Guys I’m tempted to start writing reviews in a more serious manner.
I have a “theory” that focuses on three main standpoints. Story, Gameplay and Immersion. Applies to SinglePlayer Campaigns
I’d call them the three pillars of single player campaigns. Hear me out and let me know what you think.
Story is straight-forward: main plot, character development, twists and turns etc.
Gameplay is just as straight-forward: how smooth is the gameplay, funfactor stays throughout the game or does it feel repetitive and boring after a while. Any new powers/skills you obtain later to keep you interested. etc. It is not only considering combat, but puzzles, and process of completing a task etc.
Immersion is purposely named vaguely because every game plays and feels differently. For example there are games that does not have voice acting but is still very solid with attracting the player, so it would be unfair to take off voice acting points from a game that is not supposed to have it. Immersion could include many topics like sound, atmosphere, lore (lore is a separate from story because, again, not all games have lore), graphics, music etc.
For a game to be considered good, you’d expect it to have at least a passing grade in each of these pillars (6/10),but I also believe that you would be able to have a very good game if you are excelling in two but lacking in one. Like Alan Wake for example, in which it had a very compelling story and immersive atmosphere, but its combat was subpar at best. It is still a really good game that I would want to go back and replay in the future, knowing that its gameplay could feel like a boring chore most of times.
I like this system because it also allows me to be harsh when reviewing games. For a test review I averaged the three grades so it would be out of 10, but I personally believe it shouldn’t be like that. I could just add them up to be out of 30, but I thought it would bring unnecessary complaints from reviewers. What do you guys think I should do for the final rating?
Here’s a test review for Rise of the Tomb Raider:
Not Recommended.
As gorgeous and well optimized as the game is, it falls short in other areas which makes it not a very worthy title.
Immersion. (9/10)
Again, the game is extremely well optimized and absolutely beautiful graphics that are almost unmatched. I haven’t seen a game as optimized as this on steam.
Lara sharing her thoughts when on base camps is also a very nice touch in general as you get to have a moment to bond with the character per se.
The nature and atmosphere is also well above average, however after a while you feel it gets a bit repeated and tedious. (sliding down a dangerous cliff and having lara use her pickaxe at the last minute, or whenever lara tries to go through tight spaces)
Gameplay. (6/10)
There is nothing too special about the gameplay here. It tries to copy the adventuring and combat style of the Uncharted Series while also trying to copy the atmosphere and hunting of the Far Cry series. Basically failing in both aspects.
I was very close to just dropping the game but a new pickaxe upgrade kept me a little interested towards the end that I just completed it.
The optional challenges/caves/tombs are nice, they are very creative with their puzzles. However, the rest of the gameplay wasn’t good enough for me to go and complete them all.
Story (2/10)
Generic plot, several plot holes, no character development, obvious “twists”, boring historical background, ends in a pretty shitty cliffhanger that doesn’t make you anticipate the next one.
The best thing about the story/game was the Baba Yaga DLC, but even then the “twist” was painfully obvious.
Verdict (5.7/10)
Nothing really is strong enough that you’d want to finish the game. Even with incredible optimization and graphics, there are better experiences out there that you can waste your time on.
Play Uncharted series instead, as this feels like a washed up version of that.
What do you guys think of the way I reviewed the game?
I know I might’ve reviewed the game a little harshly, and I feel that I didn’t write enough. I really would love to hear your thoughts. What are important topics you look for in a review? Is this enough for you to make a decision or I should have wrote more/or focused more on an aspect? Do you agree with my three pillars? Should I average the three pillars or should do you have a better idea? Any and all comments are welcome! Please share!
I don’t remember the last time I found the score to be meaningful. People either go into extremes (min or max value) or are afraid to score lower than 60-70% of whatever scale they chose, so if they’re not using the full scale, they might as well don’t bother. And even if they are an exception regarding this, their score choices usually still feel arbitrary at best. That’s why I usually focus on what’s written, not on the numbers when reading the reviews. The more explanation and reasoning the better.
If I have enough energy to write my own thoughts on the game, then I just try to answer the question posed under the input box: “Do you recommend this game?”. I try to think of my real life & internet friends and determine if there’s anyone I would genuinely tell to spend time and money on said game. I don’t factor in devs’ feelings, or whether or not a lot of work was put in this, just if people who pick it up will could potentially have fun with it & be satisfied with it. That’s why I’m one of the few people that are fine with the binary score system Steam provides - because in the end I can either recommend it or not. There is no such thing for me as “the game does not deserve not recommended”. Either it deserves to be played or not. It might not be bad, but if there are heaps of better ones (it’s not like there is a shortage of games nowadays), I won’t tell my friends to waste time on it instead of playing all the other better ones.
In your case I would just skip the final score. Not recommended out of 9, 6, 2 feels forced. As if you’re not recommending because the average numbers told you, not because there are valid reasons for it. Also for people who don’t care about the story 9 & 6 alone don’t make it look as bad. People care about different things in games, so if you were planning on scoring separate aspects of a game - just leave it at that, and imo let the readers decide which aspects are most important to them.
last second edit:
Play Uncharted series instead.
Imo recommending a game that is exclusive to some other platform might not be the best idea. Try maybe to find something available on the same platform you’re writing the review for. Or even if you’re doing non platform specific reviews (like not on Steam, but your own website or something), then as “play instead” try recommending multiple games if one of your picks is an exclusive.
Thanks Narayan, removing the final score would be a very good idea, I agree with you.
Thanks for the edit as well, I felt it was a little uncalled for but I left it in to see what you guys would think.
Thanks for the constructive feedback!
I like reviews that try to shake off the shackles of the normal review systems, but following a strict formula while making a meaningful review can be a very tough thing to do… every game is different (including being targeted to a different audience) and I imagine you’ll have a tough time trying to fit every game into this particular box.
So, IMHO…
- trust in the words of your review adding up to more than the score (I agree with Narayan, the “Not recommended” means more to me than the “5.7 / 10”)
- review for yourself – there are reviews even on BLAEO that I would vehemently disagree with, but they are accurate for the person reviewing them, and I can respect that… if you’re happy with the overall score you’ve given a game, then others who enjoy the same games as you will likely be happy with your reviews as well, and this should keep you fairly consistent
- continue to refine your thoughts/systems until they work best for you; this could even include only reviewing one genre of game with this formula
- try to take a step back and check if the review would be one that’s helpful to you, if you were the one reading it instead of writing it
I have a notepad doc with a few “requirements” for what I should include in every review, and I still haven’t ever included everything I’ve noted in the reviews I’ve done. Some of it still needs refinement, some I just don’t have a page layout for. One thing I do personally like that I haven’t done much with is a five-star rating system I have for myself (technically a zero- to five-star system) where each of those five (six) scores means something more specific to me – 5: favorite, 4: good/great, 3: average/not bad, 2: bad/weak/disappointed, 1: awful, 0: unrated! But even decent games get only 3 stars, and getting the full 5 is extremely rare (fewer than 20 in my entire gaming life), and so that system may not be particularly meaningful to anyone except me. …But… if I start doing more formal reviews, those stars are probably what I’ll use as the “score” summary. Shackles be damned.
Thanks godprobe, I’ll try refining the system a little more here with you guys before going more serious with it.
I’ll keep your comments in mind.
Thanks for the feedback!
I think Narayan made a good suggestion: Just leave out the final score. That way, everyone can choose which pillar ist the most important for them. Maybe some like story-driven games more than gameplay-driven ones, others may think the other way around. Since you are already doing all the work to go into different aspects of the game, why make a mixed score at the end at all? Then you might as well not give each pillar a separate score and save yourself some hassle.
I hope that doesn’t come across as too negative, I like your idea very much. And writing ‘‘good’’ reviews is quite hard. I try to write a review for each game I play, but often times I don’t feel like they are helpful. Reaching out for feedback is always a good way to improve your writing skills (be it reviews or something else) and I hope you can find some inspirations in all the answers you’ll get to your post :)
On the contrary, it’s not negative at all! As I said I wasn’t really satisfied with the average score, that’s why I came to you guys for help. Removing the final score would really relieve me because I don’t feel that the average does justice to the final score. Lengray mentioned that weighting the pillars could work, but in general I think these three pillars are very important for a single player campaign. Although two solid pillars could overshadow the weakness of the third.
Thanks for the feedback!
So far, I have found the most efficient review breakdown to be as such:
Intro
Story
Gameplay
Graphics
Audio
Multiplayer (when necessary)
Verdict
YMMV though.
What does YMMV stand for? Some indie games don’t excel in Audio or Graphics but still does a very good job of immersing the player in the game, that’s why I wanted to put them under one pillar.
Your Mileage May Vary.
I think the thought you’re putting into this is already helping to make your reviews be good. I like the idea of the pillars, and while I don’t always care for final numbered scores, I don’t mind having them there as a quick rubric. Even if you substitute the numbers with short phrases - exemplary, so-so, weak, flawed but worthwhile etc. might help. That kind of tagline would be good as a reference for the reader to see kind of what they’re going to get.
So you said you weren’t thrilled with how much you wrote. Beyond the fact that you don’t have to write more than you want, to stop from summarizing everything too well (which you did! your summaries were great!) one thing you can do is try to pick out moments from the game that exemplify what you’re feeling and talk about them. I try to keep that in mind while I’m plaiyng (though because I’m so forgetful they don’t always make it into the review.)
I really appreciate that you’re letting the games be the games they want to be - like not wanting to have to judge an indie game on their audio if the Audio isn’t really the point. To keep it fair just keep focusing on whether each THING is effective. A game with a very simple soundtrack can have a more effective music presence than a big bombastic but empty 40-piece orchestra - it all depends on how it’s done. Same for graphics! I’ll take an intelligently-designed stylized art style over photorealistic uncanny valley any day.
Oh man I hope this makes sense I am so tired
Crystal Clear!
To be honest you have provided the most comfortable method I could use in the reviews. If I use short phrases I won’t be constricted by arbitrary numbers that could mean different things to different people, and would be able to better express my thoughts than numbers as well.
I might keep the pillars numbered and the Verdict with a short phrase or all with short phrases. We’ll see how it goes after I complete and review Far Cry 5 next.
Thanks a lot tsupertsundere! You kept me more motivated with your compliments!
Haha, that’s great! I’m so glad I could help you out! Finding and doing what’s most comfortable and what makes the most sense to you goes a long way c:
I’m excited to read more of your reviews! Hell yea!
What matters most to me is personal opinion. I don’t really care if the characters are flat or if the story is boring if the game was overall enjoyed anyway. Those categories should be considered but I wouldn’t sum them up to a final score. It happens to me a lot when I rate something based to critical categories that a game or movie or anything ends up higher or lower than I actually feel about it.
Still I like your review pretty much. Be as harsh as you like :^) Personally I would cut the scores and add a personal score as one last point, maybe explaining why you rate it that way, which category weighed most to you?
An ideal game would excel in all three, but like I said, two strong pillars could overshadow the flaws of the third.
But for me personally, I’d care about Story>Immersion>Gameplay.
For me, it’s the opposite: game-play is the most important part of games for me, with everything else being secondary. After all, if I wanted story or immersion, I’d watch a movie or TV show, or I’d read a book. The interaction is the only thing separating games from other forms of media, and if the game-play isn’t good, or even the main focus, why make it as a game to begin with?
and if the game-play isn’t good, or even the main focus, why make it as a game to begin with?
Player choice. Visual Novel’s often have no gameplay but the choices involved still allow the player to change the outcome and craft a more personal experience.
Player choice.
Eh, books can do that, too. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choose_Your_Own_Adventure
Even though I see your point, I still disagree with you. Yes, you can say the interaction is mainly the only thing separating games from other media, but gameplay doesn’t necessarily have to be the main focus.
For me personally it is quite the opposite, I don’t like watching movies because I can’t really relate to the characters that easily. Games make it much easier to do that because of the interaction you mentioned. I’m not saying gameplay is not important, but I think it can be overlooked if it doesn’t have a really good gameplay, like what reviews for vampyr suggest.
You have episodic games like Telltale or Life is Strange, Visual novels, and walking simulators. These mostly provide little to no gameplay but there are tons of games in the genre that are really good and worth playing.
For me it’s gameplay and immersion the most important parts. But imo choices in VNs and episodic games are part of gameplay too. Hence I agree with devonrv. If there’s nothing I can do or if I have to play a game for it’s story I’d rather read a book or watch a movie.
I feel you’re overly brutal on the scoring for the story with a 2/10 which is very close to 1/10 which I would assume is no story at all. Though the story certainly isn’t great they did try and it’s interesting enough. I definitely feel it should at bare minimum be a 5/10. I can’t even begin to imagine what kind of godly story you’d consider a 9 or 10, if you consider this to be a 2. Most games don’t have “great” stories, with unique plot twists you don’t see coming. Sure it’s not great but it’s not so terrible that it deserves a 2/10, not by a long shot. I’m also amazed you liked Baba Yaga which I considered garbage, with an even worse story than the main game.
For me the two main pillars are “story” and “gameplay” any game can stand alone by either of those. There’s no game, that I can think off, that can stand alone by immersion. Hence why I wouldn’t consider it a main pillar but rather a support pillar that adds to the overal impression of a game.
Perhaps I was brutal, originally it was a 4 and immersion as 8. But I purposely decreased it to see the reaction from readers.
I however do not believe it should be anything more than a 4. 5 to 7 would have elements I would get a little excited or invested in. There are a lot of games that I feel deserve 8 to 10 though, like Tales of Berseria or the Yakuza series.
The Baba Yaga story is by no means great, but I felt it’s a little better than the main story because of the thoughtfulness in the mechanisms and especially the part where Lara is hallucinating the first time, seeing the house with two legs and her father in the maze The main story feels done to death, it is very cliched, bad guy is sick and wants to be immortal. Good guy wants to use it for good like saving people but ends up breaking it because people would use it the wrong way etc.
I’ve played many games and only very rarely can the story really surprise me. And story is often a very important factor to me. Yet there are few games who’s story I’d rate a 2/10 which I consider almost no effort at all. For a game like Mario Bros I’d give the story a 2/10. For me it feels like the scoring isn’t accurate compared to the stories of other games, which makes me feel like your ratings aren’t reliable (and this isn’t a personal attack towards you, but rather a general statement, you seem like a nice and intelligent person), I think Narayan said it best:
People either go into extremes (min or max value)
The story get’s a brutally low score by you because you really didn’t like it (which is fine), but it’s not a fair rating and it makes your rating system feel very unreliable and therefor unusable to me. I haven’t played Tales of Berseria or any Yakuza game, but by your rating the story would have to be immensely good and I’d probably get disappointed if I played them because they couldn’t live up to the high expectations. But this is solely my own opinion though and you’re free to do what you want of course.
Looks like what you value highly is novelty whether that’s story or gameplay. I value believabilty more, which is probably why I didn’t like Baba Yaga but you did.
Yes, you hit it right on the mark. I value novelty very highly, I prefer new experiences over cliched or overused ones.
I think for the next review I’ll skip the numbers and put on a few words instead.
Let me know what you think when you see it!
I like the 3 pillars way you put it. It’s systematic, easy to understand and you sum things up really well. However I do agree with Neku that final scores should not be average instead should be your personal score. Every review is opinionated and biased, so basing the final score on average is kinda meaningless. Also adding a short phrase to sum it up like what tsupertsundere said would be cool. Like an expansion on steam’s review system where apart from recommended or not, you can say things like “recommended only to certain people” “not recommended until fixed” or things like that. :3
I also sometimes do want to make my reviews be concise and systematic and stuff, but then I got lazy. xD When I write a review I focus on my thoughts on the game. What is the most memorable(whether good or bad) thing in it? Why is it memorable? What’s my feelings towards it? For me reviews are what I thought of a game. x3
Yea tsupertsundere’s advice I can very much work with in my reviews.
I wanted to start the review thing a long time ago but i also got lazy, and I still don’t know how long I will last until I give up on it. But I will try my best!
You may need to add coefficients depending on the genre. In my opinion, Tomb Raider games are more about the immersion and gameplay than story. Therefore, my adapted rating could be: (9/10) * 4 + (6/10) * 4 + (2/10) * 2 = 64/100 = 6.4/10.
Just my 2 cents.
+1 to, if you decide to stick with the three pillars and an average, using a weighted average.
Perhaps choose (before playing, so you’re less biased?) one of the three pillars to be the most important, and one of the three pillars to be the least important to the game and experiment with different coefficients for each pillars’ importance?
Sounds like an interesting idea, I’ll keep it in mind. Narayan’s idea of removing the final score is also an interesting concept.
Thanks for the suggestion!