Can you please review Final Fantasy 7?
Posted: May 14th, 2014, 6:34 pm
[QUOTE=ptdebate]I don't think completion time or complexity is the issue. Think about how long some Zelda games are (Wind Waker or Twilight Princess, for example). And look at the breadth/complexity of Grand Theft Auto games, which he consistently reviews. There are far fewer details to uncover in the classic Final Fantasy games, by comparison, yet he hasn't a single one of the fifteen single-player games in the series (not to mention its numerous spinoffs). The time commitment factor of sandbox games (including the Elder Scrolls) is far, far higher than that of JRPGs. The answer must lie elsewhere. Has the man himself actually addressed this question before or are we working solely from speculation?
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Yes. This question (or ones like it) have come up quite a bit in the past. My response near the top of this topic was based on some of the answers the Critic has given in the past. The main reasons I recall him saying are the time commitment and the fact that RPGs are one of his least favorite genres (although his scores of the few RPGs he has reviewed might seem to indicate otherwise..). That is the reason he has used the RPG Critic in the past -- as you've probably noticed, the Critic doesn't use guest reviewers for any other games that he covers (except C64). I think even the Critic would admit that the lack of RPG reviews is a weakness (one of the very few weaknesses) of the site. Fortunately, there are other sites like RPGfan.com that fill the void for classic and modern RPGs. For many old games, this site provides the only reviews on the internet, but fortunately classic RPGs usually have a good number of reviews floating around.
As for the time commitment, I also have to agree with Vexer. The Critic has said in the past that he can't play every game to completion before reviewing it-- he just plays until he feels comfortable that he has "experienced" enough to fairly review it. That varies depending on the game. So, a sandbox game like GTA V, you can probably get a good feel for it and adequately review it without playing it to completion. Same goes for long adventures, like the Zelda games, that are light on story. But the storyline is so integral to RPGs -- far moreso than any other genre -- that it is difficult to say you fully experienced an RPG without playing it to completion and seeing the story play out til its ending. It'd be like reviewing a movie after walking out halfway through.
[/QUOTE]
Yes. This question (or ones like it) have come up quite a bit in the past. My response near the top of this topic was based on some of the answers the Critic has given in the past. The main reasons I recall him saying are the time commitment and the fact that RPGs are one of his least favorite genres (although his scores of the few RPGs he has reviewed might seem to indicate otherwise..). That is the reason he has used the RPG Critic in the past -- as you've probably noticed, the Critic doesn't use guest reviewers for any other games that he covers (except C64). I think even the Critic would admit that the lack of RPG reviews is a weakness (one of the very few weaknesses) of the site. Fortunately, there are other sites like RPGfan.com that fill the void for classic and modern RPGs. For many old games, this site provides the only reviews on the internet, but fortunately classic RPGs usually have a good number of reviews floating around.
As for the time commitment, I also have to agree with Vexer. The Critic has said in the past that he can't play every game to completion before reviewing it-- he just plays until he feels comfortable that he has "experienced" enough to fairly review it. That varies depending on the game. So, a sandbox game like GTA V, you can probably get a good feel for it and adequately review it without playing it to completion. Same goes for long adventures, like the Zelda games, that are light on story. But the storyline is so integral to RPGs -- far moreso than any other genre -- that it is difficult to say you fully experienced an RPG without playing it to completion and seeing the story play out til its ending. It'd be like reviewing a movie after walking out halfway through.
![[tongue]](/images/boards/smilies/tongue.gif)