Rensin Rants: Everyone's a Critic!

[Harmonic]

Soooo, this is something I've been wanting to get off my chest for a while, and what a better community to do it in than good ol' CoTH, eh? The topic I'm bringing up is the idea of criticism in gaming. HENCE why this is in "Other Games".

Now, what am I getting at here? I'm getting at how things are generally handled with media these days, pertaining to the good old gaming industry and how it handles games. This is a multifaceted rant, mostly because there's several things that irk me with the way that games are presented these days, and how information is handled---it's very sloppy. Sure, there's commercialism and such that puts a different spin on things, but what I'm talking about is the nasty, seedy underbelly of being a "critic".

One of the things that I know, and that is a universal truth---not one damn person on the face of the earth likes the same things you do. If it were that way, LIFE WOULD BE BORING. There wouldn't be variety, there would be spice, and everyone would look like Johnny Stick Figure--- the same cardboard cutout re-done over and over again. That is something that we all forget very easily, sometimes even here on CoTH. We all have different likes and dislikes. That's a different conversation for a topic I will -never- make, mind you, but how it pertains to my rant here...

Is like this. A game comes out. Wonderful! X amount of people buy it, play it, and say it's so great, you'd cry over it as if you just saw your only child's face for the first time after being cured of blindness that's consumed your life for 30 years. Basically, it's sex on toast.

Y amount of people say it sucks. They hate it so much, they've established a website to ban it in all countries except those that should be subjected to such a horrific mess.

Again, different tastes. However, you get Mr. Critic to come along. This is a guy that makes money off of his super-entitled opinion, and makes the money because he can put his words in a way that's almost poetic, that makes other people nod like bobble-heads because they don't know how to formulate their own opinions. This guy decides "I don't like the game. Not my thing."

Fine. Wonderful. Perfect. Except...

This guy goes on rants about it. (Lol, rants.) He uses his following to call for people to stop playing it, and people rally behind him like a wonton mob fueled by nothing other than Mountain Dew and the want to be a part of something. SOME have never even played the game, or seen footage---they just read the guy's article, or seen his five minute youtube video of why the game is so sucky.

These people use a "critic" site to give the game a bad score. People go here, thinking that it's a fair way to judge a game, read about alllll the problems, and none of the merits. Sales drop. People get pissed and ask for change.

Then there's the people that like it. They feel alienated, and obscured. They payed good money for the game! I could have amounted to more, or had a longer life, but it was killed pre-maturely because "The Critics" gave it that seed of doubt that grew into a tree of hate. The game dies, forever living in obscurity, except for the few who embraced it during it's short life.

On the other side---sometimes a game gets WAY too much praise and for all the wrong reasons. Something interesting happens in the media, the game gets some attention, people buy it. Critics give it a thumbs up based on their personal taste, and then sales skyrocket! No real value is added to the gaming industry, as it just happens to be a Brown Shooter in which you have to shoot a squirrel to get further, and Peta threw a fit. A Critic said the game was okay, so it started to sell like wildfire because it's edgey and it's not COMPLETE crap!


Right. So both of these are instances that are extremes. However, they are brought up because they are based on real events. Two of which come to mind... both based on shit from EA. The one that comes to mind the most is "Mass Effect 3". -Everyone- knows what happened there. They released the game with an ending that had you choose a red, green, or blue version of the final scene... something that gamers didn't expect. People complained and whined until the company was forced to elaborate, and expand on it EVEN THOUGH it was -not- something that was owed to anyone. Plain and simple---this was not something that gamers "earned" the rights to. Super Mario ended very abruptly, and noone stormed up to Nintendo, and said "HEY. Peach needs to bake me a damn cake, and I need an explanation for all the silly dinosaurs. YOU OWE IT TO US!".

You'll argue, "Rensin, that's not a story heavy game." Nope. And that's not my point. My point is, that you have as about as much creative input in a game as you did in the 90's. Or at least, you should. You get something at face value, and should deal with the consequences of it. Either you like it, or you don't---don't force change because you hate it.

Too many critics do this. They try to mold games to suit -their- needs. I've seen this crap on Massively, on youtube... on Steam forums. Everyone is a critic these days. Some of the more famous ones, like TotalHalibut, often do the most damage. They have the loudest voices, and a rabid fan base that eats up everything they say. He's one example, and many more come to mind.


So, here's what I propose to us as gamers. Small scale this is---it's what I ask of anyone that happens to read this. FORMULATE your own opinion. Do so by researching, trying things out, getting information. Don't rely on someone else's opinion alone to make your own assumption on a game.

If you dislike a game, -don't- try to change it or get angry when that doesn't happen. Accept that it's not your thing, and move on. Be informed, be smart, and be open. Don't put everyone in the same mold you were wrought from. They won't fit, and will only get hurt in the process.

[Demigod204]

Sounds like ludonarrative dissonance for bioshock series lol.

[Harmonic]

Well, I am sort of talking to myself, so I guess I see the relation you're making there, lol.

[Demigod204]

The case that irked me the most recently was bioshock infinite. Idk if stuff like that is exactly what your talking about, but I feel like I sympathize with you lol.

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Well nice rant :P you're not alone on your thinking.

[Harmonic]

The case that irked me the most recently was bioshock infinite. Idk if stuff like that is exactly what your talking about, but I feel like I sympathize with you lol.

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Well nice rant :P you're not alone on your thinking.

That's one of the games, yes. Personally I didn't buy it, but I know -many- people that squeezed all the fun that they could get out of it and considered it to be a good game. There's a lot of critics that just shat all over it, and while that's fine and dandy I think it's funny when people like Halibut say "Don't pay X amount for this, it sends a message."

He -tells- people what to do, assuming automatically everyone will hate the game or -should- hate the game based on his personal beliefs. NOW, to be fair, I don't mean to only rag on him. He's given some fair praise to other games, but... overall he and the critics of games tend to tear everything up they can find.

It's like gamers these days just -look- for problems with games.

[Roxas65]

I remember that one site that gave Alice: Madness Returns a 2/10. i mean fine, the game was pretty bad because almost none of the mechanics were working properly and the game was often outright annoying to play, but the dude who reviewed the game for the site had up to that point reviewed nothing but FPS games and had never even played a platformer before. that's just lazy. Lazy and sad.

[Mathias]

Indeed, everyone is a critic. I'm completely fine with that. Art can only be improved with criticism. I welcome it. Are there extremes? Of course. Are there some reviews I completely disagree with? Yes. Do some people seem too easily swayed by a good/bad review? Of course, and I wish they would form their own opinion. Allow me, then, to add in my own opinion about a different game that was wildly praised.

Bioshock: Infinite. Starring Columbia, the Nationlist city in the sky. I did not deserve the 10/10s it was receiving all over the place. The story? The time travel/other worlds nonsense was absolutely terrible. The twist? Inferior to the one we got in Bioshock 1. The gameplay? Dear Lord, how do you manage to -downgrade- that badly about Bioshock? Our companion? Meeeh. I felt nothing for her. She was just a target that, well, didn't get targeted. It was also quite linear in terms of exploration. And a two gun limit? No, stop that. I prefer the Bioshock Infinite I saw in the fifteen minute gameplay trailer in my spoiler below. Bioshock Infinite had potential and it was ignored, but it still receives praise that I will never understand. Nice artstyle, though.

Spoiler:

I suppose you also deserve a quick comment on your Mass Effect 3 example, so I'll sum it up quick and then rant: The fans deserved the extended ending. Up until Mass Effect 3 was released, the players heard many claims from the producers and developers such as:

1. You will receive wildly different endings
2. Your choices will matter
3. No magic in space
4. No A, B, C

Wildly different endings? They were only different depending on how many space points you received. Your choices will matter? They only matter to give points, points that can be easily replaced by either doing everything possible in the single player campaign for Mass Effect 3 or by playing online multiplayer (multiplayer should not effect single player in such a dumb way). No magic in space? Crucible. No A, B, C? It was there. Would you like to Deus Ex Dark Age ending, the Deus Ex Illuminati ending, or the Deus Ex Helios ending? That is what the endings amounted to. The players were upset for good reason. Their choices and their Shepard were screwed over.

Of course, opinions. I tend to have unpopular ones about video games. Agree to disagree and all that jazz. (I never know how to end these rants properly.) Criticism is a necessary part of any art, video games included.

[Harmonic]

Yep, and that's your opinion that you're allowed to have. I bet a lot of people bought that game and were disappointed to find that it wasn't a ten on their own personal scale, such as you said. But, we've already had someone in here posting saying that they liked the game, and didn't think it should get some of the hate it got. Difference in opinions, yeah? Whether it deserves a 10 or a 0 is up to the individual to determine.

And, in the case of ME3. I'm probably crazy. I considered the entire game the SERIES end, and in that game I saw many instances where my past choices came up for one reason or another, changing my personal story more so than the guy next to me. When it came down to it, I -saw- why the devs promised that choices mattered, and that there was wildly different endings---my game -was- different, the ONLY same thing that happened was that the last hour to 20 minutes of the game for me was summed up the same as the other possible endings.

Again, it's something I understand why people were angry with, but don't agree on. A lot of people bought that game based on "promises" and were upset with the "reality", which is why I implore everyone to -research- before buying. Try it out. Read on it. Watch some videos. Formulate your own opinion. That way, if people get burned, you'll decide yourself if that's what you want, or what you don't want. Instead, we had people unhappy with what was promised, and forced a change to suit their own wants.

Not something I agree with, and think is poisonous to the industry.

[Demigod204]

Ya but the ludonarrative dissonance was the dumb argument you could bash bioshock infinite with. The fact that you can shoot some innocent person and they won't die? I can point out many other games that have that. What you said about the game design and story however, is an opinion that I agree with.

[Roxas65]

Indeed, everyone is a critic. I'm completely fine with that. Art can only be improved with criticism. I welcome it.

I have a problem with this. I have never seen reviews actually have a positive effect on a medium, games especially. It seems that almost every "professional" critic will review a game for its faults if he hates it, or praise its merits if he likes it. I rarely see a critic paying credit where credit is due, even in a game he hated, except quickly in passing, almost as if they included it because they have to, but hope nobody picked it up. Same for the other way around.

And it VEXES how the same game can be released over and over and over again and -still- score 8/10 every installation. reviews like that have ruined many, many games.

My example for this will be Insomniac Games' "FUSE" previously called "Overstrike." When it was revealed as Overstrike, it was a game rich in character, color and creativity but after the first opinions from the "critics" came in, EA forced it to be remade as a brown shooter, completely devoid of any creativity or character. I watched the trailers for FUSE, even played the demo, and I almost wept over the wasted potential and creative sacrifice. I've seen this happen time and time again and never have I seen it happen the other way.

[Demigod204]

Some of my favorite movies/games get low ratings while others I like get high ratings. It's all a matter of perspective.

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I love critics that highlight the pros and cons of a game. Giving it praise when it's due, but offering suggestions on where it could be better. Gameinformer magazine does a decent job at that.

[Harmonic]

It's impossible to be a critic and be impartial. Absolutely impossible. Critiquing something is based on your own likes and dislikes. Do I think that critics can hurt the gaming industry? Yes. They often have a goal to make things suit their wants, and that can be a very slippery slope. Mold your own conclusion. Complain loud enough and the mountains will bend. Get your Zerg force to storm the wall, and anything can be conquested.

I know, I know. That's a bit outlandish, but, it's the reality of it. Sometimes the loudest voices trample upon the meek, as is the case of gaming. Devs listen to the sound of money, and if they think that's being threatened they compromise, selling out even further to those who control their fate. I just don't agree with it. I -do- agree with you using critics to formulate your own opinion. They can be helpful for that. I -don't- think Critics should actively try to change the industry, which every one of them thinks they need to be a crusader in doing so.

[Demigod204]

Also my all time favorite game (aside from LoL) is Final Fantasy 7, a game among a series that receive either extreme love or extreme hate.

[Mathias]

Indeed, everyone is a critic. I'm completely fine with that. Art can only be improved with criticism. I welcome it.

I have a problem with this. I have never seen reviews actually have a positive effect on a medium, games especially. It seems that almost every "professional" critic will review a game for its faults if he hates it, or praise its merits if he likes it. I rarely see a critic paying credit where credit is due, even in a game he hated, except quickly in passing, almost as if they included it because they have to, but hope nobody picked it up. Same for the other way around.

A fault with the reviewers themselves and the close relationship between review site and publisher. I could point out DmC: Devil May Cry as a game that had reviewers and publishers in the same bed, but your typical CoD-clone will work well enough, since you provided that example. Criticism is still fine when provided by critics who care (like Kain) or by fans who love a series or genre too much to see it die, like ourselves. If we're lucky, the industry will listen.

Not something I agree with, and think is poisonous to the industry.

I will partly agree with this, actually. For different reasons. There have been some games that were ruined because fans wanted stupid things. Fans that thought Mass Effect 3's ending should have been done better = Agreement from me. The 12 year old kids that said Overstrike was too kiddy = I hate you people.

[Demigod204]

I can give you reasons to love or hate a certain game. I wouldn't say critics can't be open minded at all.

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I feel like this thread might become a little hostile, if not already. I'll just say it boils down to your opinion.