Melbourne · Gaming Blog
Where quests grow in the quiet.
Long-form RPG guides, honest indie spotlights and hardware deep-dives written by a small crew of Australian players who actually finish the games.
About the blog
A calm corner of the internet for people who love games.
ShadowQuestVanguard started in a Fitzroy sharehouse in 2016 as a place to dump 4,000-word RPG guides nobody else would publish. Ten years on we're still that: no clickbait, no review scores rushed out on launch day, just writing from people who put in the hours.
We're a three-person team based off Little Collins Street. We cover the Australian scene closely — local studios, PAX Aus, and the odd Melbourne LAN — alongside the global releases worth your weekend.
How we work
Every review, the same slow path.
No embargoed hot takes. Here's the four-step routine behind everything we publish.
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01
Play to the credits
We finish the campaign — usually 30–80 hours — before a single word is written. Live-service games get a minimum 40-hour run.
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02
Note as we go
Every session ends with timestamped notes on pacing, bugs, and performance across the platforms we own — PC, PS5 and Switch.
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03
Draft & cross-check
A second writer plays the key sections to sanity-check every claim. If we disagree, that tension goes straight into the piece.
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04
Publish & revisit
Reviews get a dated re-check after major patches, so a verdict from launch never quietly rots into something misleading.
What we cover
Pick a shelf and browse.
From our readers
Kind words from the inbox.
Good to know
Frequently asked questions.
Editorial
Subscribing & support
Get in touch