If you fancied playing a “mini-MMO” PvPvE game that looks like someone put The Elder Scrolls Online through an Unreal Engine 5 filter, then oh boy do I have a game for you.
What would you get if you crossed Elden Ring with Highguard? Eldeguard.
That is simultaneously a hilarious joke on my behalf, which is why I get paid the big bucks, and also not that far from the truth.
Silly name aside, Eldeguard does genuinely just look like a fantasy-style take on the arena-style PvP combat found in Highguard. Their names being very similar is just the cherry on top.
Now, you might remember this game from last year (which we will get to later), because it dropped into early access on Steam back in February 2025.
The gameplay is sort of like a mix between Monster Hunter and an extraction shooter, because the aim here is to take down one of 32 boss monsters and then make it out alive before either it or one of the other players murders you.
Of course, we should address the elephant in the room here: that “Mixed” 69% positive score on Steam.
Now, to be fair, that is only one point off of qualifying as “Positive” (at least, by Steam’s metrics), but it still means that just under a third of players left a negative review. So, in light of that, let’s see what some of the recent negative reviews have to say about the game.
“Overall, I like the idea of this game. Like any game that has been made by anyone, anywhere, at anytime, it has potential,” writes Steam user Harald Hardrada.
“Potential alone cannot sell a game, and the devs need to put in some serious work to fix these glaring issues.”
“I want the game to succeed; to be fun and enjoyable. At present, for me, it is neither of those things. And again, this largely the result of the awful performance and optimization.”
“Re-name/Re-Launch of Legacy Steel and Sorcery, all the same issues,” writes Steam user Killarusta.
Huh. Turns out, that last one is on to something, because this game actually used to be called Legacy: Steel and Sorcery. In fact, it was called that up until about a month ago.
I was joking before, but… did they genuinely rename this game “Eldeguard” so it sort of sounds like Highguard? The timing does match up.
Guess someone should have told Geoff Keighley that he was actually advertising two games for the price of one.
