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

Posted: Sun May 12, 2019 9:24 pm
by DarkRula
Reviews are just a source of information on the game rather than a definitive guide. Also a source of entertainment to see whether the reviewers own opinions are the same as mine.

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

Posted: Sun May 12, 2019 10:21 pm
by BID0
Most games I play are at least 5 years old, at which point it's quite easy to sort the good from the bad

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

Posted: Mon May 13, 2019 11:19 am
by Cal
Gemini73 wrote:Personal I don't pay reviews much attention; if I like the look of a game then there's a good chance I'll buy it at some point. This generation has seen me buy and enjoy a lot of games that weren't generally received well by the press, but at the same time I've ignored high scoring games based on a number of factors or, as in the case of God of War, arrived late to the party irrespective of the accolades piled upon it.

So yeah, how important are video game reviews to you, if they carry any weight at all, when it comes to buying video games?


Magazine reviews I never bother with. I had been a long-time subscriber of both EDGE and Games™, but when they both dived fell face-first into blatant political grandstanding (EDGE in particular became increasingly insufferable in this respect) I cancelled both and I don't bother with any online gaming review sites for much the same reason. Sites like Polygon and Eurogamer are Kryptonite to me (if occasionally still worth it for the laughs when their activism gets the better of their objectivity).

I get my game reviews from YouTube exclusively these days - quite a wide variety of sources. I'm willing to put up with a certain level of nonsense if I think the content maker is generally on the money as far as their game reviewing goes. I particularly enjoy long-form reviews - well written, good production values, etc. A very well thought-out, thorough video review on YT can definitely convince me to make a purchase.

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

Posted: Mon May 13, 2019 11:41 am
by Cheeky Devlin
I tend to know what I plan to get in advance and I'm fairly good at knowing what I'll like or dislike.

Reviews are just one method of getting a feel for a game and good reviews can sway me towards getting something that was otherwise not on my radar. But Youtube and forums are equally (Potentially more) important in my decisions making.

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

Posted: Mon May 13, 2019 11:52 am
by Gemini73
Cal wrote:
Gemini73 wrote:Personal I don't pay reviews much attention; if I like the look of a game then there's a good chance I'll buy it at some point. This generation has seen me buy and enjoy a lot of games that weren't generally received well by the press, but at the same time I've ignored high scoring games based on a number of factors or, as in the case of God of War, arrived late to the party irrespective of the accolades piled upon it.

So yeah, how important are video game reviews to you, if they carry any weight at all, when it comes to buying video games?


Magazine reviews I never bother with. I had been a long-time subscriber of both EDGE and Games™, but when they both dived fell face-first into blatant political grandstanding (EDGE in particular became increasingly insufferable in this respect) I cancelled both and I don't bother with any online gaming review sites for much the same reason. Sites like Polygon and Eurogamer are Kryptonite to me (if occasionally still worth it for the laughs when their activism gets the better of their objectivity).



I used to sub to Edge and gamestm, but you're right they both became quite tiresome. Some of Edge's contributors also write for Eurogamer so there's your connection there for the political grandstanding and an explanation for magazines decline with regards to the quality of the writing.

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

Posted: Tue May 14, 2019 2:54 pm
by imbusydoctorwho
It use to but word of mouth is a much better type of praise imo

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

Posted: Tue May 14, 2019 4:28 pm
by Manwell Pablo
A review is far more likely to encourage me to buy a game I wasn't going to than put me off a game I had my heart set on.

As has been said, a lot people avoid 7/10's which is strange. Plenty of games in the 70's and 60's territory on Meta that I've enjoyed.

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

Posted: Tue May 14, 2019 5:11 pm
by Robbo-92
It depends.

If it’s from an established series I’ve played and enjoyed in the past, chances are I’ll be getting the game if I can. Although sometimes I won’t purely because I don’t think I’ll be able to have the time to play it while I have other games I’d prefer to play, Luigi’s Mansion 3 is a good of this I suppose, really enjoyed LM 2 but considering the rest of the games out later in the year I don’t think I’d be able to spare enough time to play LM 3 with the rest of the games I’m planning on getting.

If its a new game then yes I’ll watch reviews to see if I’ll enjoy it, not going to spend money on something I think I’ll hate and not finish (this is where independent games are quite good, I’m much more likely to take a chance on something costing £10 than £40-£50).

If it’s a port (of something I want to play, Grid Autosport coming out on the Switch in July this year for example) then I’ll watch/read reviews to make sure its a decent port and then buy it if it is a decent port.

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

Posted: Wed May 15, 2019 4:22 pm
by Herdanos
I missed the part of society where "not being an insufferable inhuman wanker" became "political grandstanding"! But to answer the question, I would probably avoid games that bombed on critical reception but have been playing long enough to know what I enjoy without having to generally consult consensus beforehand - having said that I'm usually several months, if not years, behind the curve so never buy games on release anymore.

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

Posted: Wed May 15, 2019 8:35 pm
by Alvin Flummux
If the reviews form an overall picture of great or bad, that might influence me (particularly if there are damning videos/pictures, as with Mass Effect: Andromeda), but to be perfectly honest, I give fewer gooseberry fools than ever about them now.

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

Posted: Wed May 15, 2019 10:47 pm
by Victor Mildew
I stopped reading reviews a looong time ago, mostly due to them spoiling the little things which I'd have preferred to find out as I played. I prefer to go in to games as blindly as possible, so I just rely on word of mouth mostly from here with people I know like the same things as me.

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

Posted: Wed May 15, 2019 11:28 pm
by Mafro
I don't bother with them any more. I usually just rely on the quality of the dev's previous game which readably accurate for judging quality and if I'll like it, but it's not always right e.g. Sekiro.

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

Posted: Thu May 16, 2019 6:02 am
by Tafdolphin
I'll usually read the Eurogamer and RPS review of a game on release. The latter has seen a steep dip in quality over the past few years whereas the former has produced some great pieces, but I'll generally read up on critical consensus and take it seriously.

A good example is Rage 2. I was looking forward to an octane fueled Bulletstorm-esque blast-a-thon but the fact that most outlets describe it as a sort of less well executed Mad Max/Far Cry mean I'll wait until it's dirt cheap to jump in.

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

Posted: Thu May 16, 2019 8:09 am
by jawafour
Tafdolphin wrote:...A good example is Rage 2. I was looking forward to an octane fueled Bulletstorm-esque blast-a-thon but the fact that most outlets describe it as a sort of less well executed Mad Max/Far Cry mean I'll wait until it's dirt cheap to jump in.

Reviews seem to vary quite a lot so far; I feel that the gameplay style is more closely related to Doom 2016 and shooting crazy characters than the more explorative Mad Max, but I've only tried the opening moments so far. I'm looking forward to seeing if the wasteland environment stands up to the quality shown in Max.

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

Posted: Thu May 16, 2019 8:20 am
by Tafdolphin
Yeah, some people really loved it, but others found it dull. The general consensus, at least of the publications I know and trust, is 'meh' so this, combined with my current obsession with Elite, means I'll probably wait.

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

Posted: Thu May 16, 2019 9:48 am
by Tomous
I don’t have enough time to play all the games I want so it’s important I pick wisely. Reviews help that as a guide.

Honestly, I probably use people’s impressions in this place more though.

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

Posted: Thu May 16, 2019 1:34 pm
by jawafour
Tafdolphin wrote:Yeah, some people really loved (Rage 2), but others found it dull...

True, Taf.

Tafdolphin wrote:...The general consensus, at least of the publications I know and trust, is 'meh'...

The general consensus isn't really bad, though; it's quite positive, reflected by the average score of 70 on Metacritic. I do go along with the idea that it's probably not worth splashing out the full asking price at launch, though.

Tafdolphin wrote:...so this, combined with my current obsession with Elite, means I'll probably wait.

It's cool that you're into Elite! I've read your updates and it looks to be a great game, albeit one that I suspect could be a little too complex and demanding for my own tastes! I'm keen to hear more from your galactic journey :-).

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

Posted: Thu May 16, 2019 3:10 pm
by KK
Generally aware of the mainstream websites and whether a big game is widely considered to be good or not but don’t really read them too often now apart from the Official PlayStation Magazine, and even then a lot of games don’t get covered any more for various reasons. It can be particularly frustrating when you read a news article or preview and then the review never arrives (Dakar 18 for example) so you’ve then got to look on YouTube and other websites anyway. That never would have happened in the past. I’m also noticing a number of silly factual errors cropping up, so there’s likely a load more I’m not even aware of. ‘Murray Walker is in Destruction Derby,’ Oh, is he now...

Doesn’t help that from what I have seen a lot of reviews online just aren’t very enjoyable to read like they were in the past either. That level of fun and stupidity you used to get from magazines like N64, PSM2 and PC Zone just simply doesn’t exist any more, either in print or online.

In the past however reviews and demos played a massive part in what I purchased.

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

Posted: Fri May 24, 2019 4:51 pm
by The Doom Spoon
I only ever use reviews as a reference if I'm REALLY not sure on buying a particular game. Even then its only used as a rough guide rather than gospel.

When I do look at reviews I will find as many as possible and try and compare them. It's crazy how some publications are so different to others with opinions. I figured that if I read/watch as many as I can on a game that I will be able to get a fair picture on what it's like.

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

Posted: Sat May 25, 2019 8:06 am
by Sandy
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.