Why I ask

This has been eating at me for a while. Alot of people switch between review scores don't matter and they are the most important thing ever. I actually don't mind this (finicky, hypocritical, or whatever you mall call it) nature because I believe there are case by case instances where that distinction applies. It can be that sometimes games are reviewed/re-reviewed unfairly in multiples scenarios (i.e taking points off for micro-transactions in one game, and not even mentioning it in another). There are also instances of review manipulation by publishers. This not to say that the reviewer is bribed or anything, but rather the publisher has manipulated circumstances in their favor by giving poor circumstances for reviewers to fully review the game. Overall, I still look at a lot reviews, but I don't really look for the scores themselves anymore. Rather where to see flaws in their reviews or alarming problems that came up. I can't even imagine going by metacritic anymore, and if I do go there, its mainly to see which site actually reviewed the game so far.

But I digress!

The point of this thread isn't to shun or shame publishers or reviewers, but rather discuss who we personally find to be great and overall trustworthy reviewers. For me, its Jose Otero from IGN. Despite not rarely visiting IGN much anymore, I always found his reviews to be close to my idea of the current quality of the game. Most recent example of his reviews that I noted was Splatoon. I know that, to this day, that people gave him grief over the score but personally I found to be very fair for the current content. Even if you don't agree with his score, many will agree that the game is not the same game that it launched as, even being very fun at launch. Other than him, I haven't found a reviewer, that is still a reviewer, that I consistently agree with

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Again, this really is about why you like your specific reviewer, so please refrain from slights at specific compaines, reviewers, websites, publishers, and so on. It can really also be any reviewer you know. Whether its a youtuber, someone from this site, your local mailman etc.

** EDIT: Almost any one other than you. ;)

... Well played.

(I'll be sure to close that loophole though)

AngryCentaurGaming

My favorite reviewers usually don't play the latest releases.

Matthewmatosis is probably my favorite.

Honorable mentions are Super Bunny Hop, The Gaming Brit, Hyper Bit Hero, Errant Signal, Cee Marshall, Mark Brown, Turbo Button, Cagey Videos*, Rated S Games, Sunder, Satchbag's Goods, Egoraptor (when he actually fucking makes shit), and The Rageaholic.

*The bolded are the standouts

Needless to say, I consume a lot of gaming critique.

Edit: I genuinely don't believe that 99% of game reviewers from big companies are qualified to write game reviews. They are hired because they are good writers, not because they have a deep understanding of game mechanics, systems, and narrative structure. And yes, I do think you need qualification to critique something. You need to know what your talking about and that needs to be apparent in your review.

I like Mark from Classic Game Room a lot

I don't have a favourite specific person, but GameTrailers as a whole have always been my favourite reviewers.

Super Bunnyhop, among some other YouTubers who make a stand in analyzing video games and the industry. Because they have a great passion for what they do, and it really shows in their videos.

Edit: Here's his newest video. It just came out: https://youtu.be/cW0CJN9BQ2w

Perhaps he's not an official "reviewer" in the traditional sense, but I'd probably put Yahtzee Croshaw in the top spot. Outside of having reviewers that are genuinely enjoyable to watch, he tends to point out flaws that frequently get ignored by much of the mainstream review crowd. And that's definitely valuable in a world where the...fairness...of reviewers is questioned consistently.

I like Chris Carter with Destructoid fairly well.

Ya, hes a good one.