EPTMy attempt at game reviewing - Page 2
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eMbrace
United States1300 Posts
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Ideas
United States8148 Posts
On March 18 2010 13:04 eMbrace wrote: Gametrailers is quite radical with it's standards for scoring, I'd have to agree. Their videos are informative but they are quite wild with their opinions. if by wild you mean retarded then ya | ||
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cascades
Singapore6122 Posts
On March 17 2010 21:10 SirJolt wrote: I worked as a professional game reviewer for about three years... The way that games are reviewed means the whole thing is a mess. I've seen games reviewed that I know, for a fact, never left their shrink wrap. I've also seen games that gave us an absolute blast in the office (admittedly usually because they were a little silly or really buggy) receive review scores below a 5/10 with just about everyone there knowing we'd be playing it again after work. Sad stuff  Would like you to post more about the game review industry. How do people get in? I assume through connections, as some of them can't write. Also, do you only spend 8X5 hrs/week playing games you are supposed to review? And spend a lot of that time "reviewing" games that you like? I can't fathom how the industry works at all. | ||
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BookTwo
1985 Posts
I like your concept, observational reviewing. Considering I'd like to do casual reviewing, this is a nice resource. Thanks for blogging this. | ||
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FieryBalrog
United States1381 Posts
1) Its overly effusive. Tone down the "magnificently awesome", the "amazingly brilliant" and rhetoric like that. Its OK in small doses, not every other sentence. 2) You use the typical "on the one hand, yet on the other hand" format. Its OK when necessary, but this the typical overusage I see in game reviews. You don't have to qualify everything so much. See what I mean in this paragraph? The English voiceovers are for the most part very well done, but dialogue itself is often on the heavy side assisted with the frequent use of corny lines. While some of the talking has the potential to make some wince, the voice actors deliver them with the appropriate levels of emotion, uncovering some truly powerful moments between characters as the compelling narrative takes its shape. Those familiar with the dubbing of Japanese animated cartoons will easily tolerate the superior voice work of XIII, otherwise it can take some getting used to. Nonetheless, listening to what the characters are trying to express goes a long way in taking in this heart touching tale. 3) More about the qualification: take this sentence. That's not to say this choice of gradual progression is a flaw in any sense, but it still is quite possibly the most likely aspect that may turn gamers away from this title, and at the same time cause many other to enjoy it as the same time. Totally unnecessary sentence. Simply present the details here ("the game has a very linear structure with no room for deviation for the first 20 hours. However, the experience is still quite enjoyable because of the combat..." etc.) Also, notice the "same time .... at the same time" 4) Grammar. I don't know if you're a native english speaker, but you might want to double check your grammar. While gaming journalists generally aren't amazing writers, on the big sites this is one of the few things they're pretty good with, and readers will pick up on it quickly. e.g. Its gorgeous presentation, tactical gameplay, memorable characters and captivating narrative is enough Need plural verb- "are". Final Fantasy XIII is arguably one of the prettiest games to ever grace the hands of gamer -- if not by technical terms then definitely by aesthetic ones. "gamer" should be plural. "by technical terms" isn't the right idiom, the correct idiom is "by technical standards". The idiom "in technical terms" has a different meaning. | ||
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Chef
10810 Posts
In terms of my ideal review, if I were going for advice, I find there are some problems with yours as well. This is just constructive criticism. Losing the party leader in a battle results in instant defeat, but the convenient "Retry" option is always at hand for you to use. This is only mentioned briefly, as a tag to a picture, but it's probably one of the most important points of the review. I'm not new to Final Fantasy. I'm not new to JRPGs in general. Most of your readers aren't. So why are you spending so much time on the absolute basics, like explaining cooldown when you could be telling your reader what they really want to know: How has this game improved upon the older ones? IMO the fact that you can retry is a pretty big deal since at least the FF games I've played would have forced you to watch at least a huge cutscene if they gave you a save point. Basically, what I mean is that you're elaborating on points that are obvious (some people will like this, some people won't LOL) and barely skimming over reasons the game is a competitive force that I should buy over something else. Good effort regardless though. I liked the screen shots  | ||
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Jayme
United States5866 Posts
On March 18 2010 23:52 Chef wrote: + Show Spoiler + It depends what you look for, really. Most often if I read a review I just want to get hyped up about a game I already plan on purchasing. I feel like games really can be judged pretty well by their cover. At very least you already know their genre and how they'll play. I also don't think a big name game has every been reviewed without its graphics being called 'gorgeous,' so it just plays into the whole idea that I'm not going to the reviewer for advice. In terms of my ideal review, if I were going for advice, I find there are some problems with yours as well. This is just constructive criticism. Losing the party leader in a battle results in instant defeat, but the convenient "Retry" option is always at hand for you to use. This is only mentioned briefly, as a tag to a picture, but it's probably one of the most important points of the review. I'm not new to Final Fantasy. I'm not new to JRPGs in general. Most of your readers aren't. So why are you spending so much time on the absolute basics, like explaining cooldown when you could be telling your reader what they really want to know: How has this game improved upon the older ones? IMO the fact that you can retry is a pretty big deal since at least the FF games I've played would have forced you to watch at least a huge cutscene if they gave you a save point. Basically, what I mean is that you're elaborating on points that are obvious (some people will like this, some people won't LOL) and barely skimming over reasons the game is a competitive force that I should buy over something else. Good effort regardless though. I liked the screen shots The way the combat system works in the FF franchise is of radical importance though. A game with FF7's or FF8's combat system has a much different focus than that of FF13. A real big thing about FF series right now is how to make the battle system more innovating, tactical, and fun to play without the LOLONESHOT bosses of FF10 to artificially make them difficult.. I think in that respect explaining the very basics of how the fighting system works is important when considering the context. | ||
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eMbrace
United States1300 Posts
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eMbrace
United States1300 Posts
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eMbrace
United States1300 Posts
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Myrmidon
United States9452 Posts
Personally I care a lot about the core mechanics and how fun I think they are, but other people place more emphasis on aspects of the presentation like the visuals, music, voice acting, etc. These presentation components tend to be more difficult to describe objectively, but too often you use very general language in these sections. If it's any indication of your current achievement, your reviews give me a pretty solid recommendation of which games not to play--even for games which you rate highly. | ||
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eMbrace
United States1300 Posts
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