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[Manmademan]

Who the fuck cares

you're in a review thread, genius.

God forbid someone should actually have something to say about a reviewer.

 

[More_Badass]

I kind of agree with this although I don't care about reviews mostly at all. But since Zelda is mentioned, say I was a reviewer and my boss was like hey review this Zelda game should I play it forced for a few hours then just give it a 5,6 and say it's not my cup of tea ? Or say to my boss hey I'm not interested in this game maybe you should send it to another reviewer ? On the one hand it's your job on the other if you review art do you still review art you dislike? I definitely see in other industries they review everything like a dumb comedy may often get a 2/10 but do 100 million box office.

I don't like rhythm games and I loved Thumper. I don't like visual novels but VA-11 HALL-A is great

Not being experienced or not liking a genre doesn't you shouldn't review it, especially if it's an blurry line between genres/gateway thing. An open world game with a focus on straight-up action, strong story focus, and streamlined RPG elements is certainly in that category

 

[BTA]

Which is the problem. Not every game is going to resonate with everyone. I don't like GTA at all as a series, but I'm not going to review the game and give it a 3/10 because "GTA is a chore to play" for me.

There's not a lot to go on since she doesn't seem to have a lot of reviews, but being persistently well below average for every game, usually with the same complaints is a problem. Hell, she gives the exact same complaints for Horizon as she does "I am setsuna" and scores them both as a 5/10 because she can't bring herself to care about the story.

As another poster pointed out- 4/10, 5/10 are extremely low scores- even within the same publications (Polygon, USgamer) so we don't have an "edge" situation where 5/10 is "average."

I don't think you got my point. Given that she seems to be a freelance writer, I doubt she has much choice in which games she's reviewing. if you're a staff writer, you have some freedom not to take certain games; if you're freelancing, you likely need to take what you can get. Playing a game you think you might not like is worth it if you need to pay rent, you know? And the opinion of someone who generally doesn't like a genre is valuable too; sometimes that leads to them saying "I don't generally like this, but this game is more accessible" (etc.), which has led me to try games I wouldn't have normally been into before.

So if the places she's writing for are fine with her writing and the score that's given (assuming they didn't determine the score and not her, as some publications do), that's that. There's no reason to get worked up about it.

 

[MoonFrog]

Hmmm...I was expecting high 8's tbh, not so many 9's and 10's. Still not interested in the game, but seems the hype bubble crashing should be quite minimal, which is cool.

 

[Frillen]

It's one thing to give a game that is universally praised a 7. It's a completely different thing to give a game that everybody is giving 8's & 9's a 5. That's a big gap and makes me question the reviewer cause. A 5/10 is usually the score given to a poor game.

It makes us question your cause as well. You sound like a console war soldier.

 

[Eria]

I remember Phil Spencer's response about that review from Forza Horizon 3 that was literally awful (someone gave it a 4 or some shit like that) and Phil said something like "There are a few sites that give low scores to some games because all they want is clickbait"

And this will never stop, regardless the game.

pd sorry for my english, it's not my native language but I hope u can understand what I'm saying!

 

[BigTnaples]

its an opinion

This is true, but I tend to agree with that point of view. As a reviewer you should be able to put aside much of your personal tastes and be a bit more objective.



For instance, if you were to ask me if I enjoyed FFVII, my answer would be a resounding no.

However as I professional reviewer I would be able to articulate that it is a very well crafted game, it just wasn't to my tastes, and still rate it a score that a well crafted game should receive instead of saying.

"1/10, not for me, don't touch this game, click my review".


You can say The Last of Us is a shit game all you like, and say "it's my opinion" as your defense, but your opinion is wrong. It isn't a shit game, its a very well crafted game that is not to your taste.

Life of a Tiger is a shit game.

People should be able to separate "game is shit" from "game isn't for me". Especially professional reviewers.

 

[TetraGenesis]

Shinobi almost done with the goods?

The OT? It won't premiere until within 24 hours of the game's release, like all OTs since GAF changed the policy.

 

[ape2man]

Heard from a former dev that the game was a true collaboration of the entire company. When they where finishing kill zone they started gathering everybody in a big meeting room asking for everyone to pour there ideas for the new project.

A true collaboration of ideas of the entire team.

 

[Loudninja]

People have being saying how crazy their random encounters are

Unscripted moments where different entities would clash with one another in unexpected ways added to the sense of wilderness. Sometimes, I'd stumble upon humans fighting against errant dinosaurs, or watch as robots turned on each other. I observed robotic vultures pick apart the body of another robot. During another segment, I racked my brain trying to figure out how to sneak by some human enemies, only to have a titan unexpectedly swoop from the sky and wreck everyone's shit. Problem solved! Horizon is at its best when it upends my expectations like that.

http://kotaku.com/horizon-zero-dawn-the-kotaku-review-1792538336

 

[ACE 1991]

70 + reviews, let me see which one confirms my bias "Eurogamer"....

No, I just really value Eurogamer's opinion, they are absolutely my favorite site for reviews. And that Horizon isn't a particularly original game is a totally fair criticism from what I'm reading, granted I have not played the game. Just because I am personally burnt out on this kind of game doesn't make me biased, i'm sure lots of people are going to love it.

God, NeoGAF is so fucking insecure about review scores. It's very odd.

 

[LastOne2100]

I know Engadget isn't on MC, nor do they assign scores to games, but their reviewer isn't particularly fond of open world games, yet came away enamored by it. While I understand what you're getting at, there's nothing to suggest the reviewer doesn't play open world titles outside of what she's reviewed, so it's a flawed premise.

The issue is that most of her complaints could be copied and pasted to pretty much any other game in the genre. She seemed to just be bored for the genre tropes and took it out on her first review of a game in the genre...

 

[Arkage]

I don't like rhythm games and I loved Thumper. I don't like visual novels but VA-11 HALL-A is great

Not being experienced or not liking a genre doesn't you shouldn't review it, especially if it's an blurry line between genres/gateway thing. An open world game with a focus on straight-up action, strong story focus, and streamlined RPG elements is certainly in that category

Not knowing the history of a genre due to not playing in the genre will effect your perception of the game, and make it objectively less informed.

 

[gundamkyoukai]

When it comes to reviews i look at the name of the person more than the site name. ( when i used to care about them )
Also any review that does not have any tech talk is useless to me .

 

[Putyouinmyoven]

Genuinely wasn't expecting reviews to be this good. It's tempting, but I have a serious lack of time at the moment, so it's probably going to have to go to Mass Effect for me, though I'm sceptical about that game to be honest.

 

[finalflame]

Heard from a former dev that the game was a true collaboration of the entire company. When they where finishing kill zone they started gathering everybody in a big meeting room asking for everyone to pour there ideas for the new project.

A true collaboration of ideas of the entire team.

Sounds similar to Valve's cabal process. Coming up on sufficient proof that this is a fantastic way to design/iterate on games.

 

[Timbuktu]

Heard from a former dev that the game was a true collaboration of the entire company. When they where finishing kill zone they started gathering everybody in a big meeting room asking for everyone to pour there ideas for the new project.

A true collaboration of ideas of the entire team.

I guess that's why it's such a mix of influences.

 

[Jawbreaker]

Heard from a former dev that the game was a true collaboration of the entire company. When they where finishing kill zone they started gathering everybody in a big meeting room asking for everyone to pour there ideas for the new project.

A true collaboration of ideas of the entire team.

That sounds great. I'm really happy for Guerrilla.

 

[Lom1lo]

People have being saying how crazy their random encounters are

http://kotaku.com/horizon-zero-dawn-the-kotaku-review-1792538336

this sounds amazing

 

[nelsonroyale]

I am interesting to see where the story goes. They definitely took some inspiration from Princess Mononoke and Nausicaa, which is a very good thing. Obvioulsy I don't expect the story telling to be up with those two, but I like their approach to a strong female lead - i.e, confident, brave, strong and caring.

 

[Blak_Status]

Feeling damn good about my 89 metacritic prediction right now

 

[bombshell]

I remember Phil Spencer's response about that review from Forza Horizon 3 that was literally awful (someone gave it a 4 or some shit like that) and Phil said something like "There are a few sites that give low scores to some games because all they want is clickbait"

And this will never stop, regardless the game.

pd sorry for my english, it's not my native language but I hope u can understand what I'm saying!

Nothing to apologize for, your English is perfectly understandable. It's not my native language either

 

[ElBoxyBrown]

I remember Phil Spencer's response about that review from Forza Horizon 3 that was literally awful (someone gave it a 4 or some shit like that) and Phil said something like "There are a few sites that give low scores to some games because all they want is clickbait"

And this will never stop, regardless the game.

pd sorry for my english, it's not my native language but I hope u can understand what I'm saying!

And people called out Phil for that quote. I think they did.

 

[Malcolm9]

No, I just really value Eurogamer's opinion, they are absolutely my favorite site for reviews. And that Horizon isn't a particularly original game is a totally fair criticism from what I'm reading, granted I have not played the game. Just because I am personally burnt out on this kind of game doesn't make me biased, i'm sure lots of people are going to love it.

God, NeoGAF is so fucking insecure about review scores. It's very odd.

So that one review totally makes your mind up? How about GB and Polygon, it usually takes a lot to impress them.

 

[reKon]

People have being saying how crazy their random encounters are

http://kotaku.com/horizon-zero-dawn-the-kotaku-review-1792538336

This is why I need this shit. When playing Destiny I loved running into random battles and just jumping in.

I haven't played Witcher 3 yet, but can anyone confirm that the same kind of random encounters happen in that game?

 

[Manmademan]

I think the bigger issue with USGamer's score is their choice of reviewer. I get that not everyone will like the same things, but it would be the same as if I was assigned a review for a racing game. I should recuse myself if I was at all a decent reviewer as I do not get any enjoyment from racing games. Having me give Forza or Gran Turismo a 5/10 as I'm bored after a race or two is pointless and really makes USGamer seem like a low tier publication.

exactly.

I don't think you got my point. Given that she seems to be a freelance writer, I doubt she has much choice in which games she's reviewing. if you're a staff writer, you have some freedom not to take certain games; if you're freelancing, you likely need to take what you can get. Playing a game you think you might not like is worth it if you need to pay rent, you know? And the opinion of someone who generally doesn't like a genre is valuable too; sometimes that leads to them saying "I don't generally like this, but this game is more accessible" (etc.), which has led me to try games I wouldn't have normally been into before.

So if the places she's writing for are fine with her writing and the score that's given (assuming they didn't determine the score and not her, as some publications do), that's that. There's no reason to get worked up about it.

I get your point, but "I need to pay bills" is not an excuse for a poor review. And yeah, everyone has opinions and all- but when one wildly diverges from consensus it should have a fairly solid reason for doing so.

Should we excuse the IGN 4.0 to God Hand, or the infamous football manager 2009 2.0 review as well for the same reasons? Pretty sure we've been raking IGN over the coals for THOSE two for damned near a decade. At some point giving a review to someone that doesn't enjoy the game or doesn't understand it isn't defensible.

A good reviewer should be able to be objective and score a game that does not cater to their particular sensibilities but that is STILL a good game appropriately- and it does not seem that this reviewer was able to do that. If that's the case, find another line of work to pay bills.

 

[get2sammyb]

No, I just really value Eurogamer's opinion, they are absolutely my favorite site for reviews. And that Horizon isn't a particularly original game is a totally fair criticism from what I'm reading, granted I have not played the game. Just because I am personally burnt out on this kind of game doesn't make me biased, i'm sure lots of people are going to love it.

God, NeoGAF is so fucking insecure about review scores. It's very odd.

To give a counter-point, I'm burnt out on the open world formula, too. Like, to the point where I'm one of those annoying people that ridicules it -- and even did so with this game when I saw the Tallneck "towers" trailer.

But there's a unique vibe here that really resonated with me. If you look at a checklist you can see every gameplay trope that Guerrilla's lifted, and yet when you're playing it, it feels totally unique.

That's just my take anyway.

 

[ape2man]

Sounds similar to Valve's cabal process. Coming up on sufficient proof that this is a fantastic way to design/iterate on games.

This wassend the case with killzone. But for this project they wanted to do it a bit differently. To make this a love project of the entire team and not just some director.

 

[Weebos]

Surprised it is reviewing so well. I don't have time for it now with so much else coming up, but I'll have to check it out later in the year.

 

[Trey]

I don't like rhythm games and I loved Thumper. I don't like visual novels but VA-11 HALL-A is great

Not being experienced or not liking a genre doesn't you shouldn't review it, especially if it's an blurry line between genres/gateway thing. An open world game with a focus on straight-up action and streamlined RPG elements is certainly in that category

That also swings back the other way too by having someone who is a huge fan of a genre review a tent pole release, their bias might cloud their perception and they'll overlook flaws and blemishes that might trip up gamers lesser versed in said genre.

As usual, it's best to poll the field for a variety of contexts, alongside the perspectives of reviewers you trust, in order to be as informed as possible.

Or you can let confirmation bias direct you, it's your money.

 

[Asd202]

Wow GG you did an amazing job.

 

[More_Badass]

Not knowing the history of a genre due to not playing in the genre will effect your perception of the game, and make it objectively less informed.

Differently informed, and no less valid

Someone who loves a genre loving a game in that genre is as just as informative as someone who doesn't always like the genre (or who hasn't it click for them yet) liking a game in that genre. It offers a different perspective on why the game is great

 

[onemanasylum]

No, I just really value Eurogamer's opinion, they are absolutely my favorite site for reviews. And that Horizon isn't a particularly original game is a totally fair criticism from what I'm reading, granted I have not played the game. Just because I am personally burnt out on this kind of game doesn't make me biased, i'm sure lots of people are going to love it.

God, NeoGAF is so fucking insecure about review scores. It's very odd.

Not secure at all, but taking one reviews word as gospel over everyone elses is just weird, multiple opinions is always the best way to gauge things.

 

[Dougieflesh]

People need to let up on her review. I know it's shocking, but people have different opinions on things.

 

[Mubrik]

I know Engadget isn't on MC, nor do they assign scores to games, but their reviewer isn't particularly fond of open world games, yet came away enamored by it. While I understand what you're getting at, there's nothing to suggest the reviewer doesn't play open world titles outside of what she's reviewed, so it's a flawed premise.

and some people here felt the engadget review wasnt up to par either.
i feel her critic was a bit too harsh
and made it seem like she wasn't interested in open world games in the first place.
a review as much as it's a personal opinion should also be based on other people who'll be reading the review too (imo).

i mean if she doesn't like it fine by her but is she sure people that like open world game wouldn't.
what i'm saying is she shouldn't have written it off as a bore (again imo) which his a view when we know the game could be very stellar from another point of view.
there's a discussion here somewhere to be had

 

[daftstar]

Gonna beat Zelda in MC scores.

When can we expect reviews for Zelda to drop?

 

[ASilentProtagonist]

Sony is killing it! I'm surprised it reviewed this well. I think we'll see even higher scores with Persona 5, and Zelda BOTW

What a year! This year has been the Golden age of this generation.

 

[ChosenPredator]

might be a GOTY contender depending how well ME andromeda does or if Red dead 2 comes out because that will probably have all 10s for days.

 

[gundamkyoukai]

I guess that's why it's such a mix of influences.

Don't really see how it has a mix of influences .
It has the usual open world game stuff with TPS combat since that is what GG know.

 

[Peroroncino]

This is why I need this shit. When playing Destiny I loved running into random battles and just jumping in.

I haven't played Witcher 3 yet, but can anyone confirm that the same kind of random encounters happen in that game?

It's rare but you can encounter instances where bandits etc. are fighting the monsters [usually they get rekt by the monsters].

 

[Zukkoyaki]

With the game releasing, I'm going to miss Hermen's swagger and stage presence at press events and in interviews. Dude is one of the best speakers and presenters in the industry. It will probably be quite awhile before Guerrilla re-emerges.

 

[TetraGenesis]

Heard from a former dev that the game was a true collaboration of the entire company. When they where finishing kill zone they started gathering everybody in a big meeting room asking for everyone to pour there ideas for the new project.

A true collaboration of ideas of the entire team.

It wasn't one big meeting according to Herman Hulst if I recall, but they did encourage anyone and everyone to pitch them their individual ideas for a game and Horizon and some other game idea were both popular enough to get some early concepting/prototyping. A really cool thing for a company to do. Especially one that's been locked into a particular series for so long.

 

[ACE 1991]

Not secure at all, but taking one reviews word as gospel over everyone elses is just weird, multiple opinions is always the best way to gauge things.

So that one review totally makes your mind up? How about GB and Polygon, it usually takes a lot to impress them.

Haven't read Polygon, but Jeff clearly loved the game but said the design is very similar to Far Cry. All I said was that I'm currently very un-interested in this kind of experience as I've played lots of games recently with a similar fundamental design. Please stop trying to tell me that I'm somehow wrong for having this opinion.

 

[BigTnaples]

I'm going to miss Hermen's swagger and stage presence at press events and in interviews. Dude is one of the best speakers and presenters in the industry.

Wait. Where is he going?

 

[MegaSackman]

No, I just really value Eurogamer's opinion, they are absolutely my favorite site for reviews. And that Horizon isn't a particularly original game is a totally fair criticism from what I'm reading, granted I have not played the game. Just because I am personally burnt out on this kind of game doesn't make me biased, i'm sure lots of people are going to love it.

God, NeoGAF is so fucking insecure about review scores. It's very odd.

Eurogamer is my fav too but I didn't like their review that much, they compare the game with The Witcher in a little too convenient way too prove their point, they even say something that only graphics are on par with The Witcher and when they start talking about combat in Horizon they stopped comparing... like, a bit unfair. Anyway, I haven't played the game but HZ seems to be a 60-70hs long game against a 250hs on The Witcher III, I'm not comfortable in reviewing games by comparison even if you feel like there is such comparison in your mind.
What I got from that review is how much the reviewer loves The Witcher III, which is great but is not why I was reading the review...

 

[Zukkoyaki]

Wait. Where is he going?

Game is shipping which means Guerrilla will be quiet for awhile... I should clear that up haha

 

[The God]

This is why I need this shit. When playing Destiny I loved running into random battles and just jumping in.

I haven't played Witcher 3 yet, but can anyone confirm that the same kind of random encounters happen in that game?

They don't. Witcher 3s world isn't dynamic like that.

 

[onemanasylum]

Haven't read Polygon, but Jeff clearly loved the game but said the design is very similar to Far Cry. All I said was that I'm currently very un-interested in this kind of experience as I've played lots of games recently with a similar fundamental design. Please stop trying to tell me that I'm somehow wrong for having this opinion.

A couple aspects, which were in games far before far cry. There is a lot that is nothing like FC. Horizon is known for being more streamlined and solving the open world bloat issue. Other reviews detail this....

 

[Vanguard771]

When can we expect reviews for Zelda to drop?

People were saying March 2nd in a another thread. I think it was the one discussing the press receiving their Switches for hardware reviews.

 

[icespide]

I just don't understand that when a game has absolutely glowing near perfect scores as the vast majority that one particular outlier bothers some people so much. just let it go