ZyroXZ2 said:
Reviews aren't a technical analysis, they're a summation of a the reviewer's experience with something. The more detailed the analysis, the better it provides a picture of the reviewer's experience to the reader/viewer. The reason many reviewers don't talk about value is because they receive their review copies for free and never feel the sting. The reason I talk about content/value is because I also have the intention of my reviews assisting people in how they spend their money which is almost entirely the sole reason people seek out reviews in the first place. It's an odd disconnect between reviewers and consumers in gaming I've purposely connected. Elsewhere in the real world, people EXPECT reviewers to pay attention to price. Having said that, I'll use a real-world example: cars. When has someone ever bought a car without thinking about value? The fact that a car may go on sale/have incentives, or become cheaper, or be later bought used for even less is irrelevant to the point in time in which the reviewer is reviewing it. To ignore a vehicle's price point is to ignore, as aforementioned, the sole purpose the viewer is even seeking out a review in the first place. What do I get for my money? Is this car's performance justified by its price? Does the price justify enough features of this vehicle to suit my family needs? What options can I get and how much do they cost? Gaming is not as complex, but game prices themselves vary wildly once you bring indie games into the picture and also start thinking about genres. And thus, much like a car review, if my review comes out in a timely fashion (you'll notice there's a pattern in which I talk more about value on newly released game reviews than I do with backlog reviews; in fact, many backlog reviews, I mention sale prices or other things that may have convinced me to buy it!), it will reference the cost at the moment in time. A person can then decide based on my summation of my experiences and how I felt my money was spent whether to wait for it to be cheaper. Some people have FOMO, some people don't. So for the people that don't, I talk about price-to-performance. They can make the decision themselves to wait or get it right away at MSRP. And I don't really spoil games in my reviews, I'm unsure of why so many people have said that to me lol... I mean, yes, I DO show the obvious thing you already know is coming: Jin eventually kills Khotun. Other than that, my reviews are about 99% spoiler free OR contain non-descript teasers of later parts that only people who played it know what that is. This is also inadvertently proof I've completed the game, too, and am demonstrating integrity in presenting my experience. Believe you me: there are reviews out there of people who have NOT played or completed a game. I also have a review of InfamousSS from my first season 5 years ago, so you can also decide if you want to use that as a reference point above on whether your experiences and how I present mine line up. I'm all for people being skeptical of my reviews, as they should be. It's healthy to gather all of the information you can about a game before buying it, and that's quite literally what I'm here for. Sometimes my reviews line up great with the greater consensus, sometimes they don't. Sometimes when they don't, I show things people didn't realize or care about until I showed it, and other times I almost sound like I'm unintentionally regurgitating the general experience. You may not always agree with me, but I took the time to spell all this out so that you know if there IS one thing you can count on, I understand what being a reviewer genuinely means. |
I don't agree on your reasons for including the price as a factor in your review. Maybe if now was 20 years ago and playing video games was still an expensive hobby. However, steam, digital stores, services like PSN plus and the freemium model made gaming one of the cheapest entertainment mediums out there, you can play a 20+ hours game for the price of a movies ticket. In most cases, the game you think is expensive right now will be dirt cheap in few months, for the majority of its lifespan, i.e. for eternity really.
The car comparison doesn't apply, I mean... you know when games will become cheap (in an unlimited quantities), but it's not nowhere as easy to predict if the car you want will become available as used and at what point will that happen and if it will ever be discounted, and in limited quantities. A very different beast to compare and I am not in the mood to craft finer arguments against it.
As for your review of infamous: SS, it was excellent take, thanks. I''ll add that the traversal system is trash, the dude is just not fun to control at all, I don't know when I will jump against a wall and latch to it and when I won't, it's ridiculous poor design. I am just surprised by the score though..... 7.5? It's not reflective if your criticism at all. I expected a 4 or 5 based on how many flaws you listed in less than 5 minutes, I certainly can't give it anything but a solid 4 or a light 5. Machina is right, video games scores are broken.
Feedback: the name of your channel is hindering you, I can't pronounce it, it has random numbers and letters and I will not remember it the next time I wonder what you think of game X and I won't even be able to look you up on youtube just because of it. It's just terrible, not to mention, it doesn't tell me much about the content of your channel 
Your voice/tone is that of a radio-host, while your critical take of ISS was great, I think your voice could be your greatest asset and you should invest more in your voice (an expensive microphone?). Thinking of all the popular review channels, most if not all of them had great narrators, which you are but you need to emphasise your talent more. Cheers.
