Am I the only one who thinks that writing the synopsis of the story in your review is useless?

[MadDany]

Mean like, aren't reviews supposed to be about what you think about the game? Not what the game is about.

Sure you can add some of the story, but make it so that its coherent to what you think about that part of the story. Don't just bluntly tells us the story for no reason.

"So this story about this one guy who does stuff, and in the end he becomes the hero. Now that I told you the story, I'll start giving you the pros and cons of the game!" I tend to see people write reviews like that, not just in games either. Are we really asking for the story already in your review? Is that the norm? Feels like you just wasted a few lines for no reason.

if we want the story, then we'd be playing the game already. I just want to know if the game is decent enough to play in your point of view. No need to give us the story if it isn't that important in your review, at least that's what I think.

 

[Winterfire]

In theory, a good review should be impersonal, among many other things.
Most of those that review do not do it professionally, they are just giving their own opinion and it can be done in many ways and as in-depth as they want.

 

[baneini]

Better than those 0 message fresh accounts saying "game has potential 5/5"
Most practical is listing negatives so you can quickly browse trough many reviews for repeating offences.

 

[Joraell]

5/5 Game have tits and butts.

 

[SeventhVixen]

5/5 Game have tits and butts.

Potentially good tits and butts.

---- And after the in context joke:

Some reviewers add their personal opinion to the synopsis. like "and this part is really well done because...". Is not useless per se. Also other reviewers may consider needed to write the synopsis because they liked it and they're trying to shove it in those who don't read the synopsis (but read reviews I guess?). There are many reasons. But in any point is in the list of ten most obnoxious things for reviews.

for me the first is and will always be the "Has potential", a curious trend around since a long time.

Is a game that you played, maybe even for 5, 10, or 30 hours. It does'n't have potential... It was entertaining for you, or it was not. It it had potential for be good or entertaining, it means that It Is Not. XD You are reviewing it. If you were in the step to think about if it has potential or not, sure is not the time to review a game xD

Maybe the second thing more obnoxious is "I don't like the game, the story, the girls, the renders, the engine, etc etc, is just not my thing". Mmm, then why you reviewed it? XD

 

[obibobi]

It can be worse than useless if it spoils the game.

But sometimes I can understand why people do it if the actual description is bad, confusing or simply not there.

A good review should exist to inform people on whether or not the game is something the person reading it would enjoy.

I hate the "this has potential reviews" they massively overrate lots of terrible time wasters.

Bad Teacher is an example of a gold star first release, the first release was highly enjoyable in its own right

https://f95zone.to/threads/bad-teacher-v0-2b-windwardgames.46657/

 

[polywog]

You must be registered to see the links

 

[gamersglory]

Nither style is a constructive review. You can't make a sound judgment on whether you personally will like the game or not based on those types of reviews.

 

[polywog]

Potentially good tits and butts.

for me the first is and will always be the "Has potential", a curious trend around since a long time.

Is a game that you played, maybe even for 5, 10, or 30 hours. It does'n't have potential... It was entertaining for you, or it was not. It it had potential for be good or entertaining, it means that It Is Not.

I made dozens of games that were completed and tested before they were ever released, but those days are gone forever.

The Trend of releasing, not only incomplete, but barely a concept / demo version, is here to stay.

So when reviewing a V0.001 I think it's appropriate to be non committal. Who knows what will happen in the 4 years it will take for the wannabe dev to finish, or if they will abandon the project and go back to working at McDonalds.

Either it has potential or it doesn't, it's too soon to say. If the dev is an artist, but instead of doing art, and teaming up with a coder, they are spending all their time trying to learn other skills... there's a good chance they are going to crash and burn. If they are a coder, with skills, and they just need to find an artist to put their game over the top, then it... has potential.

 

[Zippity]

Mean like, aren't reviews supposed to be about what you think about the game? Not what the game is about.

Sure you can add some of the story, but make it so that its coherent to what you think about that part of the story. Don't just bluntly tells us the story for no reason.

"So this story about this one guy who does stuff, and in the end he becomes the hero. Now that I told you the story, I'll start giving you the pros and cons of the game!" I tend to see people write reviews like that, not just in games either. Are we really asking for the story already in your review? Is that the norm? Feels like you just wasted a few lines for no reason.

if we want the story, then we'd be playing the game already. I just want to know if the game is decent enough to play in your point of view. No need to give us the story if it isn't that important in your review, at least that's what I think.

It really varies from review to review... If I plan to get into huge detail about things that may run into major spoiler territory, I usually say something about Spoiler Alert, but I feel it helps to get some points across about what you may have liked or didn't like, to point out the examples of what your talking about, so the the reader of the review has some sort of point of reference... And I've run into plenty of developers who've thanked me for pointing out parts of their story/game with specific examples, so in that way they have a better clue as to why I liked or disliked some aspect of their creation...

It's usually the less mature developers that can only look at negative reviews as the end of the world, and run away with hate and vengeance on their minds... Incapable of ignoring what they don't agree with and learning from the things they never thought of or perhaps never noticed/realized about their product/s... You can't please everyone, but if all you ever get is praise, because that is all you want or can handle, then how will you truly grow as a developer... You need to see and hear varying points of view...

I personally base my reviews solely on the experience I have with whatever is made currently available... I never read other reviews before hand, and I don't usually go through the forum posts before hand either... I try to go into a VN/Game with an open and objective mind, without other peoples biases or opinions influencing me before hand... But if I find issues I say something, if I don't like something I say something, if I love something I say so, and so on... I don't even care if their prior work is bad or good, as it will not influence my current experience... Probably the only thing I may check out first is what the Originating Post says about it, and that is about it... I play it, and if I think I have something to say about it, I write a review almost immediately after I'm done, or the the next day, while it's all still fresh in my mind...

If someone doesn't want to read my review, they can skip right by it, if they feel it might have just too much information... Or just look at the star rating and be done with it... I know perfectly well, that my reviews can be somewhat lengthy sometimes, but lots of folks like detailed reviews, as do I... Same thing goes when I'm watching a normal game review video, I like lots of details, as it helps me make a more well informed decision... When they drone on and on about non-game related non-sense I usually skip their video and look for another...

I like to understand why someone likes or dislikes things... Which is the point of the text box in the first place, otherwise just look at the star ratings and ignore all the text... But the trouble with that, is that sometimes honest reviews are not always given... When I see really short reviews, I begin to wonder if it isn't someone just trying to pump up the average star rating artificially, which does happen sometimes (usually by fans of the developer or friends of the developer or perhaps even ghost accounts of the developer)... When it's lengthy and/or detailed, I have more trust in it's authenticity... But there are also some tricksy reviewers who throw in vague details as well, to emulate an authentic review... It's up to the reader of the review to decide what is on the up and up...

Zip