National Spooky Month is nearly upon us. It’s time for leaves to fall and the dead to rise. People celebrate by watching horror movies, having costume parties, going trick-or-treating, and more—but we’re going to celebrate with some video games.

Of course, The Casting of Frank Stone, Lollipop Chainsaw RePOP, and Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster just came out in September, but we’re already looking forward to the Silent Hill 2 remake to mix in with our other favorite spooky games.

The horror genre has been especially kind to gamers in the past few years. Alongside Silent Hill 2, there’s an Until Dawn remake coming. We’ve also been lucky enough to get strong remakes of Resident Evil 4 and Dead Space, as well as the long-awaited Alan Wake 2 and the experiential horror game, Still Wakes the Deep. And that just barely scratches the surface of ways to make yourself scream with a controller in hand.

Here’s the most exciting stuff coming to game storefronts and shelves in October.

Editor’s note: All of the games on this month’s list are traditional “Web2” video games with no known crypto or blockchain elements. But you might like ’em anyway.

Silent Hill 2

Release Date: October 8Platforms: PC, PlayStation 5

Our first looks at the remake of this 2001 game had us nervous. Bloober Team makes intriguing horror games, but their very Silent Hill-like game The Medium was… well, medium (or mid). However, gameplay footage and word that Bloober Team pushed back on making too many changes has us tentatively excited for this game. Silent Hill 2 was a masterpiece in its time, with terrifying visuals and memorable characters—including the debut of the character colloquially known as Pyramid Head.

Dragon Ball Sparking! Zero

Release Date: October 11Platforms: PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S

For anime fans, watching game developers master the art of bringing cel-shaded characters to life in games has been an exciting process. Dragon Ball Sparking! Zero is one of the best examples of that yet. Dragon Ball fans have been waiting 13 years for this title, and it brings in 180 characters from all across the series’ long history. You can play through story mode, battle other players online, or set up custom fights to figure out who would win between the million different guys with tall, fiery hair. For Dragon Ball fans, this might be the ultimate game.

Metaphor: ReFantazio

Release Date: October 11Platforms: PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S

Developed by Studio Zero and published by Atlus, Metaphor: ReFantazio is the first game from the developer, which was formed in 2016 by Persona series director Katsura Hashino. Like the Persona series, Metaphor ReFantazio is an anime-style RPG. It takes place in a medieval world that acts as a mirror to our own world, and you’ll play as a boy who has been ostracized for his ability to wield forbidden magic—and head out on a classic RPG quest. If this title approaches the quality bar set by Persona 5, then it’s one to watch for.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6

Release Date: October 25Platforms: PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S

Call of Duty has been a staple of the games industry for over two decades, and the Black Ops subseries has been a repeated favorite with fans for years. This year marks the arrival of the sixth Black Ops game, and features the familiar extra-large suite of content including a campaign mode, expansive multiplayer options, and a robust Zombies survival experience. One standout feature for this iteration is the “omnimovement” system, which allows you to sprint, dive, and glide with 360 degrees of freedom.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard

Release Date: October 31Platforms: PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S

Stay home from trick-or-treating and dress up in medieval fantasy armor instead. BioWare released Dragon Age Inquisition 10 full years ago, and along with its DLC, gave us a heck of a cliffhanger with the reveal that one of our stalwart teammates and potential romantic interests, Solas, was in fact an Elven god. And then we had to wait a decade.

In that time, opinion has turned sharply on once-infallible developer BioWare, which has had a string of rough releases since, including Anthem and Mass Effect Andromeda. The team has focused on making this a self-contained single-player RPG rather than something with multiplayer and microtransaction hooks, so they might be making a return to form. We’re looking forward to finding out.

Edited by Andrew Hayward

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