I don't even think of stuff like that when I make predictions.  My naiveté blinds me.

I`m pretty sure HFW will get a score lower than it deserves, guerilla games isn`t a reviewers darling yet.

I wish I didn't. I hate the idea that public backlash to a game's success is a legitimate factor in a game's score. Not the quality of the game or the artistic value that it offers, but 'eh, it sold more than I feel it deserves, gonna bump it down from a 9/10 to a 7/10'

Perhaps if GT7 wouldn`t launch in sequence they would postpone it a little to ensure no bugs even without day one patch

HFW seems like a massive improvement in many aspects compared to HZD. I thought it was a shoe in for 90+ but an 88 - 89 is still a remarkable score. I'm holding out hope that a few more reviews push it over the 90+ finish line lol.

Great to see Horizon scores. I was expecting 90+, but 89 stills great. Loved the first one, I will pick this once my backlog reduces a bit

yeah this fascination with 90+ scores is a shame. I also wanna see games do that well, but when games like Returnal gets an 85 despite being something unlike anything we've seen before thanks to a sizeable part of the population just not getting it or expecting the devs to bow to them...well, it's very hard to make a game that is:

Unique and original
True to its vision
Insanely well polished
And has mass market appeal

Not many games hit all four of these quadrants. there's always something holding it back. Sifu and Returnal are 'too hard' for most people so got docked a lot of points. Pokemon Legends Arceus has some bad performance issues and terrible presentation. Ratchet & Clank was too short. Halo was pretty well loved but didn't have the same unique cultural impact of the original trilogy and reach. Outside of a handful of games that are either universally loved or bold enough to take a risk, I just don't see a lot of 90+ scores in the future.

Demon's Souls Remastered on Ps5....is one of my all time favourite games and I have no idea how it got a 92.I think it was literally just 'ooooh, look how pretty and shiny and new it is on PS5 as a launch title!" don't get me wrong, I love it, but I don't see how it's a 'better' game than Deathloop or Returnal or Ratchet & Clank Rift Apart or Horizon Forbidden West. PErception is weird and context can be quirky. I don't see many games from here on out getting 90+ scores. ESPECIALLY not with troll scores or fanboy publications. Holy shit do not go on twitter, just so much vitriol and acid spewing from the people who gave Forbidden west its yellow reviews (I mean, to be fair those same four publications are notorious for giving PS games much lower scores than the meta while regularly giving Xbox games scores above the meta, so there's some truth to the complaints, but still.)

I figure anything 75 and above is worth checkin' out. A 'mixed' review score just means that it's just as likely to impress me as disappoint me. so anything in that range is good enough for me to say 'hey, some people loved it, let's see what they think' and then read the actual REVIEWS to gauge the content and see if it's something I'd like based on that.

When every publication is saying a game is gorgeous, technically impressive, and improves upon its predecessor in nearly every way, but one publication says the opposite, well it's fair to say that publication is probably wrong, or had an outlier of an experience and thus shouldn't be given too much weight. At least not until you play it yourself.

**Edit** Oh, and as an aside, even though based on the 12-15 hours I played of Elden Ring during the network test I can assure you it's a solid 3-5 points higher than any other game in the franchise, I doubt it'll get 90+ either. Because there are always going to be people out there who don't care much for the souls gameplay or just find it obtuse and unfair. That's just how it is. If it gets 86-89 I'll still be like 'well that's what I expected, so here we go'.

Anyone else downloading the Cyberpunk 2077 PS5 update? Getting mine now. told me I needed 156 GB for it, but then when I went to download it said 97, then when I started downloading it said like 54 or something. I'm confused.

I don't think I'll retest the game again on PS5 at least for a long time.

On the review Bias, there is no denial. When same reviewer on average takes over 20 points from the meta for one side and give 20 over the meta for the other side them it deserves being exposed. It isn't an outlier, or like some reviewers that use to bomb a lot of games from everywhere, it is just flaming war reviewer.

I'm downloading the trial - its also a 54 something download. I hope I don't have to re-download if I actually want to buy it.

Btw how has nobody made a review thread for Horizon Forbidden West yet :(