Or maybe not ALL the scores, but some scores.  We left off in week thirty-nine with two of the four titles released waiting for a score.  In addition, we had four more titles queued up for release this week.

Fantasy Critic League – Like Fantasy Football, but for Video Games

That seemed to give week forty the potential to really run up the scores overall, if only everything gets enough reviews.  But first off, we need to see where we left off last time.

Week 39 Scores

That baseline set, we started out on Monday with Toem 2.

Toem 2

It managed to grab enough reviews to get a score before it had released.

  • Toem 2
    • [Picked by Anthania Interactive (Ula)]
    • Now has a score of 83.3

This sequel to the 2021 “explore and photograph” title  received a solid score, straddling the “true to the original” and “expanded the concept” expectations successfully.

It was not too far ahead of its  moment in getting a score as three of the week’s four titles were set to launch on Tuesday.

  • Toem 2 has released!
    • [Picked by Anthania Interactive (Ula)]
  • Nivalis Nights has released!
    • [Picked by Pretty Blue Fox Games (Bhagpuss)]
  • The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered has released!
    • [Picked by Rodent Entertainment (Arhanta)]

That gave Ula a leg up while the other titles waited for scores to come in.

  • Publisher Score Updates
    • Anthania Interactive (Ula)
      • Score has gone UP from 89.0 to 103.3
      • Moved from 5th place to 2nd place
    • Corr’s Creative Collective (Corr)
      • Moved from 2nd place to 3rd place
    • Play Forever Mwahahaha (Shintar)
      • Moved from 3rd place to 4th place
    • Rodent Entertainment (Arhanta)
      • Moved from 4th place to 5th place

The next morning there was some minor shift in the scores that pushed Bhagpuss ahead of Shilgrod once more.

  • Publisher Score Updates
    • Pretty Blue Fox Games (Bhagpuss)
      • Moved from 10th place to 9th place
    • Rusty Shackleford (Shilgrod)
      • Moved from 9th place to 10th place

That move was improved when one of last week’s titles, Nighthawks, finally hit the review threshold and got a score on the board.

  • Nighthawks
    • [Picked by Pretty Blue Fox Games (Bhagpuss)]
    • Now has a score of 79.7

Not the best score for the week, but better than no score.  That pushed Bhagpuss up two more spots on the board.

  • Publisher Score Updates
    • Pretty Blue Fox Games (Bhagpuss)
      • Score has gone UP from 44.2 to 53.9
      • Moved from 9th place to 7th place
    • Crash and Burn Games (Shawn)
      • Moved from 7th place to 8th place
    • Green River Gaming (Nimgimli)
      • Moved from 8th place to 9th place

Thursday rolled in and brought us another score for the week, this time for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

This remaster of the 2015 titled impressed reviewers and brought in a big score.

  • The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered
    • [Picked by Rodent Entertainment (Arhanta)]
    • Now has a score of 89.6

That took Arhanta all the way to the top of the board, starting me on my inevitable journey down the rankings.

  • Publisher Score Updates
    • Rodent Entertainment (Arhanta)
      • Score has gone UP from 91.5 to 111.1
      • Moved from 5th place to 1st place
    • TAGN HQ (Wilhelm)
      • Moved from 1st place to 2nd place
    • Anthania Interactive (Ula)
      • Moved from 2nd place to 3rd place
    • Corr’s Creative Collective (Corr)
      • Moved from 3rd place to 4th place
    • Play Forever Mwahahaha (Shintar)
      • Moved from 4th place to 5th place

That leaves us to see who is going to end up at the top come the end of the league.

Meanwhile, Gears of War: E-Day, a week forty-one title, landed a score.

  • Gears of War: E-Day
    • [Picked by S Class Warfare Studios (p0tsh0t)]
    • Now has a score of 87.2

I think it had one of those “buy the expensive deluxe edition and play early” things going on.  Either way, it is looking strong for next week.

As Thursday evening arrived Ace Combat 8 hit its release point.

Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve

It had already landed a score of 88 last week.

  • Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve has released!
    • [Picked by Frabjous Day Enterprises (Archey)]

While it dipped about a point in the mean time, that was still enough bump Archey up out of the cellar.

  • Publisher Score Updates
    • Frabjous Day Enterprises (Archey)
      • Score has gone UP from 23.3 to 40.4
      • Moved from 13th place to 11th place
    • Neutical Publishing (Cyanbane)
      • Moved from 11th place to 12th place
    • Hidalgo Trading Company (Pallais)
      • Moved from 12th place to 13th place

We also had another score for week forty-one show up, so we’re on our way for that.

  • Star Wars: Galactic Racer
    • [Picked by Rusty Shackleford (Shilgrod)]
    • Now has a score of 86.8

Then, as Friday drew towards a close there was a sudden burst of updates.

  • Toem 2
    • [Picked by Anthania Interactive (Ula)]
    • Score has gone DOWN from 83.8 to 82.7
  • Big Walk
    • [Picked by S Class Warfare Studios (p0tsh0t)]
    • Score has gone UP from 87.6 to 89.1
  • The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered
    • [Picked by Rodent Entertainment (Arhanta)]
    • Score has gone UP from 90.7 to 92.2
  • Control Resonant
    • [Picked by Rusty Shackleford (Shilgrod)]
    • Score has gone DOWN from 84.0 to 82.7

None of those changed anybody’s place in the rankings, but The Witcher 3 suddenly looked like it might be the top pick in the league if it could hold onto that kind of score.

Meanwhile there was Nivalis Nights, the remaining title for this week, along with Nocturne from last week, both of which are awaiting enough top critic reviews to quality for a score.  It feels like there might be some things that are too indie to get reliably reviewed.

All of which left the scoreboard looking like this as the week came to a close.

Week 40 Scores

The big move was, of course, Arhanta jumping up to first place and now being projected to land within two points of Shintar, who is currently the league pick for coming in first.

We had one update on releases show up during the week.

  • Kena: Scars of Kosmora
    • [Picked by Rodent Entertainment (Arhanta)]
    • Estimated release date changed from ‘2026’ to ‘2027’

So that is out of contention for this years league.  But Arhanta was paying attention, so the two bids this week were all theirs.

  • Bids in TAGN League
    • Dragon’s Dogma 2: Dark Arisen
      • Won by Rodent Entertainment (Arhanta) with a bid of $1
      • Dropped game ‘Kena: Scars of Kosmora’ conditionally
    • Planet Zoo 2
      • Won by Rodent Entertainment (Arhanta) with a bid of $1
      • Dropped game ‘Witchbrook’ conditionally

Arhanta had two titles still waiting to release and jettisoned both for fresh picks.

That left the next ten titles in the league looking like this.

Coming Up for Week 41

That gives us another four release week, and one of those is Arhanta’s next to last pick.  Meanwhile, Shintar still has three titles waiting for scores and we won’t see the first of those until week forty-two.  The other two on her list do not have ship dates.  Will Shintar hold out or go down the same path as Arhanta and drop those for fresh choices?

Related:

  • TAGN Fantasy Critic League
  • TAGN Discord Server
  • Fantasy Critic Site
  • Fantasy Critic How to Play
  • Fantasy Critic FAQ
  • Fantasy Critic Most Desired Reviews
  • Open Critic Review Site