Having now actually read what Edge said in their review and having read the others i think what they're saying is probably right on a lot of things.
People are bashing them for the score but how come it does not go the other way too?
Like for example OPM gave the game 100% calling it perfect etc.. There are a lot of dubious places these days that have been tainted by the whole cash for reviews thing.
Too many places give perfect scores or 9's when the game does not deserve it. Very few games this gen have blown me away to the same level games in the last gen had. I can probably count on one hand how many games i think this gen deserve a near perfect score (Bioshock, Mass Effect , Gears and Modern Warfare 1).
But for the most of it people seem to give high scores to pretty much everything. The fact FF13 has not got the same high scores actually shocks me. Not because it is a good game but because it is a game that generates huge hype and from one of the biggest selling franchises out there which normally means good scores.
Too many games are rushed out to try and cash in on the franchises popularity. Games like Modern Warfare 2, the game was just boring in comparison to the 1st one. But it got high scores. The same can be said of games that are slightly different to everything else, like LittleBigplanet etc.. i remember they tried to do the same thing with Scriblenauts, it even was given game of show at E3.
So i am glad some reviewers out there will still say it like they see it without the fear of offending the devs. Why is it not the same as it is for films? When we see a film if we hate it we will trash it. But with games for some reason it is different, you are not allowed to admit you hate it!
If you break the review down and look at it unbiased then it makes a lot of sense. If the game is about 60hrs long but your doing the exact same thing you did from the first hour of the game without any variety then that sounds a bit boring doesnt it? One of the draws of Final Fantasy was the content it had, ranging from the little secret things by exploring the world all the way to trying to find each characters ultimate weapons. Now you can't do any of those things. You don't even have a world to run about it. It sounds like the massive content by which SE was known for has gone. Which as the reviewer says makes the game not feel like a final fantasy game, it feels like something new but something worse.
We ourselves are slightly to blame too because when someone gives an honest review this happens. We are so used to expecting near perfect scores for the big franchises that when they don't get them we blame the reviewers when really we should be blaming the devs. FF13 looks and sounds like it was rushed out. They didn't have a story to tell they just had to make a game with the FF in the title because this gen is nearly 5 years old already and they had to get one out.
So while a lot of you will criticise edge for the score i actually aplaud them for the content of the review because they are spot on. I will still play the game regardless of reviews but it is time to stop giving games 9 or 10s just for the sake of it as it defeats the points of reviewing if you are just going to praise everything.
