"So I was trying to write reviews of a bunch of hit indie games I played recently. Then I got overwhelmed by the pointlessness of video game reviews these days and had to take a long nap.
And, I mean, pro reviews are pointless, right? If a game has a big enough budget or following and isn’t actively on fire, it gets a 9. If it is a competently made but low-budget indie, like mine, it gets a 7. If you read the actual review (nobody does), it’s a collection of facts about the game you could easily get from watching the trailer. Throw in a couple of comments from the reviewer about whether they like this genre or not, mix in 3 or 4 ham-handed political comments, and you got a review! Hit send!"
Or You Can Just Read Steam Reviews
Every indie dev at some point gets supermad about Steam reviews. However, 99 times out of 100, skimming the reviews on the game’s front page will tell you everything you need to know
And mostly read the negative one to see if there’s any issue with the feature or lack thereof, or whether there’s any performance issue or bug, anything you won’t tolerate. Dev will tell you the stuff is good anyway. I rarely read from review site these day, and i find Yahtzee being very helpful in that he will be very enthusiastically tell you how some part of the game don’t work, which is exactly what i’m looking for.
I used to think yahtzee was amazing then I realized he’s stuck in some late teen angst phase and can’t stand his content. Watching someone just play the game has always been the best way for me to assess. Streams and non famous YouTube videos are so good for this.
That’s because that’s the character he plays.
Your basically falling for the trap of assuming the act is real.
Its like thinking the angry video game nerd is actually just a man child with no emotion control.
Its literally just acting.
Yahtzee does an amazing job of calling himself out when he fucks up, his side work is very level headed and he has a really solid foundation of understanding of the development and writing side of gaming. Which is a lot more then many game reviewers.
If you don’t like his material that’s fine, he’s basically a comedian. Not everyone is going to like his routine. But that’s all it is.
He also made an indie game and is running a coop games media business now called “second wind” after the escapist owners opted to foot gun themselves and cause literally the whole staff to quit and spin up their own business together. Now all his coworkers are also co-owners.
Good dude who puts his money where is mouth is.
That’s understandable! He got the reputation of “hating all game and being cynical” for a reason, but if you can vibe with that and make it work for you it’s very reliably consistent. After all, he’s been this way for decade, so in one way or another i expected a jaded brits.
I just watch some gameplay videos on YouTube if I’m vaguely interested.
It’s always been like this. The pro reviewers get wined and dined by the publishers and consider themselves part of the industry (Dorito Pope!), so it’s not in their interest to rock the boat. The days of renegade and experimental reviews are long gone.
That was my favorite game as a kid
Reviews and rating systems are by and large shit everywhere at this stage of capitalism. I’d actually say I trust Steam review sections more than most websites that have them anymore… It almost feels like a boomer af thing to leave a review on something, so I have to question the sanity of the people leaving the reviews, and if they can’t be trusted, why would I trust their opinion of the product?
I want a game review site where there’s a number and it’s legit. Like
1/10 - Irredeemably bad. The music is terrible, the sounds are grating (or missing), the visuals hurt to look at (or are completely boring, which might be worse.) controls make it frustrating to navigate. I also give this to bland games with extremely predatory monetization, where the goal of the game is “make as much money as possible from whales”. Usually a mediocre mobile game skinned to a popular IP, maybe with some of the same aspects as that other game, but a huge wall where suddenly it’s spendin’ time.
2/10 - this is rough. Like, really rough. Something about it is either unique, funny, or novel, so it gets a point for that. Overall, you’re proooobably gonna want to skip this. It’s going to be tough for even big updates to fix the flaws in this game.
3/10 - this game has some redeeming qualities, but huge flaws as well. Worth it to try if you can get a deal, but needs a lot of work, and won’t be for everyone. Probable skip for most folks.
4/10 - A good game with many flaws, but worth picking up if you’re really into this kind of game. Maybe this has been done better by other games, or maybe there’s glitches. It’s not terrible, but below average.
5/10 - a perfectly serviceable game. If you like this series, you’ll certainly be playing it. If you like this game type, it’s worth checking out. A lot of CoDs and BF games have fallen here since BF4 for me.
6/10 - A good game. It’s good! Above average, and definitely worth playing if you like this type. This is the most stacked category for games I’ve played overall.
7/10 - Pick this game up, it’s very good. If this is on a console with a smaller library (N64, Dreamcast, 32x, GameCube) deeefintiely pick it up.
8/10 - A True Great. Few or no flaws, very fun. Great controls, interesting graphics, fun story, overall just a stellar game. Play this.
9/10 - almost perfect in every way. Maybe perfect, but a genre that might limit people. Or incredible but very difficult to play without spending a lot of money (Alyx comes to mind when I say that, but that’s an eight for me)
10/10 - Should almost never be given out. Incredible flawless perfection that everyone in the world with most of their limbs, sight, and vision in tact MUST check out. I have very few games (or movies, shows, books) that get a 10. We don’t need to grade things like their parents are getting a report card, some 10s I see given out are baffling.
Every indie dev at some point gets supermad about Steam reviews. However, 99 times out of 100, skimming the reviews on the game’s front page will tell you everything you need to know.
I think I get both sides of the matter. Some devs seem to be mad simply because the review is not under their control, and the player isn’t shy saying what’s wrong with the game. But some reviews are like, “2/10 Chinese restaurant, there were no burgers”.
Tbh, to me nonsense negative reviews are a good sign. They don’t influence my opinion about the product (“I’m not looking for burgers so I don’t care that this guy was disappointed that there were no burgers”), but they show me that the company doesn’t force the deletion of bad reviews.
I’ve had it a few times before that e.g. I went to a doctor with perfect 5-star-reviews, only to find out that they suck and they sue anyone who leaves negative reviews.
If I see perfect 5-stars on something, that’s when I get really sceptical. I’d never go to a doctor, a restaurant or a craftsman with perfect 5-star score.
I think it’s a good signal for us users, but for game devs it’s still a problem. Indie games get less reviews, and a negative review means less exposure — the number might not mean anything, but plenty people still act like it did.
Plus game devving is artistic expression, and if there’s something that pisses plenty creators off, it’s when their creations get misunderstood.
