But I'm not the one 'taking it', they are barely mentioning my review. Instead of that they are all fawning over you and telling you to ignore stuff like that. That is what makes it essentially a hugbox vs an actual critical discussion.
I don't know about the camgirl stuff, but if you want others to mention your review, I'll do you a favor.
You state (I don't know how to quote a review, so I'll do it manually):
"The characters are fairly shallow and aren't very believable at all"
"It (the game) takes itself far too seriously for its content"
"The gameplay is the standard grinding that plagues just about every game"
"as I discussed earlier this is not a good story"
And these are all fine opinions and thank you for sharing them, because it will help people make an informed decision on whether they would like this game. They're not facts, they're opinions, but let's be honest, we all write our reviews as facts, so no harm done.
However, you also state:
"everyone tripping over themselves trying to claim it is a masterpiece of writing are deluding themselves or just don't have very high standards"
and see, this is where it gets a tad ridiculous. Because every piece of art will have naysayers. There are loads of respected movie critics disliking Citizen Kane, there are book critics who think that Kill a Mockingbird is a massive turd, some music critics even dislike the Beatles. And you have the opposite way, too, take some turd, any turd out there, and experts will tell you it's not as bad, it may even be fine. And that's just the experts, not the normal customers who often disagree with ratings and will give huge box offices to bad (in critics' opinions) movies and the like.
However, who are you to say that you have the ultimate view on stuff, the one opinion to end them all? You're perfectly fine to voice a negative opinion, even if it were the only one, but you're not fine insulting those who beg to differ. And it's not your place to state your opinion as an objective fact. From your conversation with the devs I may quote:
"my only recourse is to suggest there is an alternative reason" - meaning that people who disagree with you on this topic must somehow be mislead or delusional.
Fun fact: I like what I like. I have abandoned the whole concept of "guilty pleasure" a long time ago, I get pleasure from things that please me. There is no "guilt" involved. That is not a delusion, that is just how it is. And if your "only recourse" is to insult me for what I like, then you're out of arguments.
But I'll do you the favor and answer (from my point of view).
"The characters are fairly shallow and aren't very believable at all" - you're correct, they're not. As is par for the course in fiction by the way. You'll be exaggerating parts to make the story more entertaining. Yes, there is a limit of what anyone may want to stomach, but again it's not an objective line. I am willing to stomach how Luna would be a problem here, because I find her character interesting. But while we're at it, since your major interest seems to be "Being a DIK" - do you consider the whole DIK-chick thing believable?
"It (the game) takes itself far too seriously for its content" - well, it's a bit zig zagging. Most of the game is far from taking itself seriously. Think the dialogues during some missions - they wouldn't happen in real life, but that's obvious. They're more akin to Bond one liners or "Yippie-kay-jay motherfucker". You may argue that they are not well made, but I'd argue that they're signs that the game doesn't take itself too seriously most of the time. Yes, the "My name is Luna" arc or some other places are more dark, more serious, and more morbid, but most of the game is pretty obviously not to be taken at face value.
"The gameplay is the standard grinding that plagues just about every game" - I'll make this short: you haven't seen any real grinding. Really, you haven't.
"as I discussed earlier this is not a good story" - this is the most subjective one, since it'll depend on the characters and whether you connect with them, it'll depend on the progression and whether it reaches you. Yes, the detachment of the main story and the character progression for large swathes of the game may be a hindrance of sorts, but I still like it.
But as I said, you are free to disagree and voice your opinion. What does rile me however is when you start insulting me for not agreeing with you. That is not because I am a cuddly fanboy, but because I am of the opinion that I may form my own opinion. And, after all is said and done, I like what happens here. You don't. That's fine. But please keep to the game when commenting and don't get personal. And yes, as I mentioned earlier in this thread, I have written negative reviews in the past and got attacked for it. Just let that part roll and ignore it. It'll be better for you. And for us. You said what you wanted to say, now it's time to move on to things you enjoy.
