Videogames reviews still matter?
Or it's just a number.
Despite the rise of alternative forms of feedback such as user ratings and voting systems, video game reviews can still be valuable and influential in today's gaming landscape. While individual preferences may vary, there are several reasons why game reviews continue to hold significance:
Expert opinion: Professional game reviewers often have extensive experience and knowledge of the gaming industry. They can provide valuable insights into various aspects of a game, including gameplay mechanics, graphics, storytelling, and overall enjoyment. Their expertise can help readers make informed decisions before purchasing or playing a game.
Critical analysis: Game reviews offer a platform for critical analysis and evaluation of different elements within a game. Reviewers can highlight both the strengths and weaknesses of a title, allowing readers to assess whether a particular game aligns with their preferences. This analysis can go beyond a simple numerical rating and provide a more nuanced perspective on the game's quality.
Context and comparison: Reviews provide valuable context by comparing a game to similar titles or previous entries in a series. This comparison helps readers understand the game's innovation, improvements, or potential shortcomings. By considering a reviewer's perspective alongside their interests and experiences, readers can make more informed decisions about which games to explore.
Discovering new games: Game reviews can introduce readers to lesser-known titles or genres they might have overlooked. They can act as a gateway to discovering new gaming experiences beyond mainstream releases. Reviews often highlight unique or innovative aspects of games, helping readers expand their gaming horizons.
While user ratings and voting systems can provide a snapshot of public opinion, they may lack the depth and analysis found in professional reviews. They are also susceptible to biases, such as review bombing or disproportionate influence from a vocal minority. On the other hand, game reviews are typically written by experienced reviewers who consider various factors when evaluating a game.
In conclusion, video game reviews still hold value in the gaming community. They provide expert analysis, critical evaluation, context, and the potential to discover new games. While user ratings and votes have their place, game reviews offer a more comprehensive and informed perspective for readers seeking guidance and insight into the world of video games.
The introduction you have just read was written by ChatGPT using this prompt “I would like to talk about videogames reviews. Are they still useful? Does someone read it? Or is it just the vote that matters?"
They are almost all agreeable but perhaps do not reflect exactly what happens on a daily basis within the sites that offer reviews. It is a subject that is close to my heart and that I find particularly interesting; it is also a subject that has been addressed thousands of times, often with the same conclusions that I will come to at the end of this issue.
I had an issue ready to publish dedicated to Steam Deck, the resurgence of handheld consoles, and indie games, but the end of last night's embargo for Diablo IV reviews opened a discussion on one of the many Discord servers I frequent, about the quality of these and how most of the people who were participating in the discussion were interested in the final vote and completely ignored the written review.
Before going on let me ask you this:
Reviews have existed for a very long time and are not about to leave us because many publishers base the bonuses they give to their employees on the game's final grade collected by the Metacritic site. This is one of the worst things that can happen in the wonderful world of game development but we will come back to that later.
Unfortunately, I could not find any data to confirm or deny the fact that reviews are not read. There are some statements made on Twitch by former journalists of online game magazines who tell of some 'tests' done over the years by writing long and very thorough, multi-page reviews. Once published, when checking the analytics, they saw that the intermediate pages of the review were completely ignored and readers skipped from the first to the last page, probably to read the grade and, hopefully, at least the box with the final summary and pros and cons.
Another litmus test that can help us understand whether reviews are still an 'interesting' thing from the reader's point of view is the ever-increasing number of so-called click-bait articles, which have a catchy title to lead the reader to click on the news item and make 'views' on the site, which can then sell them to the various advertisement circuits, which are one of the ways, if not THE primary way, by which VG portals, but most online portals in general, sustain themselves.
When I was young and the internet was not yet so widespread, the only way to find out about vg news was to buy printed magazines. Of course, I read the reviews and previews also and above all to find out if that particular game was worth the money I was going to spend.
Now I read very few reviews, often preferring to spend my time with in-depth reviews or verse points of view. Of course, being 46 years old and having almost 40 years of experience in video gaming helps. I no longer need to read a review to understand whether I like a game or not, I just watch 10/20 minutes of gameplay on YouTube. I enjoy reviews more when I read them post-game, after playing the video game, to have a comparison of ideas and points of view with the editor/journalist on duty.
Now I have a problem, and it is the same problem I have when I start writing about very big things, which could take a whole book and instead, I have to condense them into a small newsletter.... I don't know how to end it, or how to close it with a nice, thought-provoking sentence. You know what? I resolve without closing anything, because actually the points I've made above, even the ones I haven't written or avoided, are cyclical and I'll definitely take them up again in the future, when a controversial new game comes out and the reviews will be discussed, again.
Good news!
I am playing a lot of deduction and detective games these days. Some are better than others. Agatha Christie's The ABC Murder, Sherlock Holmes - The Devil's Daughter, Tales of the Neon Sea, The Case of the Golden Idol (top!).
Shadows of Doubt, the detective immersive-sim game that I’ve talked about in one of the issues of this newsletter, is now on Steam in Early Access and Polygon said something good about it.
https://www.polygon.com/23743064/shadows-of-doubt-proc-gen-detective-game-pc-steam-early-access
PC Gamer offers us five games that we might have missed during this past May. If you would also like to add your own suggestions, comment and share your 'niche games'.
There is always little talk about how much this man sucks.
Space games are one of my favourite genres, if not THE favourite. This article from RPS lists the 25 best space games voted by the community. Lots of awesome games!
https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/these-are-your-25-favourite-space-games-of-all-time
Performance VS Graphical Realism (another really interesting topic)
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/do-players-now-value-performance-over-graphical-realism-opinion
TO BE RELEASED
Amnesia: The Bunker - “a first-person horror game set in a desolate WW1 Bunker. Face the oppressing terrors stalking the dark corridors. Search for and use the tools and weapons at your disposal, while keeping the lights on at all costs. Overcome fear, persevere, and make your way out alive.”
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1944430/Amnesia_The_Bunker/
Loop8: Summer of Gods - “Your choices shape the world in this coming-of-age RPG. As a new arrival in a 1980s rural Japanese town with a mysterious ability to loop time, your every decision and relationship will affect the outcome of battles against the invading Kegai.”
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2127430/Loop8_Summer_of_Gods/
Nocturnal - “After years of travelling, Ardeshir finds his native island covered in a mysterious fog. Carve your way with fire and steel to find out what happened to your people in this action-platformer game. You’re the only one who can discover the secrets that lie beyond the Mist.”
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1634080/Nocturnal/
Espresso Tycoon - “Create your brand, decorate the coffee shop, manage your employees, and take care of your customers. Use the 3D coffee editor to create coffee recipes, order supplies, and collect rating points. Build the whole coffee business and complete all the missions!”
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1543280/Espresso_Tycoon/
See ya next week, folks!
I'd much rather watch 10 minutes of actual gameplay than read pages and pages of reviews that are all the same. I also can't stand podcasts from people who do reviews for a living, always full of useless words just to stretch the broth.
From a review, I don't look for a buying guide, a list of points given by the publisher that everyone has to follow. I want the real experience of playing the game, what did it leave you with? Was it difficult to get into the world? Is the gameplay the same as a thousand other games or does it have something innovative?