Money Monday Sept. 14th

Money Monday – September 14, 2026

September ain't letting up and neither am I. Wolverine unsheathes tomorrow and the reviews are already in — and they're… mixed. Fire Emblem drops Wednesday. The Witcher 3 Remastered is two weeks out. Tokyo Game Show is gearing up. 505 Games is throwing a birthday sale on Steam, PlayStation's TGS sale is live, Xbox just wrapped Free Play Days with damn Borderlands 4, and Game Pass is about to lose Cyberpunk 2077 and Dead Cells on the same day. Your wallet ain't safe. Let's get into it.

🔥 The Big Story: Marvel's Wolverine — It Ain't Spider-Man

Insomniac's Marvel's Wolverine drops tomorrow, September 15, PS5 exclusive, $69.99. The review embargo lifted September 10 and the scores landed with a thud heard 'round the internet.

Metacritic: 77-78. For a studio that put up an 87 on Spider-Man and a 90 on Spider-Man 2, that's a significant step down. Here's what the critics are saying:

• IGN — 6/10. Called it "barebones." Ouch.

• GameSpot — 6/10. Same energy. Not enough meat on the bone.

• COGconnected — 10/10. Loved every second of it. Said Insomniac "unleashed Wolverine's most brutal and ferocious side."

• Wccftech — 8.5/10. Praised the shift away from Spider-Man's open-world formula toward a more linear, focused action experience.

• TheGamer — 8/10. Highlighted the character work as a standout.

• Game Rant — 8/10. Solid across the board.

So what's the deal? The combat is brutal as hell — everyone agrees on that. The claw work feels incredible and this is easily the most violent thing Insomniac has ever shipped. But the open-world Spider-Man formula is gone. Wolverine goes linear and focused, and that's where the split happens. Some critics loved the tighter experience. Others thought it left the whole thing feeling thin.

The story's getting praise, especially the Wolverine-Sabretooth dynamic. And before y'all start — no, they're not lovers. Insomniac's creative director Brian Horton and narrative director Walt Williams shut that down after some folks tried to spin a pre-release interview into a romance angle. Their relationship is brothers in arms, not Brokeback Mountain. Insomniac also confirmed this is their own universe, not a 1:1 comic adaptation — so if you're expecting the Silver Fox storyline, that ain't here either (per TheGamer and The Washington Post).

Here's my take before I even play it: a 77 doesn't mean the game is trash. It means it's good, not great. But at $70 on a single platform with no Game Pass safety net, "good not great" is a tough sell in 2026. I'll have my own review up soon. If you're a Wolverine fan with a PS5, you already pre-ordered it and you don't need my permission. You know who you are.

🎮 Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave — Wednesday, September 17

The other big dog this week. Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave hits Switch 2 on Wednesday and it's been flying under the radar because Wolverine sucked up all the oxygen — which is criminal. Fire Emblem has been on a damn hot streak since Three Houses and Nintendo gave this one a final spotlight in last week's Direct. It looked clean as hell. If you're a tactical RPG fan, this is your week. Between Wolverine tomorrow and Fire Emblem Wednesday, kiss your free time goodbye.

🆕 Releases This Week (Sept 15–20)

• Marvel's Wolverine (Sept 15) — PS5 exclusive. $69.99. Metacritic 77.

• TCG Card Shop Simulator 1.0 (Sept 15) — Full launch. PlayStation and Switch for the first time. Game Pass day one.

• Aniimo (Sept 15) — The Pokémon-like RPG. Game Pass day one. Free reward pack for subs starting Sept 16.

• RuneScape: Dragonwilds 1.0 (Sept 15) — Full launch. Xbox and PC. Game Pass day one.

• Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave (Sept 17) — Switch 2 exclusive.

• Sniper Dan (Sept 17) — Smaller indie joint if you want something off the beaten path.

Three Game Pass day-one launches on the same damn day, plus Wolverine and Fire Emblem in the same week. September is absolutely merciless.

🛒 Deals & Steals

PlayStation Store — Tokyo Game Show Sale (Through Sept 23)

Sony's TGS sale is live right now and it's loaded. Hundreds of titles up to 75% off, with Spike Chunsoft games going as deep as 85% off (per Spike Chunsoft's own press release and MP1st). Highlights:

• Sea of Thieves — $13.99 (65% off)

• 007 First Light — 20% off

• AI: THE SOMNIUM FILES — up to 80% off

• Danganronpa series — 50-80% off across the board

• Zero Escape: The Nonary Games — 80% off

• Fire Pro Wrestling World — 85% off

• Session: Skate Sim — $7.99 (80% off)

• F1 25: 2026 Season Edition — $34.99 (30% off)

If you're a visual novel or JRPG fan, this is Christmas in September. The Spike Chunsoft discounts alone are worth your time. Sale runs through September 23 so you ain't gotta rush — but don't sleep on it either.

505 Games 20th Anniversary Sale — Steam

505 Games is celebrating 20 years and they're damn near giving the store away on Steam. Discounts from 20% to 90% (via Shattered):

• Death Stranding Director's Cut — 75% off. Deepest confirmed cut on any big title in the sale.

• Control — On sale. If you haven't played this, I don't know what you're doing with your life.

• Terraria — On sale. One of the best games ever made. I'll die on that hill.

• Ghostrunner — On sale. Cyberpunk parkour done right.

• Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night — On sale.

• Human Fall Flat — On sale.

• Assetto Corsa EVO / Rally — 20% off each. Newer titles, smaller cuts.

Death Stranding at 75% off is a steal if you've never experienced Kojima at his weirdest. And Control at a discount is mandatory. Remedy doesn't miss — which brings me to…

Xbox Free Play Days (Ended Sept 13)

If you caught this past weekend's Free Play Days (per Xbox Wire and Polygon), you got to try:

• Borderlands 4 — Full game, free all weekend for Game Pass members.

• EA Sports Madden NFL 27 — Free for ALL Xbox players. No Game Pass needed.

• F1 25 2026 Edition

• CarX Drift Racing Online

• Surviving Mars: Relaunched

• Dustborn — 2-hour trial with a discount.

If you missed it, you missed it. Several of those are still discounted though, so check the store if something caught your eye.

Nintendo Customer Appreciation Sale (Through Sept 26)

Nintendo's running a Customer Appreciation sale through September 26 (via ABC11):

• Metroid Prime 4: Beyond — $41.99 (30% off)

• Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom — 30% off

• Joy-Con Pastel Purple/Green set — $62.99 (30% off)

• Mario Kart merch — jackets, hats, all 30%+ off

Metroid Prime 4 at forty-two bucks is a no-brainer. If you still haven't picked it up, what the hell are you waiting for?

🎮 Game Pass Update

Leaving Game Pass — September 15 (TOMORROW)

Last. Call. Eleven games walk out the door tomorrow and some of these are gonna sting:

• Cyberpunk 2077 — Console and Cloud. If you haven't finished it, tonight is literally it.

• Dead Cells — One of the best roguelikes ever made. Just gone.

• Frostpunk 2 — PC only, but still a loss.

• Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor

• Commandos: Origins, Cricket 24, Mullet Madjack and more.

All departing titles have at least 20% off if you want to buy them outright. Cyberpunk and Dead Cells leaving on the same damn day is brutal. If you've been procrastinating, the universe just gave you your final warning.

Coming to Game Pass This Week

Info sourced from Stevivor and Xbox Wire:

• RuneScape: Dragonwilds 1.0 — September 15. Day one.

• Aniimo — September 15. Day one. Free monthly reward pack for subs starting Sept 16 (one Aniipod Ultra, 15 Growth Flowers, 300 Glimmer).

• TCG Card Shop Simulator — September 15. Day one.

• Minecraft Dungeons II — September 29. Day one. The real headliner for Game Pass this month.

Three day-one launches tomorrow softens the blow of losing Cyberpunk and Dead Cells. But let's be real — it don't fully replace 'em. The real Game Pass flex this month is Minecraft Dungeons II on the 29th and Gears of War: E-Day dropping October 6.

Control Resonant — Game Pass Day One?

Here's one to watch. A since-deleted Xbox UK Instagram post tagged Control Resonant as a Game Pass day-one title. Neither Microsoft nor Remedy has confirmed or denied it (per Shattered and Stevivor). The game launches September 24 digitally — $59.99 Standard, $69.99 Digital Deluxe — with a PS5 Digital Deluxe exclusive 48-hour early access starting September 22. Physical copies are delayed to October 15. If this hits Game Pass day one, that's a massive get. Remedy. Doesn't. Miss. Keep your eyes on it.

💥 Fail of the Week: Xbox Cloud Gaming Gets Hour Caps

Microsoft announced that starting November 2026, Xbox Cloud Gaming will have hourly caps by tier for the first time (per PCMag): 5 hours a month on Essential, 10 on Premium, 15 on Ultimate. What used to be unlimited streaming is now metered — and the prices didn't budge. Not a penny cheaper.

If you're somebody who relies on cloud gaming because you can't drop $500 on a console or build a PC, this is a slap in the face. The entire damn point of cloud gaming was accessibility — play anywhere, on anything, without expensive hardware. Slapping a meter on it defeats the whole purpose. Five hours a month on Essential? That's barely enough to finish a tutorial. This is penny-pinching garbage from a trillion-dollar company. Do better, Microsoft. Again.

🌍 Tokyo Game Show 2026

TGS kicks off later this month in Chiba, Japan. The PlayStation TGS sale is already live as a warm-up and Xbox confirmed their presence too (per Xbox Wire). Expect announcements from Capcom, Square Enix, Bandai Namco, and the usual Japanese publisher heavyweights. This is traditionally where we get new looks at Final Fantasy, Monster Hunter, and whatever FromSoftware has been cooking in the shadows. More as the show gets closer.

🃏 Card Game & TCG Corner

TCG Card Shop Simulator 1.0 — Tomorrow

The full launch is finally here. The playable in-game card game "Tetramon" is now part of the experience, PlayStation and Switch versions drop for the first time, and it's Game Pass day one. If you've been running your virtual card shop in Early Access, tomorrow is graduation day. This game has no business being as addictive as it is.

Aniimo — The Pokémon-Like Catching Heat

Aniimo launches tomorrow on Game Pass with a free monthly reward pack for subscribers. The game's been catching heat for questionable AI use in its art — I flagged it last week and the controversy hasn't gone away. Whether that bothers you is your call, but you should know about it before you dive in. The creature-collecting RPG market is crowded as hell right now and the AI art drama ain't helping.

🏈 Monday Night Football

Quick one for the gamers who also bleed football: Broncos at Chiefs, 8:15 PM ET tonight on ESPN/ABC. Week 1 Monday Night Football. If you need something to watch while you wait for Wolverine to unlock at midnight, Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs have you covered. Or pissed off, depending on your allegiance.

📅 Rest of the Month

• Marvel's Wolverine — Tomorrow, Sept 15. PS5.

• TCG Card Shop Sim 1.0 / Aniimo / RuneScape: Dragonwilds 1.0 — Sept 15. Game Pass day one.

• Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave — Sept 17. Switch 2.

• Control Resonant — Sept 24. PS5, Xbox, PC, Mac. Possibly Game Pass day one.

• Minecraft Dungeons II — Sept 29. Game Pass day one.

• The Witcher 3: Remastered — Sept 29.

• Gears of War: E-Day — Oct 6. Game Pass day one.

That's your Money Monday. Wolverine drops tomorrow with a 77 on Metacritic and a whole lot of "it's good but it ain't Spider-Man." Fire Emblem hits Wednesday. Three games hit Game Pass day one while Cyberpunk and Dead Cells walk out the damn door. The TGS sale is live, 505 Games is giving away the store on Steam, Nintendo wants you to buy Metroid Prime 4 for forty-two bucks, and Microsoft thinks five hours of cloud gaming a month is acceptable. Your wallet ain't safe. September ain't slowing down. See you next Monday.