Support NeoGAF

[jcorb]

What I mean is; Are you looking for whether or not it is worth your time? Or if it is worth your money?
Or do you read/watch views for some other reason(s) entirely, like gleaning insights you might've missed?

I'm not entirely sure how I would even answer it, personally. I suppose I tend to look for reviewers whose tastes generally align with my own, and then try to figure out if the game is worth my *time*, more so than if it's worth my "money". So I'm more likely to drop $70 on a new game I think I'll enjoy, more than a $5 I *might* enjoy.

But I'm curious where others stand?

I dunno, I think it's just an interesting topic to think about. I mean, is it fair to compare a small indie game against a big-budget AAA game? In most ways, no, but when it comes to *if I'm going to have a good time*, the differences, while interesting, and largely irrelevant.

But then, are you more likely to find something that feels "special" by sifting through loads of $5 indie games?

I almost wonder if there's room for a youtube channel that reviews low-price games exclusively? You'd probably see some really weird stuff.

 

[DownLikeBCPowder]

I usually don't read or watch them, I'd rather go in blind and generally have an idea of what I'm interested in on the whole. Sometimes I just scout a bit for sentiment to determine how soon I should try to play something that's on my radar.

 

[RafterXL]

I don't read reviews. I'll watch a games trailer, or I'll watch a few minutes of a gameplay video and I'll almost always know just from that whether or not it's for me. Rarely, I'll go in blind because of who the developer is, like FROM or CDProjekt. I don't even know how you would go about sifting through $5 indie games, there are so many of them it's overwhelming, and I generally don't play those kinds of games anyway.

 

[Crayon]

Don't watch reviews often. Mostly if a game is a known trainwreck and I feel mean lol.

But sometimes if I can't figure out what a game really is, I'll check a review. Like I would look up reviews for balatro. They usually try to give a synopsis for people who know nothing about it early in the video.

 

[Grildon Tundy]

I look to Steam review overall scores first and foremost. If they're Very Positive or above, then I read the top few "Most Helpful" reviews and see if there is consensus on what they like/don't like and decide if I think I'd agree with them.

Also a big plus if they say it's "Like X game crossed with X game with a dash of X game" so I have short-hand reference points.

 

[Pejo]

Steam. Shows that they own(ed) the game, shows their playtime (yes it can be gamed a bit if they idle with the game running, but still), shows if they got it for free. It's very easy to sort by various metrics and you can even follow people with similar taste to your own and see what they rated it. I like that they also split recent reviews from overall reviews. It can show when a dev/publisher listens and improves things or makes things worse.

It's the closest we have to true review transparency.

 

[Ashamam]

I rarely watch full reviews, not wanting to see spoilers. But I look for the meta, and if its consistent, whatever that might be, then I tend to take that as read. But if its wildly inconsistent (leaving aside the obvious shills) then I start digging in and paying attention to individual reviewers who I know align with my gameplay preferences. Also I sometimes find forums like this a better guide than reviewers, as I know the names and have a post history sense for context. Helps that I'm cheap and hardly ever buy on Day 1, so there is plenty of time to soak in the general vibe of a game.

 

[ssringo]

I don't even know how you would go about sifting through $5 indie games

Very consistently. Being on Steam to use the wishlist also helps immensely. Gematsu is a great site for hearing about new games that you might not from bigger sites and it's layout (being more list-like) makes it easy to quickly browse through new info. They also include links to store pages if they're available. It's honestly a fantastic site. Something looks interesting? Onto the wishlist it goes. I also spend about 5-10 minutes during downtime scrolling through upcoming releases for anything that catches my eye: name, tags, banner, screens. Looks interesting? Onto the wishlist it goes. On occasion I'll browse my wishlist and organize it by release date and try to look a bit deeper if something is releasing soon-ish. Sometimes I'll buy, sometimes I'll remove it. The different ____-fests that happen on Steam are also good for finding stuff that's come out of is coming soon. Been doing this in general for years.

And even with all that stuff slips past. I have no idea if you can do something similar on a console.

 

[digimaster7]

Not anymore, I just watch the official trailer and decide for myself.

Reasons because: I don’t trust any reviewer anymore, and too much spoiler

 

[hemo memo]

I read the highest and lowest, and most of the time I get my answer.

 

[Danjin44]

These days I dont care for review if there is game that looks interesting I will buy it regardless what reviewers have to says about it.

 

[RPS37]

Reviews are dead.

 

[Rush2112]

“IGN has declared bankruptcy.”

 

[Kamina]

The user ratings

 

[adamsapple]

I can't remember the last time I've actually sat down and read through an entire review for any game.

For games I'm not already in the "obviously I'm gonna be playing this" mode, a quick 5, 10 min youtube game play video of the game tells me more.

 

[Soodanim]

I look for gameplay and I listen for insights that may affect my purchase decision.

 

[Kupfer]

I don’t care about reviews - some of my all-time favorite games scored in the 60s or 70s.

Nowadays, people will tell you whatever you want to hear for clicks and watch time - either way, it’s not worth my time.
You either get corporate shilling or agenda-driven bullshit - pick your poison.

Most of the time, a trailer is enough, along with the studio’s track record and how the game was handled during development.
As long as I don’t see any red flags, I’m usually right in assessing whether a game is for me or not.

 

[ZehDon]

My simple three step guide for reading reviews in 2025:

1. Don't
2. Visit OT on GAF
3. Read posts from human beings who actually played the game and gauge the quality of the title based on their impressions.

 

[Hudo]

I basically have stopped consuming reviews after my favorite games magazine (and I mean an actual magazine in print form) of old had a significant shift in personnel. I usually watch some trailer and or gameplay on Youtube and make a decision based on that.

 

[Cakeboxer]

I watch the first couple of hours (with ff) on YouTube. If i like the gameplay and there is not too much walk + talk with bland, boring and bloated dialogues, i'm interested.

 

[GymWolf]

None of what matters, i use them for precise data like number of weapons, number of levels, this type of stuff that is nice to know, but sometimes they even get this easy stuff wrong, i don't give an absolute fuck about their opinion on story, combat, game systems etc, i'm not gonna let a failed journalist turned into jaded activist in need to rush a game for the review embargo to tell if a game is good or not.

 

[executor]

I do not like to read biased reviews and I'm adverse to video reviews (heck I surely live in the past but it seems that nowadays all information is moving from written to video and I hate that....) and lately everything is becoming so much an hype hyperbole that I find it nauseating. I just look at the trailers and consider the developers pedigree (and sometime take risks with new ones that highly repay like with Stellar Blade and Lies of P )

 

[Sakura]

I typically watch reviews if it is a game that looks kind of interesting but I'm not sure about. Like maybe an indie game shows up in my Steam queue that I have never heard of, I will go on youtube and check some reviews or 1 episode playthroughs (?) to see if it is something I would be interested in, or whether or not it has any deal breakers. Sometimes I will also look for reviews that show differences between the various versions of a game too, to see which version I would want to play if I ended up playing it. I think most recently I was watching something about The Legend of Heroes III.
Otherwise I might watch long form videos on games or things I am already familiar, ie there are lots of video essays or whatever you would call them on Tears of the Kingdom.

 

[Angry_Megalodon]

The particular aspects of the game that will make me buy it or not. I don't care about the overall conclusion but that thing I haven't made up my mind about.

 

[Humdinger]

I don't watch many reviews, but when I do watch, it's for different reasons. Sometimes it's to get a better feel for the story and quality of writing. Sometimes it's to check out how progressive/woke the game is. Sometimes it's to get a feel for how difficult/complex the combat is. Most of the time, it's just to figure out if the game is for me or not.

 

[Killjoy-NL]

A different perspective.

I pretty much always read/watch reviews after I beat a game.

 

[FoxMcChief]

I don’t think I’ve read or watched a review in maybe a year or two. They all seem pointless to me now. I’ve been gaming for probably close 40 years. I can tell if something I’m interested in looks good or not. I think I just read general opinions and make my own assumptions. And if I’m wrong, who gives a fuck? I rent/game pass/ps+ the mass majority of what I play. Nothing lost.