XLGAMES: How the mighty have fallen
XLGAMES went from MMO innovators to shutting down a desperate asset flip after just three weeks. Discover why this pathetic cash grab spells absolute disaster for ArcheAge Chronicles.
- XLGAMES
- Kakao
- MMO
- Industry
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King's Bounty: Warrior of the North - Ice & Fire short review
After enjoying Crossworlds, I was fatigued by King's Bounty: Warriors of the North - Ice and Fire expansion just a few hours in. Lets take a look at why the game disrespects your time and fails to innovate.
- King's Bounty
- RPG
- Turn Based
- Game
King's Bounty: Crossworlds short review
My review of King's Bounty: Crossworlds starts with a mistake: playing the wrong game first. My short breakdown of this classic RPG, a gem full of charm and brilliant ideas, but also burdened by a frustrating difficulty spike and a meta that punishes creativity.
- Game
- Turn Based
- RPG
- King's Bounty
Mortal Sin short review
My short review of the indie game Mortal Sin, in late stage Early Access, after 18 hours.
- Mortal Sin
- Game
- Roguelike
- Action
Kingdom Come: Deliverance II Short Review
My short review after completing the game on HC all negative perks mode.
- Game
- RPG
- Kingdom Come: Deliverance II
I finally played the 'AAAA' Game
Year 3 of Skull and Bones proves this pirate game has zero future. It is a tangled mess of hostile UI, boring gameplay, and pure live-service delusion.
- Ubisoft
- Skull and Bones
Age of Mythology: Retold short review
A one year look into Age of Mythology Retold, from a new comer to the series.
- Game
- RTS
- Age of Mythology: Retold
RIP Arkane Studios, I'll miss them...I guess?
Everyone blames Redfall for the fall of Arkane Studios, but the truth is, the studio was dying long before. Lets take a look back at Arkane's entire history, from the breakout success of Dishonored to the commercial failures of Dishonored 2 and Prey.
- Game
- Industry
- Arkane Studios
- RPG
Monster Hunter: Wildly Disappointing
Thoughts from a long time player on Monster Hunter Wilds' disastrous Overwhelmingly Negative recent reviews and the 95%+ player drops on Steam.
- Capcom
- Game
- Action RPG
- Monster Hunter Wilds
Death Must Die short review
Just another trash in the subgenre that's rotting.
- Game
- Survivorlike
- Death Must Die
- Roguelike
Disciples: Liberation short review
Desperate for a Heroes of Might & Magic fix? Don't get your hopes up yet. Disciples: Liberation looks the part with its grim-dark world, but it's crippled by baffling design choices seemingly born from mobile gaming. My short review covers the atrocious UI, the piss-take of a real-time resource system, and how the combat turns into a mind-numbing chore. A true test of patience, even on sale.
- Game
- Disciples
- RPG
- Turn Based
Space Marines 2 short review
My short review of Space Marines 2 - it was 'mid' from the start.
- Warhammer
- Space Marines 2
- TPS
- Game
Robocop: Rogue City
With the upcoming expansion Robocop: Unfinished Business, I finally got around to playing Rogue City.
- Robocop: Rogue City
- Robocop
- Game
- FPS
People Like Japanese Games Because They're... JAPANESE?!
Truly shocked at this revelation!
- Rant
- Gaming
- Industry
Bandai Namco with another flopper from a guaranteed IP
Following the Code Vein 2 disaster, Bandai Namco fumbles another easy win. Sword Art Online: Echoes of Aincrad features empty open worlds and exhausting, rigid gameplay.
- Bandai Namco
- Industry
9 Kings short review: A restrictive early access mess that barely justifies half price
9 Kings is just another typical early access indie game with terrible UI, lazy unit buffs, and awful pacing. It is barely worth the half price.
- 9Kings
Forza Horizon 6: Japan, but Western Corporate-safe Edition
Forza Horizon 6 is a beautiful but soulless imitation of Japan. A corporate-safe, HR-approved microslop game masquerading as car culture. Do not pay ยฃ60.
- Microsoft
- Xbox
- Forza
Atomic Heart + full DLC review: highly ambitious RPG FPS, but felt like it was made in the early 2010s
Atomic Heart feels exactly like a game made in the early 2010s. A detailed review of the base game, the awful protagonist, and the final DLC package in 2026.
- Atomic Heart
- Mundfish
Toei Games and the Ticking Clock on Bandai Namco
Toei has announced their own games division. Bandai Namco is now officially on borrowed time, using Xenoverse 3 to mask a dangerously thin pipeline.
- Bandai Namco
- Toei
- Industry
Sega is running its company like a 2010s corporation and wondering why its games aren't selling
Sega is wondering why their highly reviewed games are not selling. Between ยฃ60 AA Persona reskins, Denuvo delusions, and burning almost $800 million on a dead Angry Birds fad, here is exactly why their out-of-touch boardroom greed is finally failing.
- Sega
- Industry
Ninja Gaiden 4: Competently stylish, yet unfinished and low budget
Ninja Gaiden 4 review: PlatinumGames delivers phenomenal combat, but a strict AA budget, ugly cyberpunk designs, and a terrible new protagonist ruin this ยฃ60 release.
- Ninja Gaiden
- Platinum
- Koei Tecmo
Monster Hunter Stories 2 - Short Review
Monster Hunter Stories 2 is a heavily limited Switch game that actively disrespects your time with endless RNG grinds and massive delusions of grandeur.
- Capcom
- Monster Hunter Stories
- Monster Hunter
World War Z: Aftermath short review
Looking for a Left 4 Dead successor on Steam? World War Z isn't it. Despite years of updates, the game remains a chore of quantity over quality.
- Saber Interactive
- World War Z
- Zombies
Manufacturing the Safe Bet: The Real Cost of Expedition 33
The Game Awards 2025 proved the industry values optics over art. A look at the Expedition 33 AA saviour lie, the hypocrisy of the sweep, and the cost of prioritising risk-averse prestige.
- Industry
- TGA
- Expedition 33
JRPG Tourists and the Whitewashing of a Genre: The Expedition 33 Problem
Watching the media froth over Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is embarrassing. They are treating a derivative cover band like it saved the genre. This is the gentrification of the JRPG for critics who are too ashamed to play actual Japanese games. From the Shadow Hearts thefts to the blatant NieR cosplay, here is why this award sweep is pure industry whitewashing and why I am not drinking the Kool-Aid.
- Industry
- TGA
- Expedition 33
- JRPG
Dead Rising 3 Apocalypse Edition: 2025 short review
Looking for a zombie game where killing zombies is actually fun? So were we. My retrospective co-op short review of Dead Rising 3 breaks down why its glorious, stupid chaos is the perfect antidote to the self-serious, tedious garbage being released today.
- Dead Rising
- Capcom
- Zombies
Halo: 'Four Years and Minimal Content' Infinite
And another one's gone. Microsoft's grand "10-year plan" for the Halo Infinite live service has officially collapsed after just four. So much for a forever game.
- Halo
- Microsoft
- Xbox
- Industry
MHWilds: Too little, too late
Is the latest Monster Hunter Wilds update enough to save the game? The numbers from the Steam player count say no. Despite a new endgame grind and a 20% off sale in August 2025, Capcom's response to the disastrous PC performance and shallow gameplay is too little, too late.
- Capcom
- Monster Hunter Wilds
- Industry
- Monster Hunter
Wow, Capcom is so generous with MHWilds!
Ever wondered what it takes for a multi-billion dollar company like Capcom to finally notice their flagship game is a complete dumpster fire? It's not the abysmal PC performance, the "Overwhelmingly Negative" Steam reviews, or even a biblical 98% drop in players for Monster Hunter Wilds. No, it took a quarterly sales report so catastrophic it couldn't be ignored. Now, after months of silence, they're suddenly rushing out an "early" update and pretending it's a generous gift for the fans. Don't buy the PR spin. Lets take a look into the hard data, the cynical marketing, and the blatant gaslighting behind Capcom's bungled response to the Monster Hunter Wilds backlash.
- Monster Hunter
- Capcom
- Industry
- Monster Hunter Wilds
Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon review
Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon is a buggy, janky, and deeply flawed open-world RPG. It's also the most fun I've had with a game this year so far and an absolute must-play for anyone who misses the ambitious, broken magic of games like Oblivion.
- Questline
- Open World
- RPG
- Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon
A $3.6 billion USD company
After a decade of unhinged mismanagement, Bungie is firing half its staff. Destiny 2 is over, and Marathon's disastrous Season 2 proves Sony bought a flop.
- Sony
- Bungie
Another AAA live-service crown jewel from Sony, everybody
Marathon just had its Season 2 free week and the SteamDB numbers are pathetic. Sony and Bungie are watching their big-budget live service walk off a cliff.
- Sony
- Bungie
The long overdue death of Destiny 2
Sony is officially pulling the plug on Destiny 2. Between a massive $765 million write-off, clueless developers, and a delusional playerbase, Bungie had this coming.
- Sony
- Bungie
- Destiny 2
- Industry
Deep Rock Galactic: when shouting "Rock and Stone" into the echo chamber no longer works
Shouting Rock and Stone can no longer hide reality. Rogue Core is a fundamentally barebones ยฃ25 Early Access asset flip that betrays its co-op roots.
- Deep Rock Galactic
Revisiting Aliens: Fireteam Elite ahead of the sequel
A short retrospective review of Aliens Fireteam Elite. Exploring why the brilliant perk grid, challenge cards, and weapon attachments make it worth playing today.
- Aliens
- AFE
- Co-op
Far Far West: Just another roguelite shooter with a shiny streamer-bait paint job
Far Far West is the latest Early Access indie hit dominating Steam, but beneath the quirky robot cowboy paint job lies the exact same copypasted roguelite shooter you have played a dozen times before.
- Indie
- Far Far West
- Roguelite
John Carpenter's Toxic Commando Review - A.K.A WWZ 2
An honest 50-hour review of John Carpenter's Toxic Commando. Saber Interactive's latest co-op zombie FPS is just a lazy World War Z reskin.
- Saber Interactive
Sega and the Yakuza fatigue: The tipping point of a milked franchise
The disastrous launch of Yakuza Kiwami 3 proves Sega has officially milked the franchise dry. Here is why RGG Studio desperately needs to let the IP rest.
- Sega
- Ryu Ga Gotoku
Nioh 3 - a shameless corporate copy-paste job
Nioh 3 is a shameless corporate copy-paste job. I break down the recycled Ronin assets, bloated combat, AI translation, and baffling censorship.
- Nioh
- Koei Tecmo
The Phantom Audience Fallacy: How Ghost of Yลtei Stalled the IP
Why has Ghost of Yลtei stalled at 3.3 million sales? Sonyโs refusal to announce a 5 million milestone in their Feb 2026 Q3 report confirms the drop-off. I take a look at how chasing the 'Phantom Audience', the Erika Ishii controversy and shallow writing alienated the core demographic. A breakdown of the ROI trap and how Sucker Punch damaged the IP's future for a quick profit.
- Sony
- Industry
- Ghost of
Bungie's upcoming Marathon is walking off a Cliff
With ARC Raiders dominating the extraction shooter genre, Bungie's upcoming Marathon faces an impossible battle. The ยฃ35 price tag, poor timing, and abstract design spell disaster for Sony's investment.
- Bungie
- Sony
- Marathon
- Industry
Code Vein 2: How to kill a successful new IP
Code Vein 2 has launched to a disastrous 52% rating. I breakdown how Bandai Namco killed the franchise with poor UE5 performance, removed co-op, and aggressive censorship to chase a 'modern audience' that does not exist.
- Code Vein 2
- Bandai Namco
Dispatch: A prime example in weaponising parasocial relationships to guarantee sales
The new 'indie' hit Dispatch has sold millions but the marketing behind it feels cynical rather than creative. I look at how the casting of Critical Role and massive streamers weaponises parasocial relationships to guarantee sales, and why the developers claiming it was a 'surprise' is just dishonest.
- Dispatch
- Industry
- Parasocial
Dying Light: The Beast short review
Is Dying Light: The Beast worth the ยฃ50 price tag? After dragging a friend through the entire co-op campaign, my review gives a hard 'no'. Here's a breakdown of the bugs, baffling design, and why you should wait for a deep sale.
- Techland
- Dying Light: The Beast
- Action
- Zombies
Final Fantasy XVI and its (Nonexistent) Cultural Impact
An autopsy of Final Fantasy 16's nonexistent cultural impact. This isn't a review but a deep dive into why FF16 flopped commercially, vanished from memory, and how its entire philosophy was exposed as a failure by the success of Baldur's Gate 3.
- Final Fantasy 16
- Final Fantasy
- Square Enix
- Industry
The Jim Ryan era was the worst thing that happened to PlayStation
Jim Ryan squeezed gamers for every penny while greenlighting endless live-service failures. Lets look at how his spreadsheet mentality set the industry back a decade.
- Playstation
- Sony
- Industry
The Spicy EU AI Law: Why Publishers Are Scrambling Before August 2026
Noticed the sudden wave of bots defending GenAI in your favourite game subs? You aren't imagining things. The industry is in full damage control mode because of one specific date: August 2, 2026. This is the Doomsday deadline for the EU AI Act, a law that turns hidden GenAI from a cost-saving trick into a massive legal liability. From Tim Sweeneyโs desperate astroturfing to EAโs internal panic, here is the full deep dive into why gaming CEOs are terrified of the inevitable "AI Slop" warning label, and why they are spending millions to gaslight you before it hits.
- GenAI
- EU
- Industry
- Laws
RIP Tomonobu Itagaki, an Uncompromising Architech of Gaming
A personal tribute to Tomonobu Itagaki, the uncompromising founder of Team Ninja. Remembering the man who created Ninja Gaiden, defined masocore, and made Western game reviewers lose their minds over Dead or Alive.
- Industry
- Team Ninja
- Koei Tecmo
From Layoffs to Price Hikes: Microsoft's Master Plan
Microsoft's solution after firing thousands to 'cut costs'? Making you pay more. Let's take a look at the new Game Pass price hike, the blatant cash grab, and the transparently lazy justification behind it.
- Microsoft
- Industry