Greetings and Salutations everyone. I am hoping to offer a different style of reviews here and, if successful, I will continue to post more reviews of future games I play. My approach is to eliminate bias by focusing on specific categories of the games I review, and then at the end add up the score. A lot of people seem to write a review and then attach a score at the end and list out a couple pros/cons of the game. I want to show you specifically why I give a game a certain score.
A couple more things before I get started that demonstrate the unique quality of my reviews. First off I only review games I beat (and often don’t review until I beat all the bonus stuff too). Secondly I review games based on comparison of other games released around the same time. This means that a game released 20 years ago could still beat a game released today because it pushed the system it was on harder than the new one pushes it’s modern system (for example).
Lastly I want to point out, as you will see below, that story is THE MOST important aspect of a game for me. If games focus either mostly or entirely on multiplayer (Call of Duty, Mario kart, etc) then they probably won’t get a very high score. If the game is really fun despite its low score, I usually give that game an (*) symbol.
Here is how I review games:
Review Standards for Videogames: Out of 100 points
Originality: Does this game have a unique feel, one that totally copies off of something in the past, or somewhere in between? /20
Graphics: How does this game look in proportion to the time it was released? /10
Art Style: Is the art style truly impressive and unique, or is it a game that only focused on pixels, p quality, and frame rate? /15
Story: The most important part of a game for me. /30
Game Interface: Annoying or not? /5
Controls easy and fluid or difficult and rigid? /5
Luigi’s Mansion Dark Moon Review:
Originality: This game is only similar to it’s predecessor and really no other game. It reminds me of my obsession with Ghostbusters as a child. It’s a very funny, refreshing, enjoyable experience of a game that I haven’t experienced in a long time. I felt no grind. I was constantly curious about how the story was going to progress. The game introduces a lot of new characters and game play styles. It felt like a Nancy drew game at some points, which is pretty original for a AAA game. Having multiple mansions to go to, so many collectables/unlockables, and a mysterious story made this game truly unique and far ahead of the first Luigi’s Mansion. This game is one of the best sequels I’ve ever played. The only negative thing I will say is that the main villains were pretty obvious. Once the boos got into the picture you kind of knew it was going to lead to King Boo (I was hoping it would have been Dimentio based on the “our dimension is going to be destroyed” part).
18/20
Graphics: Like the first Luigi’s Mansion, this game is beautiful on the system it released on. There are so many “amazing” 3ds games out there with average looking detail. This game blows most of them away. I loved all the detail in the mansions and effects.
9/10
Art Style: I LOVE the way things look so dark in this game, until there is lightning, or a ghost appears, or fires come on and have. It’s constantly changing the looks of everything around you, making this game’s art amazing to look at.
14/15
Story: While no Mario RPG/Paper Mario game, this game does have a more appealing story than most Mario games. There are a lot of twists and there is a good mystery of where the story is going in this game. I didn’t even know Mario was going to be involved in the game until about halfway through it, which is good! Overall though, it didn’t introduce any new characters as the main villain, and the goal of the villain wasn’t anything amazing (take over the world…). Though, it did leave me to wonder where Bowser was this whole time, because I doubt he’d want to be a servant of King Boo either. Not too deep, but somewhat.
24/30
Game Interface: Good!
5/5
Controls easy and fluid or difficult and rigid? The lack of stylus controls was saddening to me at first, but I quickly appreciated the games simple controls. It gets too hectic to deal with the stylus during fights anyway.
5/5
Is it fun? You betcha! I would easily enjoy playing this game again, collecting all the other missing items, and doing the multiplayer. I’m now dying for a third LM!
15/15
Total: 90/100
Up to Date Game Grade Rankings
- Batman Arkham City Armored Edition - 100
- Zelda Skyward Sword-98
- Zelda Minish Cap – 92
- Zelda Oracle of Ages - 91
T5. Zelda Twilight Princess – 90
T5. Luigi’s Mansion Dark Moon - 90
T7.Guildwars 2 – 89
T7.Mario and Luigi: Dream Team - 89
T9. Pokemon X - 88
T9 Kid Icarus Uprising – 88
T9 Darksiders 2 - 88
T9 Fire Emblem Awakening - 88
13. Mario and Luigi: Bowsers Inside Story – 86
14. Animal Crossing New Leaf - 84
T15. Paper Mario Sticker Star – 83
T15. Zelda: A Link Between Worlds-83
17. Trine - 80
- Zelda: A Link to the Past – 78
T19. Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D – 74
T19. Rome: Total War-74
21. Super Mario 3d land – 72
- Red Alert 3 - 70
- Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze* - 68
- New Super Mario Bros. U - 66
- New Super Mario Bros.Wii – 57 *
- Zelda: Four Swords Anniversary Edition – 53*
- Kirby Squeak Squad - 43
