• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

The problem with modern day game reviewers

STARSBarry

Gold Member


I don't know if you posted this to mock the creator or not. But I don't think it's fair to post this and laugh at the creator.

Can you imagine you take years to craft this unique experience that you pour your heart into and then fucking Soulja Boy likes it?

Jesus I don't know how he's still alive, I would have hunted down every copy personally, destoryed them and then hanged myself rather than have Soulja Boy enjoy it.
 
Last edited:

Sorcerer

Member
Just as one must separate the art from the artist, the artist must also separate himself from the fans, just accept that they like it, even if they have no appreciation of the art's deeper meaning.
 

Umbasaborne

Banned
I think its a problem when video reviews feel more like commercials. Like for instance when it has sweeping music from the sound track amd these cool cinematic shots. If your review looks like a hype trailer for the game, then you are doing it wrong
 

Fredrik

Member
As for the problem of modern game reviewers.

They rarely play the same game as the consumers.

In 2022 games are patched and user outrage gets devs to go back in to tweak economics and performance issues etc. Tbh the state of a pre-release version is barely even interesting day 1.
 

coffinbirth

Member
4voad9.jpg
 

baphomet

Member
The fact that you think it's just "modern" reviewers and are oblivious to the fact that it's literally always been that way.

As far back as you can go game reviews were like that.

I can show you reviewers whining about gender neutral colors back in the early 90s.
 

Guilty_AI

Member
There are two big problems:

1-Trying to rush loads of reviews out on time, often not possible due to the length or learning curve some games have.

2-Having reviewers that don't really match the type of game they're reviewing. A lot of 'game critics' fall under a certain type of niche and they'll naturally review games that fit that niche better than ones that don't. Like having a guy who likes sci-fi novels review a romance book, just because "its all books anyway". Thus we get loads of GOTYs and GOATs that feel completely alien and out-of-place for large playerbases.

Its also not uncommon to have companies taking advantage of how review processes work and developing games that fit the 'reviewer mold' in order to get higher scores and awards. Sony in particular loves doing this.

Then nowadays theres all the dumb politics some try to inject, just making it all the more hard to take them seriously.
 
Last edited:

Katajx

Gold Member
I would say trust your own taste more than reviewers, it rarely failed for me.
That’s about as simple as someone could put it. I would suggest to also be wary of forums/Reddit.

I eventually get around to trying these games that everyone says are the greatest of all time, but most of them don’t align with my own tastes.

I mostly enjoy games from 3rd party publishers and the first party games wind up disappointing me. Even the Sony blockbusters.
 
Last edited:

nocsi

Member


There’s definitely a loss of art form when it comes to reviews. This reviewer also does accessories, he completely sold me on buying the new Xbox controller keyboard. A master is truly timeless, unfortunately this particular game reviewer no longer does game reviews
 

Fbh

Member
Hey you can't compare soulja boy with a regular games "journalist"

Soulja Boy is an accomplished console developer so he has more in depth knowledge of these things.
Soulja-Boy.jpg
 

Arcadialane

Member
Youtube commentators(fake over excited acting, shills) have actually gotten so bad, I actually trust the word of modern journalists more than them
 
Last edited:

Danjin44

The nicest person on this forum
Reviews are meant to let you know what to spend your limited time and money on. If you're already spending your time and money in order to avoid reviews, you've already missed the point.
For me I played games long enough to know what I enjoy and what I don’t.
 

Heimdall_Xtreme

Jim Ryan Fanclub's #1 Member
The problem is that they don't understand the 1 to 10 scale and only use 6, 7, 8, 9 or 10.
Or many don't even know how to score.

 

MiguelItUp

Member
In a world where you can just hop into a stream or go on YouTube and basically watch raw gameplay, reviews are pretty weak. I mean, you can basically make up your own mind from what you see. Unless you can't make up your own mind, and want to allow someone else's opinion to affect your own.

They're just "professional" opinions, and that's really it. Even then, who knows if the reviewer has biases or if they're opinions REALLY line up with yours.
 

TintoConCasera

I bought a sex doll, but I keep it inflated 100% of the time and use it like a regular wife


How come modern reviewers lack that hook that this video game reviewer has?

Pure gold. You can feel how tmhe's enjoying the game, and this probably says more than whatever "reviewer" could write about.

The very definition of soul vs souless.
 

Killer8

Member
I don't know if you posted this to mock the creator or not. But I don't think it's fair to post this and laugh at the creator.

Can you imagine you take years to craft this unique experience that you pour your heart into and then fucking Soulja Boy likes it?

Jesus I don't know how he's still alive, I would have hunted down every copy personally, destoryed them and then hanged myself rather than have Soulja Boy enjoy it.

He's a narcissist who doesn't understand how art works.
 
For me I played games long enough to know what I enjoy and what I don’t.
I've gamed since Atari/Intellivision and know what genres and types of games I like. But, even if its my TYPE of game, if it has a 45 on Metacritic, I'm not wasting my time and money out of principle of not trusting reviews.
 

Danjin44

The nicest person on this forum
I've gamed since Atari/Intellivision and know what genres and types of games I like. But, even if its my TYPE of game, if it has a 45 on Metacritic, I'm not wasting my time and money out of principle of not trusting reviews.
We live in age of internet you get most of information even before the game is out and I personally don't trust "scores" because there are games really I enjoyed but it didn't get high scores from reviewers and there were games that did get super high score but I didn't enjoy them at all.

In the end I trust my own taste more than most reviewers and so far it served me well.
 

nush

Member
I've gamed since Atari/Intellivision and know what genres and types of games I like. But, even if its my TYPE of game, if it has a 45 on Metacritic, I'm not wasting my time and money out of principle of not trusting reviews.

I do enjoy them struggling to review retro games collections though, especially for games that have been and gone before they were born. They seem to be all written by AI with a 7/10 dropped at the end. "You might like this, if you like this sort of thing".
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Reviews make no sense in an era where you can sub to gamepass and try a shit ton of games. I have played and enjoyed a lot of games I would have never played if I payed attention to reviews.

I'm enjoying the shit out of Mad Max right now, but that game reportedly has a meta score of 68 or something.

Bull.Shit at that score.
 

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
Wow. I remember this guy getting so much attention way back for Braid and Witness.

Never knew what he looked like or his personality.

Guy makes game. Most people like his games. Guy gets pissy and upset they didn't like it the way it's meant to be. What a weird fucking guy. lol.

On one hand, I'm thinking it's all for show and he's trying to get airtime since you dont hear about him anymore. Then again, maybe he really is an oddball.
 
Last edited:

njean777

Member
I just watch twitch streams at this point to watch the game be played, depending on the channel I may listen to what they have to say or not. I just want to watch it be played and judge if I will enjoy the game or not.
 
I generally don’t pay attention to most professional reviews. As strange as this may sound, but I can look at videos and most of the time determine if it’s something that I will enjoy. I will also see what people who actually purchased the game have to say about it for opinions sometimes as well.
 

GeekyDad

Member
I don't know if you posted this to mock the creator or not. But I don't think it's fair to post this and laugh at the creator.

Can you imagine you take years to craft this unique experience that you pour your heart into and then fucking Soulja Boy likes it?

Jesus I don't know how he's still alive, I would have hunted down every copy personally, destoryed them and then hanged myself rather than have Soulja Boy enjoy it.
Why
a bloooo blooo peeple no likey my big ahbrain ahgame for reeson i think importatnt

dey misspoint
;)

If it's art, then yeah, it's art. It's to be experienced and interpreted in each person's own personal way. I can empathize with the creator's reaction to the reactions to his creation, but he put it out there.

Hopefully, he'll learn to appreciate their personal appreciation of the work. After all, ultimately, (I believe) it's not his creation. It's an inspiration he expressed for the creation itself. He was merely the instrument.
 

Mr Reasonable

Completely Unreasonable
Since the topic is being done sincerely now, the problem with modern game reviews is that they're invariably just ways to get clicks. I'm old enough to remember buying magazines to find out what reviewers thought of games - I actually paid money to find out.

I'm not saying that reviewers weren't incorruptible or that magazines were always right, but when YouTube became the no.1 source for reviews, the thing being sold changed. Where once readers/viewers would put down money and that funded the reviews, now it's all about what gets most clicks and views. The viewer is being sold, so the review had better be as attention grabbing as possible. You get more views with clickbait, being angry/depressed/upset and a weird thumbnail. And that's what's wrong with reviews now, imo.
 
Last edited:
Top Bottom