Well so far i've been enjoying it, but I like these type of games. Its making me want more games like this.
Well so far i've been enjoying it, but I like these type of games. Its making me want more games like this.
That's still extreme. There may be games that are downright broken, and that won't reach any audience. Reviewers will eventually develop their own audience, and that audience will most likely share a similar taste as the reviewer. I don't expect IGN to hand out 9+ scores for JRPGs, and when they give absurd scores, it's still within the rights of the reviewer, if even the score being low, the article was well-written.Originally Posted by Wyrdwad
Well, I can only speak to my own tastes/opinions. Personally, I've always hated scored reviews -- I believe the perfect review of anything (not just games) will consist entirely of text, and will reserve judgment upon the game/book/movie/product, instead simply outlining what it sets out to do, how it attempts to do it and what sort of individual would be most likely to benefit from it.
Even largely broken games like the infamous "Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing" or "Hoshi wo Miru Hito" have die-hard fans, after all -- and the intentionally terrible "Desert Bus" is a veritable classic at this point. Hell, even the most infamous game of them all, "E.T." on the Atari 2600, has its share of stalwart defenders! I firmly believe that there is NO GAME in existence that won't appeal to SOMEONE -- even if only in an ironic way.
I once came up with an idea for a game review site called "gamedater.com," which would be laid out more like a dating site than a traditional review site (thus the name). The gimmick is that you'd create a profile for yourself, then "match" yourself with the perfect game for you based on information in your profile and carefully-outlined information for each game on the site. One day, perhaps this site will become a reality, as I think it would be far more useful than traditional review sites... but for now, I choose simply to be a curmudgeon who constantly complains about reviews I disagree with.
-Tom
Thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis.
I've come to the conclusion that what we need aren't unbiased reviews in the gaming industry--we need biased reviews. Opinions from people who regularly dabble in whatever genre the game is or are a part of whatever audience the game is aimed towards. When I read a review for a, say, JRPG, I don't want to see the reviewer constantly nitpicking about "flaws" that can be attributed to most games in the genre. I don't want some random guy's opinions about a game--I want opinions from somebody who is more likely to share my personal opinion about a game.
... that's my take on it, at least.
There goes Tom, unwittingly stealing my ideas.
Though I didn't really consider the "dating" concept, I guess it is similar. What I was thinking might be a bit different since it would be heavily user driven. As in, YOU can rate various aspects of a game (may or may not be public) purely to gauge elements that do and don't suit you, and recommendations will be based on your ratings, others ratings, combined with things in your profile and the preset information about the game.
But it's been yeeaars since I thought about that. Like, high school.
Edit: That, along with being community driven, allowing you to meet with like minded gamers to talk with.
Last edited by Chaosblade; 06-27-2012 at 12:06 AM.
Hm, all up to your own personal opinion eh?
Well, XSeed don't have to worry anymore about me buying this game because it has already been done
But, just for the record, you know what got me into Legend of Heroes games? Bad reviews from most of the sources. Gagharv Trilogy was panned by the critics for being "generic bland rpg", but in the end, despite the poor localization, their stories are among the best I've ever seen in RPGs (I don't enjoy too much FFVi-soap-opera-dramas for example). Trails was just the next step (and thankfully a very competent localization by XSeed instead of the "put in Google Translator" Namco Bandai localization of Gagharv games).
On the other hand, Valkyria Chronicles series received excellent reviews and it is really excellent (how I wish Sega would let XSeed localize VC3...).
Unfortunately, all the "review business" became more of a business than something useful because all the AAA titles receive absurdly high-reviews (like FFXIII-2 which received the mythical 40 on Famitsu and was loathed by fans), while all the other games receive ratings and care according to the reviewer's mood on the day.
Yeah, I hardly trust reviews from just about any sites these days and just leave how good a game is up to my own opinion.
And that's why I love XSEED, they make competent translations and do a game justice just like TitS and Ys.
As someone who used to review games, I personally always tried to avoid scoring a game lower on matters of subjective preference, such as JRPG cliches, linearity in an RPG, a theme that didn't appeal to me, etc. and tried to only ding games on more universal issues such as poorly executed gameplay mechanics, unresponsive controls, and the like.
I agree with Tom that every game has its audience, but I do feel that if a game plays poorly, a reviewer should be able to say so as long as he or she is able to back up why he or she feels that way.
... WHOA. What a coincidence. I read your Dawn of Ys review yesterday. 'Twas nice, and I found myself agreeing with you during the entirety of it. ^_^
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