Adventure Gamers - Forums

cyberseer - 26 March 2023 01:00 PM

None of it is actually true.

correct, it’s completely subjective - the review does make a point of giving good arguments for these conclusions, though. The idea that this game deserves a different rating is… equally subjective, you gotta realize that at some level, right?

The game is a masterpiece, but obviously the reviewer didn’t get it.

that’s equal parts convenient and condescending.

Now I wonder how many good games I’ve missed out on because of such reviews and ratings that I’ve trusted…

first off: not that big of a deal - secondly: it’s a (mostly) volunteer-driven service, not a dependent relationship that somehow betrayed your trust.. i mean, if you really feel that way, that’s kinda on you - though i suspect it’s mostly exaggeration because someone said a game you think is great is just alright.

You haven’t, the review policy during the past years changed so that most games are getting 4/5 star reviews now, especially those by several new authors who replaced the old team after their mass departure during 2022. Why it was refreshing to read this sort of critical review, especially for such a celebrated title. Personally I loved Golden Idol and disagree with some of the points, especially concerning gameplay and presentation. But this doesn’t mean the reviewer can’t have his own opinion and his points are unfair. It’s a perfectly justified review. You may write your own review in the “Reader’s review” section (there are currently only 4 votes and no reviews, so it’s not much of a rating anyway) or at forums and challenge his arguments, but simply saying “the review is completely wrong” and “None of it is actually true” is not much of an argument.

It is true that there’s a big discrepancy between review of the game on this site, and almost everywhere else, but that’s just one reviewer’s opinion, and should be taken lightheartedly.

Now, I played the game, and I would personally give it probably 4 stars - highly original detective game, though the graphics could be better, and the gameplay feels a bit repetitive. Still, one of the best adventures in recent years.

That said, the review policy on this site has changed a lot. I remember reviews where 3.5 stars were incredible games, classics in my opinion, and the score really had a meaning. Now, every second game is 4, 4.5 or even 5 stars.

I think writing a “Meh” review is the hardest type to write. We recently purchased a new under-cabinet microwave oven. The manufacturer asked me to write a review. Problem is that it does exactly what you would expect it to do. In that respect it performs no better or worse than the competition. But does it have superior under-counter lighting? No. Do I wish the vent blowers wouldn’t turn on when the microwave is in use? Yes, unless I intentionally turn them on. Do I wish the keypad was backlit so the buttons were easier to see? Of course.

So I give it a 3/5 stars. It’s a solid Average! There are things it could have done better, but there is no major function that it can’t perform.

I think the reviewer of this game might have face the same sort of dilemma. Perhaps the starting point was making a list of all the games ranked 1-through-5, he played in the past. And then made a list of the attributes that contributed to those scores. And then, of course, applied those attributes to this game. What did it have? What didn’t it have? The result, which was always going to be subjective, was that this was an average game, and deserved a 3. Bravo!

You can always disagree with a review, but, unless you have evidence of outright bias, you can never say the review is wrong.

GateKeeper - 26 March 2023 02:35 PM

I would call 3 stars neutral or something, certainly not a critical review.
Of course, in the case of Amazon, they have a commercial interest in doing that, as they probably don’t want to have top reviews that instruct against buying a product.

I meant the text itself, not necessary the rating. It’s certainly critical of a number of the game’s aspects, like story and graphics. While at the same time another AG author is praising two Maniac Mansion clones for their stories and graphics Somehow the reviewer of Golden Idol sounds more convincing to me despite I played and enjoyed it.

As for user comments, I often read Steam reviews to decide whether the game suits me. They could be very biased towards this or that, but one can tell they are not manipulated by the Steam stuff. Of course, in case of Golden Idol there are very few negative reviews, the game is a big success.

cyberseer - 26 March 2023 01:00 PM

The review says this about the bad:

The Bad:
The narrative becomes hard to follow and parts of the epilogue that explain everything should have been integrated midway into the game
By the end, the gameplay becomes monotonous
Characters are poorly fleshed out and uninteresting
The presentation, especially the pixel art style, does not stand out

None of it is actually true. The game is a masterpiece, but obviously the reviewer didn’t get it.

Yeah, it’s a marvelous game. In fact, most people love it. Including most reviewers, like Diego said. AG is a notable exception.

Unlike the other posters here I partly agree with you. If the gameplay became monotonous for the reviewer, who am I to tell him he should not feel that way. But there is such a thing as objective information. If a review states Myst is a 3rd-person game, then that is factually wrong. In this case it is wrong to state that “the epilogue is what actually reveals everything.” No, the epilogue does not reveal anything, it has the player sum up the main points of the story! Not the same thing at all. The player has been presented with enough clues to understand the entire story. It’s obvious that the reviewer didn’t understand what was going on and blames it on the game. Even worse: “Honestly, large portions of this epilogue would have been much more compelling and sensible if integrated at the midway point so that the story flowed more smoothly and rationally.” That would amount to deleting the best parts of the game!

I didn’t like this rambling, amateurish review. It starts with a conclusion and does not give readers enough info to decide whether it’s something they would want to play - which is the point of any review. I expect more from an official AG review.

Welcome back. I hope whatever required your recent absence is better. As it seems to be.

rtrooney - 26 March 2023 09:11 PM

Welcome back. I hope whatever required your recent absence is better. As it seems to be.

My minor but annoying physical problems have been fixed. But it’s as a poster on the IF community forum said: I’m in my seventies. I hope I outlive my new tube of toothpaste. 

Not back yet. Hey, I still have to save the world! No time to play games…

reviewers are too positive, or not positive enough, they have to consider being compared to aggregate reviews and criticized for being “wrong”. and that’s after a pretty time consuming process to somehow give an impression of a game, in a way that’s accessible, well-argued and fun to read.

i was once interested in what people considered good or bad reviews. unfortunately, the ones who are vocal about reviews are mostly people who just want to state their opinion as superior, or even fact. some people are set on being vocal and obstinate.

i get the appeal of pure self-expression without to much engagement or consideration of others, but stuff like this makes it even less appealing for writers to contribute to the site.

edit: if that sounds harsh: you can say you notice a trend or make a suggestion if you think something can be improved - i just see a lot of disagreement over different strokes type stuff - and people going ham.

Karlok - 27 March 2023 09:11 AM

But it’s as a poster on the IF community forum said: I’m in my seventies. I hope I outlive my new tube of toothpaste. 

I have had some periodontic issues, so I visit my dentist four times a year. Get a free tube with each visit. My dad lived to be 94. With my stash of toothpaste, I could approach that before I run out. 

Veovis - 27 March 2023 10:17 AM

Hope the end is factories full of tubes of toothpaste away and that the world is soon saved @Karlok!

Thanks!

[quote[As for The Case of the Golden Idol I haven’t played it yet, but I’m extremely intrigued by it, regardless of the 3-star review here.

May you enjoy it as much as I did.

rtrooney - 27 March 2023 06:28 PM

I have had some periodontic issues, so I visit my dentist four times a year. Get a free tube with each visit. My dad lived to be 94. With my stash of toothpaste, I could approach that before I run out. 

A very good reason never to skip an appointment.

Hey, giom, great to see you back! Jack and Ivo got into a fight over Adventuregamers, Ivo won, Jack left and founded his own website, Adventure Hotspot, with most of the former AG authors following him. I don’t know the details, nobody was told anything, including the remaining contributors. It seems like Ivo recruited a number of new authors somewhere (I have strong suspicions that the most active of them is a Chatbot because of the way they put their thoughts together, people just don’t write like that), there’s almost no quality control now and, as a result, many reviews are extremely short and uninformative. And with this rating policy they make even less sense.

Though I read articles at Hotspot, and it seems like they follow the same “generous” rating route, maybe for the reasons you described. It also feels to me that with AG they lost some spark that helped Jack’s team shine, they are more concerned with promoting the new site and attracting people rather than producing great content. Also both websites now actively cover games unrelated to the genre, such as Tomb Raider, Lord of the Rings, Alone in the Dark, Zelda, action-RPGs, stealth, etc. The AG community is still strong though and might be the best thing left, connecting all spots, dots and epochs. Too bad a number of great active forum members also left during the last couple of years for different reasons — I put some of them on my avatar in commemoration.