Skyward Sword review thread [Newest Reviews - Cubed3 10/10, GC: A, AusGamers: 7/10]

Glass Rebel said:
Oh god, I hope this happens and metacritic becomes a thing of the past.

You want consumers to have less information on which to base purchases of consumer products?
KuGsj.gif
 
Y2Kev said:
The only thing I can be MORE honest about is the "8 is totally a good score from game informer" tripe. 8 from gi means the game is anal leakage.
Finally, honesty about Game Informer, but can you add that they smell bad? It needs a bit more objectivity and Good Ol' Fashioned Common Sense, and some jabs at their writing ability would help there.
 
toxicgonzo said:
When the score is at least one standard deviation away from every other gaming publication, it makes you wonder...


Edge has done this a bunch of times with some pretty big titles, they are no better or worse than Gamespot in my view.
 
farnham said:
review scores are just opinions of employees of some publications
Perhaps for hacks. However, when I -- someone who is not a professional games reviewer -- seemingly arbitrarily ascribe an "X / Y" score to some piece of entertainment and get called out for using a potentially dubious metric, I make sure to either have a white board behind me, or barring that, page after page of mathematical equations detailing all of the steps it took and the methodologies employed to arrive at exactly the number I did. So, when I tell somebody that some title gets 92.3476 Awesome Points out of 100 (as an aside, I find 4 decimal places to be the sweet spot), I assure you there's nothing arbitrary about it.
 
lawblob said:
Watched the review video. I couldn't care less about the score, I am mostly fascinated by how bland game review writing constantly is.

This part's bad - this part's good - this part's bad - this part's good - this part's bad - this part's good - Score X

I agree, the writing was pretty...terrible. One of the recently excellent reviews I've uh listened to was GT's review of Rayman. Frankly excellent writing. This can barely be categorized as amateurish. And the guy putting the exact same tone and inflection on every single sentence doens't help. :P
 
lawblob said:
You want consumers to have less information on which to base purchases of consumer products?
KuGsj.gif

I should have been more specific, I want metascore to die. The loss of arbitrary scores shouldn't be too bad. I think some gamers might even learn to read.
 
jett said:
Anyway, seems like a perfectly valid list of concerns. Unresponsive controls, repetition, filled with padding and being the same old thing. 7.5 seems like a fair score, although it's too bad this kind of harshness and apparent honesty isn't applied to every release.

On paper, I'd agree; if you found the subjective comments not to your taste, the 7.5 sounds fair compared to the review text.

The issue I have, though, is that the controls *shouldn't* be subjective. They're a straightforward mapping. And if they were fundamentally broken, *surely* we'd have heard about it more frequently than we have?

There's a discrepancy here, and I'd like to get to the bottom of it. This isn't a matter of subjectivity - this is a matter of fact. If the Gamespot reviewer was doing something wrong, I want to know about it so I know what to avoid doing. If the other reviewers saw it but didn't think it was significant, I want to know about it so I know to take their reviews with a pinch of salt in the future.
 
farnham said:
not saying that gamespot is not credible. just saying that the notion of a review score having any other meaning then a person employeed by a publication liked or disliked it is ridiculous
In the Gerstmann days, they definitely had more than one person agreeing on the score. Not sure about its current iteration though.

The score? Meh, I'll be playing it for myself come Friday. The fact that motion controls were an issue in the review also is notable (I'm sure I won't have an issue).
 
Why do people get so upset when a game that has almost unanimous praise gets one or two bad reviews? Do they suspect on some level that the negative reviews are the acurate ones?

I think there was a time when I followed review scores and knew which reviewers I had similar tastes with so I'd care if they gave a game I was anticipating a bad score but with all the resources available nowadays to find out if a game is going to be to your liking why would you need someone else's opinion to tell you if you're going to enjoy a game?
 
mclem said:
On paper, I'd agree; if you found the subjective comments not to your taste, the 7.5 sounds fair compared to the review text.

The issue I have, though, is that the controls *shouldn't* be subjective. They're a straightforward mapping. And if they were fundamentally broken, *surely* we'd have heard about it more frequently than we have?

There's a discrepancy here, and I'd like to get to the bottom of it. This isn't a matter of subjectivity - this is a matter of fact. If the Gamespot reviewer was doing something wrong, I want to know about it so I know what to avoid doing. If the other reviewers saw it but didn't think it was significant, I want to know about it so I know to take their reviews with a pinch of salt in the future.
Let's form a committee and release an investigative report within six months.


I'll edit the wiki and make some untextured gun models to get us started.
 
I finally learned how to deal with situations like these...

1GHjT.png
 
mclem said:
On paper, I'd agree; if you found the subjective comments not to your taste, the 7.5 sounds fair compared to the review text.

The issue I have, though, is that the controls *shouldn't* be subjective. They're a straightforward mapping. And if they were fundamentally broken, *surely* we'd have heard about it more frequently than we have?

There's a discrepancy here, and I'd like to get to the bottom of it. This isn't a matter of subjectivity - this is a matter of fact. If the Gamespot reviewer was doing something wrong, I want to know about it so I know what to avoid doing. If the other reviewers saw it but didn't think it was significant, I want to know about it so I know to take their reviews with a pinch of salt in the future.
Nobody said U3's controls had issues, buuuuut...
 
APZonerunner said:
I think the comments in Iwata Asks about the controls being a bit like a musical instrument are actually very apt - when you start out it feels strange and alien, but with time and practice it becomes easier, more fun and just overall better. As the game has progressed I've enjoyed the core gameplay more and more and more...

The thing about the musical instrument analogy being apt, though, is that like a musical instrument, some people might just not get it. I play piano and drums, so that's helped me to have better hand-eye co-ordination and such, but I wonder how somebody who has two left hands (metaphorically speaking) will get on. Will it get better? I think there'll be a certain subset of people for whom the motion plus control in this game just doesn't - and never - clicks.

That's a shame, but it's a result of them being brave with the controls, and I think the game is better for it.
APZonerunner, regarding the part i bolded, its an intersting point to bring about. I consider that a stance that down right borders in being hypocritical when used to erode this game implementation of control. In similar terms a FPS on consoles would be rendered umplayable to those "2 left handed people" we are considering. Dual Analog control for FPS is as not intuitive as a control scheme can be. Even more so than what you see in Skyward Sword. Of course there has been a period of adaptation to Dual Analog for years, so its unfair to condem Skyward in this terms when it hasn't been even released.

The GS review seems of base with the control critic and it would be apreciated if the reviewer expanded the thoughts here since his an active member of the forum.
Glass Rebel said:
I should have been more specific, I want metascore to die. The loss of arbitrary scores shouldn't be too bad. I think some gamers might even learn to read.
No, "meta score" does what is suposed to do and really well at that. What should die are the review scores themselves.
 
Saint Gregory said:
Why do people get so upset when a game that has almost unanimous praise gets one or two bad reviews? Do they suspect on some level that the negative reviews are the acurate ones?

The metascore, damn it! What worth will the game be if it isn't at least 95%?
 
Yoshichan said:
I finally learned how to deal with situations like these...

http://i.imgur.com/1GHjT.png[IMG][/QUOTE]
look at this

look at what you made

you made this and posted it without a particle of shame

when you pass from this world, some-thing in that ethereal place will challenge you with a codex of deeds, and written in the blood of knowledge there will be testimony to your conscious decision to perform this act, now indelibly stained upon the parchment of time
 
butter_stick said:
Nobody said U3's controls had issues, buuuuut...
This really is a fantastic point. I don't think I will ever comprehend how the game got through QA in its current state. It's simply baffling.

Hopefully this isn't the case with SS, though.
 
butter_stick said:
Nobody said U3's controls had issues, buuuuut...

Fans certainly did, as soon as the game was released. Hands on impressions on GAF haven't complained of anything like what the reviewer said. I think Alextended has been the most down on them and even his opinion seems to be "they don't always feel necessary, and calibration is an annoyance" not "they don't work"
 
EmCeeGramr said:
look at this

look at what you made

you made this and posted it without a particle of shame

when you pass from this world, some-thing in that ethereal place will challenge you with a codex of deeds, and written in the blood of knowledge there will be testimony to your conscious decision to perform this act, now indelibly stained upon the parchment of time
I'm scared ;_;
 
Just watched GameTrailers' video review. They basically offer nothing but complaints the entire video and then end it with a 9.1 score. WTF?
 
butter_stick said:
Nobody said U3's controls had issues, buuuuut...
You could argue that it's a different case with SS, seeing as "controls" are possibly the biggest thing that every review will weigh in on. Unless I'm mistaken, it's not like there were people talking about U3 like it was the Great Justifier of Dual Analog.
 
ScOULaris said:
Just watched GameTrailers' video review. They basically offer nothing but complaints the entire video and then end it with a 9.1 score. WTF?
Welcome to GameTrailers. Did they spoil the ending as well?
 
lawblob said:
Watched the review video. I couldn't care less about the score, I am mostly fascinated by how bland game review writing constantly is.

This part's bad - this part's good - this part's bad - this part's good - this part's bad - this part's good - Score X

That's just because not everyone should fucking do video reviews. I'm insulted when IGN and the like just have their reviewer sit there and read his review aloud. I put a lot of work into my scripts to try not to sound bland and robotic.
 
commish said:
If that was true, then people here would be ignoring GS's score instead of going ballistic.

I don't see people going ballistic. More of just commenting on the latest "major" gaming site's review score.
 
ScOULaris said:
Just watched GameTrailers' video review. They basically offer nothing but complaints the entire video and then end it with a 9.1 score. WTF?
It's still the weirded Skyward Sword review to date to me. You'd think they'd Sonic 2006 this game by the end of the video, but we get a 9.1.
 
Souldriver said:
It's still the weirded Skyward Sword review to date to me. You'd think they'd Sonic 2006 this game by the end of the video, but we get a 9.1.
The vibe I get from the end of tons of GT reviews:

"Even though the game sucks and we hate most of its major components, it's still an awesome game that deserves your full attention. -- 9.2"
 
Souldriver said:
Is...is this sarcasm? Tell me this is sarcasm, because Gamespot holds just as much credibility as IGN does
(not a lot)
.
I thought it was when I first saw that picture, but now I'm not sure anymore.
 
EmCeeGramr said:
Stop quoting that creature.
So you're calling me an it? :(
 
I think that people dont’t care too much about the score, BUT is more about their intentions to just get hits and lower Skyward Sword score in Metacritic.

About Metacritic, there still reviews left, the most recently added is 3D Juegos with 9.6.
 
TyRaNtM said:
I think that people dont’t care too much about the score, BUT is more about their intentions to just get hits and lower Skyward Sword score in Metacritic.

About Metacritic, there still reviews left, the most recently added is 3D Juegos with 9.6.

Yes, because it's simply impossible the guy actually thought the game deserved a 7.5.

Lordy, hahaha.
 
TyRaNtM said:
I think that people dont’t care too much about the score, BUT is more about their intentions to just get hits and lower Skyward Sword score in Metacritic.

About Metacritic, there still reviews left, the most recently added is 3D Juegos with 9.6.

I don't care about the score. I care about the fact that he doesn't know how the controls worked, which renders his review invalid for me.
 
Yoshichan said:
So you're calling me an it? :(
i'm calling that thing a creature, as it something not divinely wrought but of perverse earthly hands.

god creates dinosaurs
god destroys dinosaurs
god creates man
man destroys god
man creates image of baby man and dinosaur

it will rise up and destroy you, as it should
 
Angry Fork said:
So do you guys think in 1-2 years most will agree with the 7.5 like Twilight Princess?
Why is it more likely than agreeing with the numerous high scores?

I mean, I am significantly more likely to pay attention to Edge or Eurogamer, no matter how I felt going in.
 
TyRaNtM said:
I think that people dont’t care too much about the score, BUT is more about their intentions to just get hits and lower Skyward Sword score in Metacritic.

About Metacritic, there still reviews left, the most recently added is 3D Juegos with 9.6.
I believe a Gamespot employee once went on the record saying that every Friday afternoon the whole staff gathers round a huge table, has a butler bring them blood in the fanciest champaign glasses CNET can afford, and plot plans to destroy Metacritic from the inside by undermining the credibility of their averages. The Zelda score is probably just another example of that. How can the Gamespot audience take Metacritic seriously when they're 20 points incorrect re:Zelda?
 
I actually think Gamespot have been one of the better reviewers this past year and their complaints about Zelda all seem justified. Zelda has been on easy streak from reviews for a decade. Glad to see someone standing up.
 
fuzzyreactor said:
I actually think Gamespot have been one of the better reviewers this past year and their complaints about Zelda all seem justified. Zelda has been on easy streak from reviews for a decade. Glad to see someone standing up.
Yes, fight the good fight against Zelda tyranny!!! Maybe we can get an Occupy Nintendo movement started.
 
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