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[theusedversion]

Umm how?

Hmm, I've been gaming for something like 30 years and I know what I like. Do you not?

 

[Necromanti]

Was this really prompted by the fact that some people (or game journalists) happened to have negative impressions about The Order...? But I agree that general impressions from multiple people and things like Quick Looks are more effective in conveying whether a game might be good, fun, or would appeal to you.

 

[Kimosabae]

This website becomes insane regarding reviews around this time every year like clockwork. Despite the fact that many seem to agree reviews have little value for most people on this site.

I wish GAF would consider fostering a more community-oriented approach to reviewing games so that the spotlight is taken off journalists and arbitrary scores. I tend to find enthusiast impressions such as GAF's more valuable, anyway. There should be a 'GAF-Review' Thread for every new release, or even a forum dedicated to reviews.

 

[Mohasus]

I disagree, the OP seems like "Why I don't need game reviews in my life".

I don't read/watch reviews to decide my purchases. I do it because I think it is fun. For example, I watch Mark/Lord Karnage/CGR knowing that I'll probably never play 95% of the games he reviews.

 

[UrbanRats]

You're probably an expert in video games
Yes, I know the meme but think for a moment: how long have you been playing games? How many games have you finished/played? Do you have your own taste, favourite genres and series, etc? If your hobby is gaming and you're dedicated to it, you are probably at least on pair with the person who wrote the review, if not better. Why should they dictate what you play?

Sounds cheesy, but that's basically the reason i hardly care about reviews.
I got my own tastes and i can just see what games i'll most likely enjoy and at what price.

With a few hiccups along the way, i feel like the method just works.
-
Also, after so many 9/10 to AC3, how can you trust reviews?

Games media for me is more useful for general news articles and especially entertainment (podcasts, and such).
Even when i watch things like Just Played on GT or listen to opinions on the bombcast or the like, even though i enjoy hearing their opinions, i know i often have different tastes, so they don't influence me much at all.

 

[jesu]

Reading GAF OTs has to be the single worst way to tell if a game is good or not.

Generally the OTs are full of hyped up people who are justifying their purchases to the world. Even more so if a game is an exclusive, in which case the OT is beyond useless.

For the most part game reviews are pretty ok in sorting the good from the bad. Obviously there will be differences of opinion from time to time, which is why it pays to read more than one outlet.

Saying ignore reviews and listen to GAF makes no sense to me. GAF is overrun with fanboys so you would be jumping out of the frying pan and into a fucking huge inferno of a fire if your aim is to get a decent opinion.

Funny that this is off the back of the thread about The Order too. A thread about a preview which is quite balanced and justifies every point it makes, yet goes against the wailing fanboys who just want to hear blind praise for a game they haven't played.

I feel the opposite.
User opinions on Neogaf and other places are overly negative even at the slightest things.
If I was to listen to user reviews, I'd never buy a single game.

 

[Melchiah]

Reading GAF OTs has to be the single worst way to tell if a game is good or not.

Generally the OTs are full of hyped up people who are justifying their purchases to the world. Even more so if a game is an exclusive, in which case the OT is beyond useless.

OTs can be influenced by hype, but I've bought few games based on Gaf feedback and I wasn't disappointed, like Tomb Raider due to the GOTY votes.

 

[Tempesta di Fuoco]

"I do not like Eurogamer because they told me not to preorder something"

"You should listen to me because I'm telling you not to read something"

And all that effort in the OP for nothing.

 

[travisbickle]

Reading GAF OTs has to be the single worst way to tell if a game is good or not.

Generally the OTs are full of hyped up people who are justifying their purchases to the world. Even more so if a game is an exclusive, in which case the OT is beyond useless.

For the most part game reviews are pretty ok in sorting the good from the bad. Obviously there will be differences of opinion from time to time, which is why it pays to read more than one outlet.

Saying ignore reviews and listen to GAF makes no sense to me. GAF is overrun with fanboys so you would be jumping out of the frying pan and into a fucking huge inferno of a fire if your aim is to get a decent opinion.

Funny that this is off the back of the thread about The Order too. A thread about a preview which is quite balanced and justifies every point it makes, yet goes against the wailing fanboys who just want to hear blind praise for a game they haven't played.

User opinion is great.

For me, reviews went the way of the Dodo after one of the big sites posted a disparaging Football Manager review from someone who obviously did not want to play the game. Why would I care about someone's opinion who doesn't want to play the game? unless, like you say, I want to confirm my non-purchasing decision.

 

[sublimit]

I disagree, the OP seems like "Why I don't need game reviews in my life".

I don't read/watch reviews to decide my purchases. I do it because I think it is fun. For example, I watch Mark/Lord Karnage/CGR knowing that I'll probably never play 95% of the games he reviews.

It's even more fun to read reviews after i've played a game they reviewed just to see how much off the mark they usually are.

 

[ArkhamFantasy]

At the very least, we need a performance break-down of the game. (Including online, sorry publishers, you need open beta's on all online games so everyone will know if it actually, you know, works?)

If a game runs at sub-20 FPS i need to know about it, if it has constant or progression stopping bugs i need to know about it, if it's an online game thats servers dont work i need to know about it.

The art style, level design, gameplay mechanics,story, and music are all subjective.

 

[danm999]

You don't need to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Don't treat reviews homogenously.

Some are terrible and useless. Some are insightful and helpful. Find a website/publication/reviewer whose taste aligns with yours. Look at how they've evaluated your favorite games in the past to get an idea to do this.

And yeah, I might know a lot about games, but reviews are there to help me find out about games I haven't played yet.

 

[OzPinoy]

nicolecagelaugh.gif

Seriously OP i need to read reviews to save myself from wasting my own precious time on sh!tty games. If only the lifespan of human is immortal. I would be playing games without reading a single f'kn word of someone else opinion. I'll play whatever pique my interest. Sadly that isn't the case.

 

[MrBadger]

Usually I can tell if I'll like a game from gameplay videos so I just use reviews to get smug/mad about.

 

[GeordieMark]

User opinion is great.

For me, reviews went the way of the Dodo after one of the big sites posted a disparaging Football Manager review from someone who obviously did not want to play the game. Why would I care about someone's opinion who doesn't want to play the game? unless, like you say, I want to confirm my non-purchasing decision.

I agree that some reviews can be off the mark, but I usually find that if you read a few, they will reach a consensus, and it's usually pretty much right in my view.

I should clarify that I'm not writing off GAF entirely, but the signal-to-noise ratio is low. For every decent, well articulated and considered opinion on a game, there are ten or so posts of complete garbage.

GAF tends to shine well after a game's release, when hype has died down and the console warriors have moved on to the next big thing. That's when I find the most reliable and reasonable posts on the quality of a game are made.

 

[ThatStupidLion]

Dont remember the last time time i deliberately read a game review... Ive got gaf.

The closest i come is clicking the gaf review threads once in a while but thats less because i care about the reviews and more to read the one sentence quotes thats the OP selects.

 

[Messofanego]

I gave OP a chance but this is another tired "don't listen to reviews, make your own judgements" rant. Read this sentiment a thousand times by now. I hope FeiRR never does a review or expects us to read his/her opinion if we're sticking to the logic in this OP. Everyone checks gameplay footage, that's just captain obvious stuff. Reviews are a part of all of this, any opinion you'd read on a GAF |OT| is the same as a review with just not as many words. There's really not that much difference, so if you're not into reviews then you're neither for impressions you'd read in a thread here cause there'll be subjective opinions everywhere! Have you seen what happens to games without reviews? They don't even get an |OT| and if they do, it is very small like about less than 5 pages.

At least you didn't tell me that Youtubers can be more trusted than gaming critics (when actually they can be the ones who are corrupt such as those brand deals)

I totally disagree that reviews aren't informative enough and believe personal opinion should be welcomed otherwise I'd check the game's website for just factual details. You seem to be more into that, so this makes sense why you don't want to rely on reviews because of those pesky opinions.

 

[Petrae]

At this point there are many ways to gauge a game, twitch has blown up, live with playstation will give you an accurate assessment of how a game plays on that particular platform. There's shareplay, a great feature where you can sample games from friends who buy many games.

The way I see it, review outlets are becoming less and less important for the gamer as a result. I doubt the average PS gamer will go read the IGN review on COD-AW or Mordor, he'll simply fire up live with playstation, see how it plays, listen to the gamer right there on the app for feedback, he can ask questions and interact as well, from there he will form his opinion.

Just as gaming print media has become obsolete, I envision many sites will shut down in the coming years. Remember when 1up was the hottest thing, that's gone, remember when gametrailers blew up, to be honest, I only remembered gametrailers exist since writing this line, have not been on that site for years. I guess this puts things in perspective, at least for me.

I agree that gaming websites are on the way down. It's an oversaturated space (has been for years) and there is only so much free time for visitors to spend viewing them. I don't think they disappear completely, but I'm thinking that we see a significant rise in site closures over the next 2-3 years.

It's a sign of the times, honestly.

On topic: While reviews aren't "needed" for most people, I tend to prefer them over simple gameplay video. I need to know more than just how a game looks and sounds; I need details on how the controls are and how it plays. Watching a video alone oftentimes fails to fulfill these personal requirements, but watching a video and/or reading some reviews does.

When I was buying new console games, I used reviews as a buying guide. Money is a finite resource, and my free time is also too valuable to waste on making the best of a bad purchase decision. There were times that I was 100% certain and didn't need the input, but when I did, it was nice to have a pool of reviews to read from.

To each their own, of course, and I do understand the lack of trust in reviewers today and in the gaming press at large. I don't always agree, but I do understand why.

 

[Arthr2ShdsJcksn]

I don't mind game reviews as long as you know that they're for entertainment purposes only (like those psychics on late night tv in the 90s).

 

[Dawg]

Nobody here actually reads reviews anyway. They just look at the score.

.

 

[AmaterasuOni]

I hardly read corrupted entertainment media. I trust other sources: friends, GAF, few other forums and some Twitch streamers. Most important source is Twitch, I get to see how the game plays and see if it interests me at all. This is why I skipped DA:I. It looks so boring, just like Skyrim and other modern hi-fantasy open world fantasy RPGs. They are just so dull.

 

[Glass Shark]

I tend not to read many professional reviews these days, but GAF is just as susceptible to hype as some members of the press are.

See: Destiny.

 

[CaptainofIndustry]

I'm ok with game reviews. They are not the final authority in whether or not I purchase a game. They can pretty much toss the number score out of the window. I value them as an outside opinion.

My advice is this: buy whatever you like or you think you will like. Don't expect everything to be perfect. Have realistic expectations. Have fun with this hobby. Real talk: Life can be hard, don't make your outlet stressful.

 

[One-Shot]

Reviews are dead to me since TLOU (and before, honestly). What a desaster that not ONE reviewer was able to comment on a framerate which was utter shit. Unbelievable and makes you question what these people even know.

Was your PS3 broken because I don't remember a single issue.

Reviews are great for me. They have saved me a lot of money so yes I do need game reviews.

 

[Chille]

User opinion is great.

For me, reviews went the way of the Dodo after one of the big sites posted a disparaging Football Manager review from someone who obviously did not want to play the game. Why would I care about someone's opinion who doesn't want to play the game? unless, like you say, I want to confirm my non-purchasing decision.

I guess that's one reason why I like how the site I'm from sorts out review copies, by making sure that the person about to play the game likes the genre and is part of the target audience.

I know I do alot of the anime reviews and indie games on the site. *well used to I am just the podcast guy right now lol

 

[Jacobi]

Game reviews suck, but listening to GAF's opinion (games are either garbage or the greatest thing ever) sucks even more...
I'm just listening to friends or I just don't give a shit and just buy the game...

 

[lolmark]

I'm a lot stingier these days. I rely on reviews because I need people to be able to write reasonably well to explain what and what doesn't work in a game. But, sometimes it's just for entertainment. For instance, I think Tom Chick's reviews are extremely well written and funny, but I've never needed to feel like I needed to agree with him.

GAF helps guides my purchases too, but I feel like the hype has screwed on a number of occasions (e.g. Destiny).

 

[kittens]

I haven't paid attention to review scores in well over ten years, honestly. I look them up for some of my favorite games, but that's just out of curiosity since I already love those games.

 

[Melchiah]

I'm a lot stingier these days. I rely on reviews because I need people to be able to write reasonably well to explain what and what doesn't work in a game. But, sometimes it's just for entertainment. For instance, I think Tom Chick's reviews are extremely well written and funny, but I've never needed to feel like I needed to agree with him.

GAF helps guides my purchases too, but I feel like the hype has screwed on a number of occasions (e.g. Destiny).

I used to read Edge's reviews, but I stopped doing so when there was a spoiler in their Resistance 3 review. That's one of the reasons why I don't read game/movie reviews before I've played/watched them myself. Too many times the experience has been spoiled for me, and it's just poor writing if you can't review something without spoiling it. I do read some reviews afterwards, just to see what they thought about something I've enjoyed. More often than not, I've found that our opinions don't align at all.

 

[gelf]

User opinion is great.

For me, reviews went the way of the Dodo after one of the big sites posted a disparaging Football Manager review from someone who obviously did not want to play the game. Why would I care about someone's opinion who doesn't want to play the game? unless, like you say, I want to confirm my non-purchasing decision.

Why should one bad review ruin all reviews. It was obvious to you that the Football Manager thing was bad and you could safely ignore everything it said. Did that ruin every other review of the game that was out there?

Is all of youtube invalidated because some people make shitty videos? is all of Neogaf a waste of time because some people shitpost?

I take what I need from reviews, the good and the bad. Sometimes I see a reviewers complaint as a positive for me and vice versa. The score at the end or even the overall impression given don't actually matter.

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

Reviews are useful if you know the author of the review before you and yourself. If you don't know both, you are rolling the dice.

 

[SmokedMeat]

I enjoy reviews, but they are just one facet of what ultimately drives me to buy a game.

 

[clem84]

Most game reviews completely ignore the above or dominate the facts with personal opinion of the reviewer which I couldn't care less about.

Then previews should be all you need because what you're asking for sounds like a preview to me. The whole point of a review is to hear someone else's opinion. I read reviews to know what the reviewer thinks of all the different characteristics of the game, if they work or not, and ultimately, if the game is fun as a result and if it has legs. I'm not sure why you're reading reviews if you're not interested in other people's opinion.

 

[Orca]

Every time some game that people - who, keep in mind, more often than not have not played it - want to like gets slated in previews/reviews, there's the same "do we need reviews/previews/games journalism" threads.

If you don't like them and think your opinion is the only one that matters, stop reading them. They live or die based on clicks.

 

[Aaron D.]

I think reviews of all types are an important tool to keep the consumer informed.

Professional reviews, online consumer reviews, even simple impressions on gaming forums & YouTube. All coalesce to give an overall vibe of a game's reception & quality level. No, it's not gospel. And of course it's always important to consider the source. Yada, yada, yada. The important thing is that it arms the consumer with info before they lay their money down.

How anyone would flip the metaphorical bird at reviews of any kind is beyond me. They're simply a tool to inform. Games can be expensive. And as with most any big purchase I make, I like to throw out the feelers to see how a product is recieved in the market before buying (Consumer Reports, AVS Forum, etc.). There's dozens if not hundreds of people out there that have already done the heavy lifting with their money and time before we even lift a finger. I'm glad their out there and I take full advantage of their knowledge.

 

[GeordieMark]

Reviews are useful if you know the author of the review before you and yourself. If you don't know both, you are rolling the dice.

I think it's generally a pretty good idea to get more than one account of pretty much anything before making your mind up.

Some opinions may hold more value than others if you know and trust them from previous experience, but it's never a bad thing to consider as many opinions as possible.

Enjoyment of a game is entirely subjective so it's never going to be an exact science. Even if you agree with every review a journo has done in the past, it doesn't mean that you always will.

 

[freethoughtbubble]

I think it's kind of pig headed to discount the opinions of other people in matters of taste. Especially since that attitude seems to be born of an intolerance for differing views.

Gaf is great for gaming impressions, but by your logic it would be all too easy to discount the opinions of any gaffer who disagrees with me until the only people whose opinions I value are those who simply tell me what I want to hear. Yeah, no thanks, that's less than worthless to me.

 

[Htown]

Was this really prompted by the fact that some people (or game journalists) happened to have negative impressions about The Order...?

If you read that other thread, you'd be surprised there aren't like two more threads like this. It's pretty insane.

 

[Aureon]

General "Quality" reviews are usually terrible.
Niche reviews, of people you know you likely agree with - for example, i use a site called space sector for space\4x gaming, are pretty great.

 

[shinobi602]

Don't be afraid, it's just money

I got a crack out of this. Thanks lol.

 

[Ingueferroque]

a review is not supposed to be a quantitative deconstruction of a game's quality.

Not a quality post. I do not think this holds up.

 

[Hugstable]

I think reviews of all types are an important tool to keep the consumer informed.

Professional reviews, online consumer reviews, even simple impressions on gaming forums & YouTube. All coalesce to give an overall vibe of a game's reception & quality level. No, it's not gospel. And of course it's always important to consider the source. Yada, yada, yada. The important thing is that it arms the consumer with info before they lay their money down.

How anyone would flip the metaphorical bird at reviews of any kind is beyond me. They're simply a tool to inform. Games can be expensive. And as with most any big purchase I make, I like to throw out the feelers to see how a product is recieved in the market before buying (Consumer Reports, AVS Forum, etc.). There's dozens if not hundreds of people out there that have already done the heavy lifting with their money and time before we even lift a finger. I'm glad their out there and I take full advantage of their knowledge.

Exactly, reviews are an important part of me making an I formed decision st a consumer. It's stupid to think that GAF is gonna the only information and impressions I need, it's more of a supplement. Also there is so much overhype and negativity here that it feels impossible at this point to actually find legit impressions of something here.

Honestly I feel this topic came about because of the Eurogamer having an opinion on thr order topic. This is getting really silly honestly..

 

[Sez]

Exactly, reviews are an important part of me making an I formed decision st a consumer. It's stupid to think that GAF is gonna the only information and impressions I need, it's more of a supplement. Also there is so much overhype and negativity here that it feels impossible at this point to actually find legit impressions of something here.

Honestly I feel this topic came about because of the Eurogamer having an opinion on thr order topic. This is getting really silly honestly..

To add something to that:

The gaming reviews are not intented for people like us who eats, sleeps and loves videogames. We are already informed, we watch youtube stuff, neogaf, etc.

Those reviews are for the uninformed people, and they NEED the reviews. Otherwise they would just pick games based on how nice the art cover is?

 

[Leafhopper]

I agree with you OP but that would imply most people actually read the reviews rather than just look at the number or the positives and negatives like IGN and Gamespot do.

If people actually read the words in the reviews we might be better off. Even if sometimes the stuff they say in the reviews themselves seem to contradict whatever score or positive they gave it.

 

[Hugstable]

To add something to that:

The gaming reviews are not intented for people like us who eats, sleeps and loves videogames. We are already informed, we watch youtube stuff, neogaf, etc.

Those reviews are for the uninformed people, and they NEED the reviews. Otherwise they would just pick games based on how nice the art cover is?

Even for me Reviews are very important supplemental material much like previews are. Games aren't cheap being 60$ and all, and reviews are great to mix with impressions that help me formulate whether this is the type of game I would enjoy or not. I end up doing quite a bit of research any time before I buy a newer full priced game, and reviews help me with that, because I can read both the good and the bad, positive and negative, and extrapolate my own thoughts about the game from that. I just find it funny how OP mentions impressions from GAF should be your one source of info. Impressions are nice to help figure what you like about a game also, but after yesterday I dont' think I would end up trusting impressions here as much as I used too.

 

[old]

Thanks to F2P esports and F2P mobile games, I haven't needed or read a review in a long time.

I stayed out of the gamergate shitstorm because I don't care about their journalistic integrity. It matters not. I don't use them anymore anyways. They're dinosaurs who haven't gotten the memo yet.

 

[jimi_dini]

I don't trust game reviews anymore at all after "oscar worthy" GTA IV and NieR game "reviews". Fuck them. They are either paid or have no taste.

 

[jdkluv]

I generally don't buy anything based on reviews, especially "professional" ones. Reviews are fine for general information about a game, but there's no one with the exact tastes you've got - you can only truly judge a game by playing it yourself.

I buy games from franchises or developers I trust, or am interested in. If I'm truly unsure I find some other means to play the game and then buy it, if the game fits my definition of fun.

So yeah - my shelves are filled with fun only. ;D

 

[theusedversion]

Honestly I feel this topic came about because of the Eurogamer having an opinion on thr order topic. This is getting really silly honestly..

I can't speak to why this thread was made today but I can say that this topic has come up on GAF for years. There are plenty of people like me who find reviews to be useless and can't understand why gamers put so much importance on them.

 

[lazygecko]

But I need my opinions to be validated!