A lot has been said about video game reviews and how they should be scored. Scale of 100? Scale of 10? Four stars? Five stars? I’m not saying I don’t look at Metacritic’s aggregations, but scores are pretty arbitrary. Until you find a specific reviewer who can consistently replicate your tastes, it’s hard to trust random gaming journalists and the number they assign to a game.
Tycho over at Penny Arcade informally reviews the latest Zelda adventure for the DS, Phantom Hourglass:
I picked up my copy of Phantom Hourglass yesterday, along with a Cinnabon, returning later to buy another Cinnabon for a “friend who really likes cinammon,” proceeding to eat both in the front seat of my car, sometimes honking inadvertently.
…
I had time to play it a little when we got back, but we’ve had an enigmatic Japanese copy in the office for a while. That is to say, we already knew of its incredible polish – the exotic, aromatic oils, waxed deep into the dark wood. My favorite review is actually in a 1up writer’s personal blog, and I’m not in a position to speak to much of it yet, but if you’re hesitant about what stylus exclusive controls would do to Zelda, a half hour with the game will dispel it. At forty five minutes you will be absolutely transported. After an hour, in the margin of your thoughts, you’ll begin to fantasize about what they’ll do in the Wii.
It’s not technically a review, but it does give his opinion about the game and lets most anyone know the single most important factor: it’s fun and it’s worth it. There’s no score attached, but you have no question as to whether he thinks it’s a good game or not. Also, that line about honking the car horn is comedy gold.
For me, it was a lot of fun to read about someone’s experience playing a game, rather than a list of pluses and minuses. Do you think there’s a place for game reviews similar to what Tycho posted?
I agree David. I know we started doing stars here on Infendo, but I’d like to take it up a notch, to quote Emeril, and really push the envelope with detailed, rich “impressions” of games — not necessarily reviews — like Penny Arcade is apt at doing. Oh, and I will not use cliches.
Certainly there’s a place for “impressions”. I love reading them from writers I’m familiar with. That being said, the star system being used at infendo is fantastic. It gives you an idea of the level of quality/fun of the game yet necessitates reading the actual review.
The way to balance a scoring method against what is written is to use nothing numeric, but give a final verdict. If you have a final verdict scale that can be one of:
Avoid it
Rent it
Buy it
Hot Damn Buy it now (optional)
This way the reader gets specific advice on what to do when it comes to that game and an unethical critic’s bull will be even more apparent if the text does not reflect the advice. I really hope you guys adopt a system along these lines.
Personally I don’t know that the Star Rating is necessary. I do like Hunter’s review system.
Over at NintendoWorldReport.com, they use a system for Virtual Console games that reads as follows:
Not Recommended
Recommended for Fans
Recommended for Everyone
This is a great system, because it really makes you read what they’ve written, but they’re still giving a solid opinion with the rating at the end.
I agree that the current “Review” scale of most magazines and sites are sadly lacking. I love the newer style of “impression†reviews done by various places now.
Indeed! I personally believe that review scores should quietly retire in favor of a simple system of recommendation, such as the one mentioned by Andrew(MG) above. No amount of scoring tells me much about whether or not I personally will enjoy the game!
the problem with a scoring system as apposed to an advice system is it is too subjective. Some would see the number 7 and deduce that a game should not be bought or rented at that score which may not be the reviewers intent. Critics could actually benefit from this more advice based system as it would prevent their point from being misconstrued. It would also free them from people getting bent out of shape over the difference between an 8 9 or 10 which would likely become recommended or “buy it” titles under an advice based system.
The article from 1up that Tycho links to is awful. The article refers to people angry about 1up’s Zelda: PH review as “nerds on the internet”. Has Jeremy seen a photo of himself or thought about where he works? Jeremy continues to rip apart Nintendo’s practices, claiming that Nintendo has “bad habits”. Why do series like Halo get away with being stale while Nintendo, the most original developer out there, gets scrutinized? I’m really tired of EGM/1up’s and their ‘snobbish’ approach to game reviews.
I don’t know that Mr. Parish (I think I misspelled that) is quite as derogatory as you claim. He has said that he enjoys the game, but critics have been saying for some time now that Nintendo’s older franchises need a little freshness. I understand this stance, what critics don’t seem to understand is that Nintendo has done as much in the past and their fans revolted look at Zelda Two: The Adventure of Link. I think when they attack the point of stale series they need to acknowledge the fact that Nintendo now finds themselves in a tight spot when it comes to revamping their series.
Hunter, I think this leads into what has been a point of contention for me for quite some time – if you are going to continue to release versions of Zelda, ensuring the customer that you still will produce these types of games, why not also establish a new franchise that takes ideas from Zelda and pushes them in completely new directions? If Nintendo is hesitant to radically change the Zelda franchise for fear of whiplash, then it should start another franchise it can play with.
Same goes for every other long-standing Nintendo franchise that the Nintendo fan holds sacred. It is time for some new IPs in the fold, and I don’t mean touch generations content. I’m talking about games in the vein of Metroid, Mario & Zelda, but with a fresh game world, fresh characters, and a new spin.
People who claim that Nintendo is not making new IPs need to open their eyes a little. Battalion Wars 2 is a new and innovative franchise that came about in the last gen as well as Pickmin, Animal Crossing, Giest and Chibi Robo. Problem is that these titles do not get the love they deserve because the typical Nintendo audience is not looking for something new they want another Zelda, and in fact piss and moan if a press conference comes and goes without the announcement of another Zelda Metroid etc. Face it we like to offload the blame to them, but end-of-day we nurtured the wrong behavior.
Here’s my two cents on the subject:
I honestly don’t think there’s anything wrong with providing a number with your review. I personally believe that 1-10 (with all the little .whatevers in between) is an accurate way to rate a game when accompanied by an explanation. I don’t understand all of the fuss over that.
Having played through quite a bit of this game so far, I have to agree with the person “reviewing” it. The game is quite fantastic. But let’s say he provided a number with his review. Does that automatically invalidate it?
The point is, there’s nothing wrong with the reviewing system as it is. All you have to do is get to know your reviewer’s likes and dislikes and you can sort out what is important to you, as the reader, and what is not. For instance: I read the reviews of games over at IGN.com. I like them. Know why? Because I know the difference between Matt Cassamassina (excuse my probably butchering of his name) and Mark Bozon, and I can tell who’s writing a review without even looking at the top of the page. And I know what points I agree with them on and which ones I don’t. I appreciate the fact that there is a number there to look at so I know the flavor and mood of the review I’m about to read. If it’s a 2.0, I’m going to hear a lot of negative things about the game and I’m probably not going to buy it unless I’m crazy. If it’s a 9.5, I’m going to look forward to why this game is going to be worth my $35. Even if it is a 9.5, though, doesn’t mean I’m going to buy that game because that reviewer may have found something enamoring about the game that I know I’ll find irritating (my copy of Metroid Prime: Hunters for the DS is gathering dust on a shelf…I need to sell that game, it was terrible).
You get my point here?
It’s the responsibility of the gamer to read the review selectively and according to his or her personal tastes. Otherwise, you’re in for a bit let down and you write for a blog where everyone keeps complaining about the ratings system, which no one appears to understand. At all.
The way reviews should really be (something I love because of Chris Gore and his DVD reviews).
It is either a buy, rent, or avoid. On top of that, it’s either good, bad, or worth your time for the experience. A review can accompany it, but that is the verdict.
If a game isn’t great but is worth playing at least once for the experience because it’s fun but not awesome, rent it.
If it’s great, you buy it.
If it’s bad, avoid it, or maybe rent it if you are intrigued to find out for yourself since not all tastes are the same.
And then there is the stay the hell away.
Did anyone read the 1UP unofficial review linked to in Tycho’s post?
THAT is a great review. PERFECT. Do yourself a favor and read it. I like it when reviewers are honest and not worried about the politics of a score.
Hunter: While you support your opinion well, I have to disagree about that rating system. I don’t want someone else telling me to buy a game or not buy it. What if you like challenging games and review one as a “Buy It?” If I like easy games then I wouldn’t buy it no matter how good it is. A review does much better when it targets who would enjoy the game and who wouldn’t.
This would be pretty tedious, but impression reviews would work if you found about 4 different people of different tastes (hardcore, casual, parent, etc.) and let ALL of them give their impression of a title, posting them all on the same page. That would give a great all-around passive review of any title.
I do think we need a simplified rating system like Andrew(MG) said. I have one friend, and he bases EVERYTHING about a game because of IGN’s score. He was psyched for Dragon Blade: Wrath of Fire- saw all the videos and screenshots, now hates the game because it got a 5.9. He doesn’t buy, rent, or try ANY game that got below an 8. Funny enough, he loves Red Steel but doesn’t know it got a 6. How can I convince him to stop basing his views on IGN’s scores?!
Clonester: It is not telling, but suggesting, that you take action. It is essentially saying worth 50bucks worth 10bucks or worth nothing. Even if you leave numbers in the result is the same the reader simply makes a decision that games of a certain score or higher are worth buying. There is no tangible difference between an 8, 9 or 10 they are all widely considered great games, but some are even more great? So why not take the ambiguity out and make genuine suggestions?
I also am a big booster of multiple people reviewing a single title. There is a reason people liked Siskel and Ebert. It provided a frame of reference to say either one liked it or both, usually movies that they both liked had a more universal appeal and were a sure bet. Of course that supposes that your tastes are in line with either of them.
Honestly I may be the last person to ask. I am big on renting it allows me to find out for myself what the quality of a game is. I usually read reviews to find out if a game is so broken that it is not even worth the rental. I have rented and enjoyed a number of games that were panned by critics on all platforms, some I have gone to buy later some I got all the satisfaction I needed out of the rental.
wow. i can’t believe this is still being discussed.
my favorite comments: anytime someone suggests replacing scores with a non-numeric ordinal review system. I give those comments a ‘buy it’ and a half. irony ftw.
and as for PA, his ‘review’ tells me he likes it. well, gabe likes pokemon a lot. but i’m not running out to buy it too. I really have no idea if I’ll like PH that. (good thing he actually refers me to a review.)