Bad reviews!

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VideoGameCritic
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Bad reviews!

Postby VideoGameCritic » June 1st, 2017, 9:09 pm

Ever get annoyed when a reviewer forgets to tell you what the game is like? It's like he assumes you know everything about it already! I got that feeling reading the Guardians of the Galaxy review in the latest Game Informer (one of the last print magazines left, I might add).

Anyway I was really curious to learn what kind of game this was. The author talks about weird plot twists and making choices, but never explains the gameplay on a basic level. I'm assuming this is some kind of interactive novel, but a little info would be nice. Am I assuming the role of a particular character? Can I actually control him? Is this a third-person game or first person?

It's my philosophy that you should never assume the reader knows anything about what you're reviewing. What are your thoughts?

DaHeckIzDat
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Re: Bad reviews!

Postby DaHeckIzDat » June 1st, 2017, 10:12 pm

I assume you're talking about Telltale's Guardians of the Galaxy. And, assuming that this it's anything like literally every other Telltale game out there, it's more of an interactive movie than anything else. You'll switch between characters whenever the narrative's POV switches, and the dialogue options and actions will effect how the rest of the story plays out. Like, in episode 1 of their Walking Dead game, you have to choose whether to save a guy or a girl, and whoever you choose will be there throughout the rest of the "season". Other than that, apart from a couple segments where you walk your character across a room or something, the only real gameplay is quicktime events during fights.

They're not bad games, but you have to be a fan of what they offer. If you're hoping to find a traditional video game in there, you'll be disappointed.

ESauce
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Re: Bad reviews!

Postby ESauce » June 2nd, 2017, 2:15 pm

It's funny, I read that review and didn't even realize that problem with it but looking over it again I can see that it offers no explanation of the gameplay. And yeah, I haven't played this one in particular but I'm sure the gameplay description above is accurate based on every other Telltale game.

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ptdebate
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Re: Bad reviews!

Postby ptdebate » June 2nd, 2017, 7:03 pm

This is just my opinion. Every writer has to take into account the knowledge of their target audience. For the Gameinformer review, it's enough to reference the fact that this is a Telltale game because 99.9% of gamers know exactly what that means. It would be tedious to enumerate every detail of the mechanics because they're pretty much exactly the same as other games in the genre.

I know you have a more than one bone to pick with Gameinformer because of their writing style. But the fact is, gameplay is only one part of what makes videogames what they are. There are plenty of videogames out there that don't even seem to meet the criteria to even be called a game because they're strongly narrative-driven experiences. Doesn't mean that they are lesser experiences and certainly doesn't mean they should be ignored in a publication that covers digital entertainment.

ESauce
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Re: Bad reviews!

Postby ESauce » June 3rd, 2017, 2:39 am

ptdebate wrote:This is just my opinion. Every writer has to take into account the knowledge of their target audience. For the Gameinformer review, it's enough to reference the fact that this is a Telltale game because 99.9% of gamers know exactly what that means. It would be tedious to enumerate every detail of the mechanics because they're pretty much exactly the same as other games in the genre.



Dude, you're talking to someone who literally has a website called The Video Game Critic. I think if he doesn't know offhand who Telltale games is, then maybe the average gamer doesn't either.

CaptainCruch
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Re: Bad reviews!

Postby CaptainCruch » June 3rd, 2017, 7:52 am

VideoGameCritic wrote:Ever get annoyed when a reviewer forgets to tell you what the game is like? It's like he assumes you know everything about it already!

It's my philosophy that you should never assume the reader knows anything about what you're reviewing. What are your thoughts?


Yes, I agree! I sometimes buy the British game magazine 'GamesTM' - it looks fantastic and has great retro items. But the reviews of modern games have exactly the problem you mention! They write like I already own the game and have played for at least 20 hours...

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astrodomekid
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Re: Bad reviews!

Postby astrodomekid » June 16th, 2017, 5:20 pm

Anyone else familiar with the 90's series "Flights of Fantasy" (hosted by George Wood)? A lot of their reviews were uploaded to YouTube by the user "navgtr", and under the name "Gaming in the Clinton Years". It'll make your head hurt.

https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL56642954C53CB79D


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