the first title.
The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria (October 24th)
Also arriving on October 24th is this rather intriguing little Valheim-style survival-crafter. The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria is set during the Fourth Age of Middle-earth and sees the dwarves returning to Moria to claim what’s theirs.
You’ll be able to dig tunnels (of course – what kind of a dwarf would you be if you couldn’t?), mine for resources, and battle foul enemies as you stake your claim on the dwarven ancestral home.
Of course, Return to Moria is playable in both single-player and co-op, so grab some friends and get ready to go full pickaxe mode.
Ghostrunner 2 (October 26th)
The original Ghostrunner managed the impressive feat of maintaining both deep satisfaction in its core gameplay loop and controller-destroying frustration at its immense difficulty.
Hopefully, Ghostrunner 2 will offer that same balance, albeit with some improvements; the boss fights could use a little cleaning up, and some of our deaths felt more cheap than deserved.
The sequel is also adding motorbike riding sequences, for it seems no cyberpunk game is truly complete without them.
Alan Wake 2 (October 27th)
Horror fans are eating well in October, it seems. After Alone in the Dark and the full release of indie roguelike World of Horror comes Alan Wake 2, the long-awaited sequel to the 2010 psychological horror cult classic.
Although the game bears Wake’s name, there are, in fact, two protagonists in this story: Wake himself and an FBI agent by the name of Saga Anderson.
You’ll be able to experience both stories separately, although certain points in the plot will demand that you play as one or the other character.
