We're used to seeing game art divide opinion, but few recent releases have been as controversial as Highguard. Wildlight Entertainment's new PvP raid shooter is looking set to become the most criticised game since Concord. Two thirds of reviews on Steam are negative, and the art style carries a lot of the responsibility.
Developed by veterans from Respawn Entertainment, known for Titanfall and Apex Legends, the game sees players ride, fight and raid as Wardens, arcane gunslingers sent to fight for control of a mythical continent. It has ingredients for mass appeal, and it feels like that's what the art style aimed for, but that might be the problem.
I will never forgive western developers for poisoning magitek as an aesthetic pic.twitter.com/oYoIvEdfcbJanuary 26, 2026
Highguard's blend of medieval fantasy with futuristic weaponry has been shown to have potential, but it tends to work when it's stylised. Instead, Wildlight played it safe by leaning more towards realism in environments, and it ended up looking bland and uninspiring. The “Corporate Memphis of game art,” some are saying.
One observer writing on X (above) suggests Highguard could be dubbed “ArtStation front page: the video game”. I don't think he means that as a criticism of the many artists who present their work on ArtStation but rather that the game looks like a generic derivative combination of all that work.
The result is that there's no cohesion. The assets look fine but could each have come from different games. “An incestuous sludge of uninspired industry portfolio aesthetics designed for maximum mass appeal” as the OP puts it.
“There's a cognitive dissonance between the game’s environment and the characters,” another person writes. “Why is the environment this semi-stylized style while there’s BAMCO/Capcom style characters?”
Fair question. One player refers to the style as “Target Fantasy". “It's got all the edge of something you would see in a Target store,” they suggest. “Slightly desaturated, washed out, hipster-corporate characters you would see in a Verizon ad, vaguely steampunk, crystals everywhere... It's like diet Eberron.”
Some complain that the environment feels so generalised that they can't discern the purpose of anything. “None of it feels like it communicates what it is,” one person complains. “None of these designs infer anything about the world they're in or connect themselves to any other character or part of the setting.”
“The level design makes me think that at some point in development, they probably wanted to go with the Arcane/Fortiche aesthetic, but for some reason the team working on the characters just didn't get the memo,” another gamer says.
Part of the backlash may be because of how Highguard was launched. The title closed The Game Awards 2025 in the coveted “one more thing” slot, which paved the way for disappointment since many had hoped for a more exciting announcement.
But ultimately, Highguard shows that in game development even playing it safe is a risk. Taking no chances can lead to a complete lack of identity, with the result that something that was supposed to have mass appeal ends up pleasing nobody.
Highguard is available for PlayStation 5, XBox Series S and X and PC via Steam
Fancy a nostalgia hit instead? See our pick of the best retro gaming consoles and te best retro handheld game consoles.
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