Topic: User Impressions/Reviews Thread

@RogerRoger I’ve been a little AWOL from Push Square the last week or two, only with enough time for a casual drop in sporadically for a lurk here and there — but I had to say that I really enjoyed reading your review/update. The new format is great! And now I’ve got another Star Wars entry to add to the queue. Finished all the Mandalorian, partially through a rewatch of both the prequels and Epi 7 & 8, preparing for a visit to the theater for Epi 9, and have a brand new copy of Fallen Order to put in for a spin soon. Battlefront 2 will have to wait but it sounds brilliant. Too bad about the whole “you never have a second chance to make a first impression” stigma that it will forever be stung by.

@RogerRoger I like the new approach. Very fun and creative writing-esque.

Oh, and "Star Wars survival horror" sounds like the sort of weird mash-up I never knew I wanted in my life.

@RogerRoger Nice write up. I quite liked the different style!

I loved the original game and it's nuts that it was back on the PS2! I also played one of the versions on the PSP too so always wanted a new game. I have always been intrigued by BF2 but the original lack of a single player mode and the controversies put me off. I'd heard very little about the changes they've made since and some of the game modes sound fun but I think I've missed the boat on this now with so many other games to play first.

@RogerRoger Awesome write up, funny and very useful - I keep seeing this game cheap and I'm always tempted to pick it up. I might bite at some point.

@RogerRoger That's... kind of bizarre. I wonder why they made that mode so creepy?

@KratosMD Nice review of ToCSIII. The battle system sounds surprisingly involved (moreso than Trails in the Sky, anyway). It's a pity we haven't seen an official release of the Crossbell games outside Japan.

A bit leery of that card game, though, if only because I've yet to find one in an RPG that I've actually enjoyed (found Gwent kind of confusing, and the card game in FFIX was boring).

@KratosMD Thanks for the detailed writeup. I keep hearing The Legend of Heroes games get mentioned every so often, but had absolutely no idea what any of those games are like before now. The series as a whole does sound potentially overwhelming to get started on, but very satisfying if you can get into them.

@KratosMD Brilliant review. Your passion for the series is great. If Cold Steel III is the peak of the series so far I'd better get a move on with the first two! 😂

@RogerRoger Bit late, but I enjoyed your review and its humourous layout. It's encouraging how far Battlefront II has come on since launch. I do feel for the developers that for many gamers it won't shake that initial image. Unfortunately the blame lies solely with EA - corporate geed shouldn't dictate game design.

@RogerRoger I like to think it was the EA overlords who insisted on Mirror's Edge Catalyst's open world. Fingers crossed that the response to Jedi: Fallen Order encourages them to change gears.

To be honest, I'm not sure I've found a game I'd comfortably give a 10/10 to. Maybe my standards are too high, but 99.9% of games seem to have at least one flaw big enough to mar the experience somewhat.

If Cuphead had more engaging Run n' Gun levels, I'd probably be comfortable with giving a 10/10 to that. I mean, they're still fun. The whole game is pure fun. But they're way overshadowed by the elaborate, creative boss encounters.

@Ralizah I think similarly. I don’t know if I’d ever give a game a 10. It seems to imply perfection, although I realize Push Square qualifies the score as not perfect, rather a “masterpiece” level. For me, I still feel like every game I have played has areas for improvement, as you say. Sure have played some 9.5’s though. 😄

Edit: Nevertheless, @KratosMD your ToCS 3 review was great. As others have said, your passion for the series is palpable through your review and comments and it motivates me to get back into it. I am still in the early stages of the first game, and I already have a physical copy of the second game. Sounds like I may want to grab a copy of the third if I can find one.

@Th3solution @KratosMD @RogerRoger For me, it's not really about perfection. No game is perfect, and having an impossible standard for a 10/10 really just means you have a 9-point scale instead. It's more about excellence paired with a lack of game-impacting flaws. I do think that's achievable. But, more often than not, the really interesting stuff takes chances and opens itself up in a way that invites a certain degree of flawed game design.

I also wouldn't dock ToCSIII for its visuals, personally. It looks great for something that was probably low-budget.

Yeah I would give a few games this gen 10/10 in my head, but would not regard any of them as perfect. Saying that I am wary of trusting someones or a sites opinion who hands them out too readily.

Wow, this thread has wandering into some pretty deep philosophy all of a sudden.
I think I just had a brain aneurysm just trying to effectively comprehend infinity. 😂

Joking aside, I do think our minds tend to gravitate toward concrete and measurable analytics. We like definitive concepts. So a numbers system to quantify a purely subjective and abstract thing such as an opinion about a piece of art (because gaming is an art form after all, right?) is easier for our minds to comprehend.
...well, I keep saying “we” but perhaps I shouldn’t speak for all humankind — I should say my mind likes to measure and objectively restrict information into a digestible number or quantity. I can only assume most people’s minds are attracted to a number system because critical reviews most commonly do ratings, even if it’s a thumbs up or a thumbs down. Perhaps it’s my short attention span born of the fast paced internet age that is geared toward a bite sized representation of a person’s opinion. I very much doubt critics during the English Renaissance period said, “Bill Shakespeare’s new play Romeo and Juliet was fantastic. I give it a 10/10!” 😂

Certainly I appreciate all forms of user reviews, those with number ratings and those without. I try to read the text though to make my own conclusions. Everyone here does such an outstanding job of expressing their thoughts, views, and opinions, that it is always easy to get the full gist of their review, with or without a number. Sometimes my reviews will have a number, sometimes not. It will depend on my mood.

I wouldn't say a 10/10 means it's perfect. The way I see it, 10/10 just means it's 95% or more, but using nicer round numbers. So a 10/10 game doesn't have to be perfect, as it can still have that 5% leeway.

So for me, a 10/10 isn't perfect, but it's close to that, and the game will be very hard to top.

@Th3solution It's funny that you should mention Shakespeare in a discussion involving the nature of infinity - in his 18th Sonnet he mused on the legacy of his own works and described his plays as "eternal lines" which would last "so long as men can breathe, or eyes can see" (I had to google the wording I'll admit), which actually makes him sound like a bit of a big-headed pillock, although in his defence he has been proved right up to now.

Slightly more on-topic, I also subscribe to the theory that a ten-out-of-ten does not mean perfection, as I think most sensible people do. That's the beauty of this thread (and others like it) for me: the fact that it's patently clear that any rating anyone applies is their own personal rating, which is why we're thankfully spared the "I can't believe you gave such-and-such a seven you vile creature!!!" comments which come bundled in with any official review. When it comes to scores in official reviews, I'm with @RogerRoger completely - I'd be perfectly happy if they were outlawed tomorrow, as they are simply serving to feed the beast that is Metacritic.

@Kidfried I'd have no hesitation in giving Suikoden II an Infinity-out-of-Ten.

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy That's actually an idea I've toyed with somewhat, and, if I return to scoring games, might employ. Especially when it comes to well-designed games that I just don't like for whatever reason (a common enough occurrence for me).

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy I'm not too worried about that possibility, personally. People will always have their own reactions to stuff, so I just kind of expect them to realize they may not adore something as much as I do. If I didn't enjoy D:OSII very much, for example, after reading the inevitable glowing review you're likely alluding to, I wouldn't think: "She lied to me! This isn't nearly as engaging as she made it out to be. I'm never trusting her opinion again." I'd think, instead: "I guess she enjoyed facets x, y, and z of this game more than I did, although I can probably see why someone would really like them the way they currently are."

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy I agree with @Ralizah, when I'm reading a review if l buy a game based on that recommendation, I'm not gonna hold anything against them if I don't like the game. I think you would have to be quite a spiteful person to do so. It is only one person's opinion after all.

@RogerRoger I’ve been playing through Shenmue too and I agree with most of your points. I sorta love the boredom though, it really is true to life. Except I can spend a whole day opening Kinder Surprises in Shenmue, which I probably couldn’t do in real life.

@RogerRoger Great post! Still never played this game, but the focus on realism and the mundane is interesting. I really like the line about "bravery in the face of technological limitations," because often what's so charming about games like this is that dissonance between the vision of the developers and the tools at their disposal.

Will you be playing the sequels?