Review Round-Up: Summer 2026
Nelson Schneider - wrote on 09/01/26 at 03:59 PM CT
Welcome back to another installment of the MeltedJoystick Review Round-Up. Here’s what our staff has reviewed since last time:
Nelson’s Reviews:
I finally broke out of my “Warframe” rut, thanks in large part to diving into a new “Fortnite: Save the World” rut, dealing with daily missions and the seasonal Venture Zones. I still managed to force myself to finish “Lost Odyssey,” then tried to enjoy some other RPG-adjacent things, but, sadly, didn’t. I was actually expecting to have the lowest number of reviews this quarter, but it turns out that everyone else was having an even worse time with our collective hobby than I.
Lost Odyssey – 3/5
Granblue Fantasy: Relink – 3/5
Dragon Quest Treasures – 3.5/5
Chris’ Reviews:
I don’t know what Chris has been doing, but it certainly hasn’t been working on his backlog, ablutions or otherwise. He has jumped into that same “Fortnite: Save the World” rut with me – he was also the one who informed the …
Backlog: The Embiggening – September, 2026
Nelson Schneider - wrote on 08/23/26 at 02:24 PM CT
Welcome back to another look into the near future! It won’t be long before Summer is gone once again, and the annual Games Drought comes to a catastrophic end. Ya know, it feels pretty bad actually preferring the drought conditions than looking forward to the flood of new Autumn releases, just because “no games” means “no crap.” Oh, well... Time to see what the Industry it rushing out now that everyone is back to the school/work grind and doesn’t have as much free time to play...
Wow! There are a LOT of games coming out in September... and OVER HALF of them fall into one of the four Shovelware buckets. In Licensed Swill, there’s a new ‘Garfield’ platformer, a new ‘Walking Dead’ Beat ‘em Up, a “cozy” Adventure game based on the ‘Moomintroll’ Scandinavian children’s books, a destined-to-be-awful Christmas game called “The Grinch 2: Saving Chrtistmas” (which sounds like a direct to VHS movie from the late ‘80s), a ‘Hot Wheels’ Racing …
DoesItPlay.org: An Essential Tool for Inveterate Console Peasants
Nelson Schneider - wrote on 08/16/26 at 02:12 PM CT
Are you a console peasant? Do you still insist that consoles are “easy” and “just work” while denying that PC gaming has largely reached parity in that particular metric? Do you think physical media will protect you from corporate corruption within Industrial Gaming?
Well, with Nintendo’s obsession with Game Key Cards on the Switch 2 and with Sony officially discontinuing PlayStation discs in 2028, you’ve got your work cut out for you in defending that ancient way of life. You may as well churn your own butter and spin your own yarn!
Fortunately, though, long-time Gamers who value the medium as more than a way to turn a quick profit (or, in the case of modern “AAAA” gaming, take 10 years to produce a complete flop) are fighting back against the winds of change, and Games Preservation has become a significant part of 2020s gaming zeitgeist. And if you just so happen to be a console peasant who is worried about the future status of your physical PlayStation disc, …
Trying to Save the World in “Fortnite?” Give these Weapons a Shot.
Nelson Schneider - wrote on 08/09/26 at 04:33 PM CT
Last week, I took a look at the different ammo types available for ranged weapons in “Fortnite: Save the World,” and which weapons were the best in class for each. This week, we’re looking at the individual weapon types.
In “Fortnite: Save the World,” there are ranged weapons and melee weapons. Ranged weapons are divided into 6 classes: Assault Rifles, Submachine Guns, Sniper Rifles, Pistols, Shotguns, and Launchers. Likewise, melee weapons also come in 6 classes: Axes, Clubs, Swords, Scythes, Spears, and Hardware. Weapon class generally only matters when using a Commander or support characters in the Hero Loadout that boost a specific weapon class. Otherwise, it’s just personal preference and availability.
The same special terminology from last week’s article still applies, so here’s a refresher:
Flux: Flux is a rare in-game resource that can be purchased from an in-game, non-premium currency shop called the Gold Exchange. Limited amounts of Rare, Epic, and …
Trying to Save the World in “Fortnite?” Trick Out Your Arsenal with These Weapons.
Nelson Schneider - wrote on 08/02/26 at 05:08 PM CT
Well, something happened that I never expected: Epic Games, in the face of waning “Fortnite: Battle Royale” player engagement, went ahead and pulled the game’s original, intended form, “Fortnite: Save the World” out of the digital trash bin behind the studio and finally released it to the public. The MJ Crew was really looking forward to this game... a DECADE AGO, when early access testing and development really began in earnest. Unfortunately for us, when Epic introduced the PvP mode as a way to raise money for the PvE mode, it turned the game into a self-perpetuating meme and it was eventually announced that the original concept was being scrapped.
Fortunately, Epic forgot to click “empty recycle bin,” and were able to release the “finished” “Save the World” game in June of 2026. The MJ Crew has been playing it since the very day it went fully F2P (or at least trying to play it, when not dealing with summer vacations and other interruptions to our weekly …
Backlog: The Embiggening –August, 2026
Nelson Schneider - wrote on 07/26/26 at 03:57 PM CT
Welcome back to another look into the near future! Happy Birthday to me... again. As I spend my special day boiling in mid-western humidity, are there any new games coming out that I can gift myself and have an excuse to stay inside in the A/C? Probably not, but we’d better take a look anyway...
Ugh. For the second month in a row, Shovel-ready slop is HALF the release schedule. In Licensed Swill, Disney is well represented with both a new ‘Star Wars’ Strategy thing and a new ‘Marvel’ Fighting thing. The ‘Captain Tsubasa’ Soccer anime is also getting a... nother game, while the cult-favorite ‘Scott Pilgrim’ is getting another game too. In Annualized Swill, there’s the predictable release of a new ‘Madden Football.’ Lastly, in Noteworthy Ports, there’s a second volume of the ‘Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection’ (though I’m of the opinion that, if your ‘Master Collection’ has multiple volumes, it wasn’t particularly masterful in the first …
Rumor: Xbox to Introduce Disc-to-Digital Feature with Transferable Licenses
Nelson Schneider - wrote on 07/18/26 at 03:08 PM CT
Back when the Xbox One – or XBONE as everyone called it, because it was “boned” from day one – originally revealed Microsoft’s plans to tie physical games to users’ Xbox Live accounts (and to require frequent online DRM checks to keep those licenses working), gamers revolted, and Sony even made a snarky little video about how easy it was to share physical games on the PS4 compared to the nightmare Xbox was building. Well, now the Worm has Turned, and it’s Sony planning to take away gamers’ ability to either share games or buy and sell them on the second-hand market.
In response to Sony making the first (disastrous) move this time, Xbox has been leaking rumors that, not only will the Xbox Helix include an optical disc drive, it will also include a revamped – and allegedly incredibly user-friendly – version of the XBONE disc licensing scheme. According to the rumors, people who insert a physical XBONE or Xbox SeX disc into the Helix will have that disc …
Xbox’s ONLY Profitable Products are “Minecraft” and “Candy Crush.”
Nelson Schneider - wrote on 07/12/26 at 03:07 PM CT
The new head of Microsoft’s Xbox Division, Asha Sharma, has been taking the scythe to the division and its studios lately, cutting down to the veritable bone in a (vain) attempt to reset Xbox into profitability – an impossible task considering it has NEVER been profitable. We’ve gotten news about some of the smaller Indie studios Xbox gobbled up being given their freedom again, as well as other studios – even big ones that we might expect to be immune – having their staff drastically cut and their projects canceled.
None of that should be surprising, after all. This IS Xbox we’re talking about.
However, a little tidbit of news managed to slip past my filter and made an impression by just how ludicrous it is. According to Sharma herself, the only profitable products in the Xbox portfolio are “Minecraft,” which Xbox acquired in 2014 when they bought out the Sweden-based Indie developer behind it, Mojang, as well as “Candy Crush,” which was, seemingly, an …
Sony = Finished
Nelson Schneider - wrote on 07/05/26 at 02:30 PM CT
Just a few weeks ago, we learned that – against all better judgment – we are, indeed, set to be subjected to another Generation of Console Wars. However, it seems that Sony is trying to sabotage its 10th Gen efforts before they can even get off the ground.
As if the PlayStation company delving into the evils of Dynamic Pricing wasn’t bad enough, they’ve recently announced that, starting in 2028, there will be NO MORE PHYSICAL PLAYSTATION GAME DISCS... EVER! 2028 seems to be a reasonably-distant point in time to consider the release of the unfortunately-planned PlayStation 6, so this announcement is an obvious declaration that the PS6 will not have a disc drive, and that any cross-gen games released after the launch window of Sony’s 10th Gen console will only be available as digital downloads, even if you own a PS5 with a disc drive or a PS5 Pro with an external disc drive.
Why would Sony make such a horrible decision? After all, the awful experience of the PlayStation …
Backlog: The Embiggening – July, 2026
Nelson Schneider - wrote on 06/28/26 at 03:50 PM CT
Welcome back to another look into the near future! This July, the U.S.A. will turn 250 years old! That’s quite the accomplishment! But based on how the Games Industry is doing, it might not have very many more birthdays ahead of it before it crashes and burns again. It has been over 40 years since the last crash. That’s nothing to sneeze at, and it did give us a lot of timeless classics that we can enjoy forever... so long as we’re willing to ignore copyright laws. Let’s see if there’s anything coming in the middle of the Summer Games Drought that’s worthy of fireworks!
Ugh... there’s more shovelware than anything else coming in July. And it’s in EVERY category. In the Licensed Swill category, we’ve got “Nickelodeon Extreme Tennis: Next!” “Starship Troopers: Ultimate Bug War!” (What’s with the exclamation marks on the titles? Do publishers think that will make the shovelware less crappy?) “PAW Patrol: Dino World” (combining the two things little …
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