This is curious to me. Are you really against acknowledging the possibility that some people out there might be better suited or able to discuss and share their opinions?
Frankly, what you're arguing against is not the critic itself, but your ability to enjoy games. There's no need to discuss critics at all since you said it best for yourself: you'll make up your own mind.
But don't try to disparage critics simply because that's your take. Good critics are valuable. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
I'm not disparaging critics, per se, they play a valuable role for some; but more of a peripheral role for me. As I say, I enjoy reading reviews, I enjoy reading what professional critics think whether thats games, films, books, cars, whatever. I can enjoy their thoughts for what they are. What I'm saying is that this does not then feed into my personal decision to buy/not buy a game for example and frankly, I don't believe anyone should take the opinion of others as a reason to avoid something they believe may bring them joy.
Certainly some individuals are better suited or able to provide an
objective viewpoint of a game, but ultimately, a review is an opinion from someone who will have their own agendas, preference, history, bias, likes and dislikes, foibles, etc etc, all feeding into their experience of the game. Thus, its a fact that their perception of the game is fundamentally flawed when compared with how
I may experience it; so their opinions whilst perhaps informative and interesting and cleverly, intelligently written will always come from within a framework of their life which can never mirror my own projections and experiences which would twist the experience of the game to my own personality.
As an example, the Resident Evil Remake on PS4. The reviews are mixed, some love it, ostensibly for the same reasons I love it, others dislike or hate it. But that game is fundamentally a part of my gaming history, almost every location and encounter is engraved into my memory, its more than just familiarity when I play it, its a ton of sensations and emotions all linked with my own personal experiences of playing it. No matter how much someone may love that game and laud it for the reasons I laud it, the way its ingrained in my gaming memories is entirely personal which twists my perception of the experience giving weight to certain areas where others may never experience it and vice versa. The Itchy Tasty note still sends pleasurable chills down my spine when I read it today. Some of the music reminds me of past times and makes me sad.
If I reviewed the Resi Remake I would be entirely biased and blind to its more (theoretically) obvious 'faults' as I'm so utterly in love with what the experience means for me. Perhaps professional reviewers can put these emotions to one side and, like automatons, deal only with the practical, but in many ways I don't believe they can, I believe their reviews will always be coloured by their personal framework of life, love, loss, disappointment, excitement, whatever, and so their opinion whilst interesting of course, and a valuable tool for some, should never become a defining factor in what you also choose to experience.
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