14 replies to this topic

[BrosBeforeGardenTools]

Let's be honest, professional game reviews aren't often THAT reliable. They can't even agree oftentimes. Check the lowest and highest Metacritic scores if you don't believe me.

If I ask for opinions on forums, to get a large amount of them you have to go somewhere like GameFAQs. But oftentimes the opinions are influenced by the popular opinion of the board and not very reliable.

The most reliable seems to ask a collector like Sorceror or Ryudo. Ryudo said Bravely Default was bad, Sorceror said Kirby was good. I'd say they were both pretty much right.

I don't know. What do you think?

Here is my philosophy:

Try games you've hardly heard of, just not junk. You will often get a gem.

Be wary of games these days from Nintendo and other large companies. Buy that Mario or Zelda that you know will be good, or you will be missing out. But question something like Captain Toad (I talked about my problems with it in another thread)

I'm done venting for the day.

[NintendoReport]

Ask around, look for demo's or a chance to play some where, read reviews, watch game play videos.

[Mewbot]

Watch gameplay from less popular channels on youtube. The popular ones are often paid, or just overly happy with any game they get.

[Portal]

I make sure to watch trailers and stuff, but check NintendoLife and IGN for reviews. I also check GameFaqs just to see if I missed out on a gem or two as well as get more opinions and such.

[iEatTacos]

I usually check here, Nintendo life/WiiUDaily for Ninty releases, and for ps4 multiplats, I usually take a glance at popular sites and also look at gamefaqs.

But like others said, the sure-fire way would be to try to secure a demo, rent it, or watch a "let's play"

[YoshiGamer9]

GameXplain is one of the best gaming channels out there, even though most of their videos are just discussions, walkthroughs, and reviews.

[Bill Cipher]

The holy trinity of reviewers I find that I agree with is ProJared, Jim F-ing Sterling, son. , and Angry Joe. They cover most of my interests, and the rest are more niche games. For sites, the one site I tend to agree with the most is USGamer, as Jeremy Parish runs a fantastic ship.

Oh, can't forget Giant bomb for their quicklooks, which are basically an hour of the first part of the game.

[Raiden]

Giant Bomb Quicklooks. They go a bit into the game and mechanics and such at least they try.

[KeptMyWiiUAndLeftTheForums]

The only person i fully trust is myself.

However I also usually look at the general reaction for /r/wiiu and this forum. Also on the rare occasion I hear something from someone irl. Though i don't know if I even trust anyone irl lol. Most of the people I know are "Wow Assassin's Creed is best game ever" people so...

[Raiden]

The only person i fully trust is myself.

However I also usually look at the general reaction for /r/wiiu and this forum. Also on the rare occasion I hear something from someone irl. Though i don't know if I even trust anyone irl lol. Most of the people I know are "Wow Assassin's Creed is best game ever" people so...

I pretty much know what I am getting into before I buy anything. Most people don't. I think the quick looks even if you don't like the people or not still get a sense of the game like a demo just watching it. They talk about some stuff a demo might not tell you. Their opinions like Hyrule Warriors for example camn blow out their ass on GB.

[SteventheSlayer]

I'm a big fan of TotalBiscuit, though of course he only does PC.

[KingBoo]

I watch theradbrad videos and i read the reviews off amazon. I read IGN reviews just to laugh and see how bad they are.

[3Dude]

The review system is broken, and little more than a publisher pr system.

The current review setup only works on games that fit within a very narrow design box, games that are short, instantly familiar, little to no learning curve, and digestable within the incredibly small amount of time reviewers have to review games.

Anything that fits in that tiny box is then sent through the checklist: Samish realistic graphics? Check. Same controls as every other game in the genre? Check. Game plays itself with cool looking qte and context sensitive events that make you look awesome without any play or skill? Check. Garbage overly serious story with voice acting? Check. Online multiplayer? Check.

Anything that doesnt fit in the box is either: Already established and or from aaaaaaa publisher:

Game is hyped given a high score, and released broken.

Or, game is new, requires time to learn, and thus held in contempt as being a wrench in the factory line, and is snubbed with.incompetent reviews, or rarely, 'clicks' and the girnoliz actually begins to understand it, and mixed reviews come out, either 8-10's or 7-5's.


Game reviews gave long since ceased being guides on which games are worth your money, and have become confirmation bias gratifiers. Good job little sheeple, you bought what you were told, stroke that epeen, look at meta critic, see how smart and refined and tasteful you are for buying what you were told?

This is why such huge meltdowns occur when someone doesnt give a pr 10-10 review on big name games, it ruins the meta critic average, and thus the self worth of the brain washed masses whos self validation is dependant on it. They see it as an attack on themselves, and thats how they respond. Publishers are overjoyed at the success of their brain washing.

Watch preview videos. Mute commentary, identify mechanics, branching paths the previewer misses, mistakes the previewer makes, is it the previewer sucking, or is it the game? Observe level designs.

If you know what you like, seeing the game in action should be all you need.

You are the only person you can REALLY trust now.

For example, I was really excited about the new witcher... Screens looked amazing, breif snippets of the world in motion looked fantastic.

Then I saw the game in action. Cringe worthy try way to hard super adult grimdark story cutscenes and vo out the butt. Boring repetitive quests quickly stacked.

Not a deal breaker yet. Plenty of games I love have similar flaws.

The world was bland and lifeless, with little in the vast distance suggesting designed peices to interact with. Procedural terrain littered with extrinsically dropped doodads.

But all is not lost if that world can be filled with awesome beasties worthy of battle!

Then came the griffon fight. What a spectacular let down.

A wonderfully designed modeled and textured beasty, with design mechanics and animations straight from the 90s. the bad 90s. And they had the audacity to condescendingly reference monster hunter? No. No.

This game will be bought in a bargain bin, and most likely end up nothing more than a status update expressing my dissapointment in it. But will be given 10/10's across the board from reviewers.

Thats my process anyways.

[AdmiralClassy]

I don't really bother with reviews these days, there's been too many situations where I completely disagree with reviewers for games I enjoy or dislike.

Nowadays I generally watch trailers and sometimes gameplay to get a feel for the game and see if it appeals to me, I'll also look online for actual users and players opinions on the game. I find that to be a lot more reliable than most reviewers and review sites.

Edited by AdmiralClassy, 04 January 2015 - 09:28 AM.

[tboss]

I usually use collective reviews, along with people opinions that actually explain why they are good/bad.  aka, i use a mix of alot of sources. Most independent reviews tend to have issues such as bribing, and the people who are easily impressed or like drastically different tastes need to be weeded out. Do sometimes watch game play, though even that is semi-reliable on games that start poor but build on themselves to make it decent/good such as xenoblade's.