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Anyone else finding more enjoyment out of 7/10 games than 10/10 games as of late?

Alebrije

Gold Member
Don't take care of scores or know n IPs , just play videogames of You like them. There are plenty of good games around that offer better experiences than AAA games..Anyway scores are subjective.
 

DrDryRub

Member
I like what I like and usually it's not what other like. The best game of the 360/PS3 gen for me was too human. It was a buggy broken mess but I absolutely loved it.

Also the ghostbusters game was tons of fun for me
 
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Tg89

Member
Not really no. I wasnt a fan of Ragnarok or Forbidden West but TOTK, Elden Ring, and BG3 are easily 3 of the best games I've played in the last decade or so.

The "7s" you listed are honestly all terrible imo. You couldn't pay me to play them. There's probably better examples of games that aren't critical darlings but are still good.
 
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Cyberpunkd

Member
there is no 10/10 games this last decade.
*checks when was the Witcher 3 expansion released

Kansas You Are Correct GIF by GIPHY News
 

SkylineRKR

Member
I agree with OP's take, but not with some examples such as SS and Callisto.

Anyway, I generally did have more fun with the more overlooked games, or lower rated games. Sonic Frontiers was fantastic in my eyes. I really enjoyed it though it kind of overstays its welcome after a few open zones. I also beat Terminator Resistance on PS5 earlier this year. Its such a great focused game, its not filled with cutscenes, dialogues and constant blabbering. It focuses on a few core things and does them well. Its budget likely forces them to. I've yet to play Robocop but no doubt I will like it as well.

Like a Dragon Gaiden was another game I liked a lot. Its a smaller RGG game. I also have IW but I still have to continue it even though I liked what I played.
 
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Lupin3

Targeting terrorists with a D-Pad
Donut County is apparently a 7/10 on metacritic, so I guess you're right.
 
it's not a 'as of late' thing, op. i've been finding more enjoyment out of 7/10 games going back at least as far as mad max (69) & mafia 3 (68). i'm currently playing star wars outlaws (77), &, while it's doing nothing especially unique or anything, i'm having more fun with it than i did with either horizon: forbidden west or tears of the kingdom...

i play games primarily to be entertained, not 'wowed'. tho, if a game manages to do both, like resident evil 7/village? well, that's fine, too...
 

ssringo

Gold Member
Season 4 No GIF by The Office


I do not care what everyone else rates it as because it's irrelevant to my enjoyment. The only rating that matters is my own since I'm the one experiencing the game.
 

analog_future

Resident Crybaby

Ratings of a game are irrelevant and don’t mean anything to mean, I’m proud to have finished 70/100 games and 90/100 games.

Don't base your enjoyment of games in scores.

I don’t pay attention much to the “score“, I mostly rely on my own judgement and nothing else.

What? You mean based on critics score? Who the fuck cares what they think?

I don't care about reviews. I review the games myself.

Don't take care of scores or know n IPs , just play videogames of You like them. There are plenty of good games around that offer better experiences than AAA games..Anyway scores are subjective.

People need to understand reviews are nothing more than someone else's opinion, I have my taste and they have theirs.

I played games long enough that I dont need a "score" to tell me what game is worth it and whats not.


But reviews have at least some value though. I've never used reviews as gospel, but they should be able to provide some guidance in purchasing decisions.


Otherwise you're literally just solely relying on marketing to make your purchase decisions. Which would arguably be even more unreliable than going off of reviews or watching other people play.


I've fallen for it myself. There's been plenty of games that looked kind of interesting to me, but received scores in the high 6s or low 7s. Some of them panned out like the ones I shared in my OP, but some definitely have not, like Gotham Knights, Terminator: Resistance, Forspoken, PayDay 3, etc.. etc.. which were all garbage and a waste of money IMO.
 
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SuperDad

Neo Member
Biggest thing for me is that I don't enjoy 50+ hour games anymore, or open world. Give me a tight 10-20 hour experience and I'll move on.

I love BG3, but I'll likely never finish it.
 

cireza

Member
Otherwise you're literally just solely relying on marketing
For any game I am interested in, I watch a few videos and make my own opinion. "Marketing" is not going to win me.

Some of panned out like the ones I shared in my OP, but some definitely have not, like Gotham Knights, Terminator: Resistance, Forspoken, PayDay 3, etc..
Yeah... well maybe you still need to build up some experience about video-games, that's all. I have been playing for more than 30 years so I can easily see what is going to totally suck (at least for me).

For example, I am a big fan of Bleach. And I have watched the recent videos for the new game. I can't help but think this is going to be utter shit, just like every other arena fighter that gets released. Despite the fact that I am a huge fan, I am not planning on buying it anytime soon.
 
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Esppiral

Member
10/10 according to whom? Nah I just rank games based on my tastes not based on others preferences, It sometimes matches most don't.

Thank god I have my own criteria.
 
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Arsic

Loves his juicy stink trail scent
Biggest thing for me is that I don't enjoy 50+ hour games anymore, or open world. Give me a tight 10-20 hour experience and I'll move on.

I love BG3, but I'll likely never finish it.
Exactly.

At this point I have a comfort food game that I’m addicted to that I do the new content for. Things like Diablo 4 or league of legends.

If I take a break for a SP game, it cannot be BG3 big. I don’t care what the quality is, it just can’t be this big.

Elden Ring is a large exception where I’ve done the game multiple times and the dlc.
 

analog_future

Resident Crybaby
For any game I am interested in, I watch a few videos and make my own opinion. "Marketing" is not going to win me.


Yeah... well maybe you still need to build up some experience about video-games, that's all. I have been playing for more than 30 years so I can easily see what is going to totally suck (at least for me).

Lol, I've been playing games for more than 30 years as well. That doesn't mean I'm impervious to thinking a game looks interesting but doesn't pan out, or that a game might show really well but not end up being a winner.

Everyone's effected by marketing/their own impressions, you included.
 
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Danjin44

The nicest person on this forum
Otherwise you're literally just solely relying on marketing to make your purchase decisions. Which would arguably be even more unreliable than going off of reviews or watching other people play.
No I'm relying on my taste in games.

For example: I was hype for Unicorn Overlord because I enjoyed Vanillaware games and surprise, surprise I loved it and currently my GOTY.

I’m currently hyped for games like Metaphor because I like Hashino’s past games and I know I will enjoy it no matter what.

Do I really need review to tell me if those games are worth it or not? If played games long enough you should have pretty good picture what game you would enjoy and what you wouldn’t.
 
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Kupfer

Member
Dead Island 2 was the most fun game of 2023 for me, it's hilarious what games get a 9/10 10/10 and not being fun games at all.
 
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analog_future

Resident Crybaby
No I'm relying on my taste in games.

For example: I was hype for Unicorn Overlord because I enjoyed Vanillaware games and surprise, surprise I loved it and currently my GOTY.

I’m currently hyped for games like Metaphor because I like Hashino’s past games and I know I will enjoy it no matter what.

Do I really need review to tell me if those games are worth it or not? If played games long enough you should have pretty good picture what game you would enjoy and what you wouldn’t.

That mentality can keep you from discovering new games that might surprise you though. I would never have tried Teardown, or Devil May Cry 5, or Nobody Wants to Die, or Death's Door, or tons of others if I only stuck to genres/developers/etc.. that I know I like.
 

Danjin44

The nicest person on this forum
That mentality can keep you from discovering new games that might surprise you though. I would never have tried Teardown, or Devil May Cry 5, or Nobody Wants to Die, or Death's Door, or tons of others if I only stuck to genres/developers/etc.. that I know I like.
Well there are games which have demo I can play it and judge the game myself. I personally rather rely on my own judgement rather reviews and so it works out for me just fine.
 

El Muerto

Member
I couldn't give two shits about AAA games nowadays. First it was Sony making the big open games with great graphics with top tier cinematics. Then other studios were chasing the same thing. It seems studios forgot how to make smaller scale game with lots to do and that is actually fun like Robocop. I've been playing Crime Boss Rockay City recently and i'm hooked. Game didnt review well, internet loves to hate on it, but to me it's fun. It's worth it for $20, and all the DLC is free right now. The gameplay is more creative and original than any recent games i've played.
 

Jinzo Prime

Member
I was looking at the games I've played/completed over the last few years, and I've found that pretty overwhelmingly I'm finishing a lot of "mediocre" games more often than I finish those marquee, tentpole, "must-play" type titles as of late.

Some examples:

  • God of War Ragnarok - Didn't finish. Strong vibes of "It's God of War 2018, but more!" and it just didn't pull me in.
  • Horizon: Forbidden West - Didn't finish. Strong vibes of "It's Horizon: Zero Dawn, but more!" and it just didn't pull me in.
  • The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom - Didn't finish. Many reasons for this one. Just like God of War and Horizon, it felt like an extension of BotW rather than something truly new, and the whole physics-focused, "spend 10 minutes building a boat out of random parts every time you want to cross a river" thing just didn't excite me. Like the others, it just didn't pull me in.
  • Elden Ring - Honestly this one is an incredible game, but for many years I've been trying to force myself to like Soulslike games and I just haven't gotten there. I did put close to 20 hours into this though and came away understanding what all the hype is about, but I still didn't finish it.
  • Baldur's Gate 3 - Another game where I can understand all the praise, but the combat just didn't click with me and I was unable to find the fun in that aspect of the game.
  • Red Dead Redemption 2 - I still hold out hope that someday this one will click with me, but in my attempts to play it thus far I've found it to be a bit dry, meandering, and un-engaging. I love the first RDR, and even replayed it this year and still really enjoyed it, so maybe I'll come around on RDR2 with another attempt.

For a while I was thinking that maybe I was just burnt out a bit on gaming in general, but then I realized that a ton of other games HAVE clicked with me. Games that aren't considered exceptional. Games that even I probably wouldn't rate higher than an 8/10 for the most part. But I DID find them engaging, and most importantly, fun.

Some examples:

  • Sonic Frontiers - Charming gameplay loop, novel approach compared to any other entry in the series, nice variety of classic and new scenarios and missions
  • The Callisto Protocol - Fantastic visuals, great performances, concise campaign that respects your time.
  • High on Life - Inventive ways to uniquely play with the medium (the intro game-within-a-game, the talking guns, the popup ads on your HUD, etc..), great humor, fun missions, inviting and colorful art direction, etc..
  • RoboCop: Rogue City - Great visuals, fun & intentionally simplistic combat, faithfully cheesy and faithful to the original film(s) and universe
  • Immortals of Aveum - Fun take on the FPS genre with magic as your "guns", great colorful visuals, unique world, nice variety of spells/combat/abilities
  • Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League - Short-and-sweet campaign, really fun combat loop, great visuals, some good performances
  • Alone in the Dark (2024) - Fun, hammy performances. Classic survival horror puzzles and gameplay. Not interested in wasting your time.

Again, I'm not saying any of these are great games, but they ARE games that I was able to find the fun in, get hooked for a brief amount of time, and generally enjoy my time with. Which, for what it's worth, is more than I can say about some of the purported "masterpieces" I listed above.


I think one of the biggest hurdles I'm finding with the newest "top tier" titles, is that they expect so much out of the player as far as time and dedication is concerned. Almost all the games I listed above are 50/60/70+ hour games. Maybe I just don't have time for that type of shit anymore,, or maybe I just have bad taste, idk.



Anyone else fall into a similar camp as me?
Preah it, brother!

I'd much rather play an ambitious mess of a game than a bloated, slow one! I'm still trying to like Red Dead 2 after all these years and still haven't beaten it.

This is why I like Mario games so much: AAA polish, no AAA bloat, best of both worlds. Sonic games have great gameplay but no polish whatsoever, but I still like them for what they are.
 
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Trelane

Member
I’ve not considered a game score from any major outlet in a long time. If a game catches my eye, I just look on YouTube to see actual gameplay and make my decision based off of that.
 

Katajx

Member
I think I have almost always enjoyed the 7’s and 8’s more than the 10’s. That’s because I know what I like to play, and that doesn’t always line up with what’s popular or mainstream.

I used to enjoy the metric of graphics, gameplay, sound,replay-ability, and the overall value.

A 9 or 10 to me now means a game that I really enjoyed and that I would recommend to others not even necessarily factoring in all of that.
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?



Meh Kinda GIF by Cultura



It's a great game but the pacing is slow as molasses. It's another one of those RDR2 style cases where I enjoyed my time but have absolutely no inclination to ever replay it.

And yes, before anyone asks, I have played through.
 

poppabk

Cheeks Spread for Digital Only Future
Games are very subjective when it comes to reviews as they cover such a broad range of categories. A 10 out of 10 flight simulator doesn't mean shit if you don't like sims.
Reminds me of that terrible IGN review of Football Manager - doesn't matter if you created a great managerial sim if the player wants to play Fifa.
 

Moonjt9

No Silksong? = Delivering the pain.
I know for me at least I have really started to get tired of some of the big name franchises. Ragnarok and Miles Morales Spiderman were absolute slogs, and even Tears of the Kingdom wasn’t enough to grab me.

A lot of these games feel like I’ve already played them so I just end up getting halfway and quitting. Baldur’s Gate 3 I would say is the only big hitter recently I’ve really enjoyed a lot because it was so fresh. (Elden Ring DLC too but come on that’s obvious).

Honestly I’ve spent more time with Diablo 4 this year than anything else. Most of the time these days I just want some popcorn and chill type game to shut my brain off.
 

cireza

Member
Everyone's effected by marketing/their own impressions, you included.
Nope, sorry to disappoint. Marketing never works on me. My own impressions, that I build myself on top of my own experience, do affect me. But this is obvious.
 
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Kamina

Golden Boy
10/10 games dont exist.
Plenty AAA games are clearly overhyped, woke and micro transaction riddled crap.

But yes, I’ve had great fun with Rise of the Ronin for example.
 

Danjin44

The nicest person on this forum
If you guys want to use reviews at very least read or watch actual review instead of just looking at the score.

Maybe things in the game bothered the reviewer might not bother you and vice versa……Only looking scores won’t tell you nothing about the actual game.
 
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R6Rider

Gold Member
If you guys want uses reviews at very least read or watch actual review instead of just looking at the score.

Maybe things in the game bothered the reviewer might not bother you and vice versa……Only looking scores won’t tell you nothing about the actual game.
You're asking way too much of people.
 

sdfk

Neo Member
I don't tend to play new games much at all (aside from the occasional re-release of an old boomer shooter, hello ROTT and DOOM releases from Nightdive), but the original question of OP honestly doesn't surprise me at all, given that I would expect a 10/10 game to either be a """bought""" score or otherwise a game that can be considered mechanically ""perfect"" but otherwise not necessarily contain particularly new or unique concepts; compare that with a game that, isn't exactly perfect and has fundamental issues, but does make an active move to explore novel design quirks and feels fresh, if rough around the edges. I'm not saying *all* 7/10 games are like that, but especially with how OP describes their game experience, that's what it seems to be to me.
 

Arsic

Loves his juicy stink trail scent
The only reason I won’t play a game that looks good to me is performance issues. If it runs like caca and looks to be 720p fsr stuff then I’ll pass.
 
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