My writing style

HaWkAgE · 03-07-2009, 08:07 AM

See now reviewing is not about how great a video game is but the faults and general idea about what is or isn't wrong with the game. I find it hard nowaday's to play a game and think wait i've seen this already? Gears Of War 5??? :O
Alot of games in the recent year have been pretty aweful and have to say maybe 5 games hit the "Best game of the year" standard. Now i'm just sidetracking, so, when i see reviews i see too much depth into the use of vocabulary, of course pretty long words to explain a movement of Link's sword hitting a flower is great but i think reviewers don't seem to target an audience that want to hear the facts but without too much reading about it's history. I don't want to open up GamesTM and read the review about Halo 3 and what happened to Cheif in the many wars he had, it's about the gameplay and scenario's ect. ect.
I'm writing here as a spectator as a reviewer and reader and thought i'de express my views on modern video games reviewing and wish to some day get my idea heard of.

Thanks HaWk.

yaustar · 03-07-2009, 12:37 PM

The huge wall of text made your post incredibly hard to read. You also state that you want your idea heard but don't actually mention the idea and instead, listed what you didn't want in a review.

Criticise others only when you have done it yourself.

HaWkAgE · 03-07-2009, 01:59 PM

How can i express my idea when i havn't posted an example of what i mean? All i'm mentioning is how i see reviews as time goes by and what i think.

That is that when writing your review, the marking system out of 10 is all good if your about 12 and just want to skip the ending because you "don't want to play anymore" before reading the bloody thing. What you want is to raise the question at the end, ask the reader whever they think it's worth it, tell them what the game is for, not what the makers of the game target it for.

Too many reviews say how great the game is without bringing major flaws, main aspect in the reviews is the graphics, however if you ask me graphics are nothing to do with the game and yet i'm still reading about how Dead Space has a great atmosphere when actually if you play the game it's kind of repetitive and kind of like flicking a lightswitch on and off whilst seeing someone kill themselves. :O. Or when your playing Mirror's Edge and the bloom effect is so perfected you could get a tan just staring at a wall from your very own room.
No i don't care about the graphics, it's the gameplay, if i was given a penny for everyone that said the story was amazing i would be a millionaire because when i got round to actually playing the game i'de fell asleep as the cut scenes being so bloody long.
Often i see reviews that blab on about the story and i think, "Do i really need to know EVERYTHING about it before i play it?" Or maybe just give me the jist of what i'm expected?

So, yes i sidetrack alot in what i write but this is how i express myself, i hope i've made things clearer and explained things better for you.

yaustar · 03-08-2009, 08:28 AM

There are many gamers who want to play a game for the story which is why games like Metal Gear Solid and Final Fantasy series do so well. Gameplay is not everything to everyone, people have different tastes and games will aim to target those tastes.

The experience of playing is usually the most important and gameplay can attribute to it but isn't the only factor.

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What you want is to raise the question at the end, ask the reader whever they think it's worth it

How they can ask that when the reader is usually reading the review to find out whether they should buy the game in the first place?

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That is that when writing your review, the marking system out of 10 is all good if your about 12 and just want to skip the ending because you "don't want to play anymore" before reading the bloody thing.

Edge got rid of the mark system for a month as an experiment a while back. I can't remember what the findings were.

What I would really like to see is a review by you that fixes what you perceive as flaws in other's reviews. In other words, "walk the walk".

Edit:

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No i don't care about the graphics, it's the gameplay,

Yet all you have said about Mirror's Edge and Dead Space in that post are about graphics, not the game.

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if i was given a penny for everyone that said the story was amazing i would be a millionaire because when i got round to actually playing the game i'de fell asleep as the cut scenes being so bloody long.

Then it isn't targeting you as the game's target audience. Like you, I don't like long cutscenes which is why I avoid games like Metal Gear and Final Fantasy but at the same time, understand and appreciate why others love playing these type of games.

HaWkAgE · 03-10-2009, 06:31 AM

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Originally Posted by yaustar

There are many gamers who want to play a game for the story which is why games like Metal Gear Solid and Final Fantasy series do so well. Gameplay is not everything to everyone, people have different tastes and games will aim to target those tastes.

The experience of playing is usually the most important and gameplay can attribute to it but isn't the only factor.

1.How they can ask that when the reader is usually reading the review to find out whether they should buy the game in the first place?

2.Edge got rid of the mark system for a month as an experiment a while back. I can't remember what the findings were.

3.What I would really like to see is a review by you that fixes what you perceive as flaws in other's reviews. In other words, "walk the walk".

Edit:

4.Yet all you have said about Mirror's Edge and Dead Space in that post are about graphics, not the game.

5.Then it isn't targeting you as the game's target audience. Like you, I don't like long cutscenes which is why I avoid games like Metal Gear and Final Fantasy but at the same time, understand and appreciate why others love playing these type of games.

1. Well basically once the review has been done, at the end of it there should be a summary of about 3 - 4 lines or bullet points about the + and - parts of the game whever it be gamestyle, gameplay, graphics, physics, storyline, fan based maybe, ect. ect. then have a few more lines stating what sort of audience the target game being reviewed is for.

2. I didn't know about that but if it's back i guess it didn't go so well.

3. I shall spend some time over the next week or so to do this

It has been a while since i wrote one fully but when i joined this site the other day i thought i'de raise a few points i have as a reader and writer.
This career is something i've always wanted to do because there is alot of possibilities to improve for the better in the gaming industry (media wise) that i would love to be apart of in the future.

4. Yes because i raised the issue that graphics arn't important and how it's a tad OTT. My Dead Space comment was about the atmosphere of the game and how it repeats itself which isn't commenting on it's graphics.
Sure graphics are awesome in a way of realism but that's were some games are concentrated on that aspect which makes the rest of the game bad in alot of cases.

5. See now as a Metal Gear Solid and Final Fantasy fan i agree with you on the fact that you need to understand all genre's and target audiences. However seeing as though you brought up MGS :P I found the latest game Guns Of The Patriots to be OTT with the story, they went through such lengths to tell you about things that MGS fans already knew, too many love stories getting in the way of the game, just because Otogon and Naomi full for each other doesn't make me feel like i'm playing a stealth killing mission most of the game. It almost feels like the story rid the gameplay off too much. There was cutscenes for every mission i did lasting at least 30 minutes which was great to watch but realised i didn't really play the game at all really. The first MGS games were far better though this isn't a review

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FF games are great because the game is an RPG and follows the rule of a fantasy world with fast differences to real life so a story for this series is essential for the gamer to fully understand what he/she is doing.

So yeah thanks for replying you seem to know alot of your stuff and enjoy speaking with you

yaustar · 03-11-2009, 06:37 AM

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FF games are great because the game is an RPG and follows the rule of a fantasy world with fast differences to real life so a story for this series is essential for the gamer to fully understand what he/she is doing.

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No i don't care about the graphics, it's the gameplay

Where is the gameplay in the FF series? If you took the story out, would you still play the game? Would you still call it a good game?

HaWkAgE · 03-12-2009, 05:54 AM

Well the story in FF games grab you into the game and make you feel for each character without overdoing it like a few games do or not at all. The gameplay is the RPG sde of it no? Without the story it would just be a slash and kill game progressivly getting stronger with new aspects to the character.
So yeah without the story it would still have good gameplay. All RPG's follow the same stereotypes that they have in them but FF was the first to master it.

yaustar · 03-12-2009, 06:55 AM

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The gameplay is the RPG sde of it no?

Which personally, I find repetitive and boring especially the need to 'grind' to level up to progress in FF which I don't consider to be good gameplay. Do you?

HaWkAgE · 03-13-2009, 03:19 AM

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Originally Posted by yaustar

Which personally, I find repetitive and boring especially the need to 'grind' to level up to progress in FF which I don't consider to be good gameplay. Do you?

Good gameplay would be the addiction and the personality of the player playing the game. See now if you was to play Tetris and say that's a good game (Just an example) The game is very repetitive but does that make it boring? FF is the same, it all depends how much you enjoy levelling up, many players of FF play it to unlock all secret including every super weapon, stories, potions, level 100, ect. ect.
All games have a bad side to them and the one i think FF falls under is the fact that you can't pick and choose who you wish to fight, the newer FF12 let's you avoid enemies which is a plus side though. But yeah mate i know what you mean, i remember playing FF9 and getting tired of trying to beat this one boss and needed specific weapons and magic to kill him. However knowing i want to go back and play the game later or the next day to me is a good game.

yaustar · 03-13-2009, 06:37 AM

I disagree, in terms of Tetris you are progressing through the game (ie upping your score) every time you complete a line therefore the player is always engaged in progression despite the repetitive nature of the game.

In FF, you have to grind (beat bunch of random enemies), sometimes for hours in order to progress/drive the story which is usually the core aim of most players. The act/need to grind prevents progression through the game.

Shadowrun on the SNES had a different system where if you were not powerful enough in a certain area, you could employ/pay an AI player/mercenary to fulfil that role allowing the player to progress through the story more quickly.

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However knowing i want to go back and play the game later or the next day to me is a good game.

Are you going back for the story or for the gameplay? Is the story driving you to play the game or the gameplay mechanics?

The point I am challenging you here is that a good game doesn't always rely on good gameplay. A good game may have average gameplay but the rest of the package makes it a good experience and therefore a good game.

Rez would be a good example, good combination of sound and visuals makes playing the game a good experience despite the basic gameplay mechanic being rather simple and unimaginative.