Time to change my review style?

General and high profile video game topics.
User avatar
VideoGameCritic
Site Admin
Posts: 18102
Joined: April 1st, 2015, 7:23 pm

Re: Time to change my review style?

Postby VideoGameCritic » March 27th, 2021, 11:39 am

Currently half-way through the PS2 section (K), and have a few thoughts to share.

First, these reviews are LONG and I can't imagine trying to read them the original way. Clearly breaking them down into bite-sized chunks was the way to go.

It really feels good to stamp out all the typos. I'd say that on average I'm fixing about one glaring typo per review!

Some of the reviews are pretty bad. Most are pretty decent though and some are great. They are a hodgepodge of styles. I would love to rewrite every one but since that's not practical I'll just leave them be. I'm not going to apologize for a crappy review I wrote 20 years back.

I have taken note of a few reviews that should be replaced, or some games I would really like to revisit.

Not really looking forward to doing M and N, since they are loaded with sports titles, and those reviews tend to be pretty repetitive.

User avatar
Retro STrife
Posts: 2531
Joined: August 3rd, 2015, 7:40 pm

Re: Time to change my review style?

Postby Retro STrife » March 28th, 2021, 12:15 am

I’ll mention, as others have, that these updates to old sections aren’t in vain. This weekend I’ve been playing some Xbox and Xbox 360, and looking up your reviews on several of the games, and the new paragraph structure is a noticeable improvement. For a long time, I was one of the “you don’t need paragraphs” guys here, and I’ll admit I was wrong. And I’m also surprised how quick you’re getting them done.

User avatar
VideoGameCritic
Site Admin
Posts: 18102
Joined: April 1st, 2015, 7:23 pm

Re: Time to change my review style?

Postby VideoGameCritic » March 28th, 2021, 8:19 am

Thanks for the feedback retro. I finished the PS2 section last night!

I expect things will get easier from here on out, as reviews for older systems tend to be shorter and tighter.

On to the Dreamcast!

User avatar
VideoGameCritic
Site Admin
Posts: 18102
Joined: April 1st, 2015, 7:23 pm

Re: Time to change my review style?

Postby VideoGameCritic » March 28th, 2021, 9:30 pm

Dreamcast section is complete. Now working on N64.

User avatar
VideoGameCritic
Site Admin
Posts: 18102
Joined: April 1st, 2015, 7:23 pm

Re: Time to change my review style?

Postby VideoGameCritic » March 29th, 2021, 7:37 pm

Currently plowing through the N64 reviews. One thing that amazes me is how it seems like most games support two-player split-screen. Heck, a lot support four-player splitscreen! We didn't know how good we had it back then.

Now that we finally have TVs large enough to comfortably support four players, we're lucky if two-players are supported (offline, anyway).

ThePixelatedGenocide
Posts: 1232
Joined: April 29th, 2015, 9:06 pm

Re: Time to change my review style?

Postby ThePixelatedGenocide » March 30th, 2021, 6:23 am

VideoGameCritic wrote:Currently plowing through the N64 reviews. One thing that amazes me is how it seems like most games support two-player split-screen. Heck, a lot support four-player splitscreen! We didn't know how good we had it back then.

Now that we finally have TVs large enough to comfortably support four players, we're lucky if two-players are supported (offline, anyway).


Fortunately, couch co-op seems to finally be making a comeback.

https://www.nintendolife.com/guides/fea ... o-op-games

Tron
Posts: 870
Joined: April 9th, 2015, 8:02 pm

Re: Time to change my review style?

Postby Tron » March 30th, 2021, 8:50 pm

MSR1701 wrote:
ThePixelatedGenocide wrote:
Tron wrote:Sorry you've peaked, but your target audience is just getting older, like baseball. Unless you embrace online gaming the younger generation ain't gonna understand what you laying down. Just like my old self can't understand the humor or appeal of anime. My girls both laugh at the same parts so they get it, yet it just seems weird & stupid to me.



It's not hard to find young people who still care about older games.

Yes, online gaming is an important part of hanging out with their friends, but they've also been happy to share their opinions on Final Fantasy and Sonic the Hedgehog.

And there will always be a dedicated audience for the classics, just the same as some of us fall in love with movies released decades before we existed.

Just look at Games Done Quick and the speedrunning communities, there are many younger gamers coming up and playing classic games.


Maybe you’re both right. I don’t keep up with the times well so I’m just assuming things. I’ll go on to Assume that the appeal for retro gaming, technology, music, movies and other things has to do with the lame state that society currently resides in. Without getting political it seems easier and easier for myself and others to be reminiscent for the past.

ThePixelatedGenocide
Posts: 1232
Joined: April 29th, 2015, 9:06 pm

Re: Time to change my review style?

Postby ThePixelatedGenocide » March 31st, 2021, 5:15 pm

Tron wrote:I’ll go on to Assume that the appeal for retro gaming, technology, music, movies and other things has to do with the lame state that society currently resides in. Without getting political it seems easier and easier for myself and others to be reminiscent for the past.


Probably just my country, but...

I know I miss the days when I could take a walk to the arcade without worrying someone would kill me, my family, and my friends because they feel oppressed by the slight inconvenience of wearing a mask in public.

And I didn't need to read about someone's grandparents, or someone's sick relatives, simply being sacrificed for the economy. An economy that was devastated for everyone except the fortunate few, because we didn't contain the virus when we had the chance.

This isn't politics, it's some folks, whether Republican or Democrat or other, proudly flushing civilization down the toilet in every way they're able.

So, yeah, some light escapism has become really popular, now.

User avatar
VideoGameCritic
Site Admin
Posts: 18102
Joined: April 1st, 2015, 7:23 pm

Re: Time to change my review style?

Postby VideoGameCritic » March 31st, 2021, 8:37 pm

Just got through the PS1 reviews, and it really wasn't that bad. A lot of the reviews were actually only a few sentences so didn't needed to be broken up (only spellchecked).

I can't get over how SHORT so many of these reviews are. While definitely shallow, there's something to be said for summing up a game in three sentences! I'm planning to re-review a lot of those.

Onto the Saturn!

User avatar
VideoGameCritic
Site Admin
Posts: 18102
Joined: April 1st, 2015, 7:23 pm

Re: Time to change my review style?

Postby VideoGameCritic » April 2nd, 2021, 5:25 pm

Saturn is done! Man I was pretty tough on that system.


Return to “Video Games General”