Undertale Review Controversy - How could this game earn a 9 in a professional Gamespot review? - page 2 - Games Discussion

drumjod · 2015-11-21 07:01:29

Only a few months after its official release, Undertale is being called a classic title by modern gamers and has already received a lot of buzz from professional gaming journalists. At the same time, the game is receiving considerable backlash from gamers who have never played the game. A large number of comments in the forums and review page on Gamespot demonstrate that the game is being judged as 'objectively worse' than triple A titles such as Bloodborne, The Witcher 3, Fallout 4, Metal Gear Solid V, and Black Ops 3 by a number of Gamespot users.This post is dedicated to my gamer friends who are having a difficult time accepting the fact that such a simple, brief, and graphically limited game actually deserves the praise it's been receiving. It can be hard to comprehend why a game like this can earn as high or higher scores than state-of-the-art large budget titles, but I'll try to explain this in depth without boring you if that's possible. As you read on, keep in mind that these words are simply my own opinion.This essay was partially inspired from a post on the Gamespot review page for Undertale where a user said, 'So this piece of shit gets a 9 and say a game like black ops 3 takes a 7 ? why ?! even if black ops 3 is broken it deserves better score than this shit. I dont understand how those ppl rate games. hell even a mobile game is better than this.' The following words are primarily in response to anyone who is under the same impression or who feels confused like this user appeared to be.Advanced or high end graphics, physics, and mechanics might be an essential part of the experience for you, but there are a lot of gamers out here who don't require them for a game to be fun, even though they can add to the experience as I'm sure you've noticed.In addition to that fact, there is a large population of gamers who have massive backlogs containing dozens if not more than a hundred great games we want to play, but we'll never have enough time in our life to complete them all. We make enough money to buy whatever games we want, but there will never be enough time to play through all of them. This is partially due to work, school, dating, family, and life in general being a higher priority than the games, even though we are passionate about them. It's also a result of our gaming economy where video games have become so popular that there are more good games being created now then there are hours in a persons life to play all of them. This is the state of the world that developed over time as we became adults and gaming became more mainstream. Because of those things, this demographic of gamers often appreciate a simple game that can be played through once in a few sittings such as Undertale. Even though I love games like Bloodborne, The Witcher 3, and Fallout 4, it's a breath of fresh air to play something as unique and ambiguously straight to the point as Undertale.Some of us remember a time where we were considered nerds or outcasts for being passionate about video games. Fortunately for the newer generations of gamers, we held on to our love of video games, passed them down to our younger siblings, children, and relatives, and the negative perception of gaming has changed over time. I've put in dozens, if not over a hundred hours into the first 2 triple A games that I mentioned and they were great experiences. That doesn't mean that those types of gameplay are the only experiences I can enjoy. It's true that AAA games require a lot more effort, development time, and money put into them, but that isn't going to guarantee the experience will be more enjoyable for every gamer. That's one of the big reasons why professional review scores are subjective and points are usually not added or subtracted for effort, game length of one play-through, development time, or budget. Music, gameplay, and story can be the biggest factors in creating an enjoyable experience for some of us, and Undertale exceeds in all three categories. This is a game that actually leaves a lasting impression on most of the people who play through it, and I can attest to that.Another thing it does right, is that it does not waste the players time with 'filler' content. The game only presents the best of its ideas and does not encourage the player to dick around with content designed to extend the experience through boring generic scenarios. Think of your entire experience with a game like Fallout 4, Skyrim, or Metal Gear Solid V. How often did you feel like, 'this is repetitive / boring, but it will be worth it when I get to the really good content.'? I feel that filler content is a waste of my personal gaming time, and it's only valuable to players who currently have a limited budget and can only play a few games per year. I used to be in that situation, and trust me, it gets better as you start to appreciate different things in games when you can afford to play any game you want.Based on the content of that users comments I mentioned, I can tell that person is a young gamer, probably in the late teens at most. I don't mean that as an insult in any way, and we've all been gamers of that age at one time. I remember being baffled when short and simple games were given high scores when I was younger as well, so I think I understand where some young gamers are coming from in this regard. Undertale is the type of game you might enjoy when you're a bit older. Maybe in 10-20 years, after you've had kids, nieces and nephews, or found ...

Catalli

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#51 Catalli Moderator

Member since 2014 • 3453 Posts

@superflyzero said:

@ianhh6 said:

@superflyzero said:

Not by a long shot. GS lost a ton of traffic and credibility after that absurdity.

Do you have any proof to back up that claim?

My proof is... *drum roll* .... ... that I'm just messin' with you guys. :D

Ahh well you got me then xd

8 years ago

Yams1980

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#52 Yams1980

Member since 2006 • 2862 Posts

i seen high scores on this game. so i did play it and i quit after a couple hours. Its not fun and looks terrible, the storyline is childish and sounds like its written by a nitwit. A game this bad i normally would have quit much sooner but i had to give it a chance and there is nothing here that is good. Even if this was 30 years in the past, i still don't think this game would be worth playing. maybe its a big joke on everyone in the end and everyone is giving this game high scores to see how many people will blindly go along with it despite it being a bad game.

8 years ago

jun_aka_pekto

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#54 Edited By jun_aka_pekto

Member since 2010 • 25255 Posts

Play what you want and be happy. Why would you let the scores of some games get in the way of your enjoyment?

8 years ago

loafofgame

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#55 loafofgame

Member since 2013 • 1742 Posts

@Yams1980 said:

i seen high scores on this game. so i did play it and i quit after a couple hours. [...] maybe its a big joke on everyone in the end and everyone is giving this game high scores to see how many people will blindly go along with it despite it being a bad game.

Why would you blindly go along with scores in the first place...?

8 years ago

Celldrax

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#56 Celldrax

Member since 2005 • 15053 Posts

Haven't read a single review of Undertale (seen it talked about a whole lot though).

All I know is that I did have fun with it. I do think there were some really nicely designed aspects of the game, and the music was breddy good.

8 years ago

Treflis

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#57 Treflis

Member since 2004 • 13757 Posts

This whole thing here, the reason I think the entire scoring system ought to be dropped.

"Oh it got a higher score then other games I liked, It's an outrage!" Or " Oh it got a low score even though I think it deserves higher, It's an outrage!"

And then people get pissed off, bicker and look at it as a "Controversial" thing when in reality it's simply a number slapped on. There's no system to the scoring across the board, it's not standardized. Some use the "One to Ten" others use the "One to Six" on a dice and some use from "one to a hundred", Thus rendering the whole scoring essentially pointless.

If a reviewer like a game then they should explain why in the review and similar why they dislike it, which they normally do and frankly I think it's just lazyness that has people simply scroll down and look at scores rather then the reasons. Remove the scores and they'll need to see the reasons.

8 years ago