Below is what we will be using as our game review format.
Most reviews will likely contain spoilers of some sort. We'll do our best to hide them from you, by using this wonderful little button:
Although that button may be useful, it could become a slight problem at some points. Sometimes key spoilers are part of the whole point of the game, and so not reading them may take away from the review and not give you the clearest picture.
The reviews will be broken up into several parts. Below is a list of the sections that will appear, and what will be talked about within them.
The First Hour
The first hour of a game is essentially it's first impression. While it lets you get a good idea for the game, it's not the whole story. Things could go either way, but normally you'll know if you like a game or not from the first hour of gameplay. I'll be talking about pretty much everything here, from the visuals, to the music, and what story we can get in the short space of time. Gameplay elements are key this early. They can make or break a game for me, and if the controls can't be mastered within that time, the game goes downhill quickly.
The Story
Some games don't need a good story. Some do. Some have terrible stories with great gameplay. It's a mixed bag of tricks that demands careful attention. Here will will give a broard, spoiler-less overview. After that, we will include a detailed analysis of the whole story (or at least what we know of it.) Inside you can expect to see our reactions to events, and what we thought could have happened. we may even go into conspiracy-level-over-analysis mode. Who knows.
The Gameplay
The gameplay is the meat of the game. If the gameplay doesn't match the story, you've got yourself a flawed game. Equally, if you've got great gameplay but not story to complement it, it can ruin the whole thing. Here will will cover most everything, from how easy the menus were to navigate, to the combat mechanics and minigames. Everything that you do, we will look at and analyse.
The Graphics and The Sound
Sometimes a game demands good graphics, based off the presentation of the story or gameplay. Sometimes, it doesn't need anything to make it work. Sometimes you need an epic soundtrack to compliment the game, and sometimes it can work just as well silent. Here we will talk about everything. From the design of the characters to the narrative of the story. Anything that is heard or seen.
The Experience
This is how the game as a whole felt. If there was anything stood out, or felt special. Everything adds to the experience, from the tiniest detail to the biggest plot twist. we will write how the game truly made us feel while playing it, and what it was like to play. Some things can add, and some things can take away from a truly immersive gaming experience. This is where the games biggest strengths and flaws will show, and should help give you the best impression we can for the game.
The Cake
The Cake is our rating of the game. When normal people rate things, it's usually out of 10. But we are not normal. Or people. Or normal people. We use a rating system out of 7.
We like to think of our rating system as a fair one. It's an odd number on all accounts, but hear us out. When you rate out of 10, there is no actual middle number, unless you start using decimals. But, when using one out of 7, there is a middle. Having the smaller amount of numbers also leads to a more critical rating system. If you pick a 6 out of 10 on a conventional rating scale, it's almost the same as picking a 5. But if you pick 7, that's suddenly a really high number.
From what we see, it's a fundamentally flawed system. With a system out of 7, there are no values meaning the same, like with 5 and 6 out of 10. Having the fewer options also leads to a far more solid rating, rather than one that can be perceived to be good by some people, and bad by others, like 6 out of 10.
The cake is there just because we're cool like that. Stars are too mainstream. /dealwithit
The Future
Here we will talk about what we would like to see in the games future. Some games don't need a sequel, and some do. We will talk about what things could work in the future, and what would best be avoided.
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