Meta is stupid. It's an arbitrary number that tells me nothing. It's just a number. Numbers are used for something subjective that people treat as objective. People don't read reviews. They just look for the number for a reason to brag or shit on something. Meta is something that should be done away with. Review scores should be done away with. Context on things is also ignored. Read some reviews and it sounds like they were not pleased with it then suddenly "8.5" or reviews that sound somewhat happy then a "6" ..but that's the other thing. Peoples grading scale is way off. 6 is supposed to be above average. 5 is average. Now a 5 or 6 is seen as shit. People see something in the 70s as bad. Some old gaming magazines would divide the score into different categories. Music. Sound design. Graphics. Fun factor. Controls etc and each would be given a score then averaged out. This game with a long review and reasons for each. This back when Journalism school meant something and you had to break into it. So it was not a number slapped in there. Still, I just prefer a long well-written review. People are too impatient for that now.
People also act if you love this game rated in the 70s more than this game rated in the 90s on meta, something is wrong with you. People are letting a number decide their opinion for them now. It's sad. We also live in an era where brands are given higher scores for the brand name alone. Bethesda games are broken. Janky as hell and that stuff are just looked over. Free pass if you will. Final Fantasy has been pretty bad for years and still high scores. 13 series and XV are not good. Then we come to pay for it. Gaming websites that are supposed to be non-biased. Have a giant ad plastered all over it of a certain AAA game. Well, can't give it a bad score if they pay our bills right? Look up Jeff Gerstman Gamespot 2006. We also have publishers who will blacklist some sites for giving them a lower score on a game. Again I think Bethesda was caught doing this a couple of years ago.
The whole system is broken. Again the gaming magazine days were better in this regard. The magazine was full of ads but it was just ad space and not sponsoring the magazine itself. So I could see an ad for a game in the magazine then read a scathing review in the same magazine. bleh after all that rambling. Don't let meta decide for you. Find a YouTuber you trust and see what they say. Peers as well. I do that when unsure. Usually tho I know if I want a certain game and just go for it after seeing tons of footage and spoil myself some. Very very rarely been burned.
Bite my shiny metal cockpit!
