I almost feel most reviewers who threw perfect scores at it were doing so out of some weird, misguided sense of self-gratification in order to prove to themselves that games can be art, or something.
Reviewers are just doing their job. They give immediate rapid-fire reactions to games, and write reviews under intense time constraints. Under those conditions, I think reviewers were being honest and fair, but they're very susceptible to flashiness. High production values, awesome art, great marketing, the sequel to a critical darling, and a lot of loop-de-loops in the narrative. It's hard not to be swept away in it all. I can understand.
But, you're right. There's no substance. Once you "connect the dots," there's nothing left to do. There's no "there" there. It's not a game that's
about anything other than its characters. It only gives the impression of being deep. Like imitation crab.
And I'll admit. I enjoyed it tremendously. But I don't mistake it for being an "important" game. Nor is it a game about "important" things. But it is fun. And if that's all it's judged by, then by all means, it deserves a 10/10, a 100/100, or five bowls of goulash out of five bowls of goulash. The thing that drives me nuts, though, is that there is the sense that it is a "lofty" and "important" game. It's not. And I honestly believe that time will prove me right.
But he's still not explaining why he thinks this is the "amalgamation of the wrongs of the industry", or how we're drinking freaking Kool-Aid, which leads me to say that he's an attention seeker.
I think he's being a bit sensationalist in his claims, but by and large, I don't think he's that far off base. It's a fun game that passes itself of as an important one. In that sense, I agree that it is an amalgamation of what's wrong with
certain parts of the industry. I also happen to think that it's very cool that it's at least trying to do something cool with the medium. But I think it's a mistake to just give it a pass because it seems deep, when really it just gives you some brain candy to chew on. The fact that it could have been a smart, insightful game--and deliberately chose not to be--is the most frustrating thing of all. It's a sign that big budget games, no matter how seemingly well intentioned, are still more interested in selling copies than in pushing the medium forward artistically.
