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Welcome one and all to another instalment of your favourite online blogging series. It's ok, you might not tell people it is your favourite, but I know deep down in my heart that video game of the month is!
This month I have collated for your loyal viewing, a slew of interesting gaming titles. Most of which were submitted by my fellow video game addicts here at Zatu, and a few from myself. This month there is no cheesy joke about time flowing too fast, or Christmas fast approaching. Pfft that was old Dan’s jokes, lets just jump straight into the games already!
Jurassic World Evolution 2 – Dan Hilton
My first entry on this month’s list is Jurassic World Evolution 2. I absolutely adored the first one of the series. Getting to create your own park filled with dino goodness was a great park simulation style game. I have been eager to get my hands on the second title for a while now to see what goodies have been added to the game.
Whilst the new campaign mode was disappointing, only offering several levels based after the events of Jurassic World (film). It seemed to end just when you thought the tutorial was ending, but the rest of the game is worthwhile. The Chaos Theory mode is especially interesting as each level puts you in a somewhat what-if scenario taking control of the park based during the events of each of the films. This is the actual campaign mode, which is a little confusing. The campaign acts as a sort of tutorial even though it is based chronologically after the events of all the Chaos Theory scenarios. And Chaos Theory also introduces players to things slowly with tutorial aspects. Don’t think too hard on it.
Along with the great Chaos Theory mode there is also a full sandbox mode to get your dino-fill in. This gives you more of a blank slate to work with. The game introduces aviaries for flying dinos, and also marine areas for marine dinos. These were previously locked behind dlc in the first game. All in all, Jurassic World Evolution 2 offers a great simulation game to get stuck into. Whilst maybe not offering a great amount over the first, it is still easily recommended due to its now reduced price point.
Dead By Daylight – Sophie Jones
Dead by Daylight has been a live multiplayer game since 2016! I haven’t been playing it that long, but I have racked up a total of 530 hours on it. I must admit, I’m not a multiplayer fan so it’s weird that this 4vs1 online game has kept my attention for so long.
This online horror game pits you against a deadly adversary. The only way to survive is by teaming up with other survivors. If everyone works together the chance of escaping increases. However, players can also choose to be the killer. This lone role will have you scouring the map for survivors as you try to sacrifice them all to the entity.
Gameplay is always the same. Survivors must power 5 generators and escape through the exit gates and the killer must stop them. To add to replayability each survivor and killer has unique abilities. These make each game dynamic as you can change your loadout. As you level up, you can mix and match abilities with any character. This means you never know which perks everyone is playing with.
What makes this game great years on, is its community. There are always lots of people playing, making lobbies quick to jump into. The game also adapts, and its recent graphical updates have kept it relevant in the modern market. It’s never been neglected and thus, even though its core gameplay is basic, it’s not gone stale.
However, this game can be frustrating! Due to lots of content always being added, the game is prone to breaking after every update. Players quickly find exploits and make matches unbearable! But the developers always find a way to fix it.
Dead by Daylight is a great game to play with friends around this time of year, especially as its licensed content includes characters from your favourite horror franchises like Silent Hill, Resident Evil and Scream! It really is the deadliest game of hide and seek.
Last Of Us Part II - Paul Blyth
Kelly, Steve, Grace, Kathy, Chris, Paul, John, and Helen. These are just a handful of the names of people I’ve killed as Ellie on my quest for revenge. After completing The Last of Us Part I on PS5 I had to revisit the, some-might-say divisive, Last of Us Part II. Sadly, online trolls went to town on TLoU2 because their brains couldn’t get around one of the game’s female leads having muscles and the other being a lesbian. This overshadowed all of the fantastic details the title brought to the table. The aforementioned list of names being but one.
You see, instead of killing NPCs, TLoU2 makes you think about the PEOPLE you are murdering. If you kill someone and it’s seen, another person will shout out in horror their friends name and signal others. If you choose a stealth approach, people won’t find “a body”, they’ll find a loved one, a friend, they’ll say the persons’ name and react in a very human way. This stays with you in throughout the journey and, in many cases, you’ll think twice before pulling the trigger.
Halfway through you switch and play as the character Ellie is trying to track down. This was another point of contention amongst fans. “No-one” wanted to play this character and “no-one” wanted to empathise with her. I must admit, it was difficult playing as Abby, I hated her, I hated her friends and I hated what they did. I wanted to switch back to Ellie and hunt them all down. But as the story played out I began to soften to certain characters. Naughty Dog’s excellent writers go all out to show that the world isn’t all black and white or good and evil. Finding out why Abby did what she did made her more human, I understood why she did it. I still didn’t agree with it and neither did a few of her friends who helped. Some didn’t care and felt justified, but others couldn’t get the thought out of their heads, they were broken by the events and I felt bad for them. Like them, killing people with actual names took its toll and it made everyone in the story more human.
TLoU2 is not a happy, feel-good story. The first game was about love, friendship, family, and bonds that keep people going. But TLoU2 is about hate and its all-consuming effect on people. But it’s all the better for it. Giving you a balanced view of everyone on both sides was a unique choice by Naughty Dog, it was for everyone. But I’d say ignore the online comments (do that generally in life and you’ll be much better off), the clickbait (clickhate?) and give the game a go for yourself, it’ll stay with you and make other games pale in comparisons.
Grounded – Lauren Skinner
What do you think would be the scariest giant bug: a mosquito, an antlion, or a spider?
I’m going to be honest with you—I haven’t just been playing Grounded during October. I’ve played it on and off this whole year as it’s an engaging, rewarding, and sometimes terrifying game that deserves more hype.
You are one of four teenagers who has been mysteriously shrunk down to the size of an ant. Leaves are obstacles, toppled barbecues are scalding sand dunes, and grass towers over you, concealing the creepy crawlies who are both hungry and incredibly territorial. You must survive in the micro world of a back garden, alone or with your fellow teens, whilst trying to uncover who has done this to you and why.
Shrunken laboratories are everywhere, allowing you to discover, piece by piece, what happened to you. But the bugs are no joke. You must also get weapons, armour, and tools to survive in this world where humans are no longer top of the chain, whilst finding food and water to keep you going. The story is intriguing but not too intrusive, giving you space to build a home and better your tools so you can explore and survive. Grounded’s mechanics support this spectacularly. It’s the most fun survival game I’ve played in a long time, as it doesn’t overcomplicate the crafting system. It’s intuitive, creative and, most importantly, fun.
The combat is demanding but rewarding. Without the right armour or weapons, at first felling a friendly ladybird is near to impossible. Your toughest enemy is the giant Wolf Spider, with a punishing lunge and poisonous bite that’ll unalive you slowly even if you try to retreat. I’d suggest erecting mini bases around the garden, so that if you do encounter the dreaded Wolf on your travels, you can respawn as soon as you die and rejoin the fray. Hey, I didn’t say it was a fair strategy.
“But I hate spiders!” I hear you cry. Well, for those arachnophobes out there, there’s a solution. The accessibility menu allows you to enable Arachnophobia Safe Mode, which adjusts the visual settings of the spiders you see in-game. If you slide the scale to 5, the spiders will appear as cute little blobs, significantly reducing the impact of jumpscares. That doesn’t stop the sinister clicking, though.
Ultimately, if you’re looking for a co-op game that’ll give you hours of fun with your friends, Grounded’s the answer.
Scarlet Nexus – Dan Hilton
My second game recommendation for you all this month is the second-best game I have played this entire year. That’s right, a game actually came close to the unbeatable Elden Ring for me. You see, Scarlet Nexus has been on my to-play list since its release. BUT, never did I ever expect it to be such an incredible gaming experience. Playing it was very reminiscent of Nier Automata in its setting and tone but offers such a unique gaming experience that I wish I had the privilege of reviewing it here on Zatu. Whilst Northern Dice gave it a great review, I think personally I would have rated it even higher than they did.
Straight from the get-go I fell instantly in love with the game. Everything from its incredibly visual style to its progressive action RPG style combat, I loved everything. If you have read any of my reviews, I think it is obvious that there is one thing I value over all else in a video game. That is of course the story and the writing. Scarlet Nexus delivers in spades. With such a fantastic setting to dive into, and a lore to the world that opens up and expands into something truly worthy of its anime style roots; it is simply fantastic. Couple the story with great character writing, the voice acting and the interactions your main character has with them and it all equates into a truly fantastic gaming experience that I beg everyone to at least try.
Did I also mention that there are 2 completely separate stories? At the start of the game, you need to choose between 2 different characters. I thought this would be the typical fake out of same story, different character. But no, each character has their own completely separate story that cumulates together at the end. Each character is present in the other’s story and no matter which you start with, the other offers a mysterious plot point for a section of the game.
Oh my god I freaking LOVE this game. Scarlet Nexus is one of my most easily recommended games I have ever wrote about. Period.
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So, there we are my friends (I can call you all friends right? My therapist said I should probably try making some) there are another 5 games that we think are worth your time and investment! There is a little something for everyone this month I think. Stay tuned for next month's feature where it is incredibly likely that you will be recommended God of War Ragnorok by 5 different people! Happy gaming everyone.
That concludes our roundup of video game of the month. Do you agree? Let us know your thoughts and tag us on social media @zatugames.