How much do reviews play a part in your game buying decisions?

5 isn't necessarily average, it depends what the scale is measuring. Most big games are competent in most regards and each (such as art, music, whatever) may factor in to the score. Even if 5 is some kind of "average", review sites are almost all skewed to review better games anyway as they only review a very small subset of released games. Of course they will choose to review zelda over a random unknown steam release, so if 5 is a true average you're probably not going to get many reviews at it or below.

NickSCFC

Sandy wrote:Reviews in their standard state are flawed. They all seem to use 7 as average...5 is obviously average but most people view this score as something that shouldn't be touched.

I'd much prefer an "if you like such and such, you'll like this" review system. There are tonnes of games I've loved in the past that reviewed at a 5 out of 10.

Most review sites won't bother touching the type of game that'd usually get a 1-3/5, hence why 7 seems average.

I certainly use reviews to inform my decisions, I don't have time to buy everything that piques my interest, but it's about more than the final score, it's important to read the reviews. For example, Mario Tennis Aces didn't review too well largely because of a lackluster single player experience and limited options, but every review praised the tennis mechanics and I knew it would be a big multiplayer hit in my house.

Not a massive amount. To be honest I have so little time to play these days that the only games I buy are ones that I know I like either through the franchise or because the critical consensus is so massive that it’s worth a look. Or ones where the buy in is so small that I don’t care if it’s gooseberry fool.

To be honest, just keeping up with my favourite franchises is difficult enough without taking chances on conflictingly reviewed wild cards. I do know this means I’m probably missing out on some lesser known gems and I’m contributing to the lack of new IPs by sticking to sequels, but there’s only so much time in a day.

How much do reviews play a part in your game buying decisions?

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