Final Fantasy XIII-2 gets 5.4 on Gamrreview - how is that possible?

[Shinobi-san]

teigaga said:

Shinobi-san said:

arcelonious said:

I think that the written portion of the review is ok, although it's pretty obvious how much the reviewer hated XIII and wanted to hate XIII-2. Regardless, the problem is how the reviewer adheres (or does not adhere) to their review system methodology.

For example, under gamrReview's methodology, a score between 5-5.9 is:

"Mediocre. These games are bland and ordinary. They barely make adequate status, and will likely not be particularly enjoyable if at all. Note that we do not expect the “average” game to fall into this range. Ideally most people are making games that are at least good, and the majority of games do not need to be scored in this range or below."

If the review score was in the 7 (or hell, even the 6 range), then it would match the methodology given by gamrReview, but a 5.4 just doesn't seem to match the game, especially considering that many have enjoyed it thus far.

Beyond the score, it's also important to note that while reviews are opinions, they are supposed to reflect how the reviewer believes other gamers would recieve a particular game, which is evident in the methodology (in the methodology, terms like "most people" are used).  Thus, even if the reviewer hates a particular game, they have to review a game based on how he or she perceives others would recieve it.  Generability is one of the major factors that separate a well-written review from a mere opinion piece, and if you can't write a review under that notion, then you really shouldn't be writing an official review.

I have no problem with a heavily-biased individual reviewing a game that he or she hates, as long as that reviewer abides by the methodology given by their review system.  When reviewers don't follow their site's own methodology, it's hard to take those reviewers seriously.

 

That hit the nail on the head for me. I dont have an issue with the review or even the score, but its the meaning that the VGChartz review metric gives to the score, which has most people thinking WTF.

5.0-5.9 – Mediocre. These games are bland and ordinary. They barely make adequate status, and will likely not be particularly enjoyable if at all. Note that we do not expect the “average” game to fall into this range. Ideally most people are making games that are at least good, and the majority of games do not need to be scored in this range or below.

Sorry to highlight the exact same line as you arcelonious but its such an important point. Based on the review id say this is an average game, the reviewer might have used a lot of harsh words, but its stil reads as average with redeeming factors. Not to forget that this is in fact a JRPG with a dedicated fanbase, it is also a sequel to quite a popular game. So this needs to be noted as well.

I would say that the review fits perfectly in the above score range...

6.0-6.9 – Decent. These games are usually not particularly memorable, and only have a couple of redeeming features that keep them from being truly mediocre. Some people may enjoy them, but they don’t excel in any way.

Most important point there is that some people may enjoy them (most probably the few million people that like ff13. Based on the score and the explanation the runa gave the game, he is basically saying no1 should be buying this game, not even ff13 fans, let alone ff fans. Which cant be right.

You cant review a game in complete isolation of external factors and you definately need to adhere to the review metric outlined by the site. Which i think is the issue here. And this is what people mean by uniformity...at the very least mark to the same metric.

I Agree that the tone of the review leans closer towards the 6.0-6.9 according to the sites metric description. But i think your interpretation of the portion which reads " Some people may enjoy them"  is too literal. I would assume that judgement to be made on the merits of the game itself/ its redeeming factors  and not on series popularity or similar external factors. Otherwise that would essentially equate to popular titles never scoring below a 6 because the existing fan base may find enjoy in it,  in which case that description should be removed from the metric system. Even still i think the review was positive enough to assume that some be people may enjoy it, just disagree with the external factors being taken into account.

Its not about popularity, but understanding what the game tries to do, who its doing it for and is it doing right? This is especially important with JRPGS as they can be very polarising. I myself hated absolutely hated FF13...but if i were to score the game seriously i would give it a decent score 6+ because i can see who the game caters for....and many people enjoyed FF13.

You must remember this is not a personal review by the author for his own sake. This is a review for a website for the community to read, so that they can get an idea of the game what is about and how "good" it is. This is why the website has the metric with descriptions in the first place. Otherwise they would maybe just have the numbers and maybe one word description. But the site actually goes in detail explaining the numbers, which gives reviewers a nice guideline to base scores on.

And this is not a pardon for for popular games. But based on this review which reads average and given the fact that it has a audience already established from the first prequel...this statement "Some people may like it" comes into play here and i believe thats exactly why its there for games like this. If the game failed horrible on all accounts then that statement becomes less important but since it didnt (based on the review) these words should be taken into account.