Odd blast from the past

[SineSwiper]

http://www.tows.cc/tows/gamereviews/

I almost think we should continue doing these things. I always liked the structure of the reviews.

[RentCavalier]

You gave FFX a perfect score? Are you fucking INSANE? Even at its height, post-release feverish FERVOR gripping the young and innocent minds of the hapless fans, desperately waiting, praying, for this RPG, this new Final Fantasy, to show the next generation how things are gonna be, to define the new generation of RPGs, the game deserves at best, at BEST, an eight, if we have to do things out of ten at all.

Personally, I'm all for having reviews here, so long as we make sure the discussion around the reviews stays civil. I've been posting reviews on the Escapist forums for awhile, so I could easily just move that here. My only request: no numbering system.

Yahtzee makes a valid point, and as I've been reading a lot of reviews, the best and most thorough/entertaining don't really have numbers or scores. Besides that, what are the numbers based off of? What's the standard? Everyone's standards are different. It is more helpful as consumer advice to, instead of summing up an aspect of a game as an intangible number, we describe what we like/what we don't like and explain why--that way, it gives the reader a chance to decide for themselves whether the issue WE found is one that would bother them.

[SineSwiper]

Well, I would prefer a grade lettering system. Looking at my score system now, it doesn't look all that great.

And give me some credit, I wrote the review several years ago.

[Tessian]

And give me some credit, I wrote the review several years ago.

Seriously guys, can't hold him accountable for a review from 6 years ago.... Sine didn't know everything there is to know until 2 years ago tops!

[RentCavalier]

And give me some credit, I wrote the review several years ago.

Seriously guys, can't hold him accountable for a review from 6 years ago.... Sine didn't know everything there is to know until 2 years ago tops!

Still, a review section would be a bit pointless, since we usually just post reviews of what we've played/seen recently anyway. Formalizing it would maybe clear up clutter, but the Gamethoughts section sort of doesn't need any decluttering IMO.

Besides, the only game I've gotten recently is Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, which I've never actually played, due to my hatred for it. Now, though, having played it, I'm absolutely in love. To think this came out before God of War...it really set the foundation for just about every Western Action/Adventure title to come, and it just oozes originality and creativity from every pore.

I have nitpicks, but they're mostly technical--its an old game using a fairly unexplored gameplay mechanic (time manipulation) and while I wish it was easier to implement at times, you really only need the rewind button, so it balances out.

Biggest gripe so far is the hit or miss jumping system. I love that it automatically charts your course when you jump, so long as you are facing the right way and are generally on the right path, but there are times when the camera angle does NOT make for good jumping, and you'll go plunging to your death...8 feet down.

Sincerely, it takes practically NOTHING to kill the prince. He can get sworded, axed, clubbed and stabbed multiple times and live, but one little ten foot drop and he ragdolls like a bitch. I hated it in the demo and my vehemence has only lessened slightly in the subsequent years. The only reason I don't really mark it against the game too much is that its obviously a purposeful choice--some of the more memorable puzzles involve you climbing DOWN as opposed to up, which strikes me as so delightfully quirky that I allow the falling deaths.

I mean, think about it--how often have you ever really had to solve a puzzle in order to reach the BOTTOM of a room? It doesn't really happen that much. Also, the atmosphere and story and voice acting are all really charming. I'm sort of afraid to play Two Thrones, because I know the prince gets changed...and I really like him at the moment.

[bovine]

make it out of 5 and I would be happy. Make 3 be an average game, 2 below average, and 1 being shovelware.

[SineSwiper]

Well, that's basically what grade letters are, except everybody acknowledges that C is average.

I think I really am going to revive this tool (after some massive edits to the code). I really like doing reviews and such, and I think they should be translated to a more formalized format. Maybe we can take some of the old reviews we had on GT and put them in the format.

[Kupek]

I think Gamethought threads already have this covered.

[RentCavalier]

I think Gamethought threads already have this covered.

QFT

[SineSwiper]

Okay, is there anybody that -does- want it? Because I'm not going to work on it if nobody is going to use it.

[Chris]

Okay, is there anybody that -does- want it? Because I'm not going to work on it if nobody is going to use it.

oooh oooh I will....check e-mail

[bovine]

Okay, is there anybody that -does- want it? Because I'm not going to work on it if nobody is going to use it.

meeeeeeeee. You all want more posts from me, dontchya?

[Chris]

Okay, is there anybody that -does- want it? Because I'm not going to work on it if nobody is going to use it.

meeeeeeeee. You all want more posts from me, dontchya?

not to mention it might dstract Don and rent enough so that when they talk about games their posts are o nly a mile long instead of 10

[Tessian]

Okay, is there anybody that -does- want it? Because I'm not going to work on it if nobody is going to use it.

meeeeeeeee. You all want more posts from me, dontchya?

not to mention it might dstract Don and rent enough so that when they talk about games their posts are o nly a mile long instead of 10

How would giving them a dedicated area to rant/rave about a game mean LESS writing? I think itll be the opposite

[Zeus]

I would like it if people actually wanna do it.....and we keep the flaming to a minimum.

We should also turn it into movie reviews too since so many of us are just as into movies

[Julius Seeker]

I don't see the point of a lettering system, it's essentially a number/star system that requires an explanation. I don't think any grading system is accurate though; nor do I think a grading system is necessary for a review at this place (since we all know each other, or should). We are all capable of written descriptions to convey our experiences with a title. One example is that people have different ideas on what makes something good, for example, some people might think Twilight Princess looks awesome because of the millions of polygons, whereas another person might think it looks poor due to the huge amount of grey and brown in the title; on the flip side a person may grade Chrono Trigger as primitive graphically, while someone else will see them as beautiful. It is better to describe them in words rather than numbers, and a grading system would be redundant or incorrect based on the fact that the standards for grading graphics would be different.

Good example would be Megaman, some would give it a 1, others may give it a 9. It would be much better (in my opinion) to just have reasons why Gamer A likes them, and Gamer B dislikes them, and ignore any scoring of any sort.

I personally like the idea for that area, but with a different sort of a format, I do think that it should be closer to a forum set-up which focusses purely on game discussion rather than what we have in Gamethought, where it is everything to do with games.... Right now on the front page there are only two threads actually discussing a game in terms of a sort of review format.

If this is possible, have it in a forum-ike set up, you click on the thread, reviews or links to the reviews are at the top, and then discussion is below. When a review is added, the thread is updated and moved to the top of the board (just like regular threads).

[M'k'n'zy]

I am all for bringing it back, I never really got to use it much before, but I would now.