Our top pick of the week: Fall 2024 preview

We're on the verge of September, which means we're on the verge of fall, which means it's time for Polygon's fall 2024 preview package, in which we run down our most anticipated games, shows, movies, books, and more being released later this year.

On the games side, we have the expected blockbusters like Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and Assassin's Creed Shadows alongside The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, Metaphor: ReFantazio, and others.

For new shows, we've got The Penguin, The Franchise, Abbott Elementary season 4, Dune: Prophecy, and the Devil May Cry animated series. And for movies: Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, Wolfs, Megalopolis, Venom: The Last Dance, Moana 2, and Sonic the Hedgehog 3, to name but a handful!

Check out our coverage below.

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This week on TikTok | This game is The Sims with a dash of GTA? | But will there be dogs you can pet?

8 stories to read

Rings of Power season 2 still can't quite get Tolkien's world right | In season 2, Prime Video's Lord of the Rings show is more of the same.

I went to a Hololive concert and now I'm convinced VTubers can do anything | This was my first concert where I saw a child-sized shark girl perform.

Shadow the Hedgehog's dad wants the ultimate life-form to be evil again | Discussing memes, memories, and Shadow Generations with Sonic Team.

The Acolyte season 1 was a mess — but I'm still mad it got canceled | We'd finally gotten to the good part.

Everything announced at Nintendo Direct August 2024 | Tuesday's broadcast was both a Partner and an Indie World showcase.

As other tabletop pubs make short-sighted, unforced errors, Free League keeps crushing it | Fans keep voting with their dollars, and the Swedish company keeps winning.

In Beyond the Throne, Game of Thrones' Hodor gets raw and personal | Kristian Nairn talks to Polygon about his drag career, his fame, and why he loved the end of Game of Thrones.

Brennan Lee Mulligan talks the 'freedom and joy' of Never Stop Blowing Up | And what's next for Dimension 20's latest series, including future plans for the game system.

46 things to watch

The 35 best movies on Netflix right now | Skip the algorithm and go straight to the good stuff.

Strange Darling in theaters | Its creators want you to disagree about what happens in the movie.

Homicide: Life on the Street on Peacock | The legendary cop show, which paved the way for The Wire, has been unavailable for years.

9 movies like Black Myth: Wukong to continue your journey to the west | There are more than a few cool movies based on Journey to the West.

5 games to play

Star Wars Outlaws | Proving you can still be Star Wars without the Jedi. Available on PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X.

Emio – The Smiling Man | A captivating murder mystery with a middling end. Available on Nintendo Switch.

Fields of Mistria | The best early access game I've played in ages. Available on Windows PC.

The Crimson Diamond | A modern text parser game that rewards precision. Available on Mac and Windows PC.

Gourdlets | The laid-back building sim for people sick of the grind. Available on Linux, Mac, and Windows PC.

Free game of the week

Disney Epic Mickey: Rebrushed demo | Warren Spector's ambitious 2010 Mickey platformer is back. Available on PlayStation 4, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X.

The best of the rest

LEARN: Everything you want to know about the Rings of Power in Rings of Power.
WATCH: The best piece of tech I've bought in years is this funky little e-reader.
ADJUST: Civilization 7 is making bold changes to a familiar formula.
SORT: Where Star Wars Outlaws fits into the larger Star Wars universe.
WITNESS: Brandon Sanderson's Cosmere TTRPG becomes most-funded Kickstarter game ever.
FINISH: World of Warcraft might finally have nailed solo dungeons with Delves.