Vacation is over and the whole 20 year thing is now in the rear view mirror.

Time to get back to it.  The words won’t just vomit themselves onto the page.

As I mentioned in yesterday’s anniversary post, it was probably a good week to be away, at least when it came to the league.  We had no titles slated to release so changes were entirely based on news and incoming reviews on already launched titles.

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

And we were not without some updates over the course of the week, so there is a bit to cover.  But first we need the usual reminder of where we left off last time.

Week 36 Scores

When it comes to actual changes on the scoreboard we did have some updates.  Early on in the week we had a score change.

  • Fantasy Critic: Rhythm Heaven Groove
    • [Picked by Pretty Blue Fox Games (Bhagpuss)]
    • Score has gone UP from 83.3 to 84.6

Rhythm Heaven Groove came out back in the first week of July, so it has been stewing for a while.  I suspect that Open Critic simply “found” some additional old reviews as I do not see anything on the list more recent than August.

Rhythm Heaven Groove

That change was just enough to tip the tight competition between Nimgimli and Bhagpuss, who started the week just over a point apart in score, in favor of the latter.

  • Publisher Score Updates
    • Pretty Blue Fox Games (Bhagpuss)
      • Score has gone UP from 44.1 to 45.4
      • Moved from 8th place to 7th place
    • Green River Gaming (Nimgimli)
      • Moved from 7th place to 8th place

They still remained neck in neck as the score change was not all that significant.

Then I took a hit with Crimson Moon.

Crimson Moon

That was a bit more expected as it still sits at a dozen reviews total, so any new review can make a difference.

  • Crimson Moon
    • [Picked by TAGN HQ (Wilhelm)]
    • Score has gone DOWN from 76.3 to 74.6

I was not the only one to drop.  Big Walk also took a small hit during the week.

Big Walk

Somebody came in with a 7/10 review during the week which had just enough weight to drag the title down a little over a point.

  • Big Walk
    • [Picked by S Class Warfare Studios (p0tsh0t)]
    • Score has gone DOWN from 89.3 to 88.1

Then we started getting some scores for next week.  Marvel’s Wolverine, one of four titles set to launch next week got enough early reviews to get on the board.

  • Marvel’s Wolverine
    • [Picked by Frabjous Day Enterprises (Archey)]
    • Now has a score of 80.6

That was a good score in the world of Fantasy Critic League… though shouldn’t it be Marvel Wolverine, without the possessive?  That is what it seems to say on the box.

Marvel Wolverine… see!

Another nit for me to pick I suppose.  Anyway, after the first few reviews landed, a lot more started pouring in, which dropped the title a bit.

  • Marvel’s Wolverine
    • [Picked by Frabjous Day Enterprises (Archey)]
    • Score has gone DOWN from 80.6 to 77.5

Now past the 70 review mark, it feels like that is about where it is going to hold for the league.

And then, as the week drew towards its end Bhagpuss and Nimgimli swapped back to their original positions at the start of the week as something changed enough to move them with being enough to get an update ping.

  • Publisher Score Updates
    • Green River Gaming (Nimgimli)
      • Moved from 8th place to 7th place
    • Pretty Blue Fox Games (Bhagpuss)
      • Moved from 7th place to 8th place

So some scores changed during the week, but the overall rankings remained the same, leaving us with the following scoreboard.

Week 37 Scores

Not much to really go over on that front.

Also, no bids this week.

But there was a Nintendo Direct… two I think… while I was off in distant Los Angeles which got us some release dates for three titles.

  • The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (2026)
    • [Picked by Corr’s Creative Collective (Corr)]
      • Release date changed from ‘2026’
      • to ‘Thursday, November 05, 2026’
  • Hela: of Mice & Magic
    • [Picked by Green River Gaming (Nimgimli)]
      • Release date changed from ‘Q4 2026’
      • to ‘Tuesday, December 01, 2026’
  • Professor Layton and the New World of Steam
    • [Picked by Corr’s Creative Collective (Corr)]
      • Release date changed from ‘Late 2026’
      • to ‘Thursday, December 10, 2026’

The biggest deal was The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, which previously had a long note attached to its details about how nobody was sure if it was a remaster, a remake, or something else.  Well, that got nicely sorted.  It is a remake.

That got at least one person I know who might otherwise be expected to favor some other console to declare they would buy a Switch 2 in order to play it.  The power of Link.

And then there are the other two.  Professor Layton has been around for ages, so another puzzle mystery title I gather, while I have no idea what Hela: of Mice & Magic is about.  I just feel like the first word after a colon should be capitalized, so that bugs me a bit.

All of which had no impact on the next ten titles on the list to ship.

Week 38 Coming Up

That gives us four titles set to launch next week, starting with Wolverine on Tuesday.  But the big one is probably Fire Emblem, as that has to potential to further solidify Shintar’s lock on first place in the final accounting.  We shall see.

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