Topic: PushSquare Forum Fantasy Critic - 2026

@Tjuz ah, so a delightful, hand-drawn, hand-crafted, pure, ethical, labour-of-love game is going up against two monster franchises that between them account for at least 20 million individual media releases, with at least 3 of them being Plague based, Darth Plaugeis permitting. Okay, I see how it is. The underdog spirit will rise once again to try to compete with these behemoths of soulless corperate garbage. At least one of the CEOs picked the worst of the resonating titles, so we get to see that spectacular crash and burn as it happens.

Tjuzi has 0 points? Have you disqualified Halo for being, bland, effortless remake trash then? That's good to know. (Oh yes, the scoring system, i've seen it now, it is Beast that is the real burden on you. Oh, and of course! the counter pick! that's the real gravy on the pudding)

And as your world burns, and your metal break continues so publicly, at least know this... I quite like your office chair, so you should keep hold of that when Tjuz towers mysteriously vaporises leading to a totally innocent insurance claim. Maybe I will buy it from you as a final act of charity and pity during my victory parade season which will run from Jan 1 to Dec 31, whilst also being well ahead of the game for Fantasy 2027. Who knows, maybe my own mental break will let you all into the competition one day, but until then I will be taking all of your chairs as some kind of sick trophy. Better than a scalp, I suppose (My Scalp Hall is quite full)

@Th3solution @Ravix @Tjuz Many thanks for all your congratulations regarding my first pick, no matter how begrudging they may be! I'm opting to take 'em at face value, especially since I can't quite believe my luck and reckon it'll be the last time I do well in this endeavour!

I'm tee-total, so I'd prefer if we could go with "brewing a fancy coffee" or "unscrewing the cap on a carton of pineapple juice" please, but yes, the principle is the same!

Darn it, now I want a fancy coffee. Or cinnamon tea. Hang on, I'll be right back!

Your emoji may laugh, but I genuinely reckon that's what's gonna happen! Roll on September!

This is where I struggle with being competitive because you're right, if there are indeed ongoing issues with the PC port, I'd rather honest reviews help gamers make informed decisions, so would wholeheartedly support seeing that balance reflected in the game's overall score!

And yet, I still loves ya, buddy.

The irony being that "hot, hot trash" is personally one of my more accurate descriptors.

Nah, dude, we got our own scale. Let me just check here... yep, it starts with "bestie", ends with "bestie", and features nothing else in between.

I never competed in those, so my record is clean by virtue of being non-existent.

Okay, now you're just being ridiculous.

Sorry, @GirlVersusGame but my mind did not go there, not even for a second, so you are now for sure to blame for that one, you sly fox. And I won't even bite (take the bait) but now everything I'm saying sounds also related to maybe that topic (but not related like that 😅 (jeees) also something that people may or may not like to pretend(o). I think me and Tjuz have flirted with that dynamic, actually. And to be honest - as far as fantasy critic goes - I am certainly his daddy. (Why did you set me off on one 😭) I will genuinely have my work cut-out in dealing with his aftercare, the poor little baba. Moving swiftly on. Those chairs are awesome, don't you agree? A timeless classic with a pink twist. I'm not very Kitsch usually, but if I was i'd definitely have me some of those pink chairs.

@Tjuz hmm, justice for finger-painting Geralt and whatever other entries I had for the screenshot comp. I do remember I purposely left out a cheap vote-getting option of Roach looking up at Geralt on top of a shack roof, perfectly mimicking popular internet Roach fandom memes with the roles reversed just to give everyone a fair chance. But maybe now I wish I hadn't. Maybe it was I that was your rival all along? 😛 and maybe you should be in charge of running that competition again as it has long since evaporated. And obviously i've played two Ghost games since then, and thus have improved my photogame with some quite arty shots that never even got the chance to lose to you and other far better screen-shooters. I've even developed a high contrast signature look since then.. and yet, I have never had a chance to show it off officially 😭 that being said, there is a good chance those types of competitions can turn into popularity contests, and well... 😬 (sucking air through teeth sound) at least in this little competition I can let my semi-pretend, exaggerated ego soar without fear of upsetting the general populous 😛

Did I mention me enough here? Probably not.

Anyway, I posted this nonsense to hopefully aleviate a moment of boredom in your days.(remember to thank me for that) no real reasoning behing it other than going off on a tangent. There is maybe a point in there somewhere. Ah, yes. Bring back the screenshot competition and rig it so I win to satisfy my overbearing ego. (Unrelated side-comment: Ravix for president 2028)

Definitely winning fantasy league is one thing. But winning everything else, too? Well, that sounds like a good time for all involved 😄 A World Cup. A peace prize. 3 presidencies. A made-up golf tournament where people look away while I put the ball in better positions and can sometimes forget how to count past 4 when filling in my card. Don't forget Top Name on ALL lists (files? lists? Same difference) I feel like I can smash all these achievements in one fell swoop here. (Did i veer too far into parody. Maybe)

Did you refer to yourself as Hot Trash, mr Hog? (@werehog) Or has my comprehension melted. If so... Is that that trailer trash, type trash? And double 'if so', I shall be asking for you phonenumber immediately. After all, You miss 100% of the shots you don't take.

Ah, did you guys know it is like a million degrees today. Let's pass this comment off as being because of that 😛 I still don't think there was any point to it. But I just couldn't stop. Vote Ravix for whatever i'm going on about 🦅

Fantasy Game etc, yeah!

@Ravix Aww, you used a Star Wars GIF in your reply! I feel seen!

Do we even have "trailer trash" in our country? Although I suppose I could think of a couple equivalents. No disrespect to anybody or their backgrounds, of course! The worst of us at our best can always do better than the best of us at our worst.

By the way, just thought I'd point out that Marvel Tōkon has settled to being a mere two points behind shock critical darling Big Walk. Halo is down two points to 81, as well.

The sands are shifting. Definitely the kinda game where a little patience is gonna be key!

@Werehog I really don't know 😅 my brain had definitely melted so I created this scenario where I was unashamedly attracted to hot trash, if that meant a general trailer park aesthetic. Did I mention i'm weird.

I think Tokon could do with settling down a bit further, too 😛 It is a shame sales aren't in line with reviews, though. It looked very marketable and fun when they first showed it off. I know it doesn't affect this fantasy league, but come on, where are the marvel and fighting game nerds at?

Yes, patience is key @Th3solution will be all high and mighty come September, there's a really good run of games coming there, but we all know by January only one will be left standing in the fantasy league. (If Goldman and Grave Seasons actually get release dates this year, that is 😬)

Ooh, and it is only 5 days until The Witch's Bakery. A total gamble in some aspects, but i'll stay confident. I don't think it is a gameplay kind of game, but more an experience 🤞

@Ravix I’m very curious about Witch’s Bakery. Not long now before we know if it’ll be a critical hit. What happened to Grave Seasons? It had an August release date. When they delayed it they didn’t come up with an actual new date? Oooh… that doesn’t bode well. 😛

But here I am though, sweating bullets about Kena and Well Dweller. I’m confident in both receiving good scores, but the lack of a release date continues to make me nervous. I think little indie games can just release willy-nilly at random times, so maybe some of these games will drop with a release date fairly quickly without much fanfare, but a game like Kena is likely to be promoted by Sony and held up to get a certain amount of attention before release and so I’m starting to get an itchy trigger finger to just cut bait and run from it. I doubt they just shadow drop it with no build up.
But blast these stupid rules that allow only one substitution! 😫 I’ll give it a little longer, but with each passing week the number of options to switch to will dwindle down. I have a couple alternates I have my eye on, and one of them releases this week. Grrr…. @Tjuz are you sure you don’t want to give me a special extra exchange voucher? Pretty please… 🥺 No? Well, no matter. I’ll just have to win this thing potentially with 7 games instead of 8 then.

Edit: Aaaaand there’s one of my alternates, already getting reviews published — Mortal Shell 2. Welp, I’m too late to use that. And it has a solid 8 on Push and an 85 so far in OpenCritic. Argh! 😠

@Th3solution Witch's Bakery actually got delayed without anyone realising. It is now set for October sometime, apparently 😅 and yes Grave Seasons hasn't had a date. And somehow THQ showcase forgot to mention Goldman's date, too. Apparently ethical, wholesome animated games are too good for the general public to play, so they get hidden away privately until the more spoiled gamers start to act like real people again on the interenet. It... could be some time 😬😛

Yep, I think the last 2 games on my initial long list were Mortal Shell 2 an Sinking City 2 (both reviewed now) Let us secure a pact to just see what happens and not make any substitutions, yes?

Some sort of Geoff based game show is coming up soon, I think, let us have a little faith for some final dates, then. And maybe even some late surprises?

@Ravix Apparently ethical, wholesome animated games are too good for the general public to play, so they get hidden away privately until the more spoiled gamers start to act like real people again on the interenet. It... could be some time

• How very unfortunate, it sounds like Mind's Eye levels of sabotage may be afoot.

@Ravix Oh yeah, that’s right — Gamescom Opening Night Live is next week. Maybe we’ll see some release dates announced there.

If nothing else, there’s supposedly more info about the new Witcher DLC that will be shown‼️

@GirlVersusGame I have no idea what's going on but you can talk about me all you like 😀.

I shall read the whole thread to catch up!

Just Googled to see any The Witch's Bakery reviews only to see the game was delayed to October 14th! Good on @Ravix for not exposing your BoobiSoft employees to a heavy crunch to get it out before this previous date. I'm proud of you. Now, maybe if you're feeling extra generous, you might consider even giving them into 2027 to round up any rough edges?

@MightyDemon82 I shall read the whole thread to catch up!

• I hope you have a swimming pool sized cup of coffee because I've been here for the whole thread and I don't know what's going on either.

@Th3solution I hope Liam isn't reviewing The Blood of Dawnwalker, sol 😬 maybe avoid that article as the melodramatic response crowd have descended on his call to hatred 😂

Live image of Push Square monitoring the comments section

@Ravix Thank the maker there’s a day 1 patch revealed that get it to 60 fps on PS5. Surely it will achieve that on PC too.

I'm still not sure which team even picked that game. I only know Ravix stole Witches Bakery and the rest is already becoming a blur. Also has anyone heard from Tjuz? I haven't his Discord hasn't been on in some days so I'm not sure if he's busy with work, if something happened in his offline, I know his roommate was sick before and I'm honestly a little worried. I didn't want to say anything, but perhaps he'll be active again on Wednesday because of his office hours. He could also just be paws deep in a game and hasn't posted here because people are waiting for specific reviews. I asked my friend and she said she didn't see him either but thinks he blipped online a couple of nights ago then off again.

Man, what a great couple of days for Pretendo. First, Dawnwalker gets day 1 patch to bring 60 fps (hopefully the review code has it or at least reviewers take that into consideration)
And second, one of my games without a release date gets news that it’s coming next month — Well Dweller releasing in September! So excited!

@GirlVersusGame Yeah, here’s hoping it’s just a busy stretch. I know sometimes he gets busy and will be offline for a while and so I haven’t been too worried yet, but now I am! Let us know if you hear anything.

@GirlVersusGame Being temporarily unable to balance our lives can happen to the best of us, and @Tjuz is certainly one of the best of us, so hopefully it's just an example of that. Fingers tightly crossed (which makes typing a pain but hey, some things are worth it).

You keep using that word, but I still maintain it should be replaced with "hilarious and cool".

The relief you must be feeling at that Well Dweller release date! Here's hoping we all get to feel the same later today, as Gamescom should lock in the rest of the year's schedule.

'No Ghosts at the Grand' enters early access in... December 2026 👀

100 points to me? More than 100? Whatever the maximum points are for knowing the game was the perfect choice as a counter pick. (And yes, if you sub it out I expect that makes it akin to a forfeit, as I can't possibly be punished for picking the best counter pick of the lot. I'll let you decide how best to award my points when you are back)

I wasn't worried about @Tjuz , @girlversusgame until I saw that game announcement, tbh, as it was @Werehog who had not been seen here for longer, but the hog is back with a bang today 😄 *blush, btw. I wish I had a better genuine response to that, but I deleted a wall of text because of the duality of my mind and my inability to take praise without some form of performative element to either big myself up or put myself down. Let's just say I just can't accept any kind of praise like a regular human for many, many reasons. But you insist on being a really nice person, it is quite sickening and I do not know how to respond to that 😛 Can I not just praise you instead? Headpats for warehogs, or are they too spiky? Here I go making it weird again. You're... welcome?

I think Tjuz was on Push Square on Saturday, anyway, so not long ago 🤷‍♂️ Hopefully all is well, either way, and for everyone here. And maybe my supreme victory posturing will be enough to lure Tjuz back, soon enough.

@Th3solution things are looking rosey at Pretendo. Especially for a September haul! I really think, beyond a few technical things that all RPGs tend to have issues with, that Dawnwalker is going to be great and well recieved by all, but maybe one outlier will try to ruin it (eurogamer, i'm watching you)

None of my games that had no release date have one yet, so we will brush over that, for now
.

@Tjuz you've totally lost me on the counter-pick rule again. What part of the rules protects the glorious picker of perfectly excecuted counters? Are you saying normally if someone counter-picks a game it means you can't trade it as it is unfair to do so? If we need to introduce a Ravix Rule to protect my fabulous foresight, so be it. But it seems like there should already be that protection in place, so maybe that it what you meant? As I said... i'm genuinely totally lost at this point 😅

In a regular fantasy critic counter picks are untouchable to protect the counter-picker? In that scenario what does happen if a game doesn't release then? I was kind of exaggerating with my desire for taking maximum points from you and thus pretending it scored a 0 with reviewers, but if it is the way, who am I to argue. I can't remember what happens to points positively or negatively based on a game not releasing, even 😅 (I should probably know because i'm half considering a swapsy while some games are available because i'm now unsure on 2 or 3 games based on release alone) why don't Square Enix seem to be acknowledging their Resonating Resonance game at the big shows? Is it because it is starting to look a little bit like AI when they force 3D graphics into their HD-2D game? Perhaps. It still looks set to release, but maybe on the down-low. And I want to trust Goldman and Grave Seasons, they look so ethical and beautiful, but will they release this year or get swept up and reconsidered as games for the new year as a way to keep them as the big indies of 2027 due to 2026 being a mess of a year with everyone still acting like November is a month games can't release in, thus shortening it to an 11 month year 😭

@Werehog @Th3solution anyone else understand the counter-pick rules yet, in relation to people wanting to swap games when another player picked it to bet against? I definitely can't envision a ruleset where I have to pick a different counter-pick and damage my own counter score when the game I picked fails to meet it's release window. But I just don't know 😅 let's imagine the only game left to counter pick was a game expected to score highly, and now imagine you were forced to change to that game just because the other player messed up. That would be a world in which we cannot abide. We cannot stand idly by while Tjuz gets away these tricks. But also, I do want everyone to still have fun and not have my win tainted by asterisks or anything 😛

Lay out some plain-english options and scenarios of what happens in real-world point scoring for the swap scenarios, and games that don't release, Tjuz, my dear. And maybe then we can pick the option that nets me the most points, but also doesn't spoil the fun too much. Or just the first part of that, and then double down on it absolutely annilhilating your score, i'm easy 😛