Another big week just went by with four more titles adding to what might be some of the final changes in the rankings.

There are only ten weeks left in the league but, as I mentioned last time around, the final scheduled launch will land in week fifty and there isn’t much one could pick in the final two weeks.  The holidays will do that.

So any week with four titles in play is a big week this late in the game.  But first the usual establishing shot of the scores from last week.

Week 41 Scores

Week forty-one saw Arhanta in first place with one more title expected to go live… and that is part of this week’s tally.  And we’ll get to that.

But first up this past week was Valor Mortis.

Valor Mortis

Picked by Archey, it got a score on Monday morning.

  • Valor Mortis
    • [Picked by Frabjous Day Enterprises (Archey)]
    • Now has a score of 80.5

That score stuck so that by the time it hit launch that evening, it was enough to give Archey a bit of a boost in the rankings.

  • Publisher Score Updates
    • Frabjous Day Enterprises (Archey)
      • Score has gone UP from 40.9 to 50.4
      • Moved from 11th place to 9th place
    • Crash and Burn Games (Shawn)
      • Moved from 9th place to 10th place
    • Green River Gaming (Nimgimli)
      • Moved from 10th place to 11th place

Monday evening also saw Planet Zoo 2 release.

  • Planet Zoo 2 has released!
    • [Picked by Rodent Entertainment (Arhanta)]

However, it did not have enough reviews at that point.

Planet Zoo 2

The next morning saw a few scores drop in.  First up, was Nivalis Nights, which dropped down to 70, making it a zero points pick.

  • Nivalis Nights
    • [Picked by Pretty Blue Fox Games (Bhagpuss)]
    • Score has gone DOWN from 73.8 to 70.0

Then we had Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse check in.

Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse

As one of Shintar’s final three titles, this one was important to see if she could stay in contention for first place.

  • Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse
    • [Picked by Play Forever Mwahahaha (Shintar)]
    • Now has a score of 86.1

That was the sort of strong score that Shintar needed.

Then Planet Zoo 2 hit the review threshold for a score and got on the board.

  • Planet Zoo 2
    • [Picked by Rodent Entertainment (Arhanta)]
    • Now has a score of 82.5

A good, middle of the range score, not great but not bad.  That was the final title for Arhanta, so now their score is pretty much set, barring fluctuations from more reviews showing up… which, of course, happened immediately.

  • Planet Zoo 2
    • [Picked by Rodent Entertainment (Arhanta)]
    • Score has gone UP from 83.0 to 84.2

The moved Planet Zoo 2 from average to good in my book.

The next day Archey got back on the board again, this time with Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2.

Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2

That, one of the four Warhammer titles picked in the league (out of six launching this year) and the second 40K title for Archey, launched Tuesday night and by late Wednesday morning had a score.

  • Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2
    • [Picked by Frabjous Day Enterprises (Archey)]
    • Now has a score of 84.5

That put Archey up a bit more on the board.

  • Publisher Score Updates
    • Frabjous Day Enterprises (Archey)
      • Score has gone UP from 50.4 to 64.9
      • Moved from 9th place to 7th place
    • Rusty Shackleford (Shilgrod)
      • Moved from 7th place to 8th place
    • Pretty Blue Fox Games (Bhagpuss)
      • Moved from 8th place to 9th place

That was the last of Archey’s nine picks to ship, though two of them still had no score at that point.

But come the afternoon we had a burst of updates as more reviews came in for a few titles.

  • Planet Zoo 2
    • [Picked by Rodent Entertainment (Arhanta)]
    • Score has gone DOWN from 85.0 to 82.5
  • Gears of War: E-Day
    • [Picked by S Class Warfare Studios (p0tsh0t)]
    • Score has gone DOWN from 87.0 to 86.0
  • Nocturne
    • [Picked by Frabjous Day Enterprises (Archey)]
    • Now has a score of 78.3

That put Planet Zoo 2 back down to average, shaved a bit of greatness off of Gears of War: E-Day, and filled in one of Archey’s missing scores.

None of which changed anybody’s position on the board.

Then, come the evening, Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse hit its launch, which put Shintar up a few notches.

  • Publisher Score Updates
    • Play Forever Mwahahaha (Shintar)
      • Score has gone UP from 94.9 to 110.6
      • Moved from 6th place to 3rd place
    • TAGN HQ (Wilhelm)
      • Moved from 3rd place to 4th place
    • S Class Warfare Studios (p0tsh0t)
      • Moved from 4th place to 5th place
    • Corr’s Creative Collective (Corr)
      • Moved from 5th place to 6th place

Friday saw a couple of score updates.

  • The Blood of Dawnwalker
    • [Picked by Rusty Shackleford (Shilgrod)]
    • Score has gone DOWN from 84.5 to 83.5
  • Order of the Sinking Star
    • [Picked by Anthania Interactive (Ula)]
    • Score has gone UP from 82.5 to 84.2

But that was about it for the week, leaving the scoreboard looking like this.

Week 42 Scores

Arhanta is now settled into first position with all their picks launched and a score of 141.59.

Shintar sits in third place currently with a score of 110.12, but has two more titles left.  She needs a pair of 86 scoring picks in order to claim first place, a challenging but not impossible scenario.  However, her two remaining picks at the start of the week seemed in question, neither having a solid ship date announced.

The Duskbloods is still estimated for 2026, while Enter the Gungeon 2 is simply listed as TBA.

There was a bid this week for the latest Call of Duty Modern Warfare title.  I thought it might be Shintar making a move, though I suspect any CoD title will fall in the 78-82 ranger.  But it was not her.

  • Bids in TAGN League
    • Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4
      • Won by Crash and Burn Games (Shawn) with a bid of $50
      • Dropped game ‘At Fate’s End’ conditionally

So that is now on the board, with the next ten titles looking like this.

Week 43 Coming Up

There are only twelve titles left with confirmed launch dates.  This coming week another three will be on the board and then things will slow down some.

Related:

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